"REDISTRIBUTION"

What's interesting to me about the 14-year old "redistribution" tape is not some shocking revelation of Obama's supposedly Marxist agenda--as was apparently intended by its release--but rather the remarkable consistency it reveals in the president's views over the years.  As a counter-attack by the Romney campaign against the "47 percent" tape, it seems particularly lame.  The then State Senator, Barack Obama, argues much as the current President Obama might argue:

I think the trick is figuring out how do we structure government systems that pool resources and hence facilitate some redistribution--because I actually believe in some redistribution, at least at a certain level to make sure that everybody's got a shot.

That's a terrible thing to say?  It's radical?  It sounds to me like a reasoned and reasonable expression the good old American values of fairness and equality of opportunity.  "Pooling resources" sounds like a sensible way to go about it.

Should government have a hand in assuring equality of opportunity?  That's where the difference in vision comes in, which everyone seems to agree is the central issue of the coming election.  Conservatives, with Rand and Romney at their head, say no.  Confirmed (enlightened!) liberals like myself say yes.  We defend the history of affirmative action and its successes.  We see a society that is less than perfect in the systems it has built to allow the less fortunate to make their way.  We see that some remain in genuine need, not because they are lazy or irresponsible but because they have lacked the kind of opportunity that has helped others along--a good education, for example.

Call it, disparagingly, redistribution, if you will.  Reduce a complex understanding of one of the vital functions of government to a single word, and load that word with prejudice.  I think the young Obama in that tape shows both understanding and restraint.  Some of his supporters wish he were more of a firebrand than he turns out to be.  I praise the President's restraint, thoughtfulness, deliberation, and considered action.

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