Time For Once Upon A Time In America

[Geee]

American Thinker:

For many years now America has been profoundly altering its culture, reordering its economy, and shedding individual liberties in response to inventive short stories told by liberal left-wing theorists. Yet, whenever one of these stories turns out to be a fairytale, as they all invariably do, we rarely back up and repair the damage.

In part because the practical result of any one fairy tale takes a while to fall to earth and poison the drinking water and by the time it does our attention has long since been focused on marshalling the facts in the debate about some new law, regulation, ordinance, code, or international agreement demanded by those who believe the next fairy tale. Or say they do.

And as often as not, we lose because we tend to ignore the fact that the real power, in this ongoing struggle between individual freedom and those who fear and revile it lies not in the facts of the matter, but with the other foot in this two step dance: the story.

For example as I write this the August 2, 2011 deadline fabricated by the Obama administration for an extension of the federal debt ceiling is less than a month away and the debate rages. Yet not one national Republican leader has stepped forward to confront the story line that gave rise to it. Namely that the U.S. will for the first time in its history have to default and so catastrophic economic consequences will ensue if the debt ceiling is not extended.

An absolute is a fairy tale because the federal government receives in tax revenue every day much more money than it needs to service the debt and therefore doesn't have to default. Instead what will happen is that Democrats will have to stop sending out as much money as they would like to people who they hope will vote for them in the next election. Which may be a catastrophe to the left-wing liberals who depend upon being elected in order to eat, but not to anybody else. In fact the real story is only good things will result from the debt ceiling being left exactly where it is because if federal spending slows on the morning of August 3 that will not only will that put great downward pressure on interest rates but allow those trillions of dollars in the future to flow into the working economy and build factories and upgrade farms, foundries, offices, and countless small businesses. The very endeavors which raise everybody's standard of living instead of pretending to.

Which one has to admit, is and are very good things.

But that's not the story that's out there. Instead, the Republican leaders in Congress remain focused like a laser beam on the consequences of incurring more debt without restraining spending, and on promising no new taxes. On the facts of the issue, meanwhile complaining that Obama won't seriously engage.

But why should he? He owns the narrative. And so eventually in some face-saving manner, in a flurry of phony budget devices, the Republicans will cave. Because while they posture and prate, the story of catastrophic consequences is having its way in their home districts.