Rampant Socialism



Politico reports that a poll of 2003 self-identified Republicans "shows a large slice of the GOP believes President Barack Obama is a “socialist” who was not born in this country, should be impeached, wants the terrorists to win and only won the 2008 election because ACORN “stole” it for him."

That poll, indicating 63% believed Obama is a socialist, took place two full years ago.       Surely, things have changed; after all, as Tom Moran of northern New Jersey's Star-Ledger notes, President Obama

has been a close friend of the big capitalists. He saved the banks and auto companies with government money, and is unloading the government’s shares as quickly as he can. He agreed to keep the Bush tax cuts in place for the wealthy. He agreed to devote roughly one-third of his stimulus plan to tax cuts for business and others. He has been banging his head into brick wall to get free trade pacts approved in Congress.

If he were a socialist, he might have at least pressed for a health care plan like Canada’s, which is basically Medicare for all. He certainly would not have set up this Rube Goldberg scheme that bends over backward to preserve the position of private insurers.

Moran was responding to a poll conducted by the Eagleton Institute of Politics only last August.     The survey revealed 53% of Republicans, asked to respond to the statement "President Obama is a Socialist," agreed while 32% disagreed and 14% indicated they "don't know."     The 53% is a smaller number than the 63% of the earlier survey but it took place in New Jersey, whose Republicans, though obviously conservative, are more moderate than they are nationally.

Additional polling would be revelatory now that, as Reuters reported last month, "recent calls for a wide-ranging criminal investigation of the mortgage servicing industry have come from members of Congress, including Senator Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., state officials, and county clerks. In recent months clerks from around the country have examined mortgage and foreclosure records filed with them and reported finding high percentages of apparently fraudulent documents."  

Reuters earlier had reported

under Holder and Breuer, the Justice Department hasn't brought any criminal cases against big banks or other companies involved in mortgage servicing, even though copious evidence has surfaced of apparent criminal violations in foreclosure cases.

The evidence, including records from federal and state courts and local clerks' offices around the country, shows widespread forgery, perjury, obstruction of justice, and illegal foreclosures on the homes of thousands of active-duty military personnel.

Speculation has emerged that the Justice Department has avoided pursuing criminal prosecution because both Holder and Breuer (the head of the Department's criminal division) were partners for several years at Covington and Burling, whose clients included the four largest banks and "at least one other bank that is among the ten largest mortgage servicers."

Despite the Administration's corporate-friendly record, rank-and-file Republicans should not be condemned for believing the line that the President is a socialist.     Willingness to accuse him of being a socialist has been almost a litmus test for GOP presidential candidates this cycle.      Rush Limbaugh constantly repeats the charge and in December criticized Mitt Romney because he "will not call Obama a socialist" and "won't even call Obama zany."      Perhaps, however, Romney understands that most voters don't believe such drivel from talk show hosts, and all the money from all the SuperPacs in America won't buy an election for a candidate pandering to the most outlandish myths.    




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