Barack Obama’s recent proposal to give “every working family in America a $1,000 energy rebate” paid for by stealing “part of the record profits” of American oil companies is a stark reminder of just how corrupt the American political process has become. Pimp-like politicians promise crumbs to servile citizens, who in turn applaud their own humiliation. Worse, Obama’s sordid offer raised nary a ripple of protest, even from Republicans. Such graft has become mainstream in America’s political campaigns, now contests to determine which party can deliver the most attractive loss leader. Payola has gone public and no one is ashamed, prompting this question: Which is more despicable, a pandering presidential candidate offering to buy votes, or groveling Americans slobbering over the bribe? It’s a tough call.
It wasn’t always this way. Jonah Goldberg reminds us that the Great Society’s Food Stamp program had to be sold to poor people. “Welfare ‘recruiters’ — a hundred thousand of them created by the War on Poverty — went into the cities to convince poor people to enroll,” writes Goldberg in Liberal Fascism. Forty-five years ago needy Americans still had their pride and independence, and more than a few recognized the debilitating trap set out by the Federal government. They were not an easy sell. Nevertheless, the constant offer of something for nothing overwhelmed the poor’s tradition of self-reliance. The welfare hawkers prevailed and soon reported “resistance of the ‘too prouds’ is bending.” Nearly a half century later, America’s middle-class is equally subservient, reduced to the status of fawning parasites, lustily cheering every handout.
America’s tax code is partly to blame. According to recent IRS statistics, the bottom 50% of wage earners pay only 3.6% of all income tax. The bottom quadrant pays nothing at all. This sets up what economists call infinite demand. If what you’re giving me costs nothing, I’ll take all I can get and more. Millions of Americans now regard government charity as deserved entitlements, freely provided by a beneficent leader who feels their pain. Above all, for half the country at least, the price is right, providing unscrupulous candidates with legions of voters ripe for the buying.
Here’s a bulletin for those who believe Big Oil will passively agree to Obama’s proposed rip-off. The cost of all taxes paid by corporations are passed on to the consumer, and Barack’s windfall profits scheme will simply add to the price at the pump. The dolts eager to receive their energy rebate checks will not net a single penny. They could learn a thing or two from the Faustian bargain struck between federal and state governments and Big Tobacco. Cigarette manufacturers agreed to pay state governments $246 billion and run ads dissing their own product. In return, Big Tobacco settled innumerable pending lawsuits, gained permission to raise prices beyond the cost of the payoff, and today make more money than ever. Similarly, Big Oil will survive, and you and I will pay for every tax, lease payment, and fee Uncle Sam imposes on Exxon-Mobil et al. Obama voters should smarten up.
In the end, politicians only get away with the shenanigans voters allow. Obama, perhaps more than any previous or current presidential candidate, demonstrates a willingness to bend, flop, and about face according to polling results. Today, he is for offshore and ANWR drilling, harvesting of shale oil, and is even leaning favorably towards increasing America’s production of nuclear energy. A few months ago, he was against all of it. Here is a man who can be swayed by public opinion. If enough average Americans tell him to put his bribe where the sun never shines, he’d never mention it again. You can be among the first to express this sentiment to Senator Obama. His website is www.barackobama.com.
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Posted by Jerry Pomeroy in Campaign 2008, Energy, Video