The
Right’s propaganda machine has been on overdrive during the Republican
National Convention trying desperately to repackage the Romney-Ryan team
as "compassionate conservatives." But there is a curious counterpoint
to the nonsense we’ve heard from the podium coming from another slice of
the Right’s noise machine—an emphasis on how scary a second Obama term
would be.
Some right-wing authors and filmmakers are making the
argument that Obama would be a modern-day Moses, coming down from the
mountain and commanding government to institute every imaginable liberal
or progressive good idea—regardless of who controls Congress. Let’s
forget for a few minutes how disappointed many liberals have been with
Obama, and we sadly know better.
Instead, let’s indulge in their fantasy, as put forth in a new
movie,
2016,
by Dinesh D’Souza and authors Aaron Klein (who doesn’t even live in the
U.S.) and Brenda J. Elliott. Let’s hope they’re correct for just this
once. Just for a moment, forget everything you know about Obama’s
centrism and imagine that a second Obama term would deliver these simply
terrible results.
1. Drastically Reduce U.S. Nuclear Weapons
According to D’Souza’s new film,
2016: Obama's America,
Obama is planning to reduce the nuclear stockpile to a few hundred
missiles. This is utter foolery, he posits, because Iran, China, Russia,
Pakistan and North Korea are feverishly working to become new or even
bigger military powers and they wouldn't feel threatened by us anymore.
Worse, our nuclear weapons stockpile is aging and the president is not
seeking to replace it, he says.
All this supposedly would leave America and its allies, meaning Israel, vulnerable to nuclear attack,
we are told,
and undermine the Cold War doctrine of mutually assured destruction.
The president is working toward a “world without nuclear weapons.” (Too
bad that’s actually
not the case.)
2. Reorient the Military Toward Global Solutions
According
to Klein and Elliott’s new book, the vastly downsized Pentagon would be
ordered to help in international peacekeeping, fighting global poverty,
combating global warming and remedying injustice. That’s all part of a
strategy where the U.S. is not first among nations, but where economic,
political and military power is shared—which is surely a reprehensible
development (leading to, for example, operations such as the overthrow
of Kadaffi in Libya). Never mind that Obama has been severely criticized
by civil libertarians for his unilateral drone strikes, targeted
assassinations and expansion of the Bush era war on terrorism. Another
term, they say, will give peace a chance.
3. Move U.S. To Single-Payer Healthcare
Of
course, if Obama is reelected then Obamacare will be impossible to
reverse, we are told. But what’s even worse than what they call
“government-controled healthcare” is that Obama will open up Medicare
for anyone who wants to get coverage that way. And it’s not only
Medicare, but other state-run healthcare too. Medicaid and the
Children’s Health Insurance Program also will be made available—all
without a private insurer standing between you and your doctors. All
this would move us toward a single-payer system. The horrors!
4. Resurrect New Deal Programs That Actually Create Jobs
Apparently
progressive calls for more federal economic stimulus spending will be
answered after all. In Obama’s second term, not only will there be a
21st-century version of FDR’s Works Progress Administration, but,
according to Klein and Elliott’s book, the Department of Labor would
oversee this effort to potentially create millions of new jobs. They
also believe that Obama would impose wage controls industry by industry,
which would force employers to pay their employees more than they
otherwise might.
5. Make It Easier To Join Unions
Now
here is a truly dangerous idea—make it easier for people to join
unions. Apparently some progressive think-tanks have suggested that tax
breaks be given to businesses that don’t fight unionization. The Obama
administration is not just on board with that,
we’re told, but would bar some current forms of union busting.
And
Obama's pro-labor policies would not stop there. We would see a higher
minimum wage, and all employers would be required to pay a living wage,
which might be higher still. Worse yet, employers might be forced to
grant longer paid family leaves for the absolutely flimsy excuse of
caring for newborns, a sick family member or even themselves! It’s just a
small step away from tyranny.
6. Grant Immigration Amnesty
The right also believes that Obama will
use his executive authority in a second term to decree that all illegal immigrants
become
documented and be granted legal presence rights. Never mind that the
executive has no such power. In addition to doing this, Obama would
order federal agencies to stop policing America’s borders, stop
deportations that split up families and open up public healthcare and
schools to formerly undocumented immigrants. All of this would soon be
followed by granting formerly undocumented individuals voting rights—to
ensure a permanent Democratic majority.
7. Break the Fossil Fuel Addiction
Only
a president like Obama cares that the planet’s climate is changing when
there’s still big money to be made in gas and oil, we’re told. Obama
will use federal funds to help businesses develop alternatives to fossil
fuels, including getting the Treasury Department to lend money for this
purpose. Similarly, a second term would see the administration seeking
to improve the nation’s clean water supply, and energy and
telecommunications infrastructure. For conservatives, this is the stuff
of nightmares.
We are told that Obama is a master in
circumventing Congress
to get whatever he wants, purely by executive orders. America would
never be the same nation that it now is, these flag-waving Republicans
declare. Imagine that! Fewer nukes, a smaller military, different
international posture, single-payer healthcare, community-creating
federal jobs, new workplace and employee rights, humane immigration
policies, and a new energy and infrastructure strategy to foster local
self-reliance. If only this wasn’t a dream!
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