January 23, 2015

An Offer You Can’t Refuse?

“Work with me. Don’t just say no,” Obama says before his veto threats.

Barack Obama hit the campaign trail this week after his State of the Union address to sell his new pet phrase “middle-class economics,” a phrase he’s working to ingrain in the political lexicon. According to the president, speaking at Boise State University, middle-class economics “means helping folks afford child care, and college, and paid leave at work, and health care, and retirement.” But beware of statists bearing gifts.

Middle-class economics is nothing more than a cradle-to-grave welfare state paid for through wealth redistribution. It will ultimately stifle economic growth and require – wait for it – more government welfare spending.

Obama latched onto this middle-class economics concept as a way to set the Democrats’ class warfare theme for the 2016 election. He spent much of 2014 trying to convince the public that, thanks to his policies, the economy was on the mend. Few believed him. So he came up with a clever new name for wealth redistribution and is now trying to rewrite history from the campaign trail.

Going on the road, giving speeches and lambasting Republicans as the enemies of the middle class are parlor games for Obama. This strategy guided everything that he, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid did when Democrats ran all of Washington. Now that Republicans control Congress, it’s a bit more difficult to label them obstructionist – not that Obama won’t try. Republicans have the power to set the legislative agenda, but that’s not going to stop this imperial president.

“I know there are Republicans who disagree with my approach,” Obama told the Boise crowd. “And if they do disagree with me, then I look forward to hearing from them how they want to pay for things like R&D and infrastructure that we need to grow. They should put forward some alternative proposals.”

Of course, Obama doesn’t want to hear ideas that aren’t in lockstep with his agenda. Indeed, he’s already threatened to veto just about every Republican bill under consideration. Yet he has the audacity to declare, “Work with me. Don’t just say no. You can’t just say no.”

Obama and his fellow statists assume the government should be involved in every aspect of the American economy. There is no debate about the constitutional role of government, only over how to pay for all the goodies. And that’s where class warfare and wealth redistribution come in.

Democrats hope to regain control in 2016 by appearing to be champions of the middle class. And they want to do it with “free” gifts paid for with higher taxes on the “wealthy.”

Unfortunately, this strategy often works.

The welfare state has greatly expanded over the last 50 years because people can’t say “no” to “free” stuff. Political analyst George Will explains, “More than twice as many households receive ‘anti-poverty’ benefits than receive Social Security or Medicare. Between 1983 and 2012, the population increased by almost 83 million – and people accepting means-tested benefits increased by 67 million. So, for every 100-person increase in the population there was an 80-person increase in the recipients of means-tested payments. Food stamp recipients increased from 19 million to 51 million – more than the combined populations of 24 states.”

This cycle of government welfare only perpetuates itself. It has become a way of life that is truly changing the American character. In the last 50 years, the number of men 25 to 34 who are neither working nor looking for work has almost quadrupled. The percentage of children born to unmarried women was nearly six times higher in 2012 than in 1964. And the percentage of people living under the poverty line hasn’t budged in 30 years.

Former New York Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, a lifelong liberal, warned, “The issue of welfare is not what it costs those who provide it, but what it costs those who receive it.” Even he saw the inevitable. Today’s Democrats don’t care, however, as long as they can win elections.

Who We Are

The Patriot Post is a highly acclaimed weekday digest of news analysis, policy and opinion written from the heartland — as opposed to the MSM’s ubiquitous Beltway echo chambers — for grassroots leaders nationwide. More

What We Offer

On the Web

We provide solid conservative perspective on the most important issues, including analysis, opinion columns, headline summaries, memes, cartoons and much more.

Via Email

Choose our full-length Digest or our quick-reading Snapshot for a summary of important news. We also offer Cartoons & Memes on Monday and Alexander’s column on Wednesday.

Our Mission

The Patriot Post is steadfast in our mission to extend the endowment of Liberty to the next generation by advocating for individual rights and responsibilities, supporting the restoration of constitutional limits on government and the judiciary, and promoting free enterprise, national defense and traditional American values. We are a rock-solid conservative touchstone for the expanding ranks of grassroots Americans Patriots from all walks of life. Our mission and operation budgets are not financed by any political or special interest groups, and to protect our editorial integrity, we accept no advertising. We are sustained solely by you. Please support The Patriot Fund today!


The Patriot Post and Patriot Foundation Trust, in keeping with our Military Mission of Service to our uniformed service members and veterans, are proud to support and promote the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, both the Honoring the Sacrifice and Warrior Freedom Service Dogs aiding wounded veterans, the National Veterans Entrepreneurship Program, the Folds of Honor outreach, and Officer Christian Fellowship, the Air University Foundation, and Naval War College Foundation, and the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation. "Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one's life for his friends." (John 15:13)

★ PUBLIUS ★

“Our cause is noble; it is the cause of mankind!” —George Washington

Please join us in prayer for our nation — that righteous leaders would rise and prevail and we would be united as Americans. Pray also for the protection of our Military Patriots, Veterans, First Responders, and their families. Please lift up your Patriot team and our mission to support and defend our Republic's Founding Principle of Liberty, that the fires of freedom would be ignited in the hearts and minds of our countrymen.

The Patriot Post is protected speech, as enumerated in the First Amendment and enforced by the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, in accordance with the endowed and unalienable Rights of All Mankind.

Copyright © 2024 The Patriot Post. All Rights Reserved.

The Patriot Post does not support Internet Explorer. We recommend installing the latest version of Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome.