Senator Government

Now that I've opened this can of worms I might as well keep going.

My favorite part of the entire presidential debate last night was when McCain slipped up and called Obama "Senator Government". Ahh, here we have the biggest difference between the candidates.

Senator Government, true to the ways of a far left Democrat (is there actually a difference between a far left Democrat and a Socialist? really, not so much), wants bigger government, more programs, more mandates, more taxes. "Big Daddy government will come take care of you, just give us all your money and play by our rules. Oh, you don't have any money? That's ok. No, no, don't get off the couch, we'll just go get money from your hardworking neighbor to pay your bills."

As a moderate Republican, McCain is planning to cut taxes across the board, shrink government, and reduce pork barrel expenditures. Ahh, just the mere thought of a smaller federal government warms my little libertarian leaning heart. I thought I was falling in love with the old man when he called himself a federalist (he's using the contemporary "New Federalism" meaning of the word here which is actually anti-federalism -- It's a Bush thing. Bush. words. stumble. You get it.) and discussed giving more power and autonomy to the state governments. Boy, that's just too good to be true.

I was pretty upset, however, when both candidates started talking about bailing homeowners out of bad mortgages. And who's money do you plan to use to do that, gentlemen? Mine? I sure as heck hope not! I didn't take on a loan I can't afford. Foreclose that house and let the bank sell it to someone that can afford it. Or let the local community buy it and turn it into a park or a community garden. I heard a brief snippet of something on NPR the other day about people doing just that in Flint, MI. Wow, what a great idea. Keep it local, though. I do not want to see federal government involved in this! Property values in Flint plummeted long before the rest of the country started to feel this downturn. Auto companies had shut down plants and people had left and there were too many houses and no buyers. This community project reduces the supply of properties on the market -- basic supply and demand economics; and it intrinsically increases the value of the homes in the neighborhood -- more green space tends to do that. It's a win-win so long as your not picking the pockets of folks that live hundreds of miles away to make it happen.

Back to the big government thing here. Even if you don't believe that Obama's very very scary past has any relevance, how can you buy into his idea of an ever expanding government? Big government needs big money and that means big taxes. Obama may be talking about cutting taxes now, but he's going to find his scalpel isn't sharp enough to keep all the programs he wants, add more programs, AND reduce the budget. It's a logical impossibility. Bigger government ALWAYS means higher taxes.

If you really honestly think you want Big Government, take a really close look at some place that already has it. Really check it out first because once you start nationalizing it's nearly impossible to reverse course. Let's use a fairly benign example like France. France has big government and I'll readily admit, big government yields mighty fine wine. However, I would never want to actually become a French citizen. In France it's extremely difficult to get a job. Why? Because France has a slew of "labor friendly" laws preventing people from getting fired even due to poor performance... even when small reduction in force would prevent an entire company from collapsing. Employers are honestly afraid to hire folks because it's so difficult to fire them if things don't work out. Oh, and enjoy all the labor strikes. Get to know the entire Metro map well because at any given time one of the lines will be shutdown due to a strike. If you by chance own a vineyard, you will grow what the government tells you to grow. It matters not if the entire world has decided to stop drinking Chardonnay, the government mandates you grow those grapes anyhow because that's what grows best in your climate and soil. Good for wine, not so good, perhaps, for your bottom line. And if you get sick, I mean really sick, good luck. A nationalized health care system can't afford the state of the art equipment or the specialists that might be able to save you. Better find a way to get to the US where we still have semi free market medicine... unless you vote in Obama, then I think you just might be screwed.

Seriously folks, do you really want Big Daddy Government to take care of you? Or do you want a chance at the American Dream, earning a good living through hard work and smart choices, unfettered by overwhelming taxes and government mandates? Do you deserve to keep your own money spending any excess as you see fit to help out those you believe deserve your help? Or do you want the government to redistribute your hard earned wealth as they see fit, through an expensive bureaucracy and on to programs that you may or may not wish to support?

It's up to you. Vote with your brain, folks.