Yesterday during his speech at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference, Ron Paul defines Obama as a corporatist rather than a socialist.
"The question has been raised about whether or not our president is a socialist," Paul said. "I am sure there are some people here who believe it. But in the technical sense, in the economic definition of a what a socialist is, no, he's not a socialist."
"He's a corporatist," Paul continued. "And unfortunately we have corporatists inside the Republican party and that means you take care of corporations and corporations take over and run the country."
Paul said examples of President Obama's "corporatism" were evident in the heath care reform bill he signed into law last month. He said the mandate in the bill put the power over health care in the hands of corporations rather than private citizens. But he said the bill wasn't the only place where corporatism is creeping into Washington.
I cannot really agree with Ron Paul on this one. Sure Obama has taken care of some corporations GE and Goldman Sachs readily come to mind. However, there are some corporations that clearly did not fare very well under Obama policies.
Ron Paul is wrong about the mandates in ObamaCare, while the mandates look like a boon to the insurance companies; everything else about ObamaCare is design to collapse them.
Ron Paul also said that repealing ObamaCare is unlikely:
Despite his opposition to the bill, and despite Republican calls to repeal it, Paul said that when it comes to the landmark health care bill, "throwing it all out is probably not going to happen."
He said the only hope Republicans have is to change the bill for the better. Paul said he will introduce his own legislative fix when the Congress returns from recess next week.
"There's one piece of legislation that I'm going to introduce, it's going to be one page long," he said. "It will be to remove the mandate so you don't have to participate if you don't want to."
Tinkering around the edges? I totally not feeling this! Since this is only a quote, I will wait until I can see all of Ron Paul’s speech before I comment on this idea. If anyone stumbles across video of Ron Paul’s full speech, please provide the link.
UPDATE: Full Video Ron Paul's SRLC speech
H/t to follower Teresa for quickly finding the link for me.
Via: Memeorandum
Via: Talking Points Memo
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13 comments:
I agree with your assessment.
Here is the link to the video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxYgw8D2PnU
Teresa:
Thanks for the link!
Totally agree Clifton regarding what I see as the underlying thrust of ObamaCare. While touting the ability of us to keep the insurance we're happy with, the inability of insurance companies to manage and average their losses (cannot refuse coverage) will result in the bankruptcy of all private insurance companies. Individuals will not purchase insurance until they truly need it and private companies simply cannot keep a profit margin. Ultimately, the only option for insurance will be the government.
We need reform in the health industry, but we should not "throw out the baby with the bathwater." Most of our industry is the best in the world...why scrap it all as ObamaCare will achieve?
I will have to say that the definition of Obama as anything is really irrelevant. Although for my opinion on this guy I would defer to Jonah Goldberg who is somewhat of an expert on this and had referred to Obama as a corporatist in the past.
Whether Obama's end goal is Socialism or not, I think that the structure of government he has set up, with Czars and committees (basically delegating out tasks to task forces) I could see how the corporatist definition would work.
He wants those companies that are willing to jump into bed to parter up with government to make his agenda into reality. It may only last long enough for him to later nationalize them which would end up in some sort of government/business hybrid I would like to call "crap". It would suck, so regardless of what he is, lets worry more about getting the jerk out of office.
IMO, when it comes to Der Commissar, I recall what my father always taught me, namely the Duck Test; If it looks like like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks, it's a duck...If it's true that George Soros helped finance his campaign, then socialism isn't the end game, but a means to an end, one that doesn't involve the US remaining relevant on the world stage.
Eric
Think non Vegas.....what stays in D.C., shouldn't.
Igor:
Your site is hilarious! I gave you blog of the day. BTW have you met my Russian friend Hyphenated American? Check out his blog on my blog roll.
Rick Misses America:
Welcome to ABC! Yes, ObamaCare is really designed to make Single Payer the only choice. When you think about all the Democrats sacrificed to pass ObamaCare, they would have been better off just passing Single Payer from the get go.
Ozzie:
I think Obama is a Socialist/ Marxist. All the wheeling and dealing he is making with corporations has more to do with hiding his true agenda and playing the Chicago than him having any love for corporations.
Anonymous:
George Soros helped finance his campaign, then socialism isn't the end game, but a means to an end, one that doesn't involve the US remaining relevant on the world stage.
This is an astute observation we should not loose sight of.
Janelle:
A cute refrain, I am going to have to use that sometime.
They like to be in 135 countries and 700 bases.
I both agree and disagree with Paul and Clifton (how's that for CYA?)
IMO, Zero is more a Marxist/Statist than a socialist/corporatist. Anyone who reads mark Levins magnificent "Liberty and Tyranny" would come to an easy conclusion that his description of a Statist was written specifically for and about Obama. Other than that, the Marxist links come right through the rhetoric.
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