I need to correct Rush Limbaugh. What he calls fascism (indirect government control over the private sector) may in fact be socialism (direct government control over the private sector):
RUSH: Barack Obama, Chrysler, what is it down to now, GM down to $1.10, down 34 cents. They're saying it was a good day for Barack Obama, he's convening another health care summit. It's amazing, you know, health care experts in this country have been trying to find ways for years to reduce costs. Obama has a couple days worth of meetings and figures out a way to do it. Automobile makers have been trying to figure out a way out of their mess for years. Obama convenes a task force, a couple meetings over a couple days and saves the automobile business.
Isn't it amazing what Obama can do in just a couple days? And then rest on the seventh one. (interruption) What do you mean, nothing was done? Snerdley, Snerdley, what do you mean nothing was done? They're going to save $2 trillion. They got the agreement, they're going to cut $2 trillion; they're going to fix health care, going to nationalize it. Government's going to be in charge of it. The government runs everything else brilliantly and efficiently. What do you mean? Of course it's just words, but I mean he fixed it. I'm saying in two days of meetings, health care is going to get solved. Two days of meetings, the automobile problem's going to get solved. Two days of meetings, the economy is going to get solved. I mean this guy is amazing. People work for years, decades, trying to solve problems. This guy comes in, does so in two hours, or in some cases, two days.
By the way, this is an actual headline from Advertising Age on their website: "'Obama Halves Chrysler's Planned Marketing Budget' -- Chrysler wanted to spend $134 million in advertising over the nine weeks it's expected to be in bankruptcy -- the US Treasury's auto-industry task force," which is Obama, "gave it half that. So if GM, which is wrestling with the possibility of a Chapter 11 filing itself, is wondering how much influence the task force will have over marketing, the answer is: plenty." Well, of course. This is not an abstract argument. This is not some theoretical, abstract argument that people sit around and debate. This is the government takeover of the automobile business! This is not the United States of America that you and I grew up in. This is fascism! This is not the United States of America we grew up in. People are debating this in an abstract way, "Well, do you think Obama can really save the automobile --" it's not his job; it's not what this country is all about.
When you see a headline: "Barack Obama tells Chrysler, 'No, you can only spend half of what you've budgeted on advertising,'" that's not an abstract theoretical argument that we're having over what will be the impact. This is a matter of principle, founding principles, capitalist principles that have just been ditched.
Comments