Two Americas

By Curtis Harris

I must admit that I am absolutely flabbergasted by America's politics during this election season. I sense that there really are two Americas — the Bush haters and everybody else. I am reminded of the '96 election, when we had the Clinton haters (ok, I was one), only now the Bush haters seem to be much more numerous. To explain this, I offer two points.

First, the Bush haters seem much more numerous because of who they are. The Bush haters, in no particular order, are foreign governments, the super-rich, labor unions, environmental groups, trial lawyers, the mainstream media, Hollywood, academicians and teachers (unions), and the young people that enjoy demonstrating for left-wing and anti-war policies. None of these groups hated Clinton.

Second, America faces multiple challenges that go to the heart of what we are as a country. Most of the groups and power structures that make up the Bush haters are threatened by the Bush agenda for America and America's role in the world. They like the status quo, in which they hold their power.

To make sense of today's political environment, we should look past all the political noise to the fundamental values and principles upon which the United States of America was founded. They made us the great nation that we are today. There is no doubt that America is the best place on earth to live in freedom, prosperity and security. These same values and principles must determine our choices in November.

America's fundamental values are a belief in individual freedom as a gift from God and each person's responsibility to participate in a moral society that offers life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. America's fundamental principles are limited government, free markets and security of property. These values and principles are expressions of two important aspects of God's design of our Universe — change and progress. Change and progress are the foundation of healthy people and healthy societies.

The choice we face in November is healthy change and progress versus protection of the status quo, and the consequent stagnation and decline. November is an inflection point in American history because we face many challenges that can no longer be avoided by political sleight-of-hand. There are two roads to the future. One will take us to new frontiers of progress and prosperity. The other will take us in the direction of the socialist model and the fate of other failed societies. The candidates for president offer clear choices.

President George W. Bush has done a good job in his first term. He returned dignity and honesty to the White House. His tax and economic policies are creating the environment for a healthy economy. His leadership is winning the War on Terror. He has a clear plan for his second term that will continue to make America a more secure and prosperous nation. He has been and will continue to be a champion of America's fundamental values and principles. However, he is not perfect. He has made domestic policy errors due to political calculation and the necessity to compromise with the Congress to make any progress at all.

Senator John F. Kerry wants to be President. The best way to evaluate him and the direction he would take America is to look at his supporters, the Bush haters. They support him because, as President, he is likely to advance their agendas and protect their privileges. It is clear that their primary goal is to defeat George Bush.

Kerry's supporters:

• Foreign governments want an American president that will be less effective in foreign policy. Arabs want Kerry because he has a record of being against military strength and will be less inclined to protect America's interests at home and abroad. Old Europeans want Kerry because Bush upset their cookie jar in Iraq. They also prefer Kerry because, under Bush, the American economy has grown while their economies have been stagnant. Dictators and tyrants prefer Kerry. He will not threaten their power. It is as simple as this: foreign governments want a weak America. Therefore, Kerry has their support.
  
  
• The super-rich, i.e. George Soros and Warren Buffet, are already at the top of the economic ladder. They built their fortunes exploiting economic inefficiencies created by misguided government policy. In Buffet's case, the estate tax. For Soros, currency manipulation. Change and progress represent risk to them. Tax structures that keep others from becoming rich serve to protect their positions. Kerry is a safe bet for them.
  
  
• Labor unions. Most of these organizations are dominated by organized crime and exist to control labor markets. They use their member's dues for political influence in order to be protected from competition and healthy change. Unions drive costs up and productivity down. Industries, including government agencies, controlled by unions typically decline because they lack flexibility to respond to economic changes and their customer's needs. Kerry will continue their hold on power.
  
  
• Environmental groups. Most of these exist to oppose free-market capitalism while hiding behind cute animal pictures. They oppose all economic development in America while ignoring the fact that environmental disasters primarily occur in poor countries without the blessings of free-market capitalism. They prefer Kerry because he will block sensible changes to America's environmental laws.
  
  
• Trial Lawyers. These people ruin industries and destroy jobs with phony class-action lawsuits. They get rich while supposed victims get coupons and discounts. They drive health care costs up and doctors out of the field. Kerry & Edwards may as well be the name of a law firm. Kerry will block sensible tort reform, at great cost to America's economic health.
  
  
• Federal government bureaucracies. Kerry represents the opportunity for expanded power, more employees and bigger budgets, without regard to the public's need for services.
  
  
• The mainstream media. These organizations are dominated by self-important people that no longer report the facts. They push a liberal agenda. The bias in these organizations is well-documented. Bush is under a microscope while negative information on Kerry is ignored or relegated to page twenty. Kerry represents their socialist world-view and has their support.
  
  
• The public education bureaucracy and the teacher's unions. These people are completely failing in their duty to provide good educations to our children. They want more money and protection from competition. Inner city minority children are being sentenced to lives with no opportunity for success. Any reforms are rejected. They support Kerry because he supports them.
  
  
• America's Hollywood royalty. We don't have the British royal family for entertainment, so this bunch of immoral idiots serves the purpose. They support Kerry. Enough said.
  
  

There is at least one common thread that runs through all of Kerry's support. These people and groups all have some form of power and security in the status quo. Change and progress threaten them, so they subordinate America's fundamental values and principles to their own self-interest. They will sacrifice America's future for their own convenience.

John F. Kerry represents the elites and the entrenched, those who will stop change and progress to protect their power and wealth. Kerry will prevent Social Security reform. He will raise taxes on entrepreneurs who build our economy. He will not do the hard work necessary to protect America from terrorism. He will further insert the Federal government into health care decisions. He will let the trial lawyers continue to run amuck. He will undermine the values that inspire and enable people to better themselves, and place more power in the hands of government.

President Bush has earned four more years in office. We are more prosperous, more secure and more moral than we were when he took office. There is a clear choice about America's future in this election. Let's choose the American future, not the French one.

© Curtis Harris