Fascism:  1.  a governmental system led by a dictator having complete power, forcibly suppressing opposition and criticism, regimenting all industry, commerce, etc., and emphasizing an aggressive nationalism and often racism.

The Department of Health and Human Services just ordered the health insurance industry to “stop telling Medicare beneficiaries that proposed health reform legislation could hurt seniors and jeopardize their benefits” (from the Washington Post).  So the healthcare plan, which will be “deficit neutral”, will be payed for by enormous cuts in Medicare, which will not have any negative impact on Medicare at all.  I wish I could run a business with the same logic and unlimited source of funding as the government…but I couldn’t stand the idea of stealing money from Americans.

Back to the definition of fascism.  No one will argue that the president is currently an omnipotent dictator.  But are we moving towards or away from fascism?  And if we are moving towards it, why?

“Forcibly suppressing opposition and criticism”:  check.  A gag order for insurance companies, fighting with Fox News, a link on the White House website asking citizens to report “fishy” behavior.  It is only a matter of scale, not intent, that distinguishes America from Venezula right now.  It is also of utmost importance to remember that  it is only the will and character of the American people that will keep the demon of totalitarianism at bay.  This always has been, is now, and will be true.

“Regimenting all industry and commerce”:  check.  Obama is taking over banks, the automotive industry, considering “bailing out” the newspaper industry.  Al Gore gets $500 million to build some green luxury cars for him and his rich friends.

“Emphasizing aggressive nationalism and often racism”:  Their hatred of America precludes leftists from supporting any kind of aggressive nationalism, at least until they radically change what it means to be American.  When it comes to racism, it seems that fostering hatred against racists is their tactic, at the same time accusing all their political enemies of being racists.  Stirring up actionable, violent hatred against a group of people remains consistent with fascist ideology though.

Where is this headed? Why should America be pushed one inch in the direction of fascism, and how could anyone who respects our constitution be behind it?  If you want to “bring fundamental change” to a country, try one that actually needs it.

Selected bullet points from the Organizing for America website:

The President’s plan:

Ends discrimination against people with pre-existing conditions.

That sounds good.  People certainly shouldn’t be denied access to healthcare for being sick.  But…this does increase costs to the insurance industry.

Limits premium discrimination based on gender and age.

Discrimination…always bad, right?  Although adjusting premiums based on risk levels is how insurance companies operate at a profit, and this would take that away.  Oh well…profits are evil anyways.

Caps out-of-pocket expenses so people don’t go broke when they get sick.

No one should have to declare bankruptcy just because they got sick and had some medical bills.  But if we cap expenses to the people, we also cap revenues to the insurance companies.

Won’t add a dime to the deficit and is paid for upfront.

Whew!  I was really starting to get worried about the deficit.

Offers a public health insurance option to provide the uninsured and those who can’t find affordable coverage with a real choice.

“The public option”:  sounds like a sturdy, earnest safety net for hardworking Americans.  There’s no way it could ever become a monolithic government money pit, right?  Medicare/Medicaid has ballooned up to about $700 billion a year with costs spiralling out of control – but I’m sure the “public option” would remain a fairly small, insignificant government expenditure…unless something happened like…the collapse of the health insurance industry?

Fortunately, there’s no way the health insurance industry could possibly collapse.  Unless, perhaps the government were to

1. Increase costs by mandating coverage
2. Remove the ability to adjust premiums based on risk levels
3. Cap revenues to the insurance companies

The arrogance of our politicians to think that they can micromanage the minutiae of a 15 trillion dollar economy, from healthcare expenses to car manufacturing, will only end in tragedy.  We have only to look so far as the grand communist experiment of the Soviet Union to understand this.  Learning from past experiences and applying that knowledge to future endeavors is a fairly fundamental human characteristic.  Why are we allowing our politicians to ignore logic and reason?

Government is a terrible senior partner for any industry, because it has only one thing to bring to the partnership, and that is compulsive force. Everything government does is an expression of force: it collects taxes under the threat of imprisonment or death, blocks access to markets through licensing, and changes the rules of market competition through regulation.