I am going to go out on a limb here. I’m willing to wager that there isn’t one member of the Editorial Board of the Wall Street Journal that wants Senator Barack Obama to be President of the United States. In fact, this group of uber-informed intellectuals understands all too well exactly how detrimental the economic policies that would be passed by the Reid/Pelosi-led Congress and signed by a President Obama would be for America.
So you have to ask yourself this question. How could Senator John McCain possibly do anything that would cause these folks to pen a column critical of McCain in any way this close to the election. Frankly, if you are John McCain, given the alternative of Obama, you should be able to expect some pretty favorable coverage on the opinion pages of the Journal. In fact, you would have to dream up some sort of absolutely outrageous policy proposal that flies in the face if free markets and individual liberty and responsibility – and takes us down a path that one would expect from Barack Obama.
Yet, today’s lead editorial in the Wall Street Journal in fact is critical of Senator John McCain’s latest proposal, introduced in the Presidential debate on Tuesday night, to have the federal government use taxpayer dollars to “rescue” homeowners around the country who, by and large, made poor personal financial decisions concerning home mortgages, and are now facing tough times. Specifically McCain offers up some $300,000,000,000 (yeah three hundred BILLION) in taxpayer dollars as a “gift” to these folks facing the long end of house payments they cannot afford. I know, I know – this sounds like a policy that should come from an Obama or a Clinton. Don’t ask me where McCain came up with it, or why he proposed it – I don’t know, and he didn’t ask me about it before proposing it.
On the face of it, it clearly is totally immoral to take confiscated tax dollars of the vast majority of Americans who did not make risky investments in mortgages that they could not afford, and redistribute that money into the pockets of their neighbors. I could write an entire column about why this is terrible public policy. But that is not the direction I want to take as I finish up this column.
I’ve endorsed John McCain for President. I want him to win. Frankly, America needs him to win. The prospects of what an Obama Presidency mean for the future of our nation (let alone the world) is frightening. So to that end, I am bringing this issue up because John McCain needs to hear, loud and clear from his supporters – this so-called economic “Resurgence” plan is not only terrible economic policy, it is bad politics because it alienates GOP base donors and volunteers at a time when they (we) are needed the most. To be clear – the best way to beat Obama is to contrast him and his liberal policies, not come up with, frankly, liberal policies of your own.
Senator McCain, we know that you believe freedom and liberty, and we take for granted that your Resurgence Plan was introduced out of both compassion for those “underwater” in their mortgages, and also a frustration about where the polls are today – but remember that this election is not just about your candidacy, it is about bringing the Republican Party out of the doldrums and back to a position of prominence. This happens only if we return to the core messaging of our party, which has its center piece moving away from a reliance on Washington D.C. policies and taxpayer “bail outs” to solve the problems of individual families. Clearly it is collectively and individually a tragedy when people are stuck in mortgages (that except in only a small fraction of cases of fraud, were entered into voluntarily) that they cannot afford. But the government can’t come in and “bail out” these folks – they have to rely on their own means, their families, and their communities. Failing that, then they may have to pay the ultimate consequence – the loss of their home. It is sad, but it is reality.
With only a few weeks to go until the election, Senator McCain should immediately withdraw this ill-conceived plan, and reengage Senator Barack Obama on the issue of who will best lead a nation through uncertain times, both internationally and domestically. His election is essential. I guarantee you that the folks at the Wall Street Journal have no interest in wasting any more column inches being critical of anything McCain says or does. I know I don’t.
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