President Obama’s attempt to turn America into a left-wing banana republic seems to be working. From October 1 through July 31 of 2008, the U.S. Coast Guard intercepted only 72 Cubans. That’s down from an average of 183 a month in 2007. U.S. Customs and Border Patrol said the number of Cubans reaching U.S. shores dropped from 4,000 last year to about 1,000 in 2009.

Cuban refugees, they say, vote with their feet. By staying home, they are sending Obama a vote of no confidence. Professor of Hispanic Studies at Baruch College in New York has a reasonable explanation for the sizable drop in Cubans yearning to breath free. “If you’re ambitious, young, hard working, you want to live in a capitalist country,” he told the Associated Press. For many Cubans, donning an inner tube and risking the 90-mile voyage to Florida through shark-infested waters isn’t worth the risk if the only reward is the poverty provided by Obama’s “hope and change.”