We Can't Say We Weren't Warned

"That's why I'm in this race. Not just to hold an office, but to gather with you to transform a nation."

-- Barack Obama, February 10, 2007, announcing his run for President.

Yes, Obama is out to transform the U.S., greatly expanding the role of government in our lives and removing capitalist incentive from the economy. Those of us during the campaign who feared that Obama would promote a socialist agenda as president were told we were hysterical extremists. Yet, even Newsweek acknowledged that Obama is taking us in that direction with its feature article, "We are all Socialists now."

This is not disputed by the left. As former Labor Secretary Robert Reich told The Times of London, Obama's $3.55 trillion budget represents the "biggest redistribution of income from the wealthy to the middle class and poor this nation has seen in more than 40 years." Reich went on to say, "It is the boldest budget we have seen since the Reagan administration, and drives a nail in the coffin of Reaganomics. We can basically say goodbye to the philosophy espoused by Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher."

How does Wall Street feel about the denunciation of fiscal conservatism? The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell three hundred points on the day Obama gave his inaugural address and is down another 1450 points from that date. In all, almost a quarter of the wealth that had been in the stock market has been wiped out in just the first two months of his administration.

The country is at war with itself. We are at a crossroads where we will have to decide what kind of country we want to have. The America of the past -- the individualist, wealth-creating, self-sufficient, blazing-frontier America is a dying concept in the new Socialism. The new America -- contrary to what Obama says -- will look to the government to solve every problem, fulfill every desire, be the answer to every question. It will elevate the collective over the individual and the government above citizens.

Our economy has problems -- primarily brought on by the rampant irrational and unrestrained borrowing over the past few years. The answer is not to tax and spend ourselves out of the trouble -- it is to reinforce good business practices by companies and smart money management by citizens. Let's not give up on capitalism, let's not give up on what made us the most prosperous country in the world. Let's not use the current crisis to turn 180 degrees away from what is unique about America. Let's not let Obama throw it all away.