[StBernard] The Forgotten Man and Election 2008

[Westley Annis]

Newt Gingrich
October 21, 2008
Vol. 3, No. 43

The Forgotten Man and Election 2008 
By Newt Gingrich 
 
America met Joe the Plumber last week. But a pro-market economist writing
over a hundred years ago was already familiar with Joe Wurzelbacher and
Americans like him -- and understood how they are used and exploited by
politicians.

	"They are always under the dominion of the superstition of
government, and forgetting that a government produces nothing at all, they
leave out of sight the first fact to be remembered in all social discussion
-- that the state cannot get a cent for any man without taking it from some
other man, and this latter must be a man who has produced and saved it. This
latter is the Forgotten Man."

These are the words of William Graham Sumner, brilliantly analyzed and
applied to 21st century America by Amity Schlaes in her recent book, The
Forgotten Man 

"He Works, He Votes, Generally He Prays - But He Always Pays"


Sumner wrote of the Forgotten Man: "He works, he votes, generally he prays
-- but he always pays -- yes, above all, he pays."

Joe the Plumber has struck a chord in the closing weeks of this election
because he represents the Forgotten Man. When he confronted Sen. Barack
Obama on the campaign trail with the question of what would happen to his
taxes under an Obama Administration should he realize his dream of owning
his own business, Joe cast the decision that faces us in this election in
stark relief:

Which will be better for our economy: Politicians redistributing our wealth
or growing more wealth?

Click here to continue reading Newt Gingrich's Winning the Future 
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=29127