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July 6, 2022
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When a lie gets repeated so often that everyone thinks it’s true, it’s called “conventional wisdom” – maybe because it happens so often at political conventions. These days, the conventional wisdom is that far-left ideas are the accepted, objective truth and anyone who questions them is an extremist or a believer in “disinformation.” Don’t buy it.

Throughout the Bush-Obama era, the media kept repeating “failed conservative policies” until even a lot of so-called conservatives believed it. So the voters put Democrats fully in power. It resulted in a sluggish economy, depressed job growth, rising income inequality, reduced wealth and opportunities for minorities, rising class and racial divisions, and abroad, a decline in US prestige and leadership and the advancement and emboldening of our enemies, including a terrorist “JV team” metastasizing into a worldwide threat. Not to mention big government schemes imposed against the will of the people. In Obama’s very first midterm election, voters gave the House back to the Republicans.

Polls began to show that most Americans wanted the government to do less and spend less. In France, where an actual Socialist was elected President, his huge tax hikes crashed the economy and made socialism as popular with the French as cheese in a can. The media were shocked when voters turned right in the next election. They should’ve known that nothing turns people off of socialism like actually experiencing it. Ask a Cuban or Venezuelan.

The elites responded by doubling down on the arrogance, condescension and name-calling of those who dared to challenge their divine right to rule. The people were forced to make their point even more clearly by shutting down large sections of the country with Tea Party protests, and demanding their culture and secure national borders back, and finally by shocking the elites with the election of Donald Trump. The media, who assumed that everyone would vote for Hillary because everything they talked to did, were shocked.

Trump reversed virtually every Obama policy. Result: ISIS was crushed, peace started breaking out in the Middle East, illegal immigration plummeted, the economy boomed, and unemployment for all groups fell to record lows while real wages rose for the first time in decades. It took the artificial shutdown of that economy due to COVID-19 to crush it. In 2020, a relentless, four-year media assault against Trump and…other factors…brought the Democrats back into full power. And just as the economy was starting to rebound, Biden brought back all the Obama policies and crushed it again.

If you ever wanted a laboratory demonstration of whose policies work and whose don’t, you could just look at the past three Administrations. It’s like watching someone turn off the lights, turn them back on, then turn them off again.

It is a shame that voters have to keep relearning the hard way that top-down, big government solutions and leftist utopian fantasies don’t work in reality. Young people can almost be excused for believing in socialism for the same reason they believe in the Tooth Fairy: they are empty vessels who get filled with whatever adults pour into them. The leftists certainly know that. Many parents have recently woken up to how dangerously remiss we’ve been in allowing leftists to take over our schools and fill those precious vessels with mental pollution.

But Republicans who promised small government and fiscal responsibility have let us down, too. Too many let deficits skyrocket, stuffed budgets with pork, and became cheerleaders for big government and disdainful toward the very Americans who put them in office. These so-called “conservatives” slammed me in 2007 for not being a “real conservative” because I pointed out problems in the economy that were hurting working people and criticized the lack of oversight of Wall Street’s excesses. Two years later, they wanted to spend $700 billion of our grandkids’ money to save Wall Street from its excesses. They abandoned government’s rightful role as a tough-but-impartial referee and wanted to use its power to pick winners and losers in the market. Is that “real conservatism?”

The truth is that voters didn’t turn their backs on conservatism, Republican politicians did. And despite the media’s claim that “We’re all socialists now,” Democrats didn’t sweep to power in 2008 by claiming to be government-bloating tax-and-spenders, but by swearing they’d changed and were now fiscally responsible. Of course, once they gave Obama, Pelosi and Reid unlimited power, voters quickly realized their terrible mistake and gave the House back to the GOP in the next election. But too many Republicans had already squandered their credibility, so when Democrats ballooned the deficit, they could deflect criticism by simply pointing at their opponents’ own record.

In 2020, the endless media assaults on Trump and the false messaging that Biden was a moderate centrist hoodwinked the voters yet again into putting the Democrats back into power. From his first day in power, Biden surrounded himself with leftists who couldn’t wait to bloat government, reverse all of Trump’s successful policies, raise taxes, spend money like water, regulate everything that moves, and turn the whole country into a coast-to-coast version of one of the failing cities Democrats have run for decades. It didn’t take long for buyers’ remorse to hit Americans harder than COVID-19.

For a localized example of this pendulum effect, look at New York City. It became a nightmare until voters finally replaced Democrat David Dinkins with Republican Rudy Giuliani. Under Rudy, the Big Apple staged a huge comeback that was kept going by faux Republican Mike Bloomberg. But by then, it had been a long time since the bad old day. New Yorkers forgot how bad it could get. So they turned over the keys to Dinkins protégé Bill DeBlasio, and they soon found out how bad things could quickly turn. They still haven’t learned their lesson: they elected another Democrat who promised to fix things, but hasn’t. We’ll see how bad things have to get before they finally yell for the Republicans to come save them again.

As George Santayana observed, those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. No wonder Democrats hate teaching kids real American history.

