Obama: Not redistributing wealth

cbsnews.com ^

[Sub-Driver]

Obama: Not redistributing wealth

(CBS News)

In a "60 Minutes" interview with Steve Kroft, President Obama disputes the notion he is trying to redistribute wealth with his plans to treat the country's economic ills. He tells Kroft he's just attempting to deliver the "American Deal" of a strong middle class "where everybody is able to do their part and everybody's able to succeed." Kroft spoke to the president yesterday at the White House and Tuesday in Osawatomie, Kan., for a "60 Minutes" interview to be broadcast Sunday, Dec. 11 at 7:00 p.m. ET/PT.

In the interview, Kroft points out that in his speech in Kansas, he mentioned income inequality, a phrase that suggests a need to redistribute wealth. The president quickly responded:

President Obama: Look, everybody's concerned about inequality. Those folks in there, who were listening to the speech, those are teachers and small-business people, and probably some small-town bankers, who are in there thinking to themselves, "How is it that I-- we're -- working so hard, we now have Mom and Dad working hard, maybe if they're lucky, they might have two jobs to try to pay off their house note, and it just seems like they're treading water? And meanwhile, they know that corporate profits are at a record level, that a lot of folks are doing very well. What's happened to the bargain? What's happened to the American deal that says, you know, we are focused on building a strong middle class?

[NFHale]

“...Those who suggest that every child should have an equal chance at success would deny people the primary ambition which has held society together for millennia. ...”

But we all DO have an “equal chance at success” already.

It’s the personal ambition and initiative that makes the difference.

Socialism takes the person with drive, ambition, and initiative and puts him on the same level as the lazy worthless POS that has ZERO of those same qualities, and robs the products of one man’s hard labor to “equalize” the outcome for the worhtless POS.

We all DO have an equal chance for success here in this country; it’s up to the person to run the race to achieve it.

Obama and his ilk are playing on race jealousy, class jealousy, gender jealousy, and playing to every base instinct of greed and avarice that they have studied in people in their universities and study groups.

This is a carefully orchestrated act, and it works because there will ALWAYS be folks who are more successful because of hard work, quicker instincts and better intellect, and maybe just a little bit more luck (I’ve found that you basically make your own luck, though, just by paying attention and taking advantage of opportunities when they are presented to you).

And there will always be those who want what the other guy has, but are not willing to go the distance for it. And this is the liberal base that they play to in order to keep power.

[supercat]

But we all DO have an “equal chance at success” already.

People do not all have an equal chance of success. People with really crummy parents have a much lower chance of achieving "success", almost no matter how it's measured, than people with good parents. While it's unfortunate that some people have really crummy parents, there's a limit how much one can do to limit the damage caused by bad parents, without creating more problems than one solves.

[NFHale]

I have to disagree with you, Super.

Personal initiative and drive can and usually does overcome things like that. This country is full of success stories. I personally know people who survived and overcame the scenario (as well as other, worse scenarios - alcoholic, abusive, and worse) who grew up, and went on to have thriving, productive and successful lives because they refused to be part of the vicious cycle.

Just a difference of opinion, friend.

[supercat]

Personal initiative and drive can and usually does overcome things like that.

It certainly can overcome such things. And perhaps it would "usually" do so in cases where people actually manage to exercise some real initiative. On the other hand, people whose parents teach them how to exercise personal initiative would seem far more likely to do so than those whose parents teach them to leach off others.