The New Anti-Capitalist Conservatives

Wow, who would have ever believed that Republican candidates for president would be spouting anti-capitalist populist rhetoric?

Now, I’d better clearly state that I’m not a Romney supporter. Lots of questions about his conservative principles and his belief in original intent of the Constitution. Still….

Newt Gingrich says he’s not anti-capitalist, not anti private equity funds, not anti Bain Capital. He just thinks that Mitt Romney should have to explain the decision he made at Bain Capital, how the decisions were made and who was hurt by the decisions. Hey, Newt, he only has to explain them to his Board of Directors and his investors. Who else did you have in mind? Should you get to approve what Bain Capital did? If you were president would Bain Capital have to get your approval before they closed a plant? Would you get to approve how much money Bain made on a decision and weigh it against the pain it caused a local community? Would you have the power to block it if the profit versus pain ration wasn’t to your liking? That sounds more than a little statist and certainly not the voice of a “true conservative”.

And, now you Governor Perry! What make a decision or a deal “vulture capitalism”? So far as anyone can tell you’re just using the term for populist political expediency. Capitalism by its very nature has a winner and a loser in just about every deal. If a Texas-based company invented and marketed digital cameras would you tell them to sit on the development because it was going to cost thousands of workers at Kodak their jobs? Would you prefer to still be using those heavy, clunky black telephones we grew up with? How many people are losing their jobs because we’re all toting touch-screen cell phones and wi-fi tablets around? Oh, and one more question Governor, how many people will be negatively affected when you close those two…err…three Federal departments?

How can voters believe that either of you are true conservatives when you attack the very basic tenets of the free enterprise…entrepreneurial…capitalist system? How can we trust that you’ll reform Social Security or Medicare when there’s no way on earth to do it without causing anyone any pain?

You sound awfully Obamaesque making impossible promises where we cut and balance the budget, pay off the debt, go back to adhering to the limited government envisioned by the Founding Fathers in the Constitution…and none, absolutely none of the “little” people will get hurt.

How, Speaker? How, Governor? Unless you can explain that you haven’t destroyed Mitt Romney. You’ve destroyed your own candidacies.

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