By Susan Heathfield

There is a cultural war, er ummm, election, occurring in 2008.

After the Democrats enter office, buyers’ remorse will hit Americans who watch the fundamental destruction of much of what has made our country great. We have usually saved Europe from its socialistic excesses and its unwillingness to take a stand in the face of evil (think World War I & II). We’ve welcomed rays of sunlight such as France’s Nicolas Sarkozy. We’ve operated as a shining example of democracy and the proponents of freedom and opportunity. But, can we save ourselves?

No more. We’ll be busy dealing with the results of our uninformed voting in 2008. Worst case scenario? We elect a socialist (Marxist?) and create a Democratic Congressional majority without sufficient understanding of what that vote will mean for America. Even worse? Americans are informed and understand where they are placing their vote and think it will be good for America. This means America will vote for and get what it wants – an Obama nation. I wish America well.

This is what that vote will, in fact, mean to Americans.

Sen. Barack Obama wants to redistribute the wealth of productive Americans. No, Andrew, this was hardly a campaigning gaffe; Mr. Obama was talking about redistributing wealth and making the Supreme Court a lawmaking body as early as 2001.

Mr. Obama doesn’t care about the suburbs.

Mr. Obama finds the American Constitution fundamentally flawed. He thinks it should be a living document that his appointed Supreme Court justices can change at will. Thomas Sowell uses the example of the recent decision that gave government the right to interpret “public use” as “public purpose.” This decision enabled tax-greedy governments to confiscate peoples’ homes and businesses and transfer them to greedy developers. The Supreme Court enabled the looting of the homes and businesses of working class people. Just another example of the redistribution of wealth, eh?

The Democrats are scheming to take away your 401(k) plans’ tax advantages and considering replacing them with a social security-like system that would require that you contribute 5% of your salary to the government investing program.

Allowing potentially viable babies to die is Mr. Obama’s stand on abortion. Expect this position to expand when the Democrats are elected.

The Democrats are poised to allocate $300 billion in new government spending by January, 2009. Think you saw spending in the Bush administration? Think again.

Look to see amnesty granted to over 12 million illegal immigrants living in American. Mr. Obama favors driver’s licenses for aliens. The Democrats will continue to build their fan base since research demonstrates that immigrants tend to vote for governments that takes care of them.

The current prediction is that social security taxes will be raised on the most successful Americans. Remember that small business already pays half of the money that is currently contributed to social security each year by doubling the amount each employee pays. You must be aware that government-run programs such as Social Security are paeans to the incompetent. Get used to it. The same folks will soon run your health care and retirement savings.

Mr. Obama thinks capital gains taxes should be raised from 15% to 20%; I predict he’ll aim much higher. Do you notice that smart Americans are dumping stocks and even national athletic teams now in anticipation of this change? They’re investing in untaxable hard goods that can be held forever with no taxation loss. Go, middle America, go.

The Bush tax cuts that created jobs will be repealed. Death taxes will be re-imposed which means my generation will leave much less to the next. Sorry, kids and family.

Mr. Obama wants to raise taxes on the top 5% of wage earners, who now pay approximately 60% of the taxes the U.S. government raises. Predictions are that millions of dollars will be redistributed to the 40% of wage earners who pay no federal income tax. I call this welfare.

“In 2006, the latest year for which we have Census data, 220 million Americans were eligible to vote and 89 million -- 40% -- paid no income taxes. According to the Tax Policy Center (a joint venture of the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute), this will jump to 49% when Mr. Obama's cash credits remove 18 million more voters from the tax rolls. What's more, there are an additional 24 million taxpayers (11% of the electorate) who will pay a minimal amount of income taxes -- less than 5% of their income and less than $1,000 annually.

“In all, three out of every five voters will pay little or nothing in income taxes under Mr. Obama's plans and gain when taxes rise on the 40% that already pays 95% of income tax revenues.

“The plunder that the Democrats plan to extract from the ‘very rich’ -- the 5% that earn more than $250,000 and who already pay 60% of the federal income tax bill -- will never stretch to cover the expansive programs Mr.Obama promises.”

But wait, on a day when Obama’s spokepeople and Mr. Obama himself have given speeches that targeted citizens making less than $200,000 - wait, I thought that was $250,000+ earners targeted for more taxes - these figures bear mention. Did you hear the change? The economists pose the question: What next? They predict that to pay for the Democratic programs, the government will have to move the taxable threshold lower and lower. Mid-America, Obama supporters, that means you. I wonder how the “spread the wealth around” fairness doctrine will play when it hits you with incomes as low as $75,000.

So, family members, friends, employees, and coworkers who come to me and complain about:

• their missing 401(k)s,
• their rising social security taxes,
• the quality of their health care,
• their insignificant raises due to taxation,
• their overwork due to fewer colleagues,
• the worker layoffs and the lack of enthusiasm to hire due to an unfriendly business climate,
• the incredibly shrinking wealth that they will inherit from my generation – redistributed - I believe, is the term,
• the charities that await the government dole because business money has been confiscated - trust these donations from the government will have an agenda you may or may not support – and my business and I will have less to give,
• the fact that tech companies, auto companies, banking companies and more are already shedding employees at unprecedented rates, in anticipation of an Obama nation, in which the Federal government plays an unprecedented role in ownership, interference-ship, regulation, and the swatting of entrepreneurs.

When you come to me, and you seek my support, my sympathy, or my comfort, I will simply respond: no whining.

This week's previous posts (most recent first): Young Voter, Republican Fairytales, Conspiracy of Silence, A Radical Shift In Power, Risks and Rewards