Something big and fundamental is happening in America\u2014a broad-based revolt of ordinary citizens against Washington elites, left and right.\u00a0 Elite arrogance and ineptitude across a multiplicity of issues has provoked the unwashed masses beyond the Beltway.\u00a0 Let us count the ways.<\/p>\n
Titans of the foreign policy establishment, ranging from Republicans John McCain, Lindsey Graham, Brett Stephens and Bill Kristol to New York Times<\/i> pundits Bill Keller and Nick Kristoff, argue the U.S. should provide military aid to \u201cmoderate\u201d \u00a0Syrian rebels <\/b>fighting Assad.\u00a0 To ordinary people this is a really, really dumb idea, and they let Congress know it.\u00a0 What part of the phrase \u201ccivil war\u201d do these \u201cexperts\u201d not understand? \u00a0Have Iraq and Afghanistan taught them nothing?\u00a0 Why support rebels who hate Christians, Jews, and Americans as much as they hate Assad?\u00a0 When has America ever gotten credit for helping Muslims in the Mid East?\u00a0 How does the U.S. benefit from spending billions of dollars in Syria?\u00a0 Absurdly, elites characterize these cautionary queries as \u201cisolationism\u201d \u2013 as though the Syrian civil war resembled Hitler\u2019s invasion of Czechoslovakia.<\/p>\n
Then there is Obamacare<\/b>, opposed not only by Republicans but also by labor unions and Democratic Congressmen (at least when the law applies to them).\u00a0 Rasmussen reports that 50% of Americans believe the law will worsen the healthcare system and only 30% think it will improve it.\u00a0 Obamacare\u2019s 30\/50 rule (companies must provide health insurance if they have 50 \u201cfulltime\u201d employees, defined as those working at least 30 hours per week) is creating a part-time workforce, which hurts low-income workers the most.\u00a0 The law overcharges young workers already burdened by education debts and a weak labor market.\u00a0 (Get ready to pay IRS fines if you don\u2019t comply.) \u00a0Waivers for favored interest groups and delay of sundry Obamacare provisions are unconstitutional selective enforcement of legislation.<\/p>\n
Then there is the NSA Scandal,<\/b> which unites ACLU lefties and Rand Paul libertarians.<\/p>\n
Then there is the IRS Scanda<\/b>l, where the taxmen became an arm of the Democratic Party.<\/p>\n
Then there is Benghazi<\/b>, where the supreme incompetence of Hillary\u2019s State Department led to the death of four officials, which Obama and Hillary blamed on a You-Tube video that supposedly inspired a spontaneous riot that somehow morphed into a military attack, complete with mortars and truck-mounted artillery.<\/p>\n
Then there is the dreaded sequester<\/b>.\u00a0 Obama thought any belt tightening by Uncle Sam would be a disaster, but out here in the Real World \u2013 where relentless, continuous corporate restructuring and cost-cutting are normal\u2014it was no big deal.\u00a0 Ironically, the resulting decline in the deficit is one of Obama\u2019s few economic successes.<\/p>\n
Behind the Revolt: O\u2019Poverty<\/b><\/p>\n
As I have been predicting for a few years, elite arrogance and bureaucratic overreach are squelching \u201canimal spirits\u201d in the private economy.\u00a0 What company would be eager to hire when confronted with: A) an avalanche of regulation \u2013 Obamacare, Dodd Frank, the EPA\u2019s war on fossil fuels, proliferating OSHA regulations, huge fines on banks; B) big hikes in marginal tax rates; C) a dearth of pro-growth initiatives such as tax reform and free trade agreements; D) the anti-capitalist rhetoric of Barack \u201cyou didn\u2019t build that\u201d Obama.<\/p>\n
Last week the U.S. Census gave the President his annual economic report card.* It was not one you would rush home to show Mom and Dad:<\/p>\n
The Leader of the Revolt Should . . . <\/b><\/p>\n
The Republican politician who most effectively leverages this discontent will be one who respects Tea Party Values but goes way beyond the \u201cbase\u201d to pursue an inclusive, culturally modern, pro-growth, small government, pro-privacy agenda that puts the DC elite in its place.\u00a0 Key features:<\/p>\n
*U.S. Census, Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2012<\/strong> published September 2013<\/p>\n Copyright Thomas Doerflinger 2013.\u00a0 All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Something big and fundamental is happening in America\u2014a broad-based revolt of ordinary citizens against Washington elites, left and right.\u00a0 Elite arrogance and ineptitude across a multiplicity of issues has provoked the unwashed masses beyond the Beltway.\u00a0 Let us count the … Continue reading