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Jewish World Review
Dec. 12, 2011
/ 16 Kislev, 5772
Rob Peter to Pay Paul: Bad Economics! Good Politics?
By
Bernard Goldberg
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
So the man who once promised he would bring us together has now kicked off his campaign for re-election determined to tear us apart. Irony doesn't begin to tell the story.
Barack Obama went to conservative Kansas "laying out a populist argument for his re-lection next year," as the page one story in the New York Times described it. Or to put it another way, President Obama went to Kansas laying out his campaign strategy which is simple and easy to understand: He will do every thing he can to divide Americans into two camps — the greedy rich and everyone else.
And he will make clear every chance he gets that if we re-elect him he will do everything he can to take money from those who have it and distribute it to everyone else, especially the hard-pressed middle class which, coincidentally, takes in most of the folks who will choose the next president.
In Kansas he blamed "the breathtaking greed of a few" for the financial crisis and said, "This is a make-or-break moment for the middle class, and all those who are fighting to get into the middle class." Republicans, he said, "want to go back to the same policies that stacked the deck against middle class Americans for way too many years. And their philosophy is simple: We are better off when everybody is left to find for themselves and play by there own rules. I am here to say they are wrong."
Never mind that Republicans also want the middle class to succeed. They just don't think that taxing the rich is going to help the middle class. Mr. Obama's plan may not be good economics, but it just might be good politics. As I have mentioned in this space before, quoting George Bernard Shaw, "A government with the policy to rob Peter to pay Paul? can be assured of the support of Paul."
That's what worries me. I have no faith in Paul. I think Paul is the real greedy SOB in this story, the one who has no problem taking money from rich people. Why not, Paul figures. They have it. I need it. And the president says it's okay to feel this way.
So, unlike many of my conservative compadres, I think Mr. Obama's class warfare strategy may succeed. And let's say it does. Let's say he wins re-election. Then comes gridlock, which is fine with me. It's not likely that the president will have long enough coattails — if he has any at all — to change the political complexion of Congress. So the president knows he's not going to get his tax increase on the rich. None of this is about actually doing that. It's all about politics. The man who promised to usher in a new era in politics is playing the oldest political game in the books: divide and conquer.
Taking money from the haves in order to buy allegiance from the have-nots wouldn't do much to create growth in the economy, anyway. Good chance, it would do just the opposite. Raise the taxes on the wealthiest among us, the ones who create jobs, and they just might want to hang on to their money instead of spending in on salaries for new employees.
But going after rich people is in the DNA of liberal Democrats. It makes them feel good about themselves. And remember, Franklin Roosevelt ran against "the plutocrats" in 1936 and despite a depression and high unemployment, he easily won re-election.
How does it end if Mr. Obama is re-elected? What happens to our economy then? Well let's just say they tried this Peter/Paul thing already — in Europe. How's that working out over there? Something for all the Pauls to think about before they vote next November.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
Comment by clicking here.
JWR contributor Bernard Goldberg, the television news reporter and author of several bestselling books, among them, Bias, a New York Times number one bestseller about how the media distort the news. He is widely seen as one of the most original writers and thinkers in broadcast journalism. Mr. Goldberg covered stories all over the world for CBS News and has won 10 Emmy awards for excellence in journalism. He now reports for the widely acclaimed HBO broadcast Real Sports.
He is a graduate of Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey and a member of the school's Hall of Distinguished Alumni and proprietor of BernardGoldberg.com.
Previously:
• 12/07/11: Yeah . . . and Fish Don't Know They're Wet, Either
• 12/06/11: Did the Media Play Fair with Herman Cain?
• 12/05/11: Obama to Blue-Collar America: Adios!
• 11/29/11: We Can Stop the Crazy Train Before It Gets to Greece
• 11/22/11: Who Can Beat Obama?
• 11/15/11: The Dumbest Media Question I've Ever Heard
• 11/09/11: What If Herman Cain Did It?
• 11/08/11: What If Herman Cain Were a Lib?
• 11/02/11: Who Can Beat Obama?
• 11/01/11: We're Approaching the Tipping Point
• 10/25/11: A Response to the Angry Purists
• 10/18/11: They're Waiting for Reagan to Hit the Campaign Trail
• 10/12/11: Read This!!! --- But Only If You Have Nothing Better To Do
• 10/04/11: Can Obama Win Re-Election?
• 09/27/11: It's NOT the Economy Stupid, It's Theology
• 09/20/11: Bad News on the Doorstep
• 09/09/11: Hypocrisy!
• 09/06/11: Back to the Future
• 08/24/11: Hillary vs. Obama in 2012? It'll Never Happen --- I Don't Think
• 08/22/11: Warning: Conservatives May Be Harmful to Your Mental Health
• 08/17/11: Warren Buffett, Coddled Billionaire
• 08/11/11: Too Much Balance in the Media?
• 08/04/11: All Aboard the Crazy Train
• 08/01/11: Liberal Hate Speech
• 07/25/11: With All Due Respect, Go Fly a Kite
• 07/20/11: Who Is A ‘Natural Born Citizen’?
• 07/18/11: Guess Who's Not Paying Their Fair Share
• 07/12/11: Against More Taxes? You May Be a Terrorist!
• 07/11/11: Casey Anthony: The TV Show
• 07/06/11: Standards and Double Standards at MSNBC
• 06/29/11: Is Jon Stewart A Racist?
• 06/21/11: Let's Play the Race Card --- Just for Fun Of Course
• 06/20/11: Sarah Palin and Weiner's Weiner
• 06/03/11: Memo to GOP: Turn Mr. Obama into Mr. Yesterday
• 05/20/11: I Get Letters From People Who Should Be Locked Up
• 05/09/11: Is ‘Torture’ Ever Justified?
• 05/02/11: The Promiscuous Use of the R Word
• 04/19/11: The Man Behind the Million Dollar Smile
• 04/12/11: What's the Difference Between Libs in Politics and Libs in the Media?
• 04/08/11: An Idea Whose Time Has Come — and Gone
• 03/28/11: The Pundits Are Driving Me Crazy --- And You Thought Qadaffi Is Nuts
• 03/14/11: No Liberal Bias at NPR — Just Ask NPR
• 03/10/11: The media's frustration
• 03/01/11: Progressives Lost in Time . . .
• 02/23/11: The Lamestreams Strike Again --- This Time in Madison
• 02/03/11: You MUST Own a Gun --- Or Else!
• 01/20/11: It Was Horrible, I tell you … HORRIBLE!
• 01/11/11: Here We Go Again . . .
• 01/06/11: You Go, Oprah
• 12/28/10: A Year-Ender --- The MSM and Obama's Fall from Grace
• 12/14/10: Thank
Heaven for Rich People
• 12/02/10: The Phony Nobility of Wikileaks
© 2011, Bernard Goldberg
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