FROM THE ARCHIVES: OTHER SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN:

From independence, emancipation and a dream to ownership (Jack Kemp, February 7, 2005, Townhall)

[President] Bush's domestic agenda is as visionary - and could be as transforming - as President Lincoln's Homestead Act and Franklin D. Roosevelt's FHA and VA home-mortgage guarantees. By seeking the democratization of capitalism through a comprehensive domestic agenda from homeownership to tax reform, Bush's vision draws on the ideals of the Declaration of Independence, the hopes of the Emancipation Proclamation and the dreams of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to fulfill the promise of America. These themes are timely, coming on the heels of celebrating King's birthday and as we begin Black History Month and the birthday of Abraham Lincoln. [...]

The ownership society realizes that economic freedom and political freedom are two sides of the same coin: that we are not truly free until we have control of our own destiny and until the man-made roadblocks on the path to success are removed. These obstacles are what the president has in mind when he talks about tax reform, Social Security reform and tort reform.

These are the barriers he wants to remove by creating personal retirement accounts, health savings accounts and lifetime savings accounts. Ownership of your house, your education, your retirement and your future. The president is talking about enabling American entrepreneurs from the Bronx to the barrios and from Watts to Washington, D.C., to have the opportunity to achieve their dreams and realize the promise of America.

The GOP should send Mr. Kemp, Newt Gingrich, John Kasich, Herman Cain, J.C. Watts, Star Parker, and so forth out into the 'hood to preach the gospel of ownership.

Posted by Orrin Judd at January 18, 2010 12:10 AM