It was the best of times and it wasn't the worst of times.
This Dickensian tale of woe being woven by the left is a dangerous gambit for several reasons. On the one hand, they could blow it badly for themselves if people begin to realize how many years have been afforded by the high tax and high regulation approach to governing. On the other hand, they could stay in power and really have to follow up on the rhetoric. This would mean curbing the crony capitalism that coupled with unions is the financial base of the movement. For sure it would mean America would descend further into the abyss of self-doubt and self-loathing.
Despite all the efforts to remake America, and the obvious collateral damage, this still isn't the worst of times. When President Obama was being sworn in it wasn't the worst of times, either. And while things have gotten better, we know they could actually be a whole lot better for a lot more people if the nation was simply allowed to be America. Instead natural anxiety (in the wake of the meltdown) has been stoked into fear pushing more people to the sidelines, or making them more willing to ditch the blueprint for greatness.
It's interesting the people let down the most by left-leaning polices are the most willing to embrace more.
We aren't talking about the Blame Bush thing anymore, although it still gets mileage. We're talking about something for more dangerous....blame capitalism.
The arsonists were given a box of matches and now they're asking for flamethrowers. This is sick, man but we have evidence to show why it doesn't work.
The Sick Man of Europe
The big push to make America fairer is often supported by the cries of "look at France" which seems odd since the last thing we want is to be a nation that's drifted for a couple of decades and now is forced to punish success even further through a "millionaire" tax of 75% above that threshold.
After all the efforts to make Greece, Spain and Portugal even Italy and Ireland having to accept austerity to clean up lavish promises and underachievement, now France is the sick man of the continent. Youth unemployment is 36.8% a 16 year high and not about to get better anytime soon. The country boast a lot of millionaires but few mega rich and few newly minted millionaires as government simply milks fortunes already accumulated.
In the next decade, there's a good chance France will fall out of the top ten economies in the world...but they'll still have their arrogance and croissants and pride of knowing they fairly limited dreams and goals. This is not what we want from America.
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