Call it socialism by any other name

Somebody wake me up; I’m trapped in an Ayn Rand novel.

Ladies and gentlemen, and especially you liberals, listen up now, this is important:

The government has no money of its own. None whatsoever. Whatever money the government has to spend is money that it has confiscated from you, the taxpayer.

Try to follow along with me now.

Government job creation is funded by taxpayer money — your money. For every dollar that someone earns working in a government-created job, that dollar was taken from someone else. Possibly you. Possibly me. Possibly anyone, that is, except the newly appointed head of the IRS.

Does the phrase “wealth redistribution” ring a bell with anyone out there?

This is socialism: It’s a zero sum game. Instead of creating a bigger pie, the government’s answer is to cut the pie into more slices. Oh, and don’t think all of those slices will be of equal size, either; the biggest slices will go to the good folks in our benevolent government who are taking care of us, along with a few of their very special friends. We’ll get the paper-thin slices left over.

Don’t expect to “get ahead” or “live the American Dream” under socialism. Don’t look for innovation and don’t look for success. In socialism, success is punished by higher taxes and innovation is stagnated by a lack of incentive.

Class warfare will finally come to an end. There will be no more gaps between the “haves” and the “have-nots.” There won’t even be “haves” and “have-nots” anymore; we’ll all be “have-nots,” but at least we’ll all be equal. Talent, hard work and determination will no longer matter since everyone will get the same. From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.

There will still be a loose class structure in society, only instead of the wealthy fat cats, the put-upon middle class and the working poor; it will be the privileged political class and the great unwashed who will stand in line to collect their government goodies.

This bloated spending bill is loaded with an obscene amount of pork, and that is also part of the “change”some of you voted for, though it looks suspiciously like business as usual on steroids. It was designed by the very people who encouraged the fiscal irresponsibility that got us here in the first place.

And yes, that includes our poor deluded president, who was the picture of outrage and righteous indignation when he found this mess “sitting on his desk wrapped up in a big bow” and waiting for him when he got to the White House.

It’s not like he hasn’t been in Washington for the last four years, right?

Even though this is Obama’s first signature bill, it owes its structure to Nancy Pelosi. A bill so important she urged passing lest “500 million jobs are lost next month” in a country with a population of just more than 300 million might cause the thinking segment of our population to break into a cold sweat as they question Madame Speaker’s abilities to effectively legislate using large numbers.

The cause for this mess lies ultimately at the door of the Republicans.

We all know Democrats can’t control themselves when it comes to spending. That’s practically the definition of a Democrat.

We also know that Democrats have traditionally been able to shrug off accountability for these actions by claiming that Republicans voted for them too. Republicans are supposed to be the countermeasure to Democratic excess and vice versa. That is the definition of the opposition party. For the last few years, the Republicans have been lost in the wilderness, becoming Democrats themselves. There has been no one to stand athwart history and yell, “Stop!”

Even though all but three of our congressmen have seen the light and returned to their conservative principles (paging Arlen Specter: your conscience is calling), our new president feels he can speak with a modicum of authority when he scolds these same Republicans for their lack of credibility on fiscal responsibility. It’s a bit like Lindsay Lohan telling Britney Spears to stop her partying ways and straighten up.

If we are going to try to salvage our free market, capitalism and our way of life, then this is the exact wrong way to go about it.

Nobody thinks this bill will accomplish anything. Even Joe Biden, the unintentional beacon of straight talk in the new administration, only gives it a 70 percent chance of succeeding, and that’s being generous.

Not every Wall Street banker was a greedy fat cat or a predatory lender. Not all corporate executives are undeserving of their pay. Unfortunately, they are the only people you hear about, so no wonder the mood of the country turns with hope to socialism.

We’ve become more dependent on the State, less self-reliant, more risk averse and more susceptible to the self-pitying charms of class warfare. We do not want to forge our own path; we want to be coddled in the big warm lap of the nanny state.

The free market will not rebound without strong leadership and a clear viable plan. This mish-mash liberal wish list of social program spending disguised as “economic stimulus” does not inspire confidence, it inspires uncertainty. Uncertainty makes people spend less, take fewer risks and pull their resources in closer.

Uncertainty causes businesses to contract, make do with fewer employees and use fewer resources. This is not the way to save the free market.

But many of us already knew that. This bill was not designed to save capitalism; it was designed to kill it, once and for all. It’s the golden opportunity the Democrats have been awaiting for years: The perfect “crisis,” manufactured in part by years of bad liberal legislation, which they can now use to justify a massive power grab. They call it a paradigm shift; we call it socialism.

This is the change Obama promised. Change, but inspired by fear instead of hope. He’s doing exactly what he said he would.

Don’t say you weren’t warned.

Originally published in the Times Herald February 12, 2009