Voting the Wallet: Dwight Evans in Trouble?

Capitol Ideas is reporting that Dwight Evans could be in trouble this coming election. Those of us in the shooting community in PA certainly know Rep. Evans well, as he’s one of the leaders of our opposition. Evans has been in his seat as long as I can remember, so the idea that he might be in trouble shows just how pissed off people are over economic conditions, and the African-American communities that Rep. Evans represents have been hit the hardest by the financial crisis.

Home ownership losses among the black community are of historic proportions, and they’ve taken a larger pounding on their net worth than any other community. That must be why Obama’s favorability ratings are slipping even among black voters. I don’t care what color you are, or what language you speak, or what country you originally came from, there’s a universal truth in politics that when you boil away all the bullshit, people vote their pocketbooks. Something like a financial crisis of this magnitude has a tendency to boil away an awful lot of bullshit, and make things a lot more real.

I’ve never been of the opinion that there’s any politician that owes me a living. Obama didn’t start the Financial Crisis, and things would still suck pretty bad had McCain been elected instead of Obama. What I do blame Obama for is passing a massive, expensive, and incomprehensible entitlement program in the middle of a financial crisis. What I’ve been noticing in the job market is an abundance of contract positions, and a relative dearth of full time positions. Those hiring full time are taking their time about it. It’s my opinion that no one wants to hire full-time people because no one has any real clue how much Obamacare is going to cost, and the mandates on employers are not insignificant.

In my volunteering with NRA, I’ve talked to businesspeople who say they have work, but don’t want to hire because they have no idea what they are going to be paying for health care for workers in a few years. This is going to affect lower wage workers a lot more than upper middle class professionals who already had gold plated health plans.

Politicians of all stripes are going to have to face angry voters in the 2012 elections. Dwight Evans will certainly not be alone. I just hope some of the people replacing these long time left-wing politicos start to understand that the money for free lunches has run out, and the only way we’re getting back on track is to get out of the way, and give people the opportunity to make their own living. That doesn’t mean we can’t solve most people’s health care anxieties, or at least ease them, but those solutions are going to have to come with the understanding about free lunches.

UPDATE: Speaking of easing people’s health care anxieties, repealing this stupid law, and letting employees pay for their own health care with pre-tax money would be a good start. My main anxiety is that my health care is tied to my job. Since the job loss, I got a cheap, major medical plan. A plan, that, ironically, will be illegal under Obamacare. Glad I didn’t become unemployed after 2014.