
 |
|
May 20, 2013
Melissa Healy: Genetic copies of living people from embryos no longer science fiction
Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Jews Inducted into Rock Hall of Fame; Anton Yelchin co-stars in New "Trek" film; Kutcher (but not Kunis) visits Israel; Jewish TV Star Praises Jewish Rap Star
The Kosher Gourmet by Cathy Pollak: WARNING: This WALNUT CAKE WITH PRALINE FROSTING, perfect for afternoon coffee, is addicting
May 13, 2013
Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: Why the giving of the document that would permanently change the world could only be done in desolation
David G. Savage: Church-state, literally? Supreme Court weighing public school graduation in a church
May 10, 2013
Rabbi Berel Wein: Be all that you should be
May 8, 2013
Peter Ford: Why China is welcoming both Israel's Netanyahu and Palestinians' Abbas
Warren Richey: Obama administration quietly backs out of appeal over new contraceptive mandate
Fred Weir: At Kerry-Putin meeting, US-Russia relations thaw --- a tad
The Kosher Gourmet by Leela Cyd Ross : Almost too pretty to eat, this colorful salad with Sicilian inspiration will tickle the taste buds and delight your visual sensibility
May 6, 2013
May 3, 2013
Kids, kittens the Same? With employee perks at struggling Internet pioneer Yahoo! it's hard to tell
Sandy Kleffman: Artificial kidney offers hope to patients tethered to a dialysis machine
April 29, 2013
Roy Gutman: Poland's new Jewish museum celebrates life, doesn't revisit Holocaust
Mark Clayton: Terrorism in America: Is US missing a chance to learn from failed plots?
Kim Murphy: Boston Bomber's 'Svengali' Revealed
Pete Spotts: Tiny satellites + cellphones = cheaper 'eyes in the sky' for NASA
April 26, 2013
Clifford D. May: Defense in the Age of Jihadist Terrorism
Sharon Palmer, R.D.: How to feel your best -- with plenty of energy, a healthy weight and optimal mental and physical function -- without driving yourself batty
April 24, 2013
|
| |
Jewish World Review
May 6, 2010
/ 22 Iyar 5770
Greece on the Brink: Blame It on John Edwards
By
Larry Elder
|

|
|
|
| |
|
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Some blame a culture of comfort. Others blame politicians. Why not blame John Edwards?
In Greece, the bill collector knocks on the front door. The country staggers, one German forefinger from default. Default means fewer buyers for Greece's debt, even at much higher rates of interest. As we see with the housing collapse, financial institutions and economies globally interconnect. Trouble there spells trouble here.
The Greece deficit as a percentage of its gross domestic product is over 13 percent. The rules of the European Union, of which Greece is a member, require a percentage below 3 percent. Its debt as a percentage of its GDP is 115 percent. The EU requires a level of not higher than 60 percent.
Greece is but one of many "advanced" countries with bad balance sheets. To the list add Spain, Portugal, Ireland, Italy, England, France and many others. Japan recently saw its bonds downgraded because of high public debt. In America, government continues to spend way more than it takes in, with the trend line rising higher. Our deficit-to-GDP percentage is close to 10 percent. Our debt-to-GDP percentage for 2009 was 83 percent with 94 percent expected in 2010.
This brings us to John Edwards.
The former Democratic presidential candidate talked about the "two Americas." In one America, everybody lives off the family trust fund. They know the secret handshake that admits them into Harvard and gets them the best tables at restaurants. They name their girls Ashley and give their kids German sports cars when they graduate from prep school.
But then there's that Other America.
In Edwards' Other America, everybody's a victim. "Oppressors" post signs above the ghetto or barrio or trailer park that say, "Abandon hope all ye who enter here." Kids cannot or should not be expected to take advantage of government-provided education and easy entrance into a junior college, college or university often with subsidized tuition. In this America, we treat people as if they are too stupid or lazy to act responsibly. Did Edwards call for more cops, aggressive law enforcement and longer sentences to combat crime that makes life harder and more dangerous? Does he want parents to choose the schools their children attend? No, he wants to subsidize counterproductive behavior with an arsenal of welfare and entitlement programs, along with the "you owe me" mentality.
Americans, including the poor, live far better today than at any time in history. Life is easier, safer and full of choices. Success and upward mobility depend less than ever on physical strength and more than ever on knowledge. And knowledge is more accessible than ever. Most rich people did not start out that way. There is a great deal of upward and, for that matter, downward mobility. Many living in the Other America own their homes outright, own more than one car and live at a level of comfort that equals the middle class of even some "advanced" countries.
But Edwards tells us that it isn't enough to be blessed to live in a country that assures an unalienable right of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We need guarantees. Government ignoring its limited duties prescribed in the Constitution must provide an ever-expanding "social safety net" at the expense of the work and wealth of someone else. Some have it better than others. And government should address the gosh dang unfairness of it all.
Class envy, characterizing "the disadvantaged" as victims, and stoking a sense of entitlement are the push-pull between politician and citizen. Never mind that society needs producers. It needs innovators, risk takers, job creators. Wealth takes work and lots of time. Luck of birth plays a part, but effort drives the bus.
Edwards, in fact, is a walking, talking refutation of the need for more government. In speeches, he'd tell, "My daddy was a millworker." Yeah, for a time. But Daddy Edwards got promoted as many hard workers do to supervisor and then to manager. The Edwards clan moved from working-class neighborhoods to a middle-class neighborhood. Then Daddy Edwards became a manufacturing consultant whose son became a rich medical malpractice lawyer.
Yet Edwards arrogantly insists that the formula his family applied good parenting, education, hard work doesn't work for the Other America, even though he started out in it.
The European social democracies, including Greece, were built on "economic equality" and "social justice" the costs borne by someone else. The bill is coming due. Proposed cuts in generous pensions and changes to early retirement face intense opposition and have already sparked riots. When robbing Peter to pay Paul, you can guarantee the support of Paul. But try taking stuff away from Paul.
Edwards' vision and that of President Barack "I think at some point you have made enough money" Obama is, in the end, self-defeating. It promises protection from want and uncertainty. But it delivers dependency, less prosperity and an even longer sentence in the Other America.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
JWR contributor Larry Elder is the author of, most recently, "Stupid Black Men: How to Play the Race Card--and Lose."
(Proceeds from sales help fund JWR) Let him know what you think of his column by clicking here.
Larry Elder Archives
© 2006, Creators Syndicate
|
|

