By Wayne Allyn Root
This isn’t insanity. It’s insanity squared. Since the day Obama took office he has tried to fleece, tax, regulate, redistribute, harass, and hound small business to death. I’ve argued again and again in media appearances and commentaries that Obama’s strategy appears to be right out of the playbook of Cloward & Piven, two Marxist professors from Columbia University (where Obama and I graduated as classmates in 1983). That strategy is overwhelming the business community, taxpayers, and high-income earners with so many socialist, Big Brother-like, job-killing bills, that we get dizzy and exhausted trying to keep up with them. Eventually they overwhelm the economy, cause massive unemployment, crisis, and dependency on big government. It’s happening before our very eyes — millions of Americans are now on 99 weeks of unemployment benefits; 45 million are dependent on food stamps; over 90 teenage girls are pregnant at the same time in one Memphis high school — all sure to go on welfare, food stamps and aid to dependent children for life. That’s one school. The system is officially overwhelmed.
It’s true that Obama took a few days off to portray himself as a friend to business and a born-again tax cutter. But after a short rest, the old Obama is back. The man is a relentless Ginsu salesman for taxes, spending and socialism. The overwhelming attack has started all over again.
In just the past few days, Obama has put the White House in partnership with the Bar Association in a brazen attempt to impose lawyers on every businessman and women in America. Then he suggested dramatically raising unemployment taxes on businesses. Then he proposed a dramatic reduction of tax deductions for homeowners and charitable givers. Next up in the “tax murderer’s row” was Obama’s announcement of his 10-year plan to reduce the national debt. It happened to cut the debt by a measly $1 trillion, while simultaneously raising taxes by about $1 trillion — including the largest income tax increase in U.S. history. Obama is relentless — he attacks from so many angles, that even the strongest of fiscal conservatives eventually grows weak and punch drunk.
But wait, we’re not done. Obama has more! The “Ginsu guy" is also selling a big heaping dose of Big Brother– simultaneously attempting to unionize American business through new rules implemented by the National Labor Relations Board, and impose cap and trade (that he couldn’t pass through Congress) through new EPA rules. Those draconian new EPA rules put Obama and Big Brother in control of industrial America, big energy, even the trucking industry — the delivery system for all goods.
But wait, Obama isn't done yet. There’s more to dislike. The IRS has just announced a request for thousands of new auditors and agents, at a cost of almost $400,000,000 just to oversee the start of Obamacare in 2012. We get 81 new IRS agents just to oversee the new tax on tanning beds. What a deal! Wait until you see what the IRS requests when Obamacare moves into full gear.
Back to the biggest insult of all — the lawyers. Obama has put the government in partnership with the American Bar Association. This re-defines unconstitutional. From now on, anyone who calls the White House or the Department of Labor to complain about their boss will be given a Toll Free 800 number (think Ginsu knives) that connects directly to trial lawyers. The American Bar Association has agreed to provide an army of lawyers that will work for free — no up front legal fees, only a cut of the action — to sue American business.
But wait, there’s more. Michelle Obama wants to encourage breast-feeding, especially (her words) in the African-American community. So from now on the IRS will make breast pumps and other breast-feeding products tax deductible. Will she offer “extra credit” for being black and breast-feeding? Perhaps our first-ever affirmative action tax deduction?
Is this really our country? Your home mortgage should no longer be deductible according to Obama. Neither should your charitable giving to churches or synagogues. Your money isn’t yours according to Obama. It belongs to government. It is needed for redistribution to Obama’s contributors, cronies and entitlement-addicted voters. You can’t even choose to tan without paying additional taxes. Your business will be hounded by lawyers, in partnership with government. You are ordered by government to buy health insurance or face fines or prison. And all of it will be overseen by a new army of IRS agents.
What's the difference between Obama and a Ginsu salesman? With the Ginsu guy you actually get 10 items for one low price. With Obama, you lose everything you’ve got — your home, your income, your business. All you wind up with is a tax-deductible breast-feeding pump. Somehow without the force of government putting a gun to our heads, I don’t think Obama’s product would sell.
Wayne Allyn Root is a former Libertarian Vice Presidential nominee. He now serves as Chairman of the Libertarian National Congressional Committee. He is the best-selling author of "The Conscience of a Libertarian: Empowering the Citizen Revolution with God, Guns, Gold & Tax Cuts." His web site: www.ROOTforAmerica.com
