Obama’s a socialist? Nope– just another run-of-the-mill corporatist. Nothing better exemplifies this than the latest news coming out about the the debt talks between the President and the congressional leaders of the fake right.
From the Washington Post:
President Obama is pressing congressional leaders to consider a far-reaching debt-reduction plan that would force Democrats to accept major changes to Social Security and Medicare in exchange for Republican support for fresh tax revenue…As part of his pitch, Obama is proposing significant reductions in Medicare spending and for the first time is offering to tackle the rising cost of Social Security, according to people in both parties with knowledge of the proposal.
Regardless of one’s beliefs about the constitutionality of these programs, both sides of the debate should be quick to notice the priorities of the President, and his so called opposition, turning to programs so many Americans have already paid into and are depending on instead of first looking overseas at the corporate/U.S. military world empire that is bankrupting us all.
According to a report released last month by Brown University, the The United States will have spent a total of $3.7 trillion on the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan by the time that they’re over (the word “over” being loosely defined in 21st Century Amerika ). This isn’t counting the war in Libya (oh, I forgot that’s not a war, according to Obama) or the bases the United States maintains in nations like Germany where hostilities ended so long ago that most of the people who participated in them have either died or are living on Social Security.
Even Libertarian minded presidential candidate Ron Paul– who is often the subject of attacks by pundits trying to imply that Social Security and Medicare would abruptly end the minute he was sworn into office– has advocated changing foreign policy and dramatically cutting defense spending before touching Social Security and Medicare, allowing people to get what they have already paid for and not be cheated any further by their corrupt government.
Indeed, if real cuts are going to be made, they first need to be made in the areas of the budget that have not only outlived their usefulness, but are also causing the country more harm than good. Though Obama has tried to give us the impression that the wars that started under Bush are ending, his plans for withdrawal from these wars are simply diversionary games designed to keep the U.S. military as an occupying force within the targeted nations for as long as possible. (Under Obama, the U.S. has recently proposed keeping troops in Iraq past the withdrawal deadline at the end of this year.)
On top of that, like Bush’s wars, Obama’s new war in Libya has absolutely nothing to do with the security of the United States and certainly doesn’t deserve in any way to be further from the cutting board than the programs at home he pretends to champion.
To those who believe in socialism and those who don’t, look upon your president and those around him and see what they really are– well dressed parasites feeding off your tax dollars along with their cronies, sucking out the blood of the country in order to spread a disease of empire across the globe. They are a bigger threat to the wealth and safety of ordinary, well-meaning Americans than ordinary Americans could ever be to each other.
Across the country Americans on all sides of the spectrum need to speak as one and tell the President in no uncertain terms that the promised retirement and health funds of hard working people are not the fuel of tanks and fighter jets, and certainly aren’t the missiles of predator drones.
Author’s Bio: Andrew Steele is the editor of America 20xy– an independent news service that highlights articles from around the web focusing on international and economic policy, and human rights abuses. The mission statement for the page is a quote from Thomas Jefferson, “Eternal Vigilance is the Price of Freedom”. America 20xy doesn’t support either major political party and the editor’s mission is to do what he can to further the cause for liberty, peace, and justice for those lost in the shuffle of celebrity gossip and fluff in the mainstream media. Visit the site at www.america20xy.com