As the"Ownership Society"--that nifty Bush catch-all for the dismantling of government services--goes down in a blaze of glory tonight, it's important to remember that Barack Obama is a leader with proven judgment born out over the years.
Cache this August 2004 White House "Fact Sheet" on the Ownership Society before it goes the way of the buffalo. Expand home-ownership by supporting down-payments when buyers cannot afford them! Mission, uh, accomplished?
Fast-forward, one year later,two years later, a freshman senator from Illinois, not yet running for president, delivers a stinging, prescient--rebuke of "the ownership society," and he's been proven right. Lately "the ownership society" has crept back into Obama's stump speech. Let's hope it stays. More...
There is some crude video of this pre-stump speech stump speech here.
The section on the Ownership Society is such a cogent explanation of progressivism that it deserves to be quoted at length, and that I will--and then I will contrast it with a pertinent "fact" from the "George Bush Ownership Society Fact Sheet", and where possible, a quote from ranking Senate Banking Committee Republican John McCain.
Obama:
It's called the Ownership Society in Washington. But in our past there has been another term for it - Social Darwinism - every man or women for him or herself.
Bush:
"...if you own something, you have a vital stake in the future of our country. The more ownership there is in America, the more vitality there is in America, and the more people have a vital stake in the future of this country."
-President George W. Bush, June 17, 2004
McCain on ownership:
"When you control the pipe you should be able to get profit from your investment."
Obama:
It allows us to say to those whose health care or tuition may rise faster than they can afford - life isn't fair. It allows us to say to the child who didn't have the foresight to choose the right parents or be born in the right suburb - pick yourself up by your bootstraps. It lets us say to the guy who worked twenty or thirty years in the factory and then watched his plant move out to Mexico or China - we're sorry, but you're on your own.
Bush:
# The President's goal is to ensure that Americans can choose and afford private health care coverage that best fits their individual needs. The U.S. health care system can provide the best care in the world, but rising costs and loss of control to government and health plan bureaucrats threaten to keep patients from getting state-of-the-art care. The President's agenda includes:
* Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), which combine low-cost, high-deductible health insurance with tax-free savings accounts to pay for health care expenses. The President has also proposed to make insurance premiums associated with HSAs tax deductible.
* Association Health Plans (AHPs) to give America's working families greater access to affordable health insurance. By allowing small businesses to band together and negotiate on behalf of their employees and their families, AHPs would help small businesses and employees obtain health insurance at an affordable price, much like large employers and unions...
...In 2009, the top tax rate on dividends will increase from 15 to 35 percent, while the tax on capital gains will climb from 15 to 20 percent, raising the tax burden on retirees and families investing for their future; and
McCain on Tuition, to a college audience 7-21-08McCain on Tuition:
When asked about rising tuition costs, McCain said students can join organizations such as the Army or Peace Corps. He said these programs would become more popular as more people enroll in them to pay for college.
McCain on college tuition and the military, 05-08:
[Webb's] bill offers the same benefits whether you stay three years or longer. We want to have a sliding scale to increase retention.
Back to Barack:
It's a bracing idea. It's a tempting idea. And it's the easiest thing in the world.But there's just one problem. It doesn't work. It ignores our history. Yes, our greatness as a nation has depended on individual initiative, on a belief in the free market. But it has also depended on our sense of mutual regard for each other, of mutual responsibility. The idea that everybody has a stake in the country, that we're all in it together and everybody's got a shot at opportunity.
Americans know this. We know that government can't solve all our problems - and we don't want it to.
But we also know that there are some things we can't do on our own. We know that there are some things we do better together.
Bush:
Social Security has to be fixed for our children and grandchildren. Fifty years ago there were fifty workers paying into Social Security for every one person receiving benefits. Today there are 3.3 workers supporting each person on Social Security. By the time today's young workers retire, there will be only two. Young workers need the option to invest in retirement accounts that they will own and control.
We need to solve problems together? Phooey, says John McCain:
"We need to relieve the burden on the VA from routine health care," McCain told the National Forum on Disability Issues last month. "If you have a routine health care need, take it wherever you want, whatever doctor or health care provider and get the treatment you need, while we at the VA focus our attention, our care, our love, on these grievous wounds of war."
Before I close with strong words from Obama's June 2006 speech, just remember: in the coming days, as financial ruin is nearly (or not even) averted, Bush's "Ownership Society" will be an emperor with no clothes. Did Bush "empower" aspiring minority homeowners by having the government help front down payments to people with checkered credit histories so that they could get tied down to ballooning payments? We were getting hoodwinked, and Barack Obama said so.
We know that we've been called in churches and mosques, synagogues and Sunday schools to love our neighbors as ourselves; to be our brother's keeper; to be our sister's keeper. That we have individual responsibility, but we also have collective responsibility to each other.
That's what America is. And so I am eager to have this argument not just with the President, but the entire Republican Party over what this country is about.
Because I think that this is our moment to lead.
The time for our party's identity crisis is over. Don't let anyone tell you we don't know what we stand for and don't doubt it yourselves. We know who we are. And in the end, we know that it isn't enough to just say that you've had enough.
So let it be said that we are the party of opportunity. That in a global economy that's more connected and more competitive - we are the party that will guarantee every American an affordable, world-class, top-notch, life-long education - from early childhood to high school, from college to on-the-job training.
Let it be said that we are the party of affordable, accessible health care for all Americans. The party that won't make Americans choose between a health care plan that bankrupts the government and one that bankrupts families. The party that won't just throw a few tax breaks at families who can't afford their insurance, but modernizes our health care system and gives every family a chance to buy insurance at a price they can afford.
Let it be said that we are the party of an energy independent America. The party that's not bought and paid for by the oil companies. The party that will harness homegrown, alternative fuels and spur the production of fuel-efficient, hybrid cars to break our dependence on the world's most dangerous regimes.
Let it be said that we will conduct a smart foreign policy that battles the forces of terrorism and fundamentalism wherever they may exist by matching the might of our military with the power of our diplomacy and the strength of our alliances. And when we do go to war, let us always be honest with the American people about why we are there and how we will win.
And let it be said that we are the party of open, honest government that doesn't peddle the agenda of whichever lobbyist or special interest can write the biggest check. The party who believes that in this democracy, influence and access should begin and end with the power of the ballot.
If we do all this, if we can be trusted to lead, this will not be a Democratic Agenda, it will be an American agenda. Because in the end, we may be proud Democrats, but we are prouder Americans. We're tired of being divided, tired of running into ideological walls and partisan roadblocks, tired of appeals to our worst instincts and greatest fears.
One final thought: has anyone noticed that "The Ownership Society" is a deep, dark, evil twin of Taking On the System?
TOS! Takedown the TOS!