Health Care Law Signals
Socialism;
Ministry Responds With New Special
Communist leader Fidel Castro gave a surprise and likely unwelcome "thumbs up"
to Congress and President Barack Obama after federal health care "reform" became
law in March.
Castro wrote in an essay published by Cuba’s state-run media that "we consider
health reform to have been an important battle and a success of his [Obama's]
government." The ailing leader, however, mocked America for taking so long to do
what "Cuba was able to do half a century ago."
It was a telling endorsement and one of the more glaring signals so far that
ObamaCare equals socialized medicine. Now that the government has effectively
seized control over one-sixth of America's economy, America's courtship with
socialism is beginning to look more like a full-blown marriage. The federal
government now exercises enormous control over banking, finance, and insurance
firms as well as automotive manufacturers, and seeks to further expand its
regulation of financial markets and the energy sector.
Speaking prior to the passage of federal health care legislation in March, Rep.
Michele Bachmann (MN-R) told Coral Ridge Ministries that some 30 percent of
private industry was then under federal control. "If they decide to take over
the health care industry, that's another 18 percent of our economy, or 50
percent of the economy in just over a year’s time. We've never seen anything
like this before."
New Documentary and Book Expose Socialist Threat
To alert Americans to the dangers of socialism, Coral Ridge Ministries has
produced two important new resources - the powerful documentary,
Socialism: A Clear and Present Danger and the brand new book,
Ten Truths About Socialism.
So what is socialism? Simply put, "Socialism is the government guiding or owning
resources in the economy, not people in the private markets," said Steve Forbes,
the well-known publisher of Forbes magazine, in a Coral Ridge Ministries
interview. Forbes adds, "Government socialism manifestly does not work. If it
did, the Soviet Union would've won the Cold War."
A core tenet of socialism is that wealth must be redistributed via the coercive
power of government from the "haves" to the "have nots." "Socialism is forcibly
taking from one person and giving to another; and it's the government or the
authorities that are doing it, and that's stealing," said Wendy Wright,
President of Concerned Women for America.
President Obama expressed his own views about wealth redistribution and how it
should be achieved on a Chicago radio broadcast in 2001. He said then, "I'm not
optimistic about bringing about major redistributive change through the [Supreme
Court]. The institution just isn’t structured that way.” Translation — a
legislative route is more appropriate to bring about "redistributive change."
The President's 2009 budget statement echoes that theme, complaining that, "For
the better part of three decades, a disproportionate share of the Nation’s
wealth has been accumulated by the very wealthy." Obama's solution is to "to
break from a troubled past" and "begin charting a new path" — a path of
increased government intervention and control of the private economy.
"Just Look At the Record"
But where socialism has been tried, it has failed miserably, sometimes with
deadly results, as in Communist regimes where millions have been slaughtered.
"Rather than have a long-drawn-out civil war, you strike quickly, kill the
people in the way, take over, and then create a new human nature," said Marvin
Olasky, a former communist and the editor of World magazine.
Another former communist, David Horowitz, notes that historically, those who
call themselves progressives and liberals have "killed 120 million people since
1917 in the name of creating a better world." Many who died fell victims to
tyrants like Vladmir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, and Pol Pot.
While socialism has historically failed to help the poor, it has managed to
eliminate private property, strap citizens with burdensome taxes, and cripple
economic productivity, all while giving government exorbitant control over the
lives of individuals.
Overall, "the idea that socialism ought to have some kind of promise for
redeeming human beings or helping us, it's absurd," said Jay Richards, author of
Money, Greed, and God. "Just look at the record."
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