Hemphill: Democrats believe in Dr. Feel Good

By Allen Hemphill

The election of a socialist in France makes the European economic problem much more difficult — as if it was not already impossible before that election.

Allen Hemphill

And, in some ways, it makes the coming U.S. election more difficult, because it demonstrates all too well that given the opportunity to elect someone who promises you that the dance can go on forever, or someone who says that at some time someone must pay the piper, human nature will choose someone who promises all gain, no pain.

Of course, the French election had more components to it than that, it also had incumbent President Sarkozy who was not called “President Bling-Bling” for nothing. A flamboyant figure, married to a highly paid and beautiful model, Sarkozy led the high life while preaching austerity for the “Little People.” The Little People have little sympathy for those who say, “Let them eat cake.” As the French Revolution so aptly proved.

There is little anyone can do, but the economic entente between France and Germany is over, for certain. The French under Sarkozy supported the German demand for financial responsibility among the near-bankrupt nations such as Greece, Spain, Portugal and Italy ­ but France is nearly in as bad a financial position as those profligate nations, and now they have a big-spender at the helm.

Of course, Germany holds all the cards because they hold the money, but they have lost the political support of the second-most-powerful nation in the EU, and that makes Germany less admired than before. The hatred of the rich and successful is visible in our country as well.

The Germans only supported the European Union and subjugated their powerful currency to the Euro to placate the Europeans for the German World War II atrocity, but it remains to be seen whether Germany will permit the nations of Europe to use it as a piggy bank for continued excess spending. My guess is “no.”

We have a similar problem at home. We have our choice between a Doctor who says we must take serious but awful-tasting medicine, or Doctor Feel Good, the Dance Therapist who prescribes a bit of the “hair of the dog.” He tells us we can keep partying.

About half this nation, like many in Europe, believes in Dr. Feel Good, the Dance Therapist, who promises that you can forever spend more than you make, if you just pinch the rich for a few more dollars — or deutschmarks.

The end game is always the same, because, in a quote attributed to former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, “The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other peoples’ money [to spend].”

Or as Christopher Caldwell put it so well last year in the Weekly Standard, “There is not enough money because the production of rights and benefits has outstripped the production of wealth.”

A universal truth, whether in San Diego, Sacramento, Washington, Paris or Bonn.

Numbers always win, and no number of Doctor Feel Goods can change that.

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Posted by Staff on Jun 21 2012. Filed under Columnists. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry