Top 10 Obama Attacks on Capitalism

Top 10 Obama Attacks on Capitalism
by Human Events
07/02/2011

President Obama occasionally cozies up to the corporate world, especially during fund-raising time, and delivers a modicum of support for business. But have no doubt about it, this is a man who honors the power of government over the marketplace. Here are the Top 10 Obama Attacks on Capitalism:

1. Spread wealth around: This famous utterance—“I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody”—to Joe the Plumber during the 2008 presidential race, remains the saying that most succinctly sums up Obama’s worldview, that of a community organizer, which is that accumulated wealth is to be reviled and rectified through redistribution. Nothing could be more antagonistic to entrepreneurship, free markets or business investment than to have the government seize the rewards of sound economic decisions in order to try and engineer social equality.

2. Capital-gains “fairness”: During a 2008 presidential debate, Obama gave us another plank in his Socialist mindset by explaining his view on tax-policy fairness. When asked by moderator Charlie Gibson whether he would favor a cut in the capital gains rate if it led to higher revenues as it did during previous administrations, Obama said: “Well, Charlie, what I've said is that I would look at raising the capital gains tax for purposes of fairness.” Seizing higher percentages of earnings from those who made wise investments is preferable to Obama even if it means less tax dollars for his precious government programs.

3. ObamaCare by any means: When battling for his signature health care legislation, Obama saw fit to carry out daily attacks on insurance companies. Even the liberal Washington Post called him out, with an article reporting: “The near-daily demonization of the insurance industry is an attempt by the White House to play to Americans' anxieties about the health-care system.” Typical of his attacks was a speech containing 22 castigations against the insurance industry, such as, “How much higher do premiums have to rise, before we do something about it?" We are still waiting, Mr. President.

4. Bondholders equal speculators: When negotiating the bailout of General Motors, Obama called the automaker’s bondholders “speculators” who were "refusing to sacrifice like everyone else." Apparently Obama’s definition of shared sacrifice didn’t apply to his campaign-backers at the United Auto Workers, which were handed partial ownership of the company saved from bankruptcy by taxpayer dollars.

5. Chamber of Commerce attack: Obama demonized the Chamber of Commerce during the midterm election campaign, accusing the business group, with no proof, of using foreign money to influence the elections. “Just this week, we learned that one of the largest groups paying for these ads regularly takes in money from foreign corporations. So groups that receive foreign money are spending huge sums to influence American elections,” Obama said on the stump. “And they won’t tell you where the money for the ads comes from.” Going into campaign mode against corporate America with such silliness even had the New York Times complaining.

6. Class-warfare tactics: In January 2010, Obama stumped for the Massachusetts Senate campaign of Martha Coakley, asking the crowd to make a false choice: “When the vote comes on taxes, and there’s a choice between giving more tax breaks to the wealthiest few and corporations that ship American jobs overseas or giving them to the middle class and businesses that create jobs here, who’s going to be on your side?” We all know how well that campaign rhetoric worked, don’t we, Sen. Brown?

7. Student-loan penalty for private sector: Obama laid out a new student loan program in his 2010 State of the Union address where those who choose a career in public service (working for the government) get special treatment over those who enter the private sector. "Let's tell another 1 million students that when they graduate, they will be required to pay only 10% of their income on student loans, and all of their debt will be forgiven after 20 years, and forgiven after 10 years if they choose a career in public service.” Do we really need more incentives for government workers?

8. Stop making money: It just pains the President when someone is successful in the financial world. During his campaign to pass the Dodd-Frank financial reform monstrosity, Obama let his true feelings show: "We're not trying to push financial reform because we begrudge success that's fairly earned. I mean, I do think at a certain point you've made enough money.”

9. Boeing silence: That Obama doesn’t want to talk about the National Labor Relations Board’s Boeing action speaks volumes. The Obama-packed NLRB suit to deny Boeing’s attempt to open a new plant, creating jobs, in South Carolina because it is a right-to-work state strikes at the heart of our capitalist system. But when asked about the ruling, White House spokesman Jay Carney said: “We do not get involved in particular enforcement matters of independent agencies.”

10. Leave corporate America: Michelle Obama, during the 2008 presidential race, described her and her husband’s philosophy on the superiority of public service over the business world: “We left corporate America, which is a lot of what we're asking young people to do. Don't go into corporate America. You know, become teachers. Work for the community. Be social workers. Be a nurse.” Because, you know, community activists are so much more valuable than corporate leaders.
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To read another Human Events 'Top Ten List', click here.