COMMENTARY | Political analyst and author Ann Coulter aptly defined the drastic differences between the liberal and fiscally conservative views on economic recovery while participating in an ABC "This Week" panel Sunday. Coulter was the voice of reason during a debate with far-left community organizer Van Jones over Barack Obama's fiscally irresponsible style of governance. The president's belief that bolstering public sector jobs will help the economy illustrates that Democrats failed to heed the message delivered during the Wisconsin recall election last week.
The panel might have initially been focused on Obama's comments about the private sector during a news conference but quickly expanded into a debate about unsustainable spending that might be the deciding factor in the November election. President Obama can attempt to focus the attention of American voters on gay marriage and an alleged gender pay bias, but the economy is the only subject that will matter in November.
A shouting match among the panel likely was difficult for most viewers to follow. Coulter utilized her typical no-nonsense manner and cut through the liberal rhetoric quite swiftly. Although progressives would like people to think otherwise, fiscal conservatives are not opposed to firefighters, teachers and law enforcement officers. The president's focus should be on mandating performance standards for such employees and curbing antiquated collective bargaining policies that caused public employee layoffs in the first place.
Coulter and fellow panelist Mike Huckabee did not shy away from the hard questions and correctly noted that increasing the number of teachers will not solve the problems with public school graduation rates and student proficiency, according to discussion excerpts republished on The Blaze. Jones became offended that public employees have become "punching bags" by conservatives, according to the panel video. Apparently Jones does not feel equally sympathetic toward the taxpayers who continue to have their wallets emptied by Obama's frivolous jobs bills.
A second term for President Obama would bring more unsustainable spending to beef up the public sector, pushing America further into debt. It would be nearly impossible to find a citizen who would refuse the protection of additional police officers and firefighters, but the taxpayer-funded salaries and benefits packages must adhere to fiscally responsible guidelines and performance reviews.
