Adam Smith, writing in The Wealth of Nations in 1776: “In almost all countries the revenue of the sovereign is drawn from that of the people. The greater the revenue of the people, therefore, the greater the annual produce of their land and labour, the more they can afford to the sovereign. It is in his interest, therefore, to increase as much as possible that annual produce.”
If so, then Obama isn’t a very smart sovereign. You think he’d want to increase the wealth of the nation by leaving the private sector free to do its thing, i.e. make profits and in the process create jobs and more prosperity for all. Before Obama, American politicians tended to take the attitude: “Have enough private enterprise to feed the government. Give the government as much as it can get away with taking.” It’s a disgusting attitude, one shared by the bulk of Democrats and Republicans since at least the time of FDR, but at least it reflects a recognition of the fact that wealth is created in the private sector. What makes Obama different is that he’s either unaware of, or does not care about the fact, that wealth is created in the private sector. He morally denounces and economically undermines the private sector every chance he gets. The prospect of losing the entire Congress, not just to Republicans but to “radical” Tea Party Republicans — something that would be a humiliating defeat — does not seem to affect him. Even Nancy Pelosi, publicly sweating out her anticipated defeat, looks increasingly like the Wicked Witch of the West. Not Obama.
Watch what happens if the Republicans actually pull it off. I’m guessing that it will be an ugly spectacle like this nation has rarely, if ever, seen. Yes, the Republicans will probably buckle in the end, because that’s what Republicans always do and have always done. But in the meantime, Obama will go crazy. He’ll simply bypass Congress and do whatever he wants. Congress might defund ObamaCare, or refuse to pass cap and trade, but Obama will implement his policies anyway; that’s my prediction. He’s already bypassing the Democratic Congress by hiring dozens of Czars to do his bidding, when even the ultraliberal Pelosi Congress doesn’t move swiftly enough for him. If Republicans win, there will be no stopping his power-lusting rampage and a vocal minority of the country (liberals/socialists) will cheer him on. What then? Maybe Republicans won’t buckle. Maybe they’ll be different this time, not just because of the Tea Party factor, but because they’re up against a President who, for the first time in American history, really and truly doesn’t care about the Constitution, even nominally. That’s the time to watch — in the period after the elections. This is when it kind of starts to get like the time before the American revolt against the British, way back when.
You’re living in interesting times. And, should fervent Tea Party Republicans actually manage to win, they’re about to get a lot more interesting.