A liberal got mugged

By Tom Quiner

You know the saying: a conservative is a liberal who got mugged.

The most liberal presidential candidate in U.S. history, George McGovern, got mugged a few years ago … by the liberal system he helped create.

First, how liberal was Mr. McGovern? Listen to his rhetoric from the Democratic Convention back in 1972, my first year as an eligible voter:

 “A program to put America back to work demands that work be properly rewarded. That means the end of a system of economic controls in which labor is depressed, but prices and corporate profit run sky-high. It means a system of national health insurance so that a worker can afford decent health care for himself and his family.”

Obama would love this guy.

Upon his retirement from the Senate, he went into business. He purchased the Stratford Inn in Connecticut.

He poured his life savings into the endeavor, and he lost it.

He blamed big government and excessive regulation on business for the failure of his business:

“I wish I had known more firsthand about the concerns and problems of American businesspeople while I was a U.S. senator and later a presidential nominee. That knowledge would have made me a better legislator and a more worthy aspirant to the White House. … I learned first of all that over the past 20 years America has become the most litigious society in the world. … The second lesson I learned by owning the Stratford Inn is that legislators and government regulators must more carefully consider the economic and management burdens we have been imposing on U.S. businesses. … Many businesses, especially small independents such as the Stratford Inn, simply can’t pass such costs on to their customers and remain competitive or profitable.”

Under Team Obama/Pelois/Reid, government regulations have exploded. Every single new regulation costs businesses money in compliance costs. Mr. McGovern acknowledges that you can’t pass these costs on in a competitive marketplace, and the result is shrinking profit margins, and eventually, bankruptcy.

This experience caused him to make a radical shift in his view of “national healthcare:”

“Many people can’t afford the gold-plated health plans that are the only options available in their states. Buying health insurance on the Internet and across state lines, where less expensive plans may be available, is prohibited by many state insurance commissions. Despite being able to buy car or home insurance with a mouse click, some state governments require their approved plans for purchase or none at all. It’s as if states dictated that you had to buy a Mercedes or no car at all.”

I propose a new law: no one may be elected to Congress unless they’ve had to meet a payroll. Legislators would think twice before passing new laws that burden small and large businesses.

It is this very experience that makes a compelling case for Mitt Romney. It is this very lack of experience which is so telling in the abysmal results under the Obama administration. Even George McGovern admits we’ve got a case.