Conservatively Speaking...

Human Events, established in 1944, calls itself “the nation’s first conservative weekly” and discusses topics from the conservative perspective.   According to his very limited bio, John Hayward has been writing for Human Events since October of 2010.  Aside from mentioning that he has been a guest on several radio shows and that he has authored a collection of short stories, there is no other information about his background or experience.

Hayward wrote a healthcare article dated 2/5/2014 that caught my attention called “Freedom’s Just Another Word For Nothing Left To Do.”  The article viciously criticizes the Affordable Care Act (aka ObamaCare), President Obama, his administration and his supporters.  The focus of his attack centers on the Obama Administration and ObamaCare supporters defending the projected unemployment increases as a result of the new health care law according to the latest Congressional Budget Office (CBO) Report.  While he does not quote the report directly, he does quote a Wall Street Journal article which also claims that the unemployment increase is a good thing because “ ‘individuals will be empowered to make choices about their own lives and livelihoods’ and ‘have the opportunity to pursue their dreams’. ”  Hayward plainly says that because of ObamaCare, some Americans will now choose to be unemployed because they will net better income and benefits through subsidies and welfare than they will if they were working.

A lot of the ideas that Hayward presents sound scary and seem to have enough merit behind them to be plausible.  I say it that way because his article is full of his interpretation of statements made by the collective "they" of liberals, democrats, and other Obama supporters and cohorts, but I feel he does not present enough specific quotes of specific sources that I can research and verify.  In that sense, I suppose it is a rather good editorial well suited for the opinion pages.  

After reading his article I have to say that I agree with many of his concepts.  I think America has proven that our capitalist nation ensures more equal opportunity for citizens to succeed and thrive over that of a socialist nation where the vast majority are in poverty and only a select few are rich with no middle class in between.  While certain social programs are vital, they should be there to help Americans seeking to improve their quality of life and not to provide for them indefinitely.  

The fiercely aggressive tone of his argument seems to be directed at his opponents.  I think he wrote this article with such intensity because he wants “liberals” and Obama supporters to know exactly how wrong he believes them to be.  I think the aggressiveness and insults that he spews makes his argument sound terrifying and convincing, but also intimidating…as if he is trying to bully some of us that may be unsure into his way of thinking.  I personally don’t need to be bullied that way, simply expressing some rational thoughts is enough for me to make up my mind, so I really don’t like his hostile tactics.  Disagreeing with the President and directly insulting him are two different things; the freedom to disagree is a right guaranteed us by the Constitution and insults in my opinion weaken the author’s character.