Bush's New Socialism

I have always felt that it is important to call a spade a spade. History is replete with examples of debates that are won and lost, not on there merits, but on terminology.

In our own history, James Madison realized the power of words. When he arrived in Philadelphia to begin debating the Constitution, he quickly dubbed his supporters "the federalists" even though their policies were decidedly anti-federalist. Jefferson and his cadre were quickly slimed by the media with the "Anti-federalist" label. In spite of Jefferson's best efforts to reframe the debate, the dye was cast and to this day, Madison was a federalist.

George Bush and his party could never have gotten a moratorium on the estate tax, but the "death" tax was far easier to wound (and soon kill).

So with that in mind, I have concluded of late that it is simply factually incorrect to call the Republican party "republicans."

Republicanism is a philosophy based on the premises of federalism (Jefferson's version, not Madison's) that stresses individual initiative, limited government, low taxes, delineated power, states' rights and property rights.

Do any of those philosophical principles sound anything like the governance of G.W. Bush? Yea, I didn't think so either which begs the question, "If Republicans aren't republicans, then what are they?

Well, let's take a closer look at HOW Bush and the "Republicans" have governed to find some guidance.

• The federal budget for 2005 is 2.422 trillion dollars, in 2001 (the last Clinton budget) the budget totaled 1.826 trillion, that's an increase of 24.6% during the Bush years!!!
• The Bush Administration has supported and signed into law the Real ID, a national ID card that links all state data bases in order to track and surveille US nationals as well as foreigners and forces the States to comply with an extra-Constitutional federal edict in violation of the 10th amendment
• The Bush Administration filed an amicus brief to the Supreme Court in support of using eminent domain to advance business interests at the expense of private property
• Bush proposed and the Republican Congress passed a prescription drug benefit for Medicare with the promise that this massive federal program would cost 300 billion over 10 years, they now admit that the actual cost is 4x that amount, 1.2 Trillion bucks!!!
• The Administration nationalized airline security
• The administration supported the passage of the Patriot act which gives federal officials new and expanded powers to interfere and intrude in the private lives of ordinary citizens while avoiding the protections of the 4th and 5th amendments to the Constitution
• While preaching the virtues of free trade, Bush has repeatedly used trade as a weapon and as a means of securing domestic support through industry protection measures including tariffs and sanctions
• Bush has supported diverting tax money to religious charities, in direct conflict with the establishment clause, as a means of socially engineering a more religious society (Charities are a leading means of proselytizing and membership building)
• Diverting billions of dollars for social-engineering projects in Afghanistan and Iraq (at a cost of 250 billion dollars and over 30,000 civilian casualties)
• The administration has (quietly) endorsed the introduction of "Intelligent Design," a back door to establishing religion in America's Public schools
• Proposed using Social Security as a mechanism for a massive federal take-over of the investment markets
• No Child Left Behind

I could keep going, but I think I have made the point. This administration has massively expanded the size, scope and power of the federal government and used that power to advance an agenda of new federal programs, agencies and religious establishment.

I must, therefore, conclude that a far more honest and representative name for this administration's (and its spineless co-conspirators in Congress) philosophy is Christian Socialism.

By this I mean that, based on their actions, I must conclude that this President believes fundamentally in using the power of the state (coercive redistribution) to create social outcomes that are consistent with his Christian activist base.

(Note: I'm tired of doing links, if you want more info on any of the specific issues discussed here, there is a Pico search bar down and to the left by the archives. Cheers - F2S)