Government unchecked is evil unchecked.
I firmly believe that even if Pelosi, Reid, and Obama were standing in front of the Great White Throne of the Almighty, they would be defiant before Him.
Posted on 12/30/2010 5:29:05 AM PST by markomalley
Outgoing Rep. John Hall, D-N.Y., who lost reelection last month in New York City's outer suburbs, warns us all in a recent interview that fascism is on the rise in America:
"I learned when I was in social studies class in school that corporate ownership or corporate control of government is called Fascism. So that's really the question— is that the destination if this court decision goes unchecked?"
He was speaking about the Citizens United decision. Let's recall what was at question in Citizens United: could Congress prevent a non-profit group from distributing a DVD criticizing a sitting senator who at the time was also the front-runner to be president of the United States?
On which side of that question do you think some historical fascists would have come down?
But I know what Hall is talking about when he invokes "fascism." The beat I cover -- the influence of business on government and vice versa -- frequently brushes up against the definition of fascism to which Hall was referring. Readers of my columns, blog posts, and books often chide me for not using the word "fascism" to describe the common phenomenon of big business using big government to guarantee profits, crush smaller competition, rob from taxpayers, and exploit consumers and workers. I avoid the word because I've found that it agitates people too much.
I think liberals tend to get a bit sloppy when they use the word "fascist," though. For one, they try to use it as the antonym to "communist," and thus use it to mean "extremely conservative." Jonah Goldberg wrote a book deftly dispatching this trope.
More specifically, Hall talks about "corporate control of government." Hall, I think, is using that term to describe the lobbying landscape he thinks he sees, rather than the type of economy and government he thinks he sees. In other words, "corporate control of Congress" is a different thing from "corporate control of government."
"Corporate control of Congress" doesn't actually tell us much substantive, does it? What sort of taxes, regulations, subsidies, spending, or foreign policy would we have? I suspect John Hall would argue that corporate control of Congress yields deregulation and tax cuts. I think he's wrong. I think the Wall Street bailout, the Chamber of Commerce-backed stimulus, and the PhRMA-backed health-care bill are fruits of corporate-controlled Congress -- and Hall backed all of them, of course.
Stimulus, bailouts, mandatory health insurance, lengthy prescription-drug monopolies -- these all represent "corporate control of government" in a more precise sense of the word. They involve corporations using government to get things they couldn't get without government.
In other words, if Hall is looking for creeping fascism, he could start with his own voting record.
Or, we could all just agree to be more measured in our word choice.
Fascism (often capitalized):
1: a political philosophy, movement, or regime (as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition
It would sure be nice if people would accurately use the word according to its actual definition.
Government unchecked is evil unchecked.
I firmly believe that even if Pelosi, Reid, and Obama were standing in front of the Great White Throne of the Almighty, they would be defiant before Him.
this coming from the crowd whose 2012 presidential candidate will have a billion dollar war chest. more if you count the patronage from the treasury
kinda like the ‘progressives’ call the opposition nazis, when they are the ones promoting socialism
Using that definition, I guess you couldn’t call the current regime Facist. Although Hussein is all about centralized control, he never exalts this nation.
“I learned when I was in social studies class in school that corporate ownership or corporate control of government is called Fascism.
“It would sure be nice if people would accurately use the word according to its actual definition.”
One of the frustrating difficulties of dealing with mentally ill people is the project. It has been my observation that many of the liberals I’ve dealt with are mentally ill, or at least not dealing with the same reality the rest of us are.
Another way of looking at his astonishing statement is; thieves always suspect thievery. Liars always suspect lying. Fascists…
I firmly believe that even if Pelosi, Reid, and Obama were standing in front of the Great White Throne of the Almighty, they would be defiant before Him.
In reality, they are, on both counts. They just haven’t yet reached their final destination. How they treat us is how they would have treated the Savior himself. So proclaimed the Judge of the quick and the dead.
What I NEVER have understood by the left is their screaming about corporate control of congress is a bad thing.
Yet if conservatives propose cutting taxes while establishing a flat/fair tax, cutting spending, and severely limiting the size of government, all of which benefit small business as well as individual by leveling the playing field, somehow conservatives are labeled fascists.
Milton Friedman and F A Hayek make their case about corporate cronyism brilliantly.
Says a lot about the quality of social studies classes in NY schools.
Fascist? Communist is more like it.
Obama took over GM. Obama extorted money from BP. Obama had turned the insurance industry upside down.
Government and Big Business working together is a dangerous combination and puts working individuals in a very dangerous situation. When Eisenhower talked about the Military-Industrial Complex, people thought he was focused on the defense industry. I think that was just the camel's nose. What Eisenhower worried about is what we see here today.
You are not still the one.
“headed by a dictatorial leader” is the key part of the definition not in play in the USA (yet).
The mistake often made in discussing economic and political systems is to try to fit everything into a bi-polar world.
Every modern society is a mix of at least 3 distinct economic systems.
Socialism - Government ownership, single payer medicaid, post office, Social Security, Unemployment Comp, Amtrak, Army, Navy, Coast Guard, etc
Capitalism - Private ownership where government plays the role of impartial referee. Government is not a player in the game and observes equal protection under the law.
Corporatism/Mercantilism - Government using tax law, spending and regulation to favor one player over another. Some want government to favor the rich over the poor. Others the poor over the rich. Affirmative action for racial, ethnic and gender minorities which includes non-minorities like women.
But thinking and debating as if in a bi-polar world, the socialists see all non-socialists as being the same and then reach for the most pejorative word possible to describe them.
And the capitalists deating as if in a bi-polar world see all non-capitalists as socialists and reach for the most pejorative word possible to describe them.
Of course, few want to admit we live in a mixed economy. Capitalists don’t want to admit that the US Constitution authorizes a little bit of socialism. And Socialists don’t want to admit that the US Constitution prohibits national socialism in areas where it is not specifically authorized.
I don’t think that definition is as accurate for “fascism” as it is for naziism. National socialism.
Fascism is collectivist, centralized control wherein the government controls all the means of production and distribution without actually owning it as in pure socialism or communism. Same result, just a different means.
This regime, and the left [”progressives”] in general, are fascists. They were fascist sympathizers in the Wilson era when they were originally calling themselves “progressives”, and they are today, after they abandoned the label temporarily for “liberals”.
What really drives me crazy is the people who pretend that we don't have a mixed economy -- they declare that America has a pure capitalist system, and that system isn't working. Therefore, we need a lot more socialism. My perception is the opposite: we have a mixed economy and that system isn't working because the mix is too far skewed in favor of the socialist tendency.
“Using that definition, I guess you couldn’t call the current regime Facist. Although Hussein is all about centralized control, he never exalts this nation.”
He does, however, exalt race.
“””I learned when I was in social studies class in school that corporate ownership or corporate control of government is called Fascism.”””
_____
I do believe he has it bass-ackwards.
Fascism is government control of private corporations.
Since the radical leftist Democrats control the schools this also shows how poorly he was instructed.
99% of leftists believe fascism means what he says it means - corporate control of government.
Whether government controls the corporations -OR- the corporations control the government..
Is basically the same thing..
The People are NOT in charge....
**Note: If you have a corrupt government you then have a corrupt people.. ELSE they would change the government..
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