Pejman Yousefzadeh's blog

David Boaz is quite right to criticize both Barack Obama and John McCain for urging people to pass up opportunities to do well financially even as they (Obama and McCain) pile up the big bucks. I suppose that this aversion to life in the private sector--and the financial benefits such a life brings the participant--is understandable when it comes from Obama, but as I have asked in the past, whence the contempt from McCain? Surely, he must understand that the very people who he apparently has contempt for--people who have gone into private enterprise--are the same people who, as Boaz points out, have worked so hard and done so much to augment the standard of living for all Americans.

If Republicans want to revive the fortunes of the GOP, a return to roots is necessary and part of that return involves an appreciation for the hard work that is necessary to generate wealth. Such work and its byproduct may seem crass to some, but if Atlas really does shrug at some point, the consequences for our economy and our standard of living in general will be parlous and disastrous. Republicans used to understand this and used to appreciate private enterprise. Nowadays, however, we have McCain winking and nodding at the pro-poverty populist faction that denounces anyone who thinks that it might be a good idea to cut taxes and reduce the size of government--and to do so in favor of the private sector, which is more efficient on its worst day than government is on its best.

John McCain may well win this year's Presidential election. I think he is the best candidate remaining. But he won't revive the Republican Party if he turns it into a pale version of the Democratic Party. We already have one pro-big government, private sector-bashing party. We really don't need a second one.