We Can’t Continue Down Wealth Redistribution Road

To The Editor:
The recent G-20 summit in Canada was revealing in that President Obama found himself at odds with the traditional welfare states of Europe as well as our neighbors up north. Obama urged against hasty retreat from government “stimulus” spending. States like France, Germany and others rejected that idea in favor of belt-tightening and debt reduction. This including paring back of sacro-sanct entitlement programs. That notion has already fomented violent protests in bankrupt Greece.
These new deficit hawks see that judgment time has come. President Obama, who seems to like the European way of things and global perspectives, might well pay heed to his fellow leaders. They are telling him, “We’ve been there, done that,” through years of entitlements and bennies for unions and lots of employment on the government payroll. Now we could be facing financial meltdown if we don’t start cutting back. They know from practice that governments can’t spend their way into growth, prosperity and low unemployment. But President Obama is not listening. He should.
Entitlements are tough to rein-in. I know if suddenly my Social Security or Medicare benefits were cut, it would hurt. But employers have flocked to both programs, structuring retirement payouts around Social Security and dumping retirees into Medicare, where they may pay more for less. Many workers and retirees could be dumped into Obamacare. Many of us have supplemental health insurance plus Medicare. But with the Obamacare, our company contribution to such plans will become taxable as the company part of group life is already. We will see this in 2011 when our W-2s arrive. The dollars will be used to finance part of Obamacare. COLA shut-down for two years for Social Security is providing money for other programs.
Entitlements and Congressional pork are, despite claims otherwise, best understood through the prism of political power. That’s what it’s all about. All this compassion and social justice stuff is just baloney as is renewable energy as a total replacement for fossil fuels. Washington feeds on its own corruption and deceit.
We can’t continue down this entitlement and “wealth” redistribution road. We could wind up facing our financial Armageddon on the backs of taxpayers and borrowed money. Soon it may be too late.
BOB LOVELL
Court House
.