According to this report in the Concord (New Hampshire) Monitor, John Edwards has big plans for America should he become the 44th President. Namely, he’ll follow the ideals of our 32nd President, Franklin Roosevelt.Seems Johnny Haircut wants to enact a collection of New Deal-like programs that would, among other things, raise the minimum wage to $9.50/hour, underwrite universal pre-kindergarten (I guess nap time is constitutionally protected) and provide “College for Everyone.”
At least Edwards is upfront about how he’ll pay for all this bloat-in-waiting: he’ll tax the bejeepers out of folks. Raising marginal tax rates and upping the capital gains tax. Why? Because he wants people to sacrifice for the greater good. No, really, he does:
“I think if we want to fund the things that I think are important to share in prosperity, then people who have done well in this country, including me, have more of a responsibility to give back,” he said. Later, he added: “There are no free meals.”
Hey, I concur that people of means – even a little means – should be generous in giving to charitable causes. I just think the government is the absolutely worst organization in the country to either tell me how much to give or be in charge of who gets what. I came to this radical view by reading history books. Crazy.
Plus, I think it’s pretty ironic how someone who’s supposed to be a representative of the party of choice wants to take away my right to choose how I donate my hard-earned money. Ponder that for a moment.
And the moment’s gone.
Perhaps someone should remind John that the New Deal didn’t really do much to get America out of the Great Depression. In fact, there are those who argue that such federal largesse actually extended the economic malaise it was intended to relieve.
I could go on about the poor economic theory behind high taxes, but I’ll just point out a little something called Europe. Also, in the Monitor article, Edwards brings up the left’s favorite poverty figure: that 37 million Americans live in its clutches. According to the Census Bureau definition, that’s true. According to common sense, not so much.
Seriously, why can’t the government just stick to building highways and running the military? At least they do one of those things well. And it’s not the former.
So please, do not vote for this man. Personally, I haven’t decided on a candidate. Shoot, I just turned 35; maybe I’ll toss my hat in the ring. See how far my $63 in mad money gets me.
Later,
Fox
If you are going to write about my cousin, at least get a decent pic on your site. It looks like he is admiring his hair. When you have great hair like his, you can admire it. What’s wrong with that? I have asked him if he could save his hair the next time he gets a haircut so I can sell it ebay to help the “campaign”. He has not responded to my email even though it goes to his blackberry phone that is on his hip 24-7. Seriously, he sleeps with it on. He is the man.
Wow. You get all your economic and history knowledge from… what… a USA Today article? Silly. Dude… it’s ok not to know stuff about stuff. But when you mouth off about stuff you don’t know (a historian of the great depression, eh?) you just sound dumb.
You’re right. Voting for John Edwards would really be worse than George W. who increased federal spending more than ANY PRESIDENT EVER and LOWERED TAXES MORE THAN ANY PRESIDENT EVER to pay for it.
Joe,
Sorry I didn’t take a week to adequately research my points and have footnotes. I linked to sites that were easy for people to find. Sue me. And don’t throw out a blanket statement about GWB assuming I’m some lock-stepping lackey. I’m for the tax cuts. I detest the spending increases.
I sound dumb? Okay. Fine. To you I sound dumb. I’ll live.
Thanks for reading The AdHole.
Methinks Joe is trolling for reactionaries who will buy his collection of Budweiser T-shirts.
I won’t vote for John Edwards for a zillion reasons BUT (And I have a big But here): Mandatory Pre-K is coiol with me as long as they offer it in public school. What school can be bad? And what 4 year old needs an extra year, sitting at home, watching Power Rangers with grubby little hands in a bag of Cheetos?
The Republican hopefuls in the running have little to offer that will do any better. We might be better off with you in the White House, Fox. Aside from your weird fixation on QuikTrip and the occasional “Phooey” I hear you utter in range of a live microphone, no candidate can touch you on your ethics, morality or deepish drone of a voice.
I gauge my politicians like this: could I bear to watch them give a State of the Union address? The only maybes in this group for me are Bill Richardson (I’m not sick of his face yet because he’s not getting ANY press. Hey Bill, you have to spend some of that campaign money or we want it all back!), Fred Thompson (I’ve been watching his reruns without ill effects for years) and maybe, just maybe McCain, (as long as they film him at a strategic angle so I don’t have to worry about the side of his face getting worse.)
Feel free to lambaste the rest of the democratic candidates. They all make my head hurt.
If the Heritage Foundation says being poor ain’t that bad, I for one, believe them. How biased can a conservative think tank be, anyway?
http://www.mediatransparency.org/recipientgrants.php?recipientID=153
http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/default.aspx?oid=4287
Yes, I know the Heritage Foundation is a conservative think-tank. But frankly, I gave up on trying to find truly unbiased sources of info long ago. So if you know it’s conservative (or liberal), take it as you will. Still, stats are stats.
The census is stats. I just don’t think anyone should take an editorial from the Heritage Foundation as “common sense.” It is neither common nor sense.
Well, yes, the census is stats, but it helps to know what makes up the stats if someone else is going to use them to promote an agenda. I’m not saying there aren’t people out there in need of assistance; I’m saying the official census bureau definition of poverty isn’t exactly accurate. And if you read what goes into that definition, I think common sense tells you it’s flawed. Regardless of anything said by the Heritage Foundation.
Well I finally got an e-mail back from cousin John “send-me-an-email-it-goes-my-blackberry-24×7” Edwards. After 11, count ’em 11 e-mails, he finally responds. He will not let me sell his hair on ebay. My apologies to you adhole readers. He still has a good head of hair, even if it is a little stringy.