For many years, former President Barack Obama has been accused of being a closet socialist. When Obama was running for the White House in 2008 and 2012, he downplayed his relationships with socialists like Bill Ayers.
The genius of Obama’s two victorious presidential campaigns was his ability to portray himself as a pragmatic politician pursuing a middle-of-the-road policy agenda when in fact Obama has been more than sympathetic to socialism in America since the beginning of his political rise.
In 2012, Forbes published an article titled, “Is President Obama Truly A Socialist?,” which noted that, “Pew Research finds that sixty percent of Americans respond negatively to ‘socialism.’ It is clear why President Barack Obama must avoid that label. Words are important.”
While Obama went out of his way to never refer to himself as a socialist, he did generally govern in the direction that most socialists would approve. Obama’s signature policy achievement, the Affordable Care Act, was derided by many who argued it was anti-free market and a step towards socialism.
During his two terms, Obama toed the collectivist line quite nimbly. Under the radar, his administration pushed what can be described as stealth socialism. His policies were wealth redistributionist in nature, but Obama abstained (for the most part) from openly advocating for a socialist revolution when he was in the Oval Office.
In the years since Obama departed 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and bought mansions all over the country (not very socialist of him!), socialism has become much less of a taboo. In fact, in the decade or so since Obama became a private citizen, socialism has exploded in popularity, particularly among young Americans.
With socialism no longer a dirty word in the American political lexicon and a central plank of the modern Democratic Party, it should come as little surprise that Barack Obama is finally reveling in his socialist bona fides.
“Mayor Zohran Mamdani and former President Barack Obama met for the first time in New York City on Saturday, a high-profile sit-down …at a child care center in the Bronx, a symbolic location for Mamdani, who’s pushing for a drastic expansion of the city’s free child care programs.” reports Politico.
“This is what we need, making an investment in these amazing kids,” Obama said after the meeting and singalong.
What Obama failed to mention is that New York City cannot afford socialism, let alone universal childcare.
In his inauguration speech on January 1, Mamdani stated his intention to “deliver universal childcare for the many by taxing the wealthiest few.”
This year, New York will spend $4.5 billion on childcare programs. Based on one estimate, providing universal childcare would cost the state about $15 billion.
It also must be noted that New York’s existing childcare programs have far exceeded their original budget estimates. So, take the $15 billion amount with a grain of salt.
Aside from the exorbitant cost, which is absurd given that New York has a $34.3 billion budget deficit, universal childcare is a dubious policy.
An analysis of Quebec’s universal childcare program found “a large, significant, negative shock to the preschool, noncognitive development and health of children exposed to the new program, with little measured impact on cognitive skills.”
Even worse, the study found that kids in the program developed “increases in early childhood anxiety and aggression.”
Another study, which analyzed “programs in Chile, Germany, Norway, Quebec, and the United States” found “more time spent in childcare was associated with lower social competence and poorer academic work habits” along with “more conflicted relationships with teachers and mothers.”
Although advocates for universal childcare say it is good policy because it frees women to pursue career opportunities, boosts the economy, and helps children develop social skills, it also has many downsides.
Perhaps parents, friends, and family members, not government bureaucrats, ought to be raising children. Perhaps doctors and patients, not government bureaucrats, ought to be making health care decisions. Perhaps the invisible hand of the free market, rather than a know-nothing mayor and city council, ought to be determining where grocery stores are located.
Perhaps America will realize that, as Margaret Thatcher put it, the problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money.
Chris