Outrage at Mitt Romney's statement about the state of his concern for the poor has received a lot of ink and air of late. It matters not. The poor are in the pocket of Papa Obama and nothing that any candidate can say will sway. I do, however, share the concern of many who are discouraged by Romney's failure to articulate the enlightened conservative "take" on what it will take to minimize poverty, knowing full well that it can never be eliminated. As a credentialed Mormon, Romney could well have cited the position of his Church, which is to "take care of our own" rather than rely on parasitic assistance from government.
I am more concerned with the other bookend of Romney's statement—that the rich are doing just fine, which is both short-sighted and lacking in philosophical perspective. The rich are doing just fine if and to the extent that the prevailing political philosophy is grounded in the sanctity of private property. As long as Obama is quoting the Bible as justification for modern-day Robin Hoodlumism and as long illegal occupiers are being characterized as anything other than the trespassers they are, the rich are fine, but only for the moment.
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baltimore aureole
David McClain
Bruce Majors
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Comments
Many seem unable to understand that Romney’s equity interest in publicly held companies is a significant mechanism by which private sector jobs were created or are being maintained. Many don’t seem able to understand that Romney’s ownership of debt instruments is a significant mechanism by which both public and private sector jobs are created or maintained. Many seem unable to understand that Bain’s investment in AMC Entertainment, Brookstone, Burger King, Burlington Coat Factory, Domino’s Pizza, Guitar Center, Hospital Corporation of America, Sealy, The Sports Authority, Staples, Toys “R” Us, Warner Music Group, etc., secured, maintained, or created thousands of jobs.
It bothers me that Romney, or his surrogates, don’t communicate this message any better than they do. Instead, Romney seems ashamed of his tax rates and of what he did to acquire his wealth. To be elected, he must certainly identify with people who are less wealthy than he is, but his awkwardness in doing so puzzles me.
I wonder what any free enterprise system would do if there weren’t markets around which allowed capital to be invested and if there weren’t persons or entities around that were willing to risk investing capital. Does anyone believe that our economy would be as vital and resilient as it is if the situation were otherwise?
Perhaps Romney could benefit from the reminder that your blog presents.