I love how the Wall Street Journal said it in an editorial the other day. I’ll paraphrase here, from memory: “Dishonest socialism is when profit is private — and risk is socialized.” They were referring to the federalized mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, “companies” who are allowed to make a profit but must be subsidized by taxpayers if they fail (as may be imminent).
I believe Ayn Rand said this is the definition of fascism, as opposed to open and “honest” socialism.
The challenge of the liberal socialist Democrats, as they prepare to regain full control of the government with a zeal not seen since the 1930s, will be to sell all-out socialism to a reluctant country while still disguising it as capitalism. It’s not going to be easy for them. The only thing left to do to medical care is outright nationalize it. In practice, this will mean putting everyone on Medicare–a program that is already bankrupt when only covering the elderly, and requires supplemental private insurance as it is. The only thing left to do to the mortgage industry is nationalize it–as Hillary Clinton hinted at, and as Obama no doubt supports. This means a real estate industry handed over to a Soviet style, and politically motivated, bureaucracy.
Yes, the liberal-socialist Obama Democrats must sell their policies to a reluctant public who, right now, only seems to care that they’re not George W. Bush. Let’s see how it looks this time a year from now.