Quote:
Originally Posted by dogzilla
You described the Canadian socialist health care plan as having both a public option and a single payer option. Obama went on record as wanting both of those in his health care plan, which places another tick mark in the socialist column for Obama. The fact that the American public wouldn't let him have those options doesn't erase the socialist tick mark.
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Obama's position on universal health care doesn't give him an imaginary tick mark under some imaginary socialist/capitalist checklist. It won't make him a socialist any more than nationalization of S&Ls made Reagan a socialist.
Presidents use socialist tools. They use capitalist tools. The U.S. is a mixed economy. Obama is a Democrat---a liberal---not a socialist. Signing COBRA didn't make Reagan a socialist, did it?
If Obama were a socialist, his platform would include a central focus on nationalized child care, a stronger stance on supporting unions to help them thrive, a stronger thrust to grant access to post-secondary education to those who can't afford it (i.e. more than just grants and tax breaks), and a foreign policy that seeks to temper previous agreements of free trade with fair trade (probably a more aggressive stance with China with regard to their labour laws and practices), etc.
I could be missing it. Does Obama strive for these things as well?
Ask a socialist how they approve of Obama so far.