On Thursday, President Barack Obama doubled down on his usual tactic of bullying his opposition rather than negotiating with them. Speaking to race baiter extraordinaire and MSNBC host Al “Resist We Much” Sharpton, Obama explained that Republicans don’t oppose tax increases because they think it will hurt the economy, destroy jobs, and prevent investment in business. No, said our uniter president, they do it because they hate poor people and love the rich:
My sense is that their basic view is that nothing is important enough to raise taxes on wealthy individuals or corporations, and they would rather see [billions in sequester cuts to social programs]… That’s the thing that binds their party together at this point.
Nothing is important enough to raise taxes for Republicans? Really? They just signed off on a tax increase less than two months ago to come to a deal avoiding the fiscal cliff. But to admit that would be to give the lie to Obama’s central thesis: his opposition isn’t principled, it’s venal. Conservatives would rather watch first responders get laid off than require Warren Buffett to sign a slightly bigger check. Never mind that conservatives believe that lower taxes creates a broader tax base from which to draw, that tax receipts rise when the economy is on the upswing due to government nonintervention, and that conservatives would always prefer to keep first responders working at market rates rather than spending cash on, say, windmills built in Europe.
No, according to Obama, they’re morally deficient.
The American people are hearing from Democrats that those who oppose tax increases but want to cut to preserve America’s fiscal future are bad human beings. And they’re hearing from Republicans that Barack Obama just needs to show a bit more leadership. No wonder Americans side with Obama, who has turned the notion of leadership on its head to mean demonizing political opposition, with the help of a compliant, drool-cup press, even while Republicans play by Marquis of Queensberry rules.
Ben Shapiro is Editor-At-Large of Breitbart News and author of the book “Bullies: How the Left’s Culture of Fear and Intimidation Silences America” (Threshold Editions, January 8, 2013).