As the 2012 election storms into its last week, we have a strong sense of how people will vote.
People in the parts of town with lots of title pawn shops, payday loans, liquor stores that take EBT cards, boarded-up stores and billboards advertising plaintiff lawyers will vote heavily for Obama. If there is any credit we can give the current administration, it is that its base has been strengthened by creating more of these neighborhoods.
Romney will do well in areas with malls with multiplex movie theaters, Starbucks, Viagra advertisements on billboards, and good schools—or in any city that hosts a NASCAR event.
At his inauguration, President Obama famously proclaimed that his election in 2008 was "the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal." With the storm surges caused by Hurricane Sandy, yet another campaign promise has been broken. Storm surges in New York City were over four feet — more bad news for Mayor Bloomberg, who could easily drown at those levels.
On the bright side, the storm could impede filming of next season’s The Jersey Shore.
Coming down the home stretch, President Obama picked up endorsements from three international political heavyweights: Venezuela's president Hugo Chavez, Cuba's ruling Castro family, and Russia's Vladimir Putin. Given Obama's track record, that might say it all.
Obama promised to court international leaders, and these three really love the direction he has our country going. They were drawn to Obama by his nationalizing the healthcare industry, chasing businesses out of the country, and redistributing the wealth of the most productive to areas that will benefit him.
But what really impressed these communist strongmen leaders was his arrest, for his own political gain, of the hapless producer of the anti-Muslim YouTube video and blaming him for embassy attacks in the Middle East. The “filmmaker” is still in jail. Even Putin said, “I could not do that without media pushback. Very oppressive… I mean impressive.”
Government does not cause the economic success of its citizens. Communist countries like Cuba and North Korea have plenty of government but not enough food, health care or electricity. Just try getting rich in those countries and see what happens to you. It could be as dangerous as making a You Tube video that hurts Obama’s reelection efforts.
The party theme at the Democrat Convention, and the case for reelection, is that because of Democrats “bin Laden is dead, and GM is alive.” Both are dishonest; both are the result of what George Bush initiated and Obama often opposed. Especially the Guantanamo Bay incarcerations and waterboard interrogations ("enhanced irrigation") of the courier led us to bin Laden. Had Obama had his way, he could not be bragging about “him getting bin Laden.”
Even more incredible is Obama's claim that he “saved the automobile industry.” Nothing could be further from the truth. GM would be in a better place than it is today had it followed normal bankruptcy laws. Many ongoing concerns such as Delta and American Airlines, Schwinn Bicycles, Orion Pictures, etc., go through bankruptcy and survive all the time. Others, like Harley Davidson, avoid full bankruptcy by reorganizing and selling pre-filing.
There was nothing heroic about what Bush began and Obama carried on with the GM reorganization. But Obama circumvented more than 200 years of corporate law to protect his big-union donors, putting them ahead of secured creditors in the pay-back line.
Then there is this contrived “war on women” Democrats conjured up. This has been advanced by womanizers Bill Clinton, Ted Kennedy (via DNC video tribute), Anthony Weiner, Al Gore and John Edwards. Those names used as respecting women sounds less like a political party, and more like a witness protection program within the Special Victims Units of the sex crimes division.
Lastly, Obama's other theme is that some are not “paying their fair share.” 20% of Americans currently pay 94% of taxes. But, inexplicably, that is still not enough for this administration?
Government does not produce anything; it only impedes productivity. The only thing that government produces is more government, while taking money from the most productive parts of society and vilifying them as greedy in the process.
To endear yourself to the Obama administration, not only must you not be productive, you must demand that others pay your way. This is not the America I know. If you believe in freedom, be sure to vote and get your friends in Ohio, Wisconsin, Virginia and Florida to get to the polls too.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Hart Talk – Nov. 7, 2012