On the way back from Thanksgiving break, we saw a "Obama or America... you can't have both" sign along I-40 west of Knoxville. Well, it looks like we got both, unless your definition of America is very narrowly defined.
Were that literally the case, we'd expect patriots to be taking up arms and marching on Washington looking to impose martial law, overruling the decision of the electorate earlier this month. Yes, we have a few thousand folks signing on-line petitions asking for states to leave the Union, but there is little serious discussion of doing so outside of a passing reference from Ron Paul; the guy running to replace Rick Perry with SUCEDE as his middle name (in caps, so it's not a typo) doesn't count.
America doesn't stop being America if the government picks up some or all of the tab for folks' health insurance. It also doesn't stop being America if taxes are raised back to pre-Bush levels. John Wayne was paying 90% of his marginal income in taxes during his hey-day; you'd think the Duke should have gathered up the posse and road into Washington if you'd listen to folks today.
The liberals won the election, partly due to a mediocre candidate who didn't make a good rationale why smaller government and a more robust economy would help Joe Sixpack more than a revamped safety net will. The "bad guys" win in a democracy every so often; if they didn't, "your guys" are running a one-party state.
Obamacare might even help create some small business growth as the cost of insuring yourself should go down for folks starting a business if all goes to plan; of course, the taxes to pay for it and discouragement for hiring workers will make folks look to be their own boss the hard way, but there are some possible silver linings in the approaching regulatory cloud.
It's not worth a civil war and not worth becoming an ex-pat; I don't see a flood of Americans heading for other countries for their lower taxes and better business climate.
Comments