Being a Democrat does not a Socialist make

PROGRESSIVE VIEWS

As recently cited by economist Jared Bernstein in his Substack, a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) poll about which issues Americans would like Congress to pass laws on indicates the top issues with voters across the board mainly concern the cost of living. There’s no surprise in this.

What’s thought-provoking, however, is that most of the specific policies about which the WSJ asked are Democratic policies — not socialist or communist strategies, despite what Republicans in these parts incessantly try to assert in this newspaper.

Most of the policies in the WSJ poll were supported by significant majorities of voters, to include Republicans and independents. Things like Medicare for All, which some Republicans habitually decry as “socialist,” is supported by 59% of bipartisan voters. That’s a fairly solid majority that includes Republicans and independents.

But my guess is this: Since Medicare for All is supported by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont)) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio- Cortez (D-New York), among others, Republican leadership around here will doubtless try to poohpooh the poll’s findings by incorrectly labeling universal access to Medicare as “socialist.”

They would do so, of course, because labeling everything Democrats support as “socialist” is raw meat for a MAGA/ Republican Party that has very little grasp of the difference between true socialism and a society with a functioning social safety net.

Their primary argument to support their label of “socialist” is that expanding Medicare to people younger than 65 would increase government control of our medical system. The cry of “Socialist,” or even “Communist,” is a knee-jerk retort to almost every Democratic policy that would extend this extremely popular program to more Americans.

It’s the same argument Republicans made back in 1965 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Medicare and Medicaid Act, and it’s always their tired argument whenever a proposed law might strengthen social safety net programs to benefit the “least among us.” (See Matthew 25:40).

In fact, branding something “socialist” is about the only argument they can make these days. That’s because so many of their supporters — as the WSJ found — actually embrace the idea of universal access to Medicare.

The reason is simple: As everyone with an over-65 family member knows, once people reach the magic age of 65 and qualify for Medicare, it is as if a great weight has been lifted from their shoulders, because they can finally access the medical care many of them have needed for years but couldn’t afford.

In reality, Medicare is not true socialism — and it’s certainly not communism.

Why? It’s simple. It’s because the government does not own the “means of production,” which in this context denotes the federal government owning the hospitals, clinics and pharmaceutical companies, and directly employing doctors and other medical personnel.

But that is not the way Medicare works, and it’s not the way Medicare For All would work. There is and would be no government ownership. Just like with Medicare, in the case of Medicare for All, the government would act only as the single-payer administrator for the healthcare system – which is what Medicare does now for the over-65 set. It goes without saying there is a huge difference between directly owning the country’s medical infrastructure and employing its medical staff - and merely administering payment for medical care.

In this reality-based light, Republican name-calling is nothing more than an antiquated, inapt scare-tactic – one which fortunately, more and more American voters are coming to recognize as crass manipulation by rightwing ideologues.

Voters who are not fixated on supporting Republican and MAGA ideology no matter what, would do well to ignore all the bogus socialist name-calling.

As the WSJ poll shows, you won’t be alone in doing so. It’s evident American voters — even some MAGA voters — are more shrewd than the ideologues who hyperventilate about socialism every time Democratic policy is brought to the table.

For the sake of all, American voters should reject distortional name-calling by ostensible Republican leadership and vote their own minds.

Cindy Offutt is a Democrat. She said she is neither a socialist nor a communist, and like most Democrats, never has been.