Barack Obama entered the White House with a vision for America that differed greatly from his Republican predecessors and modern Republican orthodoxy. After decades of trickle-down economics and the view that government was more a problem than a solution, Obama believed that policies should be targeted at boosting the middle class, and that government plays an essential role in creating equal opportunity and investing in new infrastructure and technology.
With the passage of the stimulus bill, the Fair Pay Act, and now healthcare reform and educational loan reform, Obama has delivered on a vision for American governance that differs greatly from your own.
But before you get up in arms about how “radical” Obama is, keep these things in mind:
First, everything Obama is doing he explicitly campaigned on. People who voted for him (or against him) are not facing any surprises. In fact, I can think of no other president whose governing has been as faithful to his campaign pledges. Second, his policies are centrist by any reasonable definition; his healthcare reform is almost identical to plans once promoted by Republican Senators Hatch and Grassley, and by former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. It is a sign of how extreme Republican orthodoxy has become that healthcare reform without even the weakest public option is considered “socialism”.
There is, however, one aspect of the healthcare bill that does contain a socialist element—the law redistributes income from the upper to the lower classes, just as Social Security and Medicare do.
It’s therefore not surprising that Republicans vehemently attacked all of these policies: Republicans uniformly believe that income from the wealthy should not be used to fund social welfare programs for the less-affluent (especially if they’re administered by the government via taxation).
This is a legitimate ideological position. If Republicans want to make the case that the rich should not be taxed to provide services for the rest of society, I can respect that. I strongly disagree, but the position has intellectual merit.
What is wrong is to characterize redistribution of income as un-American and un-constitutional. This is absurd. Our system of government allows the legislative branch to levy taxes at different rates on different classes of people, and grants wide latitude to use the money for all sorts of social purposes. The Constitution’s Commerce clause and General Welfare clause have both been interpreted this way for at least 100 years (which is why the legal challenges to healthcare reform are doomed to failure).
A question naturally arises as to why Republicans are so opposed to income redistribution. While I can’t claim to speak for all of you, you apparently believe that such policies are equivalent to theft, and therefore morally wrong. This helps explain why you take such an uncompromising view on such matters: if I thought taxing the rich to pay for a janitor’s healthcare was equivalent to robbing a man at gunpoint and putting his money in another man’s pocket, I might feel the same.
This gets at the fundamental difference between Republicans and Democrats; Democrats don’t view redistribution this way. Democrats look at society and see that luck—both good and bad—has as much to do with one’s fortune as merit. Where someone is born, the type of parents they have, the schools in their neighborhood, and (unfortunately) their gender, skin color, and sexual orientation can significantly affect their life’s outcomes. People who work equally hard can achieve completely unequal results. Accidents happen, misfortunes occur, and some who choose low-paying but socially vital careers may not be able to afford good healthcare or save a lot for retirement.
For Democrats, these huge elements of chance provide the key rationale for social safety nets, which by their nature must be funded largely through the material wealth of others.
Where Republicans see theft, Democrats see the social contract.
One view is not inherently wrong and the other right, but they are mutually exclusive and incompatible; they are radically different worldviews, which is why the rhetoric gets so heated.
Your Republican worldview won out for much of the last three decades, but it is now in retreat. After rising inequality, stagnating wages, and sky-rocketing healthcare costs, Americans voted for something new and they got it.
So, Republicans, your have every right to strongly disagree with what the Democrats are doing, but please drop the notion that what’s happening threatens the fabric of America. Every liberal democracy in the world redistributes income in some fashion. What we’re now witnessing is an expansion of the American social contract, and it’s as American as apple pie.
If you want to change course, make the case to the American people that it’s bad policy, or unfair, or counter-productive. Make the case for an individualistic society where everyone has to fend for themselves. Stick to your principles and try to regain power using these arguments. But please recognize that what Obama and the Democrats are doing is entirely consistent with American values; they just happen to be values that you disagree with.
Jason Scorse