Obama Ad Misses the Point on “Small Government”

by Bethany Mandel

“If you’re a conservative woman and believe in small government, then Barack Obama is your candidate because he’s keeping the government out of the decisions that should remain between you and God and you and your own conscience.” Those words are from a new ad from the Obama campaign–really–centered on women’s “rights.” In the ad, several self-described Republican women explain why, for the first time, they’re crossing the aisle to vote for Barack Obama: social issues.

Many of the women in the ad seem to misunderstand what the term “small government” means. Several mention the issue of birth control, now mandated by ObamaCare to be provided to women through their health insurance plans. This is the exact opposite of “small government” in action. The opposition to this provision to ObamaCare isn’t that Republicans or conservatives don’t believe in women taking birth control and wish to prevent them from doing so. Opponents of the provision are believers in the First Amendment, who do not wish to see their Catholic brethren forced to pay for something in direct opposition to their theology. Big government is forcing Catholic individuals, hospitals and businesses to violate their religious obligations.

Another provision hotly opposed by conservatives in the ObamaCare bill is the issue of publicly funded abortions. The CT Mirror reports, “Starting in 2014, all health plans nationwide must cover certain essential health benefits, and each state will determine how far those minimum levels of coverage will go.” Already, some states have determined that abortion is an “essential health benefit” and have included them in the services that Americans will be forced to pay for through their insurance company premiums. Despite the fact that it is almost always an elective procedure (barring the rare times that they are performed to save the life of the mother), it is an incredible overreach of government power to mandate that Americans pay for a procedure that half consider against their beliefs. Nevertheless, these self-described small-government Republican women seem to believe that it is the role of the government to force their fellow Americans pay for their elective procedures, despite any moral or religious objections they might have.

This ad is yet another in a series of attempts from the Obama campaign to attempt to divert attention from the economy and the failed record of this administration on everything it has touched. It’ll be interesting to see if this tactic will succeed in distracting Americans from mounting debt, stalled unemployment, and an Iranian regime bent on nuclear weapons. Somehow, I doubt it.

Bethany Mandel

Source: http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2012/08/24/obama-ad-misses-the-point-on-small-government/

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