Kowabunga

Obama Political Failure #8

The headline on FoxNews says it all: Are Obama’s Policies Ushering In a New Era of Socialism? Answer: Yes!

With taxpayers shelling out $700 billion to bail out Wall Street and another $787 billion to jolt the sputtering economy, serious questions are being raised about whether all the government intervention is taking the country down the path to socialism.

Of course, we have been on the path of socialism since FDR, maybe even a few administrations prior to that. But what else do you call $1.5 TRILLION in spending and “bailouts”, with government taking partial control of some segments of the economy? And that isn’t even factoring all of the interest that will need to be paid by the taxpayers (that’s us!) on that sum. Oh, wait, it’s for the children. At least the tax bill that will need to be paid is for the children.

What I really like in the FoxNews piece is this:

“A technical definition of socialism is that the government owns the production, it owns the factories or the plants or the businesses,” said Heather Boushey, a senior economist with the left-leaning Center for American Progress.

No, that is a text book definition of COMMUNISM, which is only one form of socialism. State Socialism, which is where we are now heading, is where government owns or controls certain segments of the economy: healthcare (included in SChip and the new Porkulus), communications (think of the revival of the Fairness Doctrine), banking (remember the bailouts) are just a few examples of what happens under state socialism.

Venezuela went that route by nationalizing their oil industry, and look what’s been happening there! The difference between Venezuela and the U.S. is that Venezuela tried to use oil profits to fund their socialist agenda, while the U.S. will rely on taxation.

And yes, there is a third form of socialism commonly seen: Fascism. That’s where government dictates how private businesses can operate; minimum wage laws are fascist policies.

Peter Morici, a University Maryland business professor, said the all of the government spending “runs counter to the basic idea of Jeffersonian democracy, that it’s the individual who knows best. The government is there to set up a framework for the individual to prosper, succeed and create wealth.”

At least a few professors actually get it. Too bad Obama and the Democrats who are so hell bent on spending our wealth and prosperity on expanding government power over the individuals spent so much of their time studying Karl Marx rather than Thomas Jefferson.

Tags: Marxism, Obama, Political Failure, Porkulus, Socialism, Taxes