McCain or Obama: Who Will End the Financial Crisis?

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By Nicholas Provenzo
Chairman of the Center for the Advancement of Capitalism

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama isn’t an outright socialist as some have alleged. That is, he doesn't call for the explicit government ownership of all the means of production. Nevertheless, both he and Republican candidate John McCain are equally dangerous for economic freedom in America. On every question, both men share the same corrupt moral premise, differing only in degree and their particular focus. At root, both men condemn personal accountability and independence.

Just take the root cause of our current financial crisis. Americans all want to own their own homes, even if everyone can’t be trusted to make the payments. So they’ve allowed government agencies to impose artificial rules on banks and the housing market. The predictable result has been a financial house of cards that has ignited a global recession, resulting in our government adding hundreds of billions of dollars to the public debt to prevent foreclosed homeowners from bearing the responsibility for their own poor financial choices. Worse, it has done so with the support of both political parties.

Neither Obama nor McCain stands against these flawed policies in any meaningful way. Instead, both men promise to expand the power of government to regulate our lives.

Obama proposes a socialized healthcare scheme, where the cost for healthcare is not borne by the patient. He also advocates a plan to force us into alternative energy, even if it makes no economic sense. Meanwhile, McCain promises to "take on" drug companies (who create life-saving medicines) and proposes to "cap and trade" emissions from our businesses, despite increasingly contradictory claims from climate-change alarmists. And, perhaps most disturbing, both men promise to further regulate the "greed" on Wall Street, as if arresting some businessmen for their "greed" will inspire other businessmen to invest anew.

These socialist streaks in both candidates mean that whether it’s Obama or McCain that move into the Oval Office, American’s essential problems will continue. That doesn't mean all hope is lost. We need a new generation of minutemen, armed not with muskets, but the ideas necessary to defend our individual freedom against the tyranny of our era. We can win, but only if we stand up and say "give us capitalism, and death to government control over our lives."