U.S. doesn't need Europe's style, problems


Published: Saturday, April 25, 2009 at 4:01 a.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, April 25, 2009 at 12:43 a.m.

The Obama administration and Congress are turning the United States into a European-modeled state. In the process, they also are undermining the U.S. Constitution and ushering in all the European problems of socialism, immigration, poor homeland security, economic weakness and intolerance.

What have the Democrats done in the last two years and three months that favor European-style socialism? Let's examine some of these tendencies.

Economy: Instead of allowing the free-market system to weed out failing banks, investment companies and auto companies, the government is taking over commerce. This includes government control of business policies, firing of executives, attempts to make bonuses illegal after the fact, caving to union demands and refusing to allow restructuring.

Health care: If implemented, proposals for national health care (code for socialized medicine) will turn the world's best health-care system into the kind of poor health-care systems found in Canada and Europe. Instead of strengthening Medicaid and state and local health-care plans and retaining the concept of choice, everyone will have poor health care.

Taxes, income redistribution: Marxist class warfare has begun against the upper- and middle-income taxpayers who together make up 60 percent of income earners but pay 97 percent of all taxes. Corporations also pay taxes on earnings. In fact, "rich people" and corporations provide most of the factors of production and jobs in our capitalist economy. Taking from those who work hard and giving to those who don't is income redistribution - a Marxist principle.

Wealth killers: Obama talks tax cuts for those earning less than $250,000 per year, yet he is proposing wealth-killing taxes on energy (cap to market) that will raise the annual cost of electricity from $1,600 to $3,000 for the average household. His Congress is prepared to allow the Bush tax cuts on capital gains to lapse in 2010, increasing taxes on the sale of property, stocks and bonds back up to 25 to 28 percent. A death-tax rate of 45 percent also is coming back, along with taxes on charitable donations and possibly even a reduction in the tax deduction for mortgages.

Debt: The percentage of GNP taken up by government spending in the United States is approaching 50 percent, the same as in Europe.

Productivity: In Europe, productivity is below that of the United States because of mandatory 30-day paid vacations, 35-hour work weeks, strong unions and protection against firings. These types of actions are advocated by U.S. unions that supported Obama and liberal members of Congress. They will force the "card-check" proposal that allows unions to take votes in plain view rather than in secrecy, thus intimidating nonunion employees.

Gun control: Private ownership of firearms is not allowed in crime-plagued Europe. Although the U.S. Supreme Court recently upheld the Second Amendment, Obama has pledged further action against legally owned weapons that he calls "assault weapons," including anything with a magazine of 10 rounds or more. Higher taxes on ammunition and gun sales also are in the works, as is the ridiculous requirement to serialize every bullet.

Immigration: European nations have allowed unchecked Muslim immigrants, who now make up 10 to 20 of their population. Muslims live in enclaves and do not assimilate into European societies, instead living by their own Sharia laws. England, France and Spain are allowing this rather than enforcing their existing laws. This is part of the worldwide plan of fundamentalist Muslims to spread their religion. Islamic fundamentalists are diametrically opposed to our Constitution and the Bill of Rights and are a direct threat to our freedoms.

Homeland security: Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano refuses to acknowledge that terrorism exists, and the term "war on terrorism" has been banned from use by the administration. Napolitano recently approved a report stating that our soldiers returning from war could be a right-wing conspiracy threat and need to be watched. Obama's outreaches to Muslims through their foreign news media have served to strengthen their position and weaken ours.

Intolerance: Obama supporters, including most of those the mainstream media, are fond of saying that conservatives are intolerant and mean spirited. How hypocritical, since they are totally intolerant of at least 50 percent of Americans who share a different world view. One only has to look at the media's poor treatment of Americans who participated in the recent TEA parties in protest of Obama's free-spending ways and tax policies.

We Americans must make up our minds. Do we want to retain our American traditions and freedoms and remain a nation of laws under our Constitution, or do we want to become the United States of Europe and a member of the socialist European Union? If the former, Republicans must take back the U.S. House in 2010 so there can be some checks and balances once again.


Royal A. Brown III is a Winter Haven resident and regular contributor to the News Chief's opinion page.

http://www.newschief.com/article/200904 ... e-problems