Ron Paul: Obama Not A Socialist

It isn’t only Fox which is now questioning those who believe Barack Obama is a socialist. While at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference last weekend, Ron Paul stated that Obama is not 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.

“We see it in the financial institutions, we see it in the military-industrial complex,” he said. “And now we see it in the medical-industrial complex.”

Paul should have stopped after he said “no, he’s not a socialist.” While there is some truth to the corporate influence in both parties, and health care reform does help preserve the insurance companies, Paul still manages to miss a key point. The law, instead of putting “the power over health care in the hands of corporations” helps reduce the abuses which we now see from the corporations.

It is curious that Paul concentrated on attacking the mandate and on the corporations. There was not even any talk of “death panels.” Does this mean he realizes that conservatives are wrong in claiming that health care reform is a government take over of health care?

2 Comments

  1. 1
    brantl says:

    Apparently Paul doesn’t know that Mussolini originally called fascists corporatists, either.

  2. 2
    Jim Z. says:

    Your comments are apt.  However, I do think that Ron Paul calling out corporatism in whatever guise (military, medical, etc.) is a healthy sign, especially since many tea party folks are a bit slow in recognizing or admitting the connection.  So, on balance, I give Paul one thumb-up.

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