Obama Versus Romney Offers a Clash of Capitalisms
We can already see the next six months in American politics: Tit for tat. Blow for blow. You’re Richie Rich. You’re Jimmy Carter. This is what presidential elections have been about since 1800. The only difference is that we have YouTube instead of the Pony Express, so the noise is louder and more constant.
But discerning voters need to understand the deep philosophical distinctions between Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama even if they don’t lend themselves to campaign slogans or barbs.
Labels such as “conservative” and “liberal” are worn out. “Right-wing” doesn’t fit Romney, who describes himself as “severely conservative” but isn’t a wing nut. “Left-wing” is an inaccurate description of the president, whose most “leftist” initiative — Obamacare — is modeled on plans proposed by those noted Bolsheviks Bob Dole and Howard Baker.
A more useful distinction may be between venture capitalists and human capitalists.
Romney came up as a private-equity investor. Like his party, he believes in his heart that the way forward for the U.S. is to slash taxes for the wealthy even further so that they have more venture capital to invest in businesses.