Big gov’t Johnny announces plans to run for prez

The theme? Eliminating poverty via big government programs. Via the Wall Street Journal:

After the 2004 election, Mr. Edwards became director of the Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he has solicited policy ideas for fighting poverty. He previewed his emerging antipoverty program most comprehensively in an address in June at Washington’s National Press Club.

In that speech, he set a national goal of ending poverty in 30 years for the 37 million Americans living below the poverty line, lifting one-third of them above it in each of the next three decades. His “Working Society” agenda would mean a higher federal minimum wage, reduced taxes for low-income workers, universal health care, and one million new housing vouchers for working families, to help them find homes in neighborhoods with better schools.

Mr. Edwards proposes “Work Bonds” to provide tax credits to match low-wage workers’ own long-term savings. He calls for the government to partner with nonprofit organizations to create a million “stepping stone” jobs, to help welfare recipients and others get experience on local projects so they can go on to better-paying private-sector jobs. And he would open “second-chance schools” aimed at the increased number of high-school students who drop out before graduating.

He also wants to “lead the fight” against “global warming.”

McQ is right on target with his response:

A thirty year boondoggle aimed at doing what another 30 year boondoggle costing trillions couldn’t accomplish. And not a single mention of helping grow the economy. Not one. The primary engine by which people lift themselves out of poverty is completely ignored in favor of government programs of dubious or little worth.

[…]

Universal health care and fighting global warming, of course, if government based, are enormously expensive endeavors. The skeptical and cynical among us already are wondering why we would ever want to trust things of such importance to an institution which has no past history of success in fighting poverty (or much else) but does have one of incompetence, waste, fraud and abuse in about every endeavor it has undertaken outside of it’s core purpose of defending our rights.

If there are two Americas, it is made up of those who believe government is the solution and those who believe, more than ever, that government is, for the most part, the problem. And naturally, John Edwards falls into the former category.

Right on, and as long as people like John Edwards see more government as the solution to our problems, those problems will only get worse.

Ezra Klein has a post up describing Edwards’ official announcement, and notes that it sounded more like a telethon than an announcement of his candidacy for president. Of course, I’m sure it doesn’t hurt that Edwards made the declaration in the Hurricane Katrina-ravaged Ninth Ward of New Orleans, surrounded by poor black citizens in the community. As I said over a week ago, announcing it here in his home state just wouldn’t have carried with it all the drama and emotion that announcing it in New Orleans.

Here’s Edwards’ pre-announcement announcement of his candidacy:

Notice the theme of “personal responsiblity” in that message. Who is he trying to kid? He’s no more for personal responsiblity than I am for John Edwards for president. John Edwards is a typical Democrat in that he believes that government is the answer for all problems, and has proposed newer bigger government programs to fix other failed government programs. More layers and layers of bureaucracy. Just what we need. Oh, BTW, no comment from Edwards on any potential future efforts he would make towards ensuring that the sick and disabled will be cured under his watch.

Jimmie at the Sundries Shack is blogging about this, too, and believes Edwards is nothing more than an empty suit. While I agree, Edwards has the personality and charm, and the looks to take him far in the Dem race for nomination for president. And trust me, he will use all of those attributes in an effort to win, and he’ll get a warm reception from the media who will try to paint him as a moderate Democrat simply on the basis of him appearing to be just a regular guy, when in fact he has a lifetime ADA rating of 77.5% – which doesn’t making him a flaming leftist, but makes him solidly liberal. Don’t fall for the media spin on the Breck girl – he’s a liberal, and proud of it.

Related: LOL :D

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