It is clear the voters are engaged and angry.  I say one thing they pine for is more humility from elected representatives.  The atmosphere calls out for political leaders who are well grounded in reality.  Independents who are coming back to the GOP are doing so because the Democrats are topping the collective baloney meter.  America considers itself under assault by those who hold the reins of power and they are rallying to the idea that the whole enterprise of government is a cancerous lesion that hurts more than it helps.

I suggest Republicans engage the angry voters by modifying their rhetoric to be more humble and to acknowledge that America’s greatness is entirely owed to the freedom of its citizens.  I cringe when I hear electeds of either party say that government needs to create jobs.  Even the imperial, "we must create jobs" does not sit well.  Why?  Because the voters know that elected officials do not create any jobs except government jobs.  When elected officials, all of whom have a job, engage in the claim they are the font and source of jobs it is off-putting to people who do not have a job.  Face it: if the government could, indeed, create jobs, then there would be no unemployment. Recycling tax dollars around and around to stimulate the economy is not only making voters cynical, it is making them hopping mad. 

The public understands the source of our nation’s wealth comes entirely from the wonderful mechanism of voluntary exchange of good and services, not from politicians.   Government can help by providing for public safety, essential infrastructure, a court system, and upholding certain inalienable rights, like private property, self defense, etc.  But pretty much everything else government does distorts the market away from the voluntary actions of individual consumers.  This distortion results in fewer goods and services at higher prices.  Health care is a good example.  The more that government piles on mandates and increases its role, the more health insurance premiums go up and up.  In contrast, the eye surgery procedure, Lasik, which is not covered by insurance or government subsidy, gets less and less expensive and the quality has gone up by leaps and bounds.  When consumers are directly tied to the price of a good or service, they are more discriminating about it, and the result is they get more of it, the quality improves, and it gets less expensive.  If only our health care system had as little interference as Apple Computer enjoys, health care consumers would likely be as pleased as they are with their iPhones.   It is the absence of state interference in the voluntary actions of consumers that is the key to a growing, dynamic economy across the board.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 25th, 2010 at 12:00 am and is filed under Blog Posts.