Two John Edwards: Don't believe either of them
Two John Edwards: Don't believe either of them
Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2007
Former Sen. John Edwards is running for the White House because, he says, there are two Americas - one rich, the other not - and if he is elected President he can mold us into one. The Democrats' 2004 vice presidential nominee has pledged to end poverty in America in 30 years. But if Franklin Roosevelt, Lyndon Johnson, numerous Democratic Congresses and seven decades of federal programs could not end poverty, who really believes a trial lawyer turned one-term senator can?
In a move reminiscent of John Kerry's 2004 Presidential campaign announcement aboard an aircraft carrier in South Carolina, Edwards launched his campaign last week not from his luxurious North Carolina mansion, but from the New Orleans back yard of a Hurricane Katrina victim. But as Kerry's backdrop only highlighted the candidate's own weaknesses, so has John Edwards' choice of location highlighted his.
Edwards presented New Orleans as an example of what Americans can accomplish on their own, without meddling from Washington. And that is indeed the lesson of Hurricane Katrina. Government at all levels failed to protect the people of New Orleans from the hurricane everyone knew would come some day, and then failed to save them when it hit. It was the private sector that did the most good for the most people in the aftermath of that disaster, while government bureaucracies did what they do best ""-- pass the buck.
Edwards said during his announcement, "no place better demonstrates the power people have when they -- not Washington -- take responsibility and take action to build the America we believe in.'' "The power of America doesn't lie in Washington; the true power of America is in the people of America," he said.
That is exactly right. But if Edwards really believes that, why does his plan for making America great again and eradicating poverty read like a dusted-off list of leftover New Deal boondoggles? He proposes a hodge-podge of federal programs and initiatives -- such as universal health care, jobs programs, wage controls and higher taxes on the wealthy -- that are heavy on top-down dictates from Washington and light on people taking responsibility for themselves.
Instead if of two Americas, it is as if there are two John Edwards. One believes in personal responsibility and the general incompetence of Washington; the other believes in government competence and the general inability of individuals to help themselves. Individualist Edwards waxes poetic about the greatness American individuals can achieve if Washington gets out of the way, while Collectivist Edwards offers a massive nanny state to care for the people, who are merely victims of an unfair social system they are powerless to correct on their own.
Edwards is a master at taking two contradictory positions and making them seem coherent. But he cannot escape the fact that while he speaks like a Washington outsider, his agenda is to make Washington an even more powerful and intrusive force in all of our daily lives.
Nor can he escape the fact that poverty is a product of human behavior. Humanity provides a never-ending supply of people who, no matter how hard others try to help them, will always be poor. Edwards thinks he can hide his big-government agenda behind a fog of individualist rhetoric. The American people need to call him on it. By ignoring Edwards' rhetoric and examining his agenda, Americans can show him that they are not the fools he takes them to be.
http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?articleId=129a9293-7049-4fc3-90e8-ef9709ad6394&headline=Two+John+Edwards%3a+Don%27t+believe+either+of+them
Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2007
Former Sen. John Edwards is running for the White House because, he says, there are two Americas - one rich, the other not - and if he is elected President he can mold us into one. The Democrats' 2004 vice presidential nominee has pledged to end poverty in America in 30 years. But if Franklin Roosevelt, Lyndon Johnson, numerous Democratic Congresses and seven decades of federal programs could not end poverty, who really believes a trial lawyer turned one-term senator can?
In a move reminiscent of John Kerry's 2004 Presidential campaign announcement aboard an aircraft carrier in South Carolina, Edwards launched his campaign last week not from his luxurious North Carolina mansion, but from the New Orleans back yard of a Hurricane Katrina victim. But as Kerry's backdrop only highlighted the candidate's own weaknesses, so has John Edwards' choice of location highlighted his.
Edwards presented New Orleans as an example of what Americans can accomplish on their own, without meddling from Washington. And that is indeed the lesson of Hurricane Katrina. Government at all levels failed to protect the people of New Orleans from the hurricane everyone knew would come some day, and then failed to save them when it hit. It was the private sector that did the most good for the most people in the aftermath of that disaster, while government bureaucracies did what they do best ""-- pass the buck.
Edwards said during his announcement, "no place better demonstrates the power people have when they -- not Washington -- take responsibility and take action to build the America we believe in.'' "The power of America doesn't lie in Washington; the true power of America is in the people of America," he said.
That is exactly right. But if Edwards really believes that, why does his plan for making America great again and eradicating poverty read like a dusted-off list of leftover New Deal boondoggles? He proposes a hodge-podge of federal programs and initiatives -- such as universal health care, jobs programs, wage controls and higher taxes on the wealthy -- that are heavy on top-down dictates from Washington and light on people taking responsibility for themselves.
Instead if of two Americas, it is as if there are two John Edwards. One believes in personal responsibility and the general incompetence of Washington; the other believes in government competence and the general inability of individuals to help themselves. Individualist Edwards waxes poetic about the greatness American individuals can achieve if Washington gets out of the way, while Collectivist Edwards offers a massive nanny state to care for the people, who are merely victims of an unfair social system they are powerless to correct on their own.
Edwards is a master at taking two contradictory positions and making them seem coherent. But he cannot escape the fact that while he speaks like a Washington outsider, his agenda is to make Washington an even more powerful and intrusive force in all of our daily lives.
Nor can he escape the fact that poverty is a product of human behavior. Humanity provides a never-ending supply of people who, no matter how hard others try to help them, will always be poor. Edwards thinks he can hide his big-government agenda behind a fog of individualist rhetoric. The American people need to call him on it. By ignoring Edwards' rhetoric and examining his agenda, Americans can show him that they are not the fools he takes them to be.
http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?articleId=129a9293-7049-4fc3-90e8-ef9709ad6394&headline=Two+John+Edwards%3a+Don%27t+believe+either+of+them
posted by presgore19 at 4:03 AM
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