Romney's 47

As I mentioned previously, although I don't subscribe to the notion that one of the purposes of government is to take care of us, I am nonetheless disappointed by comments made by candidate Romney regarding the 47 percent of Americans who apparently don't pay taxes (transcript from the spies is here):

there are 47 percent who are with him [Obama], who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe that government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you name it

Although this may be sober and correct campaign strategy to some extent, I also have two problems with it:

• Many of the 47 percent have paid into the system and are morally entitled to get their money back.
• This reveals a dramatic lack of imagination on the part of Mitt Romney.

Bullet point 1

The alleged irony between advocating limited government while at the same time partaking of government benefits is a common progressive "criticism", but the fact is we've had money taken from us and we deserve to get it back. This has been stated with clarity using school loans as an example, but applies equally to all government services:

The recipient of a public scholarship is morally justified only so long as he regards it as restitution and opposes all forms of welfare statism.

Government has moved into so many area of life that to suggest that advocates of freedom cannot touch anything pertaining to government is tantamount to requiring that we live in caves. It is a ridiculous and unrealistic standard, aimed only at putting advocates of freedom on the moral defensive.

Bullet point 2

Rather than simply accepting that a large sector of the population is beholden to the government and beyond the reach of reason (which is insulting and incorrect), one could wish that Romney appeal to them by saying "True capitalism will allow Americans to relinquish their dependence on the government, and we will phase out entitlement programs with maximum fairness to those who have paid into the system."

I mean, a some retirement-age folks have lived through wars and understand what it means to fight for this country and its values. Romney is literally throwing that patriotism down the drain because his campaign is unimaginative and lacks a clear concept of the principles they should be fighting for (Massachusetts health care is OK, but ObamaCare is not? Huh? Who does he think he's kidding?).

While regarded as some as an advocate of capitalism, Mitt Romney does not understand or apply the principles of capitalism or individual rights and I am not the least bit enthusiastic about him or Paul Ryan, the false Ayn Rand fan whose faith seems to have overwhelmed his acceptance of reason, causing him to recant in favor of religion and compassionate conservatism. Lame.

However...

...based on President Obama's seeming total ignorance of economics, his lies about the causes of the recession, the health care debacle, and his other ironically moralistic attacks on freedom, I wouldn't vote for him unless Adolph Hitler were his opponent.