President Obama and Socialism

Here's a useful primer on a recent Heritage Foundation examination of President Obama's activities thus far in relation to social-welfare spending. Of course, it's out of bounds to argue that he has socialistic beliefs...

Here's a sample of the piece:

Obama started increasing welfare spending immediately after assuming office. The stimulus bill included $220 billion in new means-tested spending, including a little-noticed provision that repealed one of the key welfare reforms of the Clinton era. The 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act capped welfare dollars to states, ending the perverse system that rewarded states for adding cases to their welfare rolls. The 2009 stimulus bill lifted the caps. Once again, states that add to their rolls qualify for more cash.



President Clinton said his legislation would “end welfare as we know it.” If Rector’s estimates are correct, Obama will spend twice as much on welfare as Clinton did. He is off to an incredible start. His $88.2 billion increase in welfare spending in 2009 is twice as large as any other increase in history. By the end of next year, he will have increased welfare spending by $263 billion, which is two and a half times greater than any previous increase.

This idea of socialism by the way ties into my previous point that we should not think of such words as epitaphs, but instead think of them as usable descriptors. In Obama's case, I think you can make a pretty convincing argument that his vision of America is one that would fall under the rubrick of a socialistic system.