“If George Bush rebuilds Iraq the way he rebuilds the United States, they’re going to lose 3 million jobs over the course of the next three years,” said Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, who’s hoping to run against President Bush next year.
Clever statement — but there are major flaws in it. Kerry’s premise is wrong, and it’s a common mistake. No President can rebuild an economy. Only productive people can. If Iraqis are left free, they might rebuild (or, more accurately, build) an economy over time.
In our own country, the government has been systematically destroying our economy through welfare state socialism, punitive taxes (especially on the most productive) and out-of-control regulations for a century or more. In spite of this, our economy muddles through and experiences fits of growth (always short-lived) here and there; but the fundamental problems remain. A truly free economy was never really given a chance in this country, and yet freedom and capitalism continue to get the blame for all our ills.
The only way to rebuild our own economy is to get the government out of the way. Limit government to a strong defense and court system to protect contracts and property rights. That’s all. The government would be infinitely cheaper if it only did what it was supposed to do. Senator Kerry and all his liberal rivals evade this fact.
However, President Bush evades this fact just as much if not more. His failure lies in the fact that he cut taxes while expanding the size of government (i.e. non-defense spending) to unprecedented levels, perhaps as much or even more than President Gore would have done. This has paved the way for opponents of defense spending and tax cuts to blame our economic problems on these two factors — the only two good things President Bush has done in office. President Bush has, in the process, painted himself into a corner and seriously jeopardized his chances of re-election.
President Bush might or might not win next year. Either way, he has succeeded in further clouding the issue of what the proper role of government should be. In this sense, he is unquestionably a failure — though his opponents will never name this as the reason.
