Don't Let Republicans Fool You

Republicans scream and yell about “Obamacare” and how much they oppose what they consider to be the socialist who’s currently the president. In a recent poll, republicans and tea party members were asked if they considered Barack Obama a socialist. 71% said yes, and only 17% said no.

This must be a joke, because Republicans are little more than the pot calling the kettle black.

So, let’s take a look at that – first, with a definition of socialism.

Socialism. so•cial•ism [soh-shuh-liz-uhm] noun
(in Marxist theory) the stage following capitalism in the transition of a society to communism, characterized by the imperfect implementation of collectivist principles.

And….

Collectivism. col•lec•tiv•ism [kuh-lek-tuh-viz-uhm] noun
the political principle of centralized social and economic control

We all hear from people like Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry that they’ll do everything they can to repeal “Obamacare.” Perry even says he’ll use an executive order to get rid of it – an unconstitutional legislative action from the executive branch is obviously no problem for this guy. But that’s best left for another discussion.

So, on principle, republicans oppose centralized control over health care, right? Wrong. They love it. They just happen to dislike this particular social program in the health industry. In fact, other than the new Affordable Care Act, there really doesn’t seem to be any socialist or collectivist programs that Republicans want to get rid of. And it’s time we start calling them out on their inconsistencies, their lies and their grandstanding.

Let’s start with health care.

REPUBLICANS LOVE HEALTH CARE CENTRAL PLANNING

Medicare Part D was the biggest expansion of government control over the health care industry in decades. It was pushed and passed by republicans under George Bush, and most certainly paved the way for further government control under the Obama administration.

Not really believing that massive government control of the health industry was the result of this republican plan? A 2008 report in Politico helps make things a little more clear.

The growth of state and federal health care programs — including President Bush’s prescription drug plan for seniors — means that today about half of the pharmaceutical market is controlled by government.

Half of an entire market – a massive one to say the least – controlled by government? Nah, that’s not centralized economic control. Only Obamacare is!

But why focus only on the past. Those were the “bad” republicans, and George Bush was no real “conservative republican.” Today’s crop is all about the Constitution – and they’re totally opposed to centralized economic control, right?

Wrong.

In the very same poll where 71% of republicans called Obama a “socialist” – 78% said they wanted to keep Medicare. Only 12% want to get rid of it.

Centralized control over health care? Republicans LOVE it, and they’re frauds when they say they don’t.

OTHER PROGRAMS

What about your retirement? Want the government to control it? Some would say that Social Security is unconstitutional. Others consider it a Ponzi scheme. As an aside, I wouldn’t – Ponzi schemes are voluntary.

On retirement plans, Republicans once again love collectivism. 75% want to keep it and only 17% would like to see it eliminated.

Republicans don’t like socialism, collectivism – centralized planning and control? Nonsense.

How about education? Surely republicans are vehemently opposed to federal control – centralized planning and collectivism, that is – over the education of their children, right?

Nope.

A CNN Poll this month tells us that a whopping 74% of republicans want to keep the Department of Education and its centralized social and economic control over your childrens’ education in the hands of the federal government.

Only 24% want to see it eliminated.

Not even the EPA is on the chopping block for America’s socialist republicans. Earlier this year Reuters reported that 61% of republicans opposed abolishing the EPA. A little glimmer of hope, maybe, but not much. Still, a large majority of republicans are fully on board with centralized planning on all kinds of social and economic issues.

JOBS. THAT’S IT!

When looking at these numbers and seeing the big picture, I was both surprised, and not surprised at the same time. I thought to myself, “there HAS to be some central planning and control that republicans don’t like. I know it!”

That’s when it hit me. Jobs! Everywhere I turn, republicans are speaking out against the new jobs plan from Barack Obama. They laugh when Ron Paul rightly points out that under Rick Perry, a large number of new jobs created in Texas were government jobs.

So that’s the one. Jobs is it! Republicans don’t want government created jobs, right?

Then I saw this.

As of 2010, the biggest employer in the world is the US department of defense. 3.2 million government jobs in the DoD is more than #2 – the Chinese People’s Liberation Army – by almost 1 million! It’s about the same as China National Petroleum and China State Grid, combined.

Hear a lot of republicans talking about cutting back on that government program, or those government jobs?

Neither have I.

SCAMMERS?

These are but a few of many examples of republican hypocrisy. They have no problem whatsoever with centralized social and economic control – collectivism, that is.

Republicans may dislike Obama personally. And they may genuinely oppose some of the collectivist programs he’s in favor of. But when they tell you they oppose Obama because “he’s a socialist,” it’s beyond absurd. It’s often times a lie.

Some would tell me that these socialist republicans are just part of the establishment, that “real republicans” or “constitutional conservatives” are definitely not on board with all this.

But when Rasmussen Reports asked Tea Party members about their support for republicans, 92% – not 9.2, but 92% – of them said they would vote for the republican candidate in 2012 no matter what. Only 83% of republicans at large have the same degree of support. Tea Party members support republicans more than republicans do.

Michael Boldin is the founder of the Tenth Amendment Center. He was raised in Milwaukee, WI, and currently resides in Los Angeles, CA. Follow him on twitter - @michaelboldin.

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