The American entitlement problem

Mitt Romney has decided that inequality in America isn’t a real problem. It’s just envy. There are plenty of facts that would suggest income inequality is not a good thing for this country, but why debate data when you can just throw out a talking point for simpletons to latch on to.

On top of that Mr. Romney believes we have an entitlement problem and he wants America to become an “Opportuntiy Society.” This should come as no surprise since growing up privileged, Mitt Romney was given every opportunity to succeed. Would he have achieved the same grades in the Detroit Public Schools as he did in his private school in Bloomfield Hills? Would he have been as motivated to get good grades if he had to pitch in to put food on the table and keep the lights on? Would he have been able to pay for his 7 years of college and 30 months on a Mormon mission without his family’s money?

What Democrats have been fighting for is a nation where everyone is entitled to a chance at success. Sometimes this means some people need assistance from the government. Unfortunately for most Americans an Opportunity Society favors those like Mitt Romney.

If not, would Paris Hilton have been given a chance to have a reality television show or release a record? Would Dale Earnhardt Jr. be a NASCAR driver? Would Joe Buck be a big time sportscaster? Would Jay Paterno have been the quarterbacks coach for Penn State for the past 12 years?

Mitt Romney would have you believe that he can help this country create jobs because he has run a business. The idea being that his knowledge of business will be an asset that makes his views better than those who do not have business experience. If this is true then Mitt Romney’s opinions on how to help people pull themselves up by their boot straps are completely irrelevant. Mitt didn’t start at the bottom and work his way up. He took a limo to the corner of “privilege” and “don’t you know who my dad is” and managed to not screw it up.

Barack Obama, on the other hand, grew up in a house that needed government assistance to make ends meet. Contrary to the Republican rhetoric of “welfare dependency,” Barack Obama, because of this assistance, was afforded the opportunity to succeed. If personal experience is the measuring stick Mitt Romney wants us to use, then Barack Obama’s opinion on how to successfully get Americans off of government assistance is far superior to Mr. Romney’s.

In the end I agree with Mitt Romney – we have an entitlement problem. But the problem is with the entitlements that are given to the rich and famous, not the impoverished. Perhaps it is just hard for Mitt to see, from the Romney family ivory towers in California and New Hampshire and Massachusetts and Utah,  how cutting government benefits might not be considered an “opportunity” by the poor.