Posted on 10/03/2004 11:59:39 AM PDT by madprof98
Especially troubling about the national Democratic Party that emerges in the new century is that it has become a national scold without any coherent vision or message.
Say what you will about George W. Bush — and a range of embittered Democrats deeply despise him — he does have a vision.
He laid out a domestic agenda with unmistakable clarity in his speech to the GOP convention, just as he laid out a worldview in his remarks at the United Nations. It's optimistic, premised on the belief that we are a decent people who can adapt to changed circumstance and alter, without destroying, our institutions.
Bush's domestic agenda, like his vision of a world where the rule of law prevails, where property rights are protected, where free speech, equal justice and religious tolerance are honored, is based on the idea that, with greater responsibility and self-reliance, we can enjoy expanded freedoms.
The premise of '60s radicalism, with its assault on institutions and its personal liberty without responsibility, was that individuals ought to be free to behave as they choose. It meant, for example, that free-spirited adults could have children without the constraints of marriage, because government would provide, and would pick up the pieces of damaged lives.
That strain of liberalism shaped government as it grew over the last four decades. Even now, no debate about the plight of abused and abandoned children centers on the importance of bringing them into the world with a mother and father. Instead, it focuses entirely on the failure of social workers and a government-constructed safety net. All solutions involve expanding government so that adults can behave as they choose, without responsibility or obligation.
The world Bush describes provides incentive to accept personal responsibility. The premise of No Child Left Behind is that parents who, because of poverty-induced passivity, have been without voice or options in the education of their children now will be given two wonderful liberating tools with which to better their lives. One is information on school performance. And the other is an alternative —tutoring or another school.
Suddenly it matters that parents go to the trouble to inform themselves. Poor or not, they have power — and incentive to be responsible.
The same is true of tax cuts, personal retirement accounts and the health care financing system Bush is proposing.
The tax code has simply evolved. The public education system was designed for an agricultural economy. The health care financing system was spawned by World War II labor shortages and wage and price controls.
A portion of the taxes paid by younger workers would be held in a personal account — unlike Social Security's structure today — that Bush describes as "a nest egg you can call your own and government can never take away."
The existing health care system gives no incentive to manage our own health or to care what services cost. If we could keep some of the money, and if we knew what things cost and if we had information on outcomes, we would become more responsible consumers. Nobody's being punished. Nobody's being denied. Instead we're rewarded for taking charge.
Allowing the young to keep a piece of their payroll taxes in a personal account that can be passed along as inheritances to their children promotes self-reliance and personal responsibility for retirement planning.
For decades Democrats have defended the status quo, assuring their re-election by frightening old folks on Social Security, by frightening blacks, by preaching victimization and then assembling the victims and grievance-bearers into an election majority. It's grim, gloom, anger, spite and envy.
Surely we are a more decent people than that. Surely we can build a better world without trampling the weak, the old and the sick.
That's the world George W. Bush describes. It is upbeat, positive, hopeful — and achievable.
Wooten gets it just right:
The premise of '60s radicalism, with its assault on institutions and its personal liberty without responsibility, was that individuals ought to be free to behave as they choose. It meant, for example, that free-spirited adults could have children without the constraints of marriage, because government would provide, and would pick up the pieces of damaged lives.That strain of liberalism shaped government as it grew over the last four decades. Even now, no debate about the plight of abused and abandoned children centers on the importance of bringing them into the world with a mother and father. Instead, it focuses entirely on the failure of social workers and a government-constructed safety net. All solutions involve expanding government so that adults can behave as they choose, without responsibility or obligation.
bump
The fundamental disaster of the Democratic Party is it's desire, for the sake of power, to rob US citizens of the ability or reason to dream big dreams.
They rob the US citizens of the ability to ACHIEVE those big dreams.
See my tag line.
There are a number of prophetic observations made by the Founding Fathers and others regarding what can possibly bring down the United States. This is the one mentioned most often.
He successfully elevated his position in world history with that delivery.
Winston Churchill would be proud and humble at the same time!
This week Blair made a similar speech that was equally moving.
BINGO! I believe that this is one of the root causes for the Bush haters.
They won't admit it but I really think it is the underlying truth. Their excuses are a diversion. They see him as cocky. They don't like the way he swaggers. They call him a liar. They cannot recognize his character or that he basis his decisions on principles. They do not see him as a responsible leader - a man of his word.
In other words, they hate him because he is everything that they are not. He is a man with deep convictions and yet he is being convicted by people who refuse to allow themselves to be - to be responsible, to be accountable, to be convicted themselves.
Bump!
BUMP!
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