Obama’s Progressive Goal: Make Us Poorer By Any Means Possible

William L. Anderson reports:

As one who has studied the Progressive Era, I am struck by the continuity of thought from the early Progressives of more than a century ago to those people today who claim to be Progressives. While the modern Progressives no longer are open adherents to racism (the Progressives gave us Jim Crow laws) and eugenics, nonetheless the basic attitudes of Progressives today strongly mirror their forebears who agreed that "too much freedom" is bad for people, and that a strong and semi-benevolent state should guide, prod, and (when necessary) force individuals to do things they never would do on their own.

Critics either couch Obama’s actions as being done from ignorance ("Doesn’t he know that lower capital gains tax rates will raise more revenue than high rates?") or a misunderstanding of economics. Even when critics take Obama at his word – "fairness" is his watchword on taxes and the economy – they still don’t understand that the higher tax rates will only give a perception of fairness, and that the rates will do nothing to cramp the lifestyles of the "idle" rich while blocking the rise of entrepreneurs.

You'll want to read the whole thing: twice.