President Obama took direct aim in his inaugural address at the Randian rhetoric that animates the politics of Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and his conservative followers in the House and around the country, arguing that the United States is "not a nation of takers."
For Ryan, the country is divided between "takers" and "makers." He generally puts the number of the former at around a third, with the remainder in the producing category. The dichotomy has been a regular part of his rhetorical repertoire for years, and was elevated during the presidential campaign as Ryan sought the vice presidency.
Ryan argues that social insurance programs that are central to Western welfare states sap the citizenry of ambition. Obama took direct aim at that contention on Monday. "The commitments we make to each other -- through Medicare, and Medicaid, and Social Security -- these things do not sap our initiative; they strengthen us. They do not make us a nation of takers; they free us to take the risks that make this country great," he said.
Go mountain climbing, ACA will pay for it if you fall! Take on massive amounts of college debt getting your masters of fine arts in pottery, we will forgive your debts.
Thomas Sowell: There are no solutions, just trade-offs.
I'm thinking of boosting my risk taking in my IRA, since SS will cover me. I'm going for Oil and gold futures, credit default swaps, and call options on High Tech start-ups. Maybe some Vegas gambling too. WHooHooo
Thanks Obama!
If you want to be, press one. If you want not to be, press 2
Republicans are red, democrats are blue, neither of them, gives a flip about you.
Yes, if you have insurance, (which ACA is), and you fall off a mountain, it pays for your care...(As opposed to the deadbeats who could afford to pay for it, but decide not to because they'd rather have a faster, newer car, or a motorcycle...And if they fall off the mountain, they go to the emergency room, and we ALL pay for it...) Gee, insurance even pays for clowns that run through the forest playing "Militia maneuvers" and fall down and need stitches to close a wound after playing "big bad soldier" all day.
Fred, you really need some new material... This canned crap that you keep regurgitating is not working.