Fail safe
To the publisher:
As Rush Limbaugh says, it’s the policies that President Barack Obama is pushing that we want to fail [“Publisher’s View,” March 10]. The government cannot pull the economy out of a recession. It takes consumer confidence and a willingness to spend to do that. Taxing the very people who generate new job opportunities and lead the people in consumer spending is insane.
Keep in mind, everything President Obama and his cohorts are doing has nothing—repeat nothing—to do with growing or spurring or bailing or encouraging anything. It has to do with increasing the federal government’s [read: the Democratic Party’s] infiltration into every aspect of our lives, thus deepening dependency for our economic and physical well-being on the government.
It is about control. That is what socialism is, and that is what Obama is striving to achieve in this country. That is what this crisis was all about: to create an environment of panic that lowers people’s resistance and reduces their skepticism toward these new ideals. Ideals, by the way, that have never succeeded in the history of the world other than to enslave generations of people to a life of poverty, hopelessness and fear.
Jim S. Mitchell, Lafayette
To the publisher:
There are two different and important answers to your question: Do you want Obama to fail? But to answer them, one must separate one question into two questions.
First, do you want the recently hurried enactment of Big Government policies that have occurred over the past 50 days to fail?
Yes, the policies and issues that have been passed under the Pelosi-Reid Congress and under the leadership of Obama need to be reversed as quickly as possible, because these policies will bring not only failure to Obama but also failure to the American economy and perhaps create a global economic crisis.
Second, do you want Obama, the man, to fail?
Because Obama is our first black president, I think it is important that for black Americans, and for Americans in general, that the generation that grew up under the entitlement programs learn and realize from Barrack’s example that success equals hard work, education, responsible fatherhood—even if you are from a single-parent family with numerous issues to overcome. That is the hope and change that will free poor Americans from the slavery of government dependence.
But if children learn that twisting the truth to fit the circumstances is OK, then we can expect imitation. If you say centrist things to get elected and govern from the far left, then we learn that one’s word does not mean anything if the ends justify the means. If you preach hard work and education, but continue policies that give you incentive to stay comfortable where you are, then hope and change are empty. And, when hope you can believe in is taken away, the man Obama fails.
Suzan Gaston, Baton Rouge
To the publisher:
Failure for Obama means that the American people suffer. This is a very typical Republican response to the country’s problems, and their response when they have been the primary culprits for the problems. As you know, Keynesian economists have proven long ago that when the economy contracts, then other entities—both public and private—must step up to the plate and present bold initiatives that move the country forward, create infrastructure and help those who are less fortunate than those who control the majority of the resources.
During the period of America’s history when it had the highest marginal tax rate—the 50s and 60s—the economy grew at its healthiest and fastest rate. So the whining about taxation, which is only being returned to pre-Bush levels, is just another example of the innate greed and disregard of humanity of so many.
As Americans, this is the time for each of us to work hard to help others and to promote ideas that create real growth—not just unregulated paper transfers of imaginary wealth. As an educated person with a public voice, you have the responsibility to carefully consider what you recommend and to care about those around you, not just the people who buy your magazine and advertise in it. This is an ethical bond that you accepted when you established a public forum for the healthy promotion of business and industry.
John B. Welch, Baton Rouge
To the publisher:
I am appalled at the online comments your commentary has received. With possibly one or two exceptions, I think that most of the respondents live in a different dimension—certainly not in our reality. Rush’s statement is less a problem [philosophically] than the statements made by leaders of the Democrat Party [Pelosi, Reid, Carville and others] concerning Bush’s success/failure. For the left wing to raise cries against Rush is hypocritical in the least.
This whole thing is a distraction to keep the American people from seeing all the other socialist/Big Government things the Obama administration is doing and trying to get done.
I didn’t agree with a lot of things that Bush did—failure to act on illegal immigration, not promoting fair trade practices—but he was better than Al Gore and/or John Kerry would have been.
The Republican Party must return to its roots and stop trying to be “Democratic Party lite.” Republicans need to take their message to people and stop trying to get the propaganda media to like them.
Obama must fail. If he succeeds, the country will lose.
John French, Baton Rouge
To the publisher:
Saying that you want Obama to fail is to say that you want our country to go down the drain. Guess what? You will go down with it.
It was George W. Bush who doubled the size of government in this country. It is the Republicans’ “no regulation” that got us in the worst economic mess since the Great Depression. All Obama is trying to do is fix the Republican mess and feed and house the people who are now homeless, out of work and starving because of the economic mess the Republicans have got us into. And now they have the nerve to accuse Obama of spending too much money on government programs for people who are left jobless because of the economy.
Why didn’t you complain about government spending when your government spent more than $1 trillion on Iraq and is still spending? You probably think that is better than supporting our own people here who are in trouble. Get a clue and start supporting your country or we will all go down in flames.
Linda Rewerts, Baton Rouge
To the publisher:
I want a strong economy and secure nation with the values of our founders on God, family, marriage and life. Yes, I want this socialist, nay Marxist, to fail for the sake of our country and our children. No, there is nothing strange about wanting failed policies and their proponents to fail.
Chuck Fitch, Prairieville
