If Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina isn't already on 2016 GOP VP shortlists, perhaps he should be. His appearance on today's Morning Joe could hardly have been a more impressive audition.
When Scott expressed his concern for kids growing up in poverty, MSNBC's Thomas Roberts equated such concern with supporting a laundry list of liberal agenda items, implictly faulting Scott for his opposition to them. Scott responded by taking Roberts to school in an utterly undefensive manner. He reminded Roberts that 40 years of Dem congressional rule and a bigger-than-ever government, actually led to a significant increase in black poverty. Individual freedom, economic opportunity and education--not more government programs--are the keys to progress, explained Scott.
If you haven't seen much of Scott in action, I'd encourage you to view the video. His is the calm voice of the American Dream. We need to see more of him.
THOMAS ROBERTS: This is Thomas Roberts by the way. You said you are concerned about kids that growing up in the wrong zip code and -- like yourself that had a tough start on the way out. But if we look at agencies that are following some of your voting records, they have concern. And the NAACP has given you an "F" on their annual scorecard. They also say that you voted against the ACA. You voted to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress. You oppose the Congressional Black Caucus' budget. Delayed funding on a settlement between the U.S. and black farmers who say they were prejudiced against because of their race. So how do you respond to that, if your true concern is about lower-income families and kids?
TIM SCOTT: Let's just ask ourselves if we look back over history when the congress was controlled by the Democrats for 40 consecutive years. If we look at the result of that control, what has happened in black America? We saw greater poverty. If we take statistics from the 1970s to the 21st-century, what we see very clearly is that poverty's gone from 11% to 15%. These are classic examples of the policies of the left have not worked. I will tell you, that if I have an "F" on the NAACP scorecard, it's because I believe progress has to be made and the government is not the answer for progress. I was a kid growing up in poverty. I had a mentor who was a Chick-fil-A operator named John Moniz who taught me that the brilliance of the American economy happens through business ownership and entrepreneurial spirit. So whether you own the business or not, success is possible if you, a: have a good education, b: have a strong work ethic. For the average person who can work. These two key components come together and form a foundation. That is the way that you eradicate poverty. All the social programs that we've had. We have the largest government we've ever had in the history of the country. We have more nonprofit organizations working on the same issue. And yet we have higher percentage of people living in poverty. The key it seems like is individual freedom and economic opportunity, fusing those together in an agenda that focuses on education seems to leave forward.
