Face the State

Face The State Editorial

When John McCain visited Denver Thursday, he was met with a now predictable throng of tireless liberal protesters. As it turns out, their rhetoric may just be what helps his chances most with mainstream voters in this November’s election.

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With TV cameras catching every moment, a coalition of union representatives, feminist activists, and paid liberal shills blocked the entrance to the Denver Athletic Club, a posh private facility where McCain supporters hosted a high dollar fundraiser inside.

With a sign reading “Is McCain For Sale?” the protesters blasted the Republican presidential candidate, accusing him of previously accepting a half-million dollars in campaign contributions from oil companies. Led by paid organizer Michael Huttner, the coalition didn’t just focus on oil.

Protesters quickly moved on to the nation’s so-called housing crisis. As the placard-boasting group walked in a circle, one man began a new chant of “No more foreclosures!” His friends quickly joined him in unison.

It’s McCain’s fault America is facing record numbers of home foreclosures? Of course, the protesters were merely following the Democrat Party’s most recent talking points. Both of McCain’s possible Democrat opponents, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, lashed out at McCain earlier in the day for his failure to support interventionist policies to bail homeowners out of the rising interest rates they face on sub-prime mortgages they now can’t afford.

In North Carolina, Clinton suggested that McCain was blaming homeowners for failing to meet mortgage payments. “Sometimes the phone rings at 3 a.m. in the White House and it’s an economic crisis,” The Washington Post reported Clinton as saying. “And we need a president who is ready and willing and able to answer that call.” In New York, the Post reported that Obama attacked McCain for views that amounted “to little more than watching this crisis happen.”

McCain’s sin? In a speech earlier in the week, McCain articulated his position that the government should exercise caution in its willingness to bail homeowners out of loans, saying “it is not the duty of government to bail out and reward those who act irresponsibly, whether they are big banks or small borrowers.” Imagine that.

In the current debate over the rising numbers of foreclosures across America, there is much discussion about the issuance of sub-prime loans. But almost nothing is said about personal responsibility. Any plan for a blanket buyout of those facing rising interest rates on their loans amounts to nothing more than amnesty for bad decision making. McCain’s tough love approach is essential in an era when too many Americans continue to spend outside their means with little repercussions for their reckless behavior.

Clinton and Obama want you to believe that thousands of Americans were forced into these loans by unscrupulous mortgage lenders. Both Democrats now advocate homeowner bailouts and cash infusions to the economy that could cost billions. But consumers should know better. If it appears too good to be true, it likely is. The government cannot save us this time.

Thursday’s protesters in Denver didn’t just encourage bailouts on the foreclosure crisis, they also want our next president to raise the cost of living in America. The next chant of interest was “Fair Trade! Save the Middle Class!”

Fair trade, a mantra now used commonly by the Left, is a growing movement that advocates paying “fair” prices — instead of wages set by the market — for products and services purchased by consumers and government in this country. In other words, it’s the new sophisticated face of the aging anti-sweatshop movement. While the merits of such policy should be debated, one conclusion is inevitable. Fair trade can only substantially increase the cost of basic staples, including food and clothing, for Americans now living paycheck-to-paycheck.

Calls for a massive mortgage buyout and "fair trade" — when advocated together — can only mean one thing: More financial disaster. As we move closer toward November, our nation will collectively continue to suffer the pain of its poor financial decisions, including buying homes and accepting government entitlements that we can’t afford. This pain is unavoidable. What we need now is a president who will help us suffer through this period in the most logical, cost-effective way possible.

Our credit has run out. Most Americans are beginning to understand this, while the Left’s protesters refuse to accept it as truth. They will again convene in Denver this August for the Democratic National Convention. Already, a national coalition called “Re-Create ‘68” says it will take to the streets of the Mile High City “to resist a two-party system that allows imperialism and racism to continue unrestrained.” For this coalition, we can’t just stop at Fair Trade and mortgage buyouts. We must inject further government “assistance” into the economy. Hopefully, the media publicizes this message loud and clear.

At the end of the day, such rants can only better position McCain as the mainstream candidate of choice. If he can successfully educate Americans on the cost and damages that could result from the Democrat Party’s interventionist policies and unfunded promises, he can gain footing with the nation’s much coveted middle class voters.

In the meantime, and to our friends on the Left — please keep the protests coming. The louder, the better.