America's 180

There is a grim vibe afoot in America today.  Our country is under assault by an ideology that is cloaked in class envy spun by power-hungry Washington elites and a sycophantic media that refuses to tell the truth.

The Orwellian speech given today by President Obama during his second inaugural event is in stark contrast to the one given by Ronald Reagan in 1981.  While the country faces many of the same challenges it did thirty plus years ago, the solutions presented by Obama for his second term has me thinking this country has really taken a 180 degree turn.  America has changed, thanks to a change in the American people.

This is best shown by highlighting a few passages from each president's speech.

 

President Reagan gave his first inaugural speech on January 20, 1981 when he said, "These United States are confronted with an economic affliction of great proportions   Idle industries have cast workers into unemployment, causing human misery and personal indignity."

He continued, "For too long, we have piled deficit upon deficit, mortgaging our future and our children's future for the temporary convenience of the present.  You and I, as individuals, can, by borrowing, live beyond our means, but for only a limited period of time.  Why, then, should we think that collectively, as a nation, we are not bound by that same limitation?"

"The economic ills we suffer... will not go away in days, weeks or months, but they will go away.  They will go away because we, as Americans, have the capacity now, as we have had in the past, to do whatever needs to be done to preserve this last and greatest bastion of freedom."

The president added, "In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem."

And finally, "From time to time, we have been tempted to believe that society has become too complex to be managed by self-rule, that government by an elite group is superior to government, for, by and of the people... all of us together, in and out of government, must bear the burden.  The solutions we seek must be equitable, with no one group singled out to pay a higher price."

At a time when our society was facing double digit inflation and interest rates, America chose Ronald Reagan to lead us out of turmoil and into unprecedented growth and prosperity.  We chose to embrace smaller government, lower taxes and less regulation to overcome Carter's disastrous policies.  The results were remarkable:  1) an economic boom lasting 92 months without a recession, 2) federal revenues doubling to more than $1 trillion by 1990, and 3) investments in national security ending the Cold War.

Reagan's, and America's, philosophy at that time was sharply different than the one currently espoused by Obama -- in which taxing the rich, always turning to government for answers, and "America causes the world's problems" -- are hallmarks of his presidency.

On Monday -- almost thirty-two years to the date-- President Obama called for a much different solution to our problems.  Rather than rugged individualism, he claimed no one person is responsible for their success.

He said, "Together, we determined that a modern economy requires railroads and highways... and commerce, schools and colleges to train our workers.  Together, we discovered that a free market only thrives when there are rules to ensure competition and fair play.  Together, we resolved that a great nation must care for the vulnerable, and protect its people from life's worst hazards and misfortune."

"...we have always understood that when times change, so must we; that fidelity to our founding principles requires new responses to new challenges; that preserving our individual freedoms ultimately requires collective action.  For the American people can no more meet the demands of today's world by acting alone.  No single person can train all the math and science teachers need to equip our children for the future, or build the roads and research labs that will bring new jobs..."

 

He added, "Now more than ever we must do these things together, as one nation and one people.  For we, the people, understand that our country cannot succeed when a shrinking few do very well and a growing many barely make it."

In conclusion he said, "We do not believe that in this country freedom is reserved for the lucky, or happiness for the few... the commitments we make to each other through Medicare and Medicaid and Social Security, these things do not sap our initiative, they strengths us.  They do not make us a nation of takers, they free us to take the risks that make this country great."

In contrast to Reagan's belief that individuals in America could do anything, Obama's speech was a reminder of what we could not do (without government's help).

Yet, to Obama's credit, we've become a people of need.  It's now government's job to provide services (and incomes) that support minorities, immigrants, students, retirees and the unemployed.  In addition, we are now asking government to solve "perceived problems" whenever something happens.  Want safety in schools?  Get government to limit the availability of guns and bullets.  Not happy with your phone bill?  Get Washington to regulate cable companies.  Got a problem with concussions in the NFL or steroids in baseball?  Ask our senators to nominate a committee to stop it.  Not happy with your health insurance?  Allow government to devise a 2,000 page health care bill.

The trouble is that NONE OF IT WORKS.

How did we get the idea that government is a good thing?  They've bankrupted social security, medicare and the postal service, to name a few.  Almost everything they touch is a failure.  And yet, we gladly put our faith in them to solve more of our problems.

Like all great empires in the past, I think we have gotten soft.  Too many of us have gotten lazy and see an easy way out by waiting for a handout.  Being successful, owning a nice house and car, and having a good retirement is HARD work.  For decades, schools have taught the unfairness of success and hard work.  Our courts have made it easy to sue someone who has an unfair advantage over someone else.  And immigrants today receive government assistance before they become U.S. citizens.  So it's easy to see why we have more people dependent on the government than before.

Another change is the number of people working in government jobs.  It's created another type of dependency.  Like my brother who has voted for every democrat he can, because his job as MTU manager is dependent on government assistance to supplement his salary, maintenance of city buses and even offset low ridership.  Does it surprise you that we have more people working in government today than we had as American citizens during Thomas Jefferson's writing of the Constitution in 1776?  It's true that government never gets smaller, and I'm not just talking about its federal debt or deficits.

As I said earlier, America's view of small government has changed.  

Look at these comments from a web site that asked college kids "What are the results of Reagan's presidency?"

One person said:  "The positive results, if you can call it that, are that his policies enabled the rich to get richer.  The negative, during his presidency, the federal deficit increased dramatically, the gap between rich and poor increased, taxes increased for the middle class and his trickle-down policies were still used by the the two Bush presidents which led to the recession of 2008-2009."

Another said, "It would be pretty hard to write about positive results.  Negative results include the 2008 meltdown."

So there you have it.  Our children are being told nothing of the economic brilliance and success of conservative policies, including the economic power of lower taxes and higher incomes.  They now believe anything tied to Reagan's two terms in office led to the unfairness of today's harsh economy.  Instead of the truth --a Democrat-controlled Congress forced banks and lenders to make loans to people who couldn't pay them back -- they blame it on a president who turned this country around in 1981.

It's no wonder so many young people voted for Obama.  They actually believe the liberal lies he said in his second inaugural address.  Let's not focus on what made this country great -- the freedom to prosper and be free.  Let's focus instead on climate change, gay marriage and illegal immigration.

America truly has changed 180 degrees to the left.  God help us all.