Byline: Wayne Allyn Root, SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES

President Obama is presiding over a new civil war. This war pits rich against poor, taxpayers versus tax-takers and unions against the private sector. Voters across this country who get checks from the government will vote for Mr. Obama to keep the checks coming, regardless of race. They want to be taken care of by government, from cradle to grave.

So this civil war is not about race, it's about economic class, ambition, drive and work ethic.

I have contended in thousands of media interviews from the first days of his presidency that Mr. Obama is a radical, with a deep-seated hatred of business owners, a desire to demonize us and destroy America's faith in capitalism, and a plan to bring down the system by overwhelming our economy with debt and crisis - just as we all learned and discussed at Columbia University in our college days.

I was Mr. Obama's college classmate.

I experienced the views of my fellow Columbia radicals back in 1979-83. Virtually everyone I knew at Columbia called himself a Marxist or socialist. My classmates openly embraced the idea of bringing down the system, meaning capitalism. They openly hated the wealthy (even though most of them came from wealthy families). They openly hated President Reagan and often called him the devil. They cheered and actually gave a standing ovation when they heard he'd been shot in an assassination attempt. This is where Mr. Obama comes from. This is why after hearing of his background at Columbia and as a community activist, I predicted America had a socialist in the White House.

It's no longer a theory. Mr. Obama has come out of the closet in the past few days. His latest comments prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that he despises and resents Americans who own businesses and have succeeded in a capitalist system. He is trying to foment the kind of class warfare that could rip this nation apart. His goals are crystal clear: Demonize business owners, redistribute income, cripple or destroy capitalism, and bring down the system.

Mr. Obama actually said words that made me sick to my stomach and brought tears to my eyes. They are words so vile they are an affront to every American business owner and a reminder of his deep-seated hatred and resentment toward business owners. Mr. Obama said that business owners owe their success to government. He actually said that if you've built a business, you don't get the credit. It's government who has been by your side. You need to give government the credit.

Mr. Obama says government helped me every step of the way as a businessman. Really? With that kind of thinking, the only remaining question is whether he actually believes the absurd propaganda he spews.

Mr. Obama is right about one thing: Government is always by our side. Unfortunately, it ruins almost everything it touches.

Here's a synopsis of what government has done for me.

It has stolen the hard-earned money that I could have used to expand my business, start new ones or invest in stocks and real estate. Instead, my money went to government in the form of taxes, fees, licenses and workers' compensation. Don't forget the rules, regulations and mandates that made it difficult or nearly impossible to start a business in the first place. …