My letter to The Record about Obama’s State of the Union Address published Feb. 26.
On the path to national ruin
Regarding Gerald Pomper’s “A union of the state” (Opinion, Page O-1, Feb. 17):
Pomper asserts that President “Obama is not advocating ‘big’ government, but he is calling for more active government, in stimulating the economy.”
The truth of the matter is the federal government is already big, so big in fact that it is spending at least 25 percent of the nation’s output, compared with 18 percent when Bill Clinton occupied the Oval Office.
Obama’s State of the Union address epitomized his love for big, activist government. Under Obama, spending will go up, taxes will increase, regulations will expand, the currency will be debased further and the military-industrial complex will remain entrenched.
In saying that the American people expect Washington to “put the nation’s interests before party,” Obama crystallized the issue: Government has become the primary “problem solver” in society, tackling virtually every problem, at home and abroad.
In his push for a more activist government, Obama described America as one big family, with him as the “father” and members of Congress as rich uncles who spend nearly $4 trillion on the family’s well-being. What a bunch of selfless philanthropists.
Obama is selling snake oil to Americans. Let’s see if there is enough intelligence in Congress and the nation to understand the inevitable consequences of expanding the welfare-warfare state: lower living standards, less freedom, fewer civil liberties and endless conflict overseas.
Murray Sabrin
Fort Lee, Feb. 17
The writer, a professor of finance at Ramapo College of New Jersey, has been a candidate for statewide office as a Republican and a Libertarian.