- Joined
- May 16, 2012
- Messages
- 3,142
- Reaction score
- 939
- Gender
- Undisclosed
- Political Leaning
- Conservative
I will not shed a tear for Exxon. They are making record profits. If government regulations are as onerous as you claim then I doubt they would be as successful as they are. My guess is that many of the government regulations you refer to our rather minor and, in fact, quite wise to have in place.
Disagree. There has, from day one, been virulent disagreement in American politics between Federalist and Anti-Federalists. This argument is not definitively decided one way or the other in the constitution, despite your desire that it be interpreted as such. We can debate this until we are blue in the face and I am happy to do so.
Once again, I can point to a ton of countries which have collectivist/socialist elements to their governments that have been and are successful and I still challenge you to show me one that isn't. And advocating elements of socialism/collectivism in government is NOT the same as advocating Communism, Marxism or, even, Socialism in its purest form. I can point to you many cases in which unregulated Capitalism has also resulted in starvation, misery and failure, but this does not mean that Capitalism is not a valid system. It just means that Capitalism, like Socialism, is a system of governance that can be used for either good or bad, depending upon how it is implemented. I am very comfortable with the idea of implementing them both and so are all of the other socially and economically successful nations on this planet.
No, I just want you to quit yelling that Collectivist government cannot coexist with the free market in a positive way. You don't need to bow to anyone. You just need to acknowledge that taxes can be and are put to good use in many(not all, I acknowledge) instances in ways that benefit all members of society, business owners included.
Obama has taken credit for nothing. He has always and continues to promote individual initiative. All he is pointing out is that it would be destructive for us to destroy the very government and its institutions and policies that have so greatly contributed to all of our success. This is not to say that the government deserves all of the success, just that it has played a very important role and every time that you or someone else yells "I did this all by myself" you are incorrectly downplaying and ignoring how important government is to creating a healthy business environment. And, once again, we are the ones who elect our government and they are not completely independent of us, but a direct extension of our democratic voices.
I do not interpret his policies or words to mean that the government is just as important in your success as you are. If he said something like "The government is 80% responsible for your success" then that would be one thing. All he did was point out that noone ever does anything "all by themselves" without the help of others(government included) and you have taken it to mean that he wants to take credit for you success. I really urge your to consider the fact that you may be being a bit alarmist as to how Obama believes about businesses and individual initiative. He is a capitalist through and through-just one that recognizes that there is a strong and important role for government as well.
Hahaha....the man is not a capitalist. He believes capitalism is "unfair" because it disproportionately rewards some more than others. He was displaying his honest philosophy when he told Joe the Plumber "I just think it's better when you spread the wealth around". His actions speak just as loud as his words. His philosophy encourages government dependency. How else would you interpret pushing to increase welfare roles? Increasing unemployment benefits? Removing work requirements from welfare?
All of these things counter act against individual responsibility and individualism in general, which is the bedrock principle of capitalism. Capitalism does not punish success. It celebrates it. But instead of celebrating the success of an American company, Exxon Mobil, he uses them as a bullseye target for public enemy number 1. They are demonized....and for what? Record profits. They are chided for being successful. Yet u say he's a capitalist? Lol....that's cute.
Instead of celebrating successful business owners, he calls on them to pay even more. Sacrifice even more. Share more of the burdens. Then he insults them by saying they didn't build their businesses. And he did say it.
When the economy is slow, he doesn't turn to the business sector for solutions. He tells the public to put their faith in government stimulus, government bailouts, government. More welfare, more unemployment, less work requirements.
Please, don't tell me the man is a capitalist. He's everything but....