April 15 may prove to be a watershed moment for this country. No, not because it’s tax day, although that will be a subtle reminder of how we’re now wasting billions of our hard-earned tax dollars. April 15 is the national day for tea parties. Many credit CNBC’s Rick Santelli for stoking the flames during a rant on Squawk Box in February. Actually, I heard financial fitness guru Dave Ramsey mention the idea several weeks before. Wherever it came from, it has taken on a life of its own.
On April 15, hundreds of tea party protests will take place across the country. (We have a link to a catch-all website at philvalentine.com.) The purpose of these tea parties is to call attention to the dramatic turn our country has taken in the last six months and to send a clear message to Washington that we will not stand for the continued looting of our country. Bailouts and rewarding bad behavior must end.
This country was founded on the principles of a free market economy. Capitalism is inextricably bound to our Republic. In other words, anti-capitalists are, by very definition, anti-American. Some of these socialists masquerade as patriots but they are nothing of the sort. They despise everything this capitalist nation stands for. They are, in fact, embarrassed by our prosperity, ashamed of our affluence and determined to redistribute our resources to the rest of the world.
They believe those who have had nothing to do with the innovation and advancement of our society deserve equal distribution of its spoils. They believe that the rich are inherently evil and deserve to be punished. They believe corporations exist for the sole purpose of a paycheck, that the job belongs to the employee and not the employer.
They believe that the United States is the focus of evil in the world. They believe that we are the oppressors when, in fact, we are the liberators. King George III, upon hearing that George Washington would relinquish power and return to his farm said, “If he does that he will be the greatest man in the world.” The U.S. has been the embodiment of Washington’s humble act. We have conquered nations that have first waged war against us only to rebuild them with our own gold and silver.
This socialist guilt trip admonishes the United States for never giving enough to help the rest of the world. The fact is the U.S. is the single largest donor of economic aid. Plus, unlike the other countries that first extract tax dollars to give abroad, 79 percent of our giving comes from individuals, private foundations, corporations, universities or religious organizations, according to the Index of Global Philanthropy. In other words, we give even when we’re not forced to, a distinction lost on the socialists running this country down.
As former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher once said, “Socialist governments traditionally do make a financial mess. They always run out of other people’s money.” That is what we have quickly done in just the past six months. And, yes, I include the latter months of the Bush administration in that. It was George W. Bush who so infamously stated, “I’ve abandoned free-market principles to save the free-market system.” Bush’s stand is like being a little bit pregnant. Either you believe in free-market principles or you don’t.
The folks gathering on April 15 fervently believe in those free-market principles. And they aim to bring them back.
Phil Valentine is an author and nationally syndicated radio talk show host with Westwood One. For more of his commentary and articles, visit philvalentine.com.
