Famed Notre Dame coach and former ESPN analyst Lou Holtz has posted a video blasting Democrats for the ongoing government shutdown.
Holtz posted a video on X in which he castigated Democrats for causing the “unfair” situation and the broader problem of reliance on the government.
“Democrats know that as long as you depend on them, you’ll vote for them — and that’s exactly how they like it,” Holtz wrote in the caption of the video.
Senate Democrats have dug in, refusing to join any Republican efforts to reopen the government unless those proposals contain plans to extend federal healthcare subsidies.
Holtz took strong exception to efforts to keep the government closed, while so many who depend on federal assistance are locked out.
“It’s ridiculous to have so many people count on the government, and have one party say, ‘No, we aren’t going to open it up.’ That’s unfair,” Holtz said.
“What I see what the government is doing, it’s unfair. It’s unbelievable. That’s not the way it was set up to be. And yet, we’re trying to play games. Just open up the government, let it function along as we go along. But no, you want to make more people rely on you. That’s why you want to give them government subsidies. As long as they rely on you, they’ll vote for you, and that’s not the way it should be.”
The national champion coach pointed to his early childhood during the Great Depression as an example of self-reliance.
“I was probably 10 years old then, and at that time, there was no help from the government at all. You were counted on to take care of yourself. No government… I believe up until 1947, that really never happened. It was up to you to take care of yourself. And you found a way to do it,” he added.
“I was born during the depression, my father had a third-grade education. Things didn’t always go very easy. But my father worked a lot of different odd jobs in order to put food on the table for the family. We never had an awful lot, but what you did then, you bought what you could afford, not what you wanted, but what you could afford, and that was so critical.”
Holtz warned of the potential consequences of a populace overly dependent on government.
“I worry about the future of this country,” he said. “Why is that? Because we’ve gotten to the point where everything is about government and, ‘What can you do for me?’ And I’m going to vote for the person that promised me more free things than anything else. There’s no free lunch.
“They put together a group that tries to tear down the secret to success.”
Success is no secret to Holtz. In his 11 years at Notre Dame, he posted a 100-30 record and won the school’s last national championship in 1988.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.