Posted on 09/03/2009 6:52:52 PM PDT by rabscuttle385
In an interview with Philadelphia-based radio host Michael Smerconish, President Obama said the following about critics who called his healthcare proposal “socialist:” “FDR was called a socialist when he passed Social Security. JFK and Lyndon Johnson - they were both accused of a government takeover of health care when they passed Medicare. This is the process that we go through, because understandably the American people have a long tradition of being suspicious of government until the government actually does something that helps them.”
Obama is right. What we often call “socialism” is simply the same old welfare state most Americans have come to accept as their birthright.
For the Left, national healthcare is simply the next step in the U.S. finally joining the more “progressive” Europe, Canada and other Western nations. Given Americans’ longstanding comfort with the vast welfare state constructed by FDR, LBJ and others, the Democrats’ perspective on healthcare doesn’t seem the least bit irresponsible or even extreme, as Obama points out. For liberals, that the U.S. has even taken this long in implementing a national healthcare program is proof positive of American backwardness.
But the U.S. is not and cannot be Europe. Not because our current socialism is necessarily unsuccessful or even because the American people won’t tolerate it. We can’t afford it.
(Excerpt) Read more at charlestoncitypaper.com ...
But, FDR WAS a socialist...
“Some of my best friends are communists” - Franklin Roosevelt...or was it Obama?
The health care issue is a long Hegelian process toward government control of health care.
Medicare and medicaid and the pharm benefit squeeze physician reimbursement, while adding to the work load and overhead. So costs of non-medicare care rise to cover the gap. The Clintons changed some regulations requiring many MDs to treat non-Medicare patients as though they were, adding to the strain. Now add in Federal-government approved illegal immigrants and the non-immigrant, non-Medicare, non-Medicaid costs go up.
Fedgov declares the results of their meddling to be an EMERGENCY and offers to fix these oh-so-mysteriously caused problems with more government.
Yes Roosevelt and Johnson et al were socialists, all working toward the common goal- making progress toward the goal- progressives, working toward socialism.
The US cannot be Europe as we see Europe today, even sans the Moslem invasion because Europe only exists as a modern Western economy because of the continuing existence of American free market capitalism and the American military which has obviated the need for Europe to spend great amounts of its own treasure to defend itself. Europe has been able to spend that money on unproductive welfare things. When we go that way we will fairly soon contract militarily to a something like Europe now and Europe will no longer have the American free market to prop up its own socialism. Europe will decline very fast.
FDR was an early admirer of that Italian guy,Benito something or other.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.