During a speech on income inequality, U.S. President Obama referenced Pope Francis, one of the hottest public names. “Across the developed world, inequality has increased,” Obama said. “Some of you may have seen just last week, the pope himself spoke about this at eloquent length.” Then quoting the Pope, he said: “How can it be that it is not a news item when an elderly homeless person dies of exposure, but it is news when the stock market loses two points?”
Obama also mentioned “a trickle-down ideology” that Pope Francis condemned. Obama cast it into context of his support for strengthening unions and increasing taxes on the wealthy, another favorite theme of the pope.
President Obama said that income equality “restricts economic mobility and threatens to shrink the middle class.” The trouble is the very policies that the president is promoting are increasing the gap. For instance, the health care legislation actually makes the poor poorer because companies that employ many people are finding ways to avoid paying the health care premiums, like reducing staff or converting jobs to part time positions, outsourcing jobs to part-time organizations, etc. The gap is growing also because of previous governments that have made it easy for large companies to outsource American jobs overseas.
“The president’s economic policies promote government reliance rather than economic mobility,” said Brendon Buck, spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner. “Rather than tackling income inequality by lifting people up, he’s been fixated on taxing some down.” He also said that the president’s policies, such as the health care plan and new business regulations have kept the economy depressed. Government debt also keeps the economy down and increases the income inequality.
While there isn’t much difference between the democratic and republican parties these days, the President tries to sound like he is defending the middle class, but calls for more social programs and more government debt as the solution to the income gap. “The growing gap between rich and poor can be closed by actions ranging from an increase in the minimum wage to better education to following through on his health care plan, Obama said. Obama repeated calls for legislation that would strengthen unions, reduce the pay gap between men and women, etc.”
Stagnant incomes for the middle class hurt the ability of Americans to move to better jobs, Obama said. It also breaks down social cohesion as more Americans come to think that the system is rigged against them.
“We need to dispel the myth that the goals of growing the economy and reducing inequality are necessarily in conflict.” The trouble is a social welfare state that President Obama and Pope Francis are promoting will not solve either problem. It will only return America and the world to the type of economy prevalent in the Middle Ages. This will serve the interests of the Catholic Church far more than that of a passing political leader.
“Don’t be shocked to see a president-pope meeting in the coming months,” wrote USA Today.
“The Protestants of the United States will be foremost in stretching their hands across the gulf to grasp the hand of Spiritualism; they will reach over the abyss to clasp hands with the Roman power; and under the influence of this threefold union, this country will follow in the steps of Rome in trampling on the rights of conscience.” The Great Controversy, page 588
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