A Voice in the Wilderness In Defense of "Mere Conservatism"

Illinois Downgraded

By: M. Levon, Contributor

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My poor state of Illinois has had its credit rating downgraded from "A+" to a measly "A" by S&P and is now the proud owner of S&P's worst rating.  Remember when the United States government was downgraded, and Democrats blamed it on Republican "obstructionism"?  In Illinois, there is no Republican obstruction to speak of, nor has there been for years.  Not to mention, Illinois is President "they-want-to-return-to-the-failed-policies-of-the-past" Obama's home state.

S&P's worst rating is also occupied by California, another state notable for its lack of Republican meddling.  In fact, it seems any place which successfully enacts policies Obama approves of ends up seeing its debt balloon to an exorbitant size out and its credit rating downgraded.

So, one wonders, how can President Obama peddle the “failed policies of the past” yarn he's so fond of with a straight face?  Especially when the places which have been dominated by leaders of his political persuasion are ripe examples of failed policies of the past and the present?

The hutzpah is palpable.

The president might do us all a favor by explaining how he plans to avoid the fate of cities like Detroit which, in the “historic” year of 1974, elected their first black mayor (sound familiar?) – a progressive-Leftist whose policies drove The Motor City into the proverbial ground over the next two decades.  Instead, when The One speaks, we are simply reassured that those “other” failed policies of the past are to blame.

At the RNC, Republican Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) offered a stark contrast to President Obama's potshots:

“It doesn't matter how we got here. There is enough blame to go around. What matters now is what we do.” 

The good governor makes a very important point.  Rather than jawboning and jabber-jawing about "failures of the past," why not discuss some models for success here in the present? But Chris wasn't done.  In continuing, Christie graciously submitted an example (imagine that) of such progress:

“They said it was impossible to cut taxes in a state where taxes were raised 115 times in eight years. That it was impossible to balance a budget at the same time, with an $11 billion deficit. Three years later, we have three balanced budgets with lower taxes.”

Its noteworthy that New Jersey's fiscal depths were originally plumbed under Democratic supervision. Its also worth noting that President Obama has abstained from putting forth his own state as an example of what the country should look like because it is an abysmal failure.  What will it take for this “failed policies of the past” rhetoric turn on its master?  When will progressive Democrats have to give an account for the half-century track-record of dismantling once-prosperous cities?

Nonetheless, our president, champion of the fiscal tumbleweed ghost town known as Illinois, asks us to take him on his word that the only relevant failures are those of his opponents (details permanently postponed).

I hope that America, like myself, finds his claims increasingly hard to swallow.