OPINION:
President Obama loves to use the word “fair” in his speeches to castigate the wealthy and whine about the short shrift he perceives the “middle class” is getting. I am definitely in favor of fairness, but my view of what fairness entails may differ from his. Here is how I describe acts of fairness:
Make sure every college student pays his own way through school by working, taking out student loans and graduating in four years with a degree that is job-worthy. Want a graduate degree? Earn it through scholarship, loans or working full time while attending classes at night and on weekends. That is fair.
Make sure everyone buys whatever form of insurance is necessary to protect his family and property. If he fails to do so and his house burns down or gets flooded, tough luck. Likewise, with health insurance and long-term care insurance. And while we’re at it, insist that union members and public employees pay the same amount that I and other nonunion individuals pay for health insurance. That is fair.
Make sure to stop hiring on the basis of ethnicity, a practice that in some cases has produced employees who do little work because they were hired primarily to fulfill a quota. That is fair.
When Mr. Obama’s “middle class” meets all these requirements, I believe we will be on the same page. Until then, he shouldn’t lecture me or anybody else on what is “fair.”
VICTORIA CARNEY
McLean
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