American Spectator –- Howard Rich – 6/28/2012
"What President Obama has been pushing for, and moving toward, is more insidious: government control of the economy, while leaving ownership in private hands," columnist Thomas Sowell wrote recently. "That way, politicians get to call the shots but, when their bright ideas lead to disaster, they can always blame those who own businesses in the private sector."
Sound familiar? This is precisely what happened during the recent recession. For example, government-mandated loans aimed at boosting homeownership were clearly among the root causes of the economic downturn - but when the sub-prime bubble burst blame was placed exclusively on "corporate greed." Of course at the same time politicians were absolving themselves of any responsibility, they were forcing taxpayers to subsidize massive bailouts of these "greedy" financial institutions.
So if Obama isn't a socialist, what is he? Economically speaking it's far more accurate to say that he is a fascist -- a supporter of dirigisme, in which government manages the economy through central planning, not collective ownership. Fascism did not seek to stamp out the innovative, wealth-creating potential of profit-seeking investment and entrepreneurship - instead it sought to channel those innovations (and funnel that wealth) to the good of the state.
So is Obama's brand of 21st century socialism/ nouveau fascism really "more insidious" than pure socialism, as Sowell suggests? Yes, because unlike socialism - the public sector never "takes a loss," as the recent bureaucratic bailouts made clear.
Northwoods Patriots - Standing up for Faith, Family, Country - northwoodspatriotscomm@gmail.com
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