Mitt Romney formally announced his run for the presidency this morning, mercifully allowing an anxious yet grateful nation to finally exhale. Perfectly capturing the zeitgeist in Main Street America, Romney ominously warns that the United States "is just inches away from ceasing to be a free market economy." He promises to do something about that.
Words simply fail me. Suffice to say I am greatly relieved by no longer having to cast about looking for the candidate out there who will grab the reigns of leadership and finally put a little "free" back into the market place.
This ship we are on, the U.S.S. America, will only be righted (and I do mean Right) when Business is unencumbered and FREE. This country will never reclaim its former greatness while its Gullivers in Industry, Finance and the Energy Sector are tied to the ground by the Lilliputians of Washington. We will only be able to once again flex our economic muscles when they are free.
Free, for example, to:
Charge whatever interest rates and impose whatever fees upon consumers that they deem fit.
Off shore every job possible to the country with the cheapest and least protected labor pool.
Extract oil, gas, coal and shale wherever they suspect it might exist, using whatever means is most efficient, without being held liable when the inevitable accident occurs.
Free to snort cocaine and fornicate with those in Washington whose job it is to license and pretend to regulate them.
To discriminate against entire groups in the labor pool if it improves their bottom line or "business culture."
To avoid paying taxes that build and maintain the infrastructure their businesses depend upon.
Free to inundate the public airwaves and Halls of Congress with propaganda and cash.
To produce and market products without having to jump through needless hoops intended to insure consumer safety or health.
To privatize the profits of their endeavors while socializing the costs related to pollution, workplace injuries, traffic congestion, road degradation, or harm done to consumers by their products.
To run up the prices of basic commodities through speculation, regardless of the downstream impact of inflation or food scarcity on those with lesser means.
Free to operate without the constant fear of being sued by those they harm.
Free even, as Maine Governor Lepage will be the first to tell you, to employ children.
Romney has hit the nail on the head. Knocked the ball out of the park. Gotten to the crux...nay, the HEART of the matter. What this country needs, right now, more than ever, is a return to free market principles. WE must end this dangerous dance we've been having with Socialism and Marxist doctrine.
Cause ya know...
We're just inches away from ceasing to be a free market economy.