Dear Friends,
It seems to me, the progressive and democratic parties in the United States are waging a war on prosperity. The reason is irrelevant but their actions demonstrate the war is being waged. The consequences of this war on prosperity are monumental. They apply not only to today’s generation, but because economic growth is cumulative, the loss in economic activity today translates in to a lower standard of living for future generations. Such a remarkable thing as a war being waged on our prosperity, is important for people to know and understand, so we can do something about it. If we don’t act, the results will diminish our standard of living to that of a third world hell hole, eventually. There are very few people anywhere who want less for their children, and thus, no one in their right mind wants a war waged on prosperity.
I don’t need to be told a man is fishing to understand that a man is fishing. If I see someone putting a worm on a hook, the hook tied to a string, the string tied to a pole, and when the man has finished putting the worm on a hook, he tosses the baited hook into a stream likely to contain fish. I don’t need to know why he is fishing to know that he is fishing. He might want food, he might want recreation or he might like the sport of fishing, but when I see someone engaging in these actions, I know that person is fishing… even if they deny it. The same is true of the democrats war on prosperity.
Lets examine the actions of the democrat party over the last few years. The Keystone XL pipeline has been vetoed, pilloried and protested by democrats and progressives. They make the spurious argument that the building of it will lead to more carbon in the atmosphere. Leaving alone the absurdity of the Climate Change argument, that oil will be burned regardless of the pipeline’s creation. The Canadian government has said, if the US doesn’t buy that oil it will be sent to China. Everyone knows the Chinese will burn that oil happily. Not only will it be burned whether or not the pipeline is built, but the oil will then have to be shipped to China via oil tankers, opening up the possibility of oil spills, the transportation will consume more energy, thus emitting more carbon into the atmosphere, and the Chinese economy is far less efficient with energy than the US economy, so less will be produced at greater cost to the carbon load. So clearly their rhetoric doesn’t agree with their actions.
The keystone pipeline would however generate high paying jobs in the US. Not only from it’s construction but from the personnel that will be required for it’s maintenance, the resulting lower energy cost, allowing for more manufacturing jobs in the US, and the jobs that will be needed to refine, ship and sell that oil. The oil is still coming to the US, but far less efficiently on trains that consume oil to haul it to the Texas refineries, and as recent news stories have shown, shipping oil by train can be very hazardous, Ala Lac-Megantic. The only possible result of the delay and ultimate stopping of the pipeline, will be to reduce economic output in the US and lower the number of jobs, and thus diminish wages. This is only one of the fronts of the democrat and progressive war on prosperity however.
Obama care has demolished economic output as efficiently as the fire bombing of Dresden during the Second World War razed that city. I have written extensively about the economic consequences of that flawed law. One that I might add, is that the law has been delayed, to after the next election, specifically because of it’s negative impact on small businesses. The heavy handed regulation of such a large and economically vital portion of the US economy has made it very difficult for new small businesses to start and be profitable. Every economist will tell you that it is new businesses that generate the majority of new jobs in any economy.
The rhetoric of the Obama administration has been aimed directly at job creators. His incessant attacks on “The Rich,” his ever increasing tax load poured on businesses, and his dozens of job killing tzars, specifically tasked with regulating every aspect of our lives, has had a dramatic effect on our economy. The actions of the democrats and progressives say, far louder than words, that they are waging a war on prosperity.
The results are as clear to discern as the fish in a fisherman’s basket. The economic rebound after the 2008 recession has been the most dismal since FDR did the same thing in the 1930’s… there are no V shaper’s today, the labor participation rate has fallen off the table, food stamps are at an all time high, GDP growth has been predicted to be 3-4% but has come in around 1-2%, the term economists are using to describe the pathetic economic numbers is “The New Normal,” the Federal Reserve has had an unprecedented ZERO interest rate for 5 years to no avail, plus they have been printing money to the tune of over a trillion dollars to prop up the economy every year since Obama took office… I could go on and on but space limits me.
The actions of the democrat and progressive left are plain to see for anyone with their eyes open as well as the results. Why they are waging a war on our prosperity is irrelevant, but that they ARE waging a war on prosperity, is critical. If we take our role in democratic society seriously, we must stand and speak out, or else our children will pay a heavy burden for our silence. It is far better to be vilified as racist, mean spirited, hate monger, teabagger, un-American, seditious or any of the other spurious ad homonym attacks designed to silence us, than to bequeath to our children and their children, poverty, want and famine. Which is exactly what we will be doing if we don’t fight against, and win, this war on our prosperity.
Sincerely,
John Pepin
