Obama's false sense of fairness

By SEN. JOHN BARRASSO | 8/27/12

President Barack Obama regularly promises in campaign speeches that his policies will give every American a “fair shot.” As with his previous campaign promises, the president knows people interpret “fair” to match their own meaning.

The choice Americans face in this important election, however, does not rest on what they think “fair” means. They must know what the President means when he uses the term.

For more than three and a half years, the president has governed by his politically motivated idea of fairness. His record demonstrates that “fair” for him doesn’t mean equal opportunity for all Americans – it means equal outcome regardless of efforts.

We now know that the president thinks it’s fair to redefine the work requirements for the welfare program to include bed rest and helping neighbors run errands.

He thinks it’s fair to tell defense contractors they cannot warn employees about future layoffs before the election — because he doesn’t want workers to know that he supports looming defense cuts.

He thinks it’s fair to take more than $700 billion from seniors on Medicare to spend on a whole new program for someone else, “Obamacare.”

He thinks it’s fair to tell American seniors that he has strengthened Medicare, though he has no workable plan to prevent it from going bankrupt.

He thinks it’s fair that his health care law will force many college students to lose access to low-cost health plans they were previously able to get through their schools.

On policy after policy, Obama’s partisan definition of fairness does not match the American people’s.

A rising tide lifts all boats, as the maxim says. The president, however, seems to think it’s better to put holes in all the boats — as long as they’re equal in the end. He admires only the success that can be redistributed from Washington. He thinks we can achieve fairness only when Washington calls the shots.

Instead of equal opportunity for everyone, we are left under this president with more debt, fewer jobs and less innovation. His bad policies have not helped Americans succeed and improve their quality of life.

Read the full story at Politico.