The United States of America will soon be a socialist nation. Okay, maybe I’m being a cynic, but the policies of the current administration make my stomach churn. Barack Obama seems to be walking the country down the road to socialism. Conveniently for him he doesn’t even have to blindfold the American people because they’re already closing their eyes. The U.S. is on the brink of socialism because of the government’s reaction to the economic crisis and the apathy of the American people.

Contrary to the research of thousands of economists, Obama and his ideologues believe that trillions of dollars in government spending will revive the economy. Dr. Robert Barro, an influential Harvard economist, explains how this spending will be ineffective and how the tax cuts are "not geared toward incentives." Did Obama pass his high school history course? I mean some of my friends barely passed history, and they know that the Bush and Regan tax cuts spurred the economy back into prosperity while the Roosevelt, and recent Japanese, and Argentinean spending frenzies achieved minimal success. I am sure Obama passed history with flying colors, which leads me to question his motives. Does he want to change inherent American ideals? Does he believe that the United States is better suited for socialism? But I guess all of this is okay because we have a crisis on our hands and we need to do SOMETHING!
Regardless of whether this spending works or not, the U.S. will be farther in debt. The interest expense on the national debt in 2008 was $450 billion according to treasury direct.gov. This expense will increase dramatically over the next ten years assuming Obama’s budget is passed, and the CBO is right in its predictions that the annual deficit will be 85% of GDP by 2019 (up from 40% after the passage of the Stimulus Bill). The question here is where will we get this money? The answer is American business. The government will be obligated to raise taxes on business. With the capital gains tax on business through the roof the government will be literally holding American business by the neck. Does this grasp on business resemble the free market capitalism upon which this country was built? I don’t think so. Due to these tax hikes, the growth of these businesses will be stunted, and they will be forced to lower wages, fire workers, and limit their spending to avoid insolvency. The average middle class worker will be hurt, and before long he will be knocking on the front door of the White House asking for relief. Lobbying will persist, and the majority of Americans will vote to raise taxes to help the desperate middle-class who can’t find jobs. Obama, Pelosi, and Reid will try to dry their watering mouths as they raise taxes on the rich once again. This makes me think of Robinhood cheering; “Take from the rich give to the poor!” The rich are smart. They will realize that their money is being taken from them, and they will not work as hard. They will be less likely to take the risk to expand their business; they won’t buy a new big screen TV; they won’t go on expensive family vacations. Once again the middle-class factory worker, TV salesperson, or flight attendant will be hurt. These people will then turn to the government for help. The cycle repeats itself. Eventually over 50% of the country is dependant on the government. In a democracy where people vote, how will we ever be able to swing the pendulum back to free market capitalism, which has made America the greatest county in the history of the world? We will be stuck in mediocrity like Europe, Japan, and Argentina. But mediocrity is okay as long as we have a big middle class, right? America is built on the middle-class, which makes socialism appealing because it seems to help the middle-class. The reality of socialism is that it merges the classes into one big lower-class (large income gaps can be frightening, but the one class system is worse). Capitalism builds the middle class by giving them the opportunity to reach the upper-class. Socialism cuts the upper-class at the knees in an attempt to help the middle-class which creates a massive lower-class.
If Americans would open their eyes and try to understand what is happening to our great country I do not believe socialism would pose a threat. The government realizes this and is playing on the fear and timidity of Americans. Obama’s chief of staff Rahm Emanuel said, “Never let a serious crisis go to waste.” Clearly, the government recognizes that now is its chance to implement socialist reforms such as nationalized health care because history has proven that people question capitalism during a downturn. How can anyone in his right mind trust our government with his health care? Did we forget that this is the same government that caused the housing bubble by encouraging mortgage companies to give out sub-prime mortgages so that “everyone could have a home?” Americans need to wake up to what is going on. For example, Congress recently signed the Employee Free Choice Act, which will essentially end the secret ballot when voting to join a union. This is clearly a bill thanking the unions for their support during the campaign. Obama should help us get out of this recession instead of paying back his pals. Another bill that will do nothing to help us get out of the recession is the cap and trade. Americans know that now is not the time to save the environment at the expense of business, but we don’t care enough to notice. Good-hearted Americans who understand and respect the American tradition would never allow socialism, but I believe that socialism is an imminent danger if we don’t start paying attention.
A recession is a tough time for everyone, and we would love to prosper again as soon as possible. The million dollar question is how can this be done? I believe that the solution lies within the heart of each American: rich, poor, black, white, young or old. Now is the time to return to our inherent conservative ideals and the faith in free market capitalism. We have been through hard times before, but as Americans we have inherited the unique ability to persist and improve our situations using our God-given abilities. Those who are not in this position must do everything they can to help. This could be volunteering at the food bank, or simply going to church on Sunday to pray. Capitalism has its downturns, but we live in America and this has and always will be the system that brings us wealth and prosperity. Persist; we are on the brink of prosperity.