America loves the hit TV show “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?” That inspired me to ask “Is Obama smarter than a communist?” Raul Castro, the leader of communist Cuba, just announced that Cuba is laying off 500,000 government employees. Bravo! It’s about time. Cuba is finally reforming their economy and headed in the direction of capitalism. Like China and the Soviet Union before it, Communist Cuba has finally figured out that everyone cannot work for government- at least not if you want your people to prosper, or your economy to avoid insolvency and bankruptcy.
I only wish we could say the same for America. Incredibly, President Obama is headed in the opposite direction. Under Comrade Obama, America is expanding the number of government employees and the size of the welfare state. Obama must not have noticed that after years of government control of the economy Cuba is an economic basket case, with its citizens living in abject poverty and misery. If he has noticed- and it’s kind of hard to miss- then why is Obama aiming America towards this disastrous Cuban model? Is it purposeful? Or pure idiocy, arrogance and ignorance?
Let’s compare Communist Castro’s economic ideas to our own leader, Comrade Obama’s:
While Communist Castro admits that having the government do more to control the economy and create jobs is a horrendous failure, our very own Comrade Obama has added over $4 trillion in debt to grow government, reward his Democratic cronies (with stimulus and bailouts), and control the economy to “create and save jobs.” Castro can only sit in stunned silence as Obama makes the same mistakes that ruined Cuba's economy and left his citizens in poverty and misery.
While Castro explains his cuts of government employees by saying “We can’t keep supporting inflated payrolls”, and is now encouraging entrepreneurship, small business creation and capitalist reforms, Comrade Obama steals from future generations to save government jobs, hire more government employees, and preserve the obscene raises, pensions and benefits of government employees (that are 70% higher than comparable jobs in the private sector). Only days ago Obama spent $26 billion more to save teacher union jobs for the very people that are presiding over the disastrous failure of government-run education. Where does Obama get the money to pay for all these government employees? By redistributing income from private sector taxpayers who are losing their jobs and small businesses due to Obama’s oppressive regulatory and tax burdens. Don’t forget that Obama exempted only one group from the rules, regulations, and taxes of Obamacare – government employees! Castro is shaking his head in disbelief.
Communist Castro is busy privatizing businesses – giving taxi licenses to entrepreneurs, giving land to free market farmers, and selling government-run barber shops to small business risk-takers. Communists are embracing free enterprise, free markets, entrepreneurship, small business creation, and fiscal conservatism. Meanwhile, Obama is busy punishing and micro-managing banks, Wall Street, and credit card companies, while orchestrating government takeovers of healthcare, automakers, student loans, manufacturing (through cap and trade), and everything else he can grab through Chicago-style intimidation and communist goon tactics. Castro can only shake his head at the tragic mistakes being made.
Communist Castro says, “Stop expecting too much from government.” He hints that there will be even more economic reform- perhaps ending or cutting back on government subsidies for housing, transportation and food. Meanwhile our Comrade Obama asks government to provide ever more- from student loans, to lifelong free healthcare, to asking government to subsidize delinquent homeowners. Under Obama we see record increases in Americans accepting welfare, food stamps, and free breakfasts and lunches at school. Castro is mortified- he already knows where heavy-handed government control leads.
Communist Castro says the free lunch for Cuban workers is over. He speaks of government employees who do little or nothing all day. From now on Castro says, “Workers will be paid according to results.” While Castro understands this is the only way to bring prosperity to his people, Obama is hiring more government employees to stand around and do nothing, while he supports government employee union demands for lifetime jobs, early retirement, and obscene pensions- none of which are available in the private sector. Hand in hand with his shameful bias towards government employees, Obama keeps extending unemployment benefits towards infinity. Why not? Afterall, next to government employees, Obama’s most loyal voting bloc is Americans receiving handouts from government.
Communist Castro is firing his Czars, while Obama names a new one on a daily basis- including only days ago, “The Asian Carp Czar” (No, this is not a joke). Did you ever think we’d see the day where Castro is shocked at the size of America’s government?
While Communist Castro says, “We must increase the number of jobs where Cubans can go into business for themselves,” Obama is punishing entrepreneurs and small business creators with gigantic income tax increases, healthcare taxes, capital gains taxes, dividend and savings taxes, and any other taxes he can dream up (such as a new VAT tax and possible new raises in FICA taxes for the self employed). It’s all enough to make Fidel Castro get up off his deathbed to shout “Viva La Revolucion!”
Communist Castro knows from experience why we have no new jobs in America. While Cuba moves away from communism with capitalist-style reforms, Obama leads America away from capitalism and towards Fidel Castro’s utopia of starvation, deprivation, levels of poverty never imagined in America (not yet anyway), and of donkeys pulling broken-down carts on the streets of Havana.
I can only conclude that Obama is NOT smarter than a communist. Communists at least learn from their mistakes. And if Obama isn’t smarter than a communist, then he’s most certainly not as smart as a 5th grader either.