Arnold Ahlert
Mitch Albom
Jay Ambrose
Michael Barone
Barrywood
Lori Borgman
Stratfor Briefing
Mona Charen
Linda Chavez
Richard Z. Chesnoff
Ann Coulter
Greg Crosby
Larry Elder
Suzanne Fields
Christine Flowers
Frank J. Gaffney
Bernie Goldberg
Jonah Goldberg
Julia Gorin
Jonathan Gurwitz
Paul Greenberg
Argus Hamilton
Victor Davis Hanson
Betsy Hart
Ron Hart
Nat Hentoff
A. Barton Hinkle
Jeff Jacoby
Paul Johnson
Jack Kelly
Ch. Krauthammer
David Limbaugh
Kathryn Lopez
Rich Lowry
Michelle Malkin
Jackie Mason
Ann McFeatters
Dale McFeatters
Dana Milbank
Jeanne Moos
Dick Morris
Jim Mullen
Deroy Murdock
Judge A. Napolitano
Bill O'Reilly
Clarence Page
Kathleen Parker
Star Parker
Dennis Prager
Wesley Pruden
Tom Purcell
Sharon Randall
Robert Robb
Cokie & Steve Roberts
Heather Robinson
Debra J. Saunders
Martin Schram
Greg Schwem
Culture Shlock
David Shribman
Roger Simon
Lenore Skenazy
Michael Smerconish
Thomas Sowell
Ben Stein
Mark Steyn
John Stossel
Cal Thomas
Dan Thomasson
Bob Tyrrell
Diana West
Dave Weinbaum
George Will
Walter Williams
Byron York
ZeitGeist
Mort Zuckerman

Robert Arial
Chuck Asay
Baloo
Lisa Benson
Chip Bok
Dry Bones
John Branch
John Cole
J. D. Crowe
Matt Davies
John Deering
Brian Duffy
Everything's Relative
Mallard Fillmore
Glenn Foden
Jake Fuller
Bob Gorrel
Walt Handelsman
Joe Heller
David Hitch
Jerry Holbert
David Horsey
Lee Judge
Steve Kelley
Jeff Koterba
Dick Locher
Chan Lowe
Jimmy Margulies
Jack Ohman
Michael Ramirez
Rob Rogers
Drew Sheneman
Kevin Siers
Jeff Stahler
Scott Stantis
Danna Summers
Gary Varvel
Kirk Walters
Dan Wasserman

Tech Q&A
Mr. Know-It-All
Ask Doctor K
Richard Lederer
Frugal Living
On Nutrition
Bookmark These
Bruce Williams
|