There are two things that guarantee our freedom here in America: the Constitution constructed by our Founding Fathers and our economic system of Capitalism. Both are under assault from the Left and have been for quite some time.  The difference now, however, is that the Left has a man in the White House committed to destroying both.

Our sacred Constitution was carefully crafted to protect our freedom and individual rights from man's natural inclination to abuse power.  Three branches of government, checks and balances, and the Bill of Rights all work together to prohibit the implementation of a powerful, centralized Government that controls our life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. The Left has always viewed the Constitution as an impediment.  That is why it uses the Judicial system to attack it at every opportunity.  Abortion, the 2^nd Amendment, health care and private property rights are just a few of the issues the Left has manipulated through the court system.  You can expect this to continue with Barack Obama and his powerful allies appointing judges interested more in legislating leftist policy than interpreting law or the Constitution.  This economic crisis presents them with a unique opportunity to distract us while their judges continue to assault the rights and freedoms guaranteed in the Constitution.

Our economic system of Capitalism provides the freedom and opportunity to pursue our happiness.  It certainly isn’t perfect.  In fact, Winston Churchill famously said: “Capitalism is the worst economic system, except for all others that have been tried.”  No, it is not perfect, there are successes and failures, but it is the best system and gives the most people, the most opportunity to provide for their families and live a fruitful life.  Milton Friedman, the famous economist, in his seminal work, Capitalism and Freedom, masterfully detailed the dangers of centralized government and the virtues of Capitalism. He wrote:

“The preservation of freedom is the protective reason for limiting decentralizing governmental power.  But there is also a constructive reason.  The great advances of civilization, whether in architecture or painting, in science or in literature, in industry or agriculture, have never come from centralized government...It is a striking historical fact that the development of capitalism has been accompanied by a major reduction in the extent to which particular religious, racial or social groups have operated under special handicaps in respect of their economic activities; have as the saying goes, been discriminated against.  The substitution of contract arrangements for status arrangements was the first step toward the freeing of the serfs in the Middle Ages.  The preservation of the Jews through the Middle Ages was possible because of the existence of a market sector in which they could operate and maintain themselves despite official persecution. Puritans and Quakers were able to migrate to the New World because they could accumulate the funds to do so in the market despite disabilities imposed on them in other aspects of their life...the most important single central fact about a free market is that no exchange takes place unless both parties benefit.”

Most Americans still believe in Capitalism. Most Americans value freedom and opportunity.  Barack Obama knows this and that’s why he sees this economic crisis as an opportunity to destroy the very system that stands in the way of his socialist vision.

The recent trillion dollar spending bill, cleverly called a “stimulus plan”, was Barack's first step toward making his vision a reality.  This bill was nothing more than the most expensive vote-buying scheme ever forced on the American people.  It will grow government power exponentially and our children will suffer the effects for decades to come.

The second step was his State of the Union speech last week. Larry Kudlow explains: “Let me be very clear on the economics of President Obama’s State of the Union speech and his budget.  He is declaring war on investors, entrepreneurs, small businesses, large corporations, and private-equity and venture-capital funds.  That is the meaning of his anti-growth tax-hike proposals, which make absolutely no sense at all — either for this recession or from the standpoint of expanding our economy’s long-run potential to grow.  Raising the marginal tax rate on successful earners, capital, dividends, and all the private funds is a function of Obama’s left-wing social vision, and a repudiation of his economic-recovery statements.  Ditto for his sweeping government-planning-and-spending program, which will wind up raising federal outlays as a share of GDP to at least 30 percent, if not more, over the next 10 years.  This is nearly double the government-spending low-point reached during the late 1990s by the Gingrich Congress and the Clinton administration.  While not quite as high as spending levels in Western Europe, we regrettably will be gaining on this statist-planning approach.  Study after study over the past several decades has shown how countries that spend more produce less, while nations that tax less produce more.  Obama is doing it wrong on both counts. And as far as middle-class tax cuts are concerned, Obama’s cap-and-trade program will be a huge across-the-board tax increase on blue-collar workers, including unionized workers.  Industrial production is plunging, but new carbon taxes will prevent production from ever recovering.  While the country wants more fuel and power, cap-and-trade will deliver less.  The tax hikes will generate lower growth and fewer revenues.”

One thing is clear at this point. Historical data proves that Barack Obama’s socialist policies will not only fail, they will make things worse.  It is time to seriously discuss the fact that Barack Obama wants Capitalism to fail.  In order to accomplish this the economic crisis must continue and he must create the perception that a more powerful, centralized Government is the only solution.  As his Chief of Staff said: “you never want a serious crisis to go to waste”, and as Milton Friedman wrote: “underlying most arguments against a free market is the lack of belief in freedom itself.”


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