RUSH: Remember Douglas Wilder, the former governor of Virginia who’s probably as well known for something called the Wilder Effect. He’s African-American and when he was running for office the polling data — (interruption) Right. I think that’s right. The polling data showed that he would win by a much larger margin than he actually did. And it was called the Wilder Effect. The Wilder Effect is respondents lying to a pollster about a black candidate so that they will not think they’re racist.
So a respondent will tell a pollster, “Oh, yeah, I’m voting Doug Wilder” so that the pollster will think the respondent’s not a racist, but then he doesn’t really vote for Wilder. That’s the Wilder effect.
So now Doug Wilder is a teacher. He’s teaching Millennials about how great government is, and he’s disappointed. He was on Neil Cavuto yesterday on Fox, and Cavuto said, “Doug, the White House is launching a probe into the outing of a top CIA official. You add to that the ongoing VA investigation and Benghazi, the IRS. What is taking Washington so long to button these scandals up? I mean, people say it’s just kind of how government works. We do have a lot of these investigations going on. What do they prove?”
WILDER: This thing that bothers me, Neil, and I teach at the Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University, and I see in my students a lack of real appreciation for government. I see it in people that I speak with on a regular basis. I see it and sense that people are losing hope and confidence as to whether government does exist and work for them. That’s bad. And we have got to do something to change that.
RUSH: Now, I find this fascinating. He’s teaching Millennials at the eponymous Wilder School of Government. You know what eponymous means? It means named after him. Like the Rush Limbaugh Show is an eponymous title, named after the host. So the Wilder School of Government. It’s good he could get a job there. He got a job at his own school and he’s teaching government there at Virginia Commonwealth. He’s got these Millennials in there. And they don’t have any real appreciation for government.
“I see it in people I speak with on a regular basis. People are losing hope and confidence as to whether government even exists and works for them.” Now, I think I know what’s going on, particularly with Millennials. They’re all either incurring a lot of debt or they’ve graduated and have a lot of debt. They don’t see a whole lot of career opportunities out there. They see a contracting, shrinking economy. They don’t see people getting raises. They don’t see this bountiful opportunity. And they are losing faith.
The sad thing is they’re losing faith in the country, when in fact they should be losing faith in the current policies that have created these circumstances. Everything that we are living through now is the result of policy. It is not the George Bush economy anymore, contrary to what the left would like their students to believe. We’re now into six years of Barack Obama. This is the Barack Obama economy. And I tell you, he’s right. I cringe when I hear these Millennials say they lose faith in the country, or as Wilder says, they lose faith in the government.
I don’t mind people losing faith in government. If you lose faith in government, you’re gonna have to rely on yourself. That could be a positive. But when you lose faith in the country, that’s not good. And it’s not accurate. We are living through an economy that is the result of policy decisions. We’re not living through an economy that is corrupt or collapsing because of capitalism. Which is what the left wants these kids to believe. See, they think that Obama’s as upset as they are. He’s really trying hard. He’s really working hard to fix this. But oh, it’s so bad, not even Obama can fix it. Six years and he’s been trying, he’s working so hard for us. And they’re losing faith in the country, and that is, A, wrong, and, B, obviously bad.
Now, Wilder is never gonna tell ’em that what they really are upset with is current policy. They need to be told that. His students and every other student needs to be told, if you’re down on the future, if your future’s looking bleak, it’s because of policy that has been implemented. Well, like Obamacare, the stimulus, all of this usurpation of the private sector by government. For crying out loud, if you’re gonna make your bones in the private sector, if that’s where your opportunity is, and the government’s taking more and more of it, then it’s getting smaller.
The pie is getting smaller. Traditionally, the pie has always grown. That’s where opportunity is. But Obama’s policies are shrinking the private sector, which is where the land of true opportunity is, and just absorbing it into government. Government — as a percentage of GDP, the economic output — is growing. As government grows, opportunity declines. Opportunity gets smaller. It lessens.
It’s mathematics, common sense or what have you. That’s the real thing they need to be taught. (interruption) I know Wilder is gonna tell ’em and everybody else gonna tell ’em that it’s Republicans obstructing Obama. “Obama’s working so hard! He’s got so many good ideas. He really wants people to do well and work hard and pay off their debts. That’s the only American dream.
“He’s working so hard! He really cares. He’s working so hard. Look, he goes out and makes all these appearances. You can see he’s working. He’s really rolling up his sleeves. He really cares! My God, he’s really hurt. He’s really bothered. He’s working, but there are so many powerful forces aligned against him!” That’s what they’re being taught, and there’s nobody pushing back on Obama. (laughing) There’s nobody pushing back!
He’s getting what he wants.
The things he doesn’t get are because he can’t bring the Democrats along.