a “wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned.” — Thomas Jefferson, First Inaugural Address
“It’s not that I want to punish your success. I want to make sure that everybody who is behind you, that they’ve got a chance for success, too. My attitude is that if the economy’s good for folks from the bottom up, it’s gonna be good for everybody. I think when you spread the wealth around, it’s good for everybody.” — Barack Obama speaking to Joe “The Plumber” Wurtzelbacher and explaining the virtue of taxing successful businessmen and women more.
“We want to take money and put it back in the pocket of middle-class people.” “It’s time to be patriotic … time to jump in, time to be part of the deal, time to help get America out of the rut.” — Joe Biden in an interview during the presidential campaign [emphasis added].
Now, tell me, which of the three quotations above move you? Which of them speaks to you of the greatness of America?
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence speaks eloquently about freedom. While recognizing the need for government he believed that that which governs least governs best. Government’s main purpose is to “restrain men from injuring one another.” So we need some basic laws for to protect freedoms of the minority while recognizing the right of the majority to govern. For that we have the Bill of Rights. We need some basic laws to be able to create and enforce contracts. We need national defense to protect us from enemies foreign and domestic. Some pretty basic things. Other than that which is spelled out in the Constitution, stand back and let each man and woman live in freedom to pursue their own happiness.
Barack Obama
Obey
Contrast that to Barack Obama’s conversation with Joe Wurzelberger. Joe asked him why, as he works 10 to 12 hour days with no guarantee of success or income to build his business and create jobs, candidate Obama, should he become president, would want to take more from Joe in taxes. Obama says, it’s not that he wants to punish Joe, but he needs to take the fruit of Joe’s labor and give it to someone else so that they can be successful too. He doesn’t ask Joe for the secret of his success. He doesn’t ask him how he can keep going for 10 to 12 hours per day. He basically says, this is going to be a new America and you keep working, Joe, but remember part of what you make, I take, and I give it to whom I decide needs it more than you do, because we won.
Joe Biden
Joe “Buck a Day” Biden, doesn’t even try to spin what they plan on doing. He basically gets in your face and says he is going to take money from those who are successful and put it in the pocket of the middle class and then tries to shame the audience by saying it would be un-patriotic to object. This comes from a millionaire who gives about $1 per day to charity from his own pocket. He doesn’t define who the middle class is, that is for the political class and his cronies to decide, most likely based on where the most votes are to keep them in power.
The Decline of America
When you consider the heights of principle from which this country was founded, with ideals enshrined in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, to the depths we have sunk today, with little more than bag men going around shaking down legitimate businesses and citizens to pay for a massive expansion of government and control over our lives, with the smug, pompous politicians in Washington directing the smallest detail of our lives. It is truly sad.
Lady Liberty weeps.
