From Senator Jim DeMint at The Heritage Foundation:
As Senator Obama said to the applauding socialists in Europe a few weeks ago, he wants to eliminate the distinctions between people and groups; to “tear down walls” between rich and poor, black and white, and the haves and have-nots. He forgets that most of the “haves” in America today began as “have-nots.” The system he wants to change is the system that allows people to study and work their way to a better life. He invites us all to unite by “binding our grievances” against America and bringing them to him to alleviate our wants and needs.
And he is just arrogant enough to call his perspective the Audacity of Hope! Senator Obama is audacious, but not audacious in the positive sense that means “bold or daring.” He is audacious when the word is defined as “not to be restrained by a sense of shame, rudely bold and brazen.” Mr. Obama has the audacity to promise hope in a socialist system of government that has been a spectacle of failure throughout history. He has the audacity to ignore how freedom built the most prosperous and powerful nation on earth, and the audacity to blame government-sponsored failures and injustice on the principles of freedom.
So what are America’s choices in 2008 and beyond? Obama and the Democrats have chosen to use America’s problems as an excuse to replace freedom with more government. But let’s be clear: it takes no courage, no boldness, no “audacity” in any positive sense of the word to invite Americans to bring all their wants and needs to the federal government. This is cowardly political opportunism that may help politicians get elected, but it is a false promise that hurts America and imperils our future.
The choice for Americans this year and beyond is the choice between socialism and freedom. We are no longer talking about liberalism versus conservatism. The stakes are much higher because as Republicans moved to the center by using government to prove their compassion, the Democrats have moved further left, increasingly using government as an instrument of control to redistribute property and to redefine our values and our culture.
Obama, socialist, liberal, redistribute
