Obama's a WHAT?

So, my boyfriend hit me last night with a couple of assertions that really got my hackles up. We don't often discuss politics because it can be such a bone of contention, and it's really not an important issue to our relationship. But when he came out with "Obama's a Leninist-Marxist" last night, I couldn't let it lie. I don't know who he got that one from (probably Michael Savage, knowing him), but it's just ridiculous.

To my mind, this would not only mean that Obama's agenda is very different from what his past actions have indicated, but also requires a twisting of the ideals of Leninist Marxism. I'm no Obama apologist, but the way i see it, the man is not only NOT socialist, he's actually a good bit more moderate (read: conservative) than many of the people who put him in office were expecting. I'm pretty sure there was a good bit of "wealth redistribution" on the minds of many voters. Alas, that isn't what they got at all.

Take for example what is now derisively called "Obamacare;" the health care act that passed under his administration. While much of the buzz about this bill was that it would bring in socialized medicine, it has actually done just the opposite. It is requiring individuals to fund huge corporations (the health insurance companies) by mandating that everyone have health insurance. At the state level there is a law against this sort of thing. That is to say, if the federal government requires a state to do something, then they have to provide the funds to do it. Otherwise it's called an "unfunded mandate." This is one of the biggest unfunded mandates ever to be foisted off on the American public, and it's going to land squarely on the backs of the poorest of our workers.

You can bet your sweet taters this was not part of Obama's initial plan for the bill, but being too much of a statesman, he (and the rest of his party) capitulated to this, among many other demands of the Republicans.

For example here's what Newt Gingrich had to say about it: "I am for people, individuals -- exactly like automobile insurance -- individuals having health insurance and being required to have health insurance."

But Newt, what you seem to be forgetting is that having and driving a car is a privilege, and one that not everyone bothers to participate in (though given the abysmal state of public transportation in the US, they're damn near unavoidable outside of major cities). Having a body and taking care of it? That's not a privilege. That's a requirement. The only way to get out of it is to die. So now we can edit the old adage about the only unavoidable things in life: death, taxes and health insurance premiums.

Don't get me wrong, I like many of the provisions of Obamacare. The one that FINALLY prevents the insurance companies from refusing to cover you because of certain pre-existing conditions. There are some great things about the bill. But is the bill Marxist or Leninist? Not even close.

And the same goes for damn near everything else Obama's done since he's been in office. It's all been pathetically moderate, when viewed from the standpoint of a truly left-leaning individual. Yet he's demonized & vilified by the huge right-wing media enterprise in the hopes of unseating him in this year's election.

Silly Republicans. Lies are for idiots.