From Jefferson’s belief that government closest to the people governs best to Reagan’s faith in free markets, from low taxes to letting markets instead of government make business decisions, conservative ideas work whenever they’re tried. Unfortunately, party leaders and the media are wildly out of touch with most Americans, and they are the ones with Hollywood, the media and social media acting as a 24-hour PR megaphone for bad leftist policies. This amplifies the liberal side and suppresses the conservative side so much that not only is the tail wagging the dog, but it’s like a Chihuahua’s tail wagging a St. Bernard. Too often, they succeed in hoodwinking the voters into giving them power again, despite decades of failure. But once in power, they quickly remind people why they should never be entrusted with it.

As that great Republican Abraham Lincoln observed, you can fool some of the people all of the time (they’re called “progressives”) and all the people some of the time, but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time. Let’s pray that this November will be another of those “won’t get fooled again” elections.

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Comments 1-10 of 40

  • Paul A Kehren

    07/08/2022 04:51 PM

    Thank you, Mike Huckabee. My biggest beef with the Criminal Democrats and the Spineless Republicans, controlling the White House and Congress is: Joe Biden committed a Billion Dollar Bribery, according to -- Joe Biden -- on video. AND NOBODY LIFTED A FINGER TO BRING HIM TO JUSTICE. Nobody called for grand jury investigation of that Quid Pro Joe Video. Their congressional investigation was a joke. Over and over again, Democrats are proven to be ABOVE THE LAW. Hillary with her email scandal..... Bill Clinton with Monica.....Hillary, Obama, Biden with their LYING to a federal judge to spy on Trump....the Biden family's shady dealings with China and Ukraine.....Joe Biden's criminal DESERTION of his duty, as Commander-in-Chief, to protect our borders. In my estimation, we now have the most LAWLESS lawmakers in U.S. History residing in Washington, D.CEIT. Thank you for all you do, to defend Conservative values in the USA.

  • Veronica Le Gare

    07/08/2022 12:12 PM

    As usual, flawless commentary dear man! But a deep shame this country needs such! And it DOES! God bless you Mike!

  • Catharine Noel-Repetski

    07/07/2022 04:24 PM

    I am told 1000 people daily are moving to Florida to get away from New York, however, some of them are bringing their leftist politics with them. This was made clear when a complaint was sent to the local newspaper concerning a discretely placed sign on the back of a truck in the 4th parade: "Biden Sucks". Considering the damage he has done, I found it apropos and laughed when I saw it. "Deplorables" and Trump have put up with years of insults and destruction from the left, BLM, and Antifa, but can't hang a flag to express their own opinion? I personally have a flag that says "Trump Won". I also have a leftist friend I went to school with that occasionally likes to question my intelligence; recently concerning the fact I'm not watching the Kangaroo Committee. I told him no one is interested; there are too many other concerns going on. I also send him cartoons, etc. to get him going. (You know I do this on purpose) Just got your book: God, Guns, Grits, and Gravy. Love it!

  • Pat Kennedy

    07/07/2022 03:38 PM

    As they say, live and not learn is the motto of voters, that's why the seesaw back and forth.

  • marlene helfrick

    07/07/2022 01:58 PM

    I thought that quote was from P.T. Barnum. Did he quote A. Lincoln with it.

  • Ed Thompson

    07/07/2022 01:19 PM

    Can someone please tell me why there are people who say Joe Biden is doing a good job? I mean besides his son and the kids in his family who don’t know what the cost of anything is right now? Is this the price of what passes for education these days? And if you have another reason why please tell us all and if you are in a position to do something—anything about it please please please DO it. I can’t believe we have teachers that are supporting socialism and CRT and getting away with it. I DO believe it all started with CORE and no one stood up against it. Ask any highschool graduates to give you change from a dollar after you pay sixty three cents for something and not to use any electronic device to help! Ya might get three dollars back or you might get a quarter! And this is supposed to be the future of America? College courses that cost big bucks that give a person nothing more than a memory of being in college and a skill set worth nothing. We have a problem. Not getting smarter but going the wrong way. If you are a supporter of the current democrats you are part of the problem I’m not sorry to tell you. God Help us all.

  • Jeanne Blake

    07/07/2022 07:26 AM

    I agree with this article 100%. My only hope is that more people wake up and discover your message. I am a 71 year old grandma and worry about the future of my children and grandchildren. God bless you for standing up for truth.

  • Robert M Waltermyer

    07/07/2022 03:59 AM

    THE PEOPLE WHO SHUT DOWN
    YOUR BUSINESSES AND KILLED
    YOUR CAREERS ARE NOW ASKING THAT YOU RE-ELECT THEM SO THEY CAN KEEP THEIR JOBS. NEVER FORGET WHAT THEY'VE DONE TO YOU!

  • Kenneth T. Kelly

    07/06/2022 09:32 PM

    This story hits home a lot with me.

    In my opinion, we seriously need term limits because we have people that simply cannot relate to the average person on the street.

    But, term limits are but one of the things we need, the second is the end of the private health care, retirement accounts, and the billions in perks that the "royalty" bestow upon themselves.

    Finally one last thing, that I can think of at this time, is accountability. We need for those in power that violate the law, be criminally held responsible. Yes, I believe Hillary should be in prison, but I feel she should have a lot of company as well. It's time that the people see the law applied equally, instead of in the manner it currently is.

    Sorry for the rant, but you did hit on the problem in a big way, it's on bot sides of the aisle.

  • Victor Zielinski

    07/06/2022 09:19 PM

    Amen, Hallelujah - Amen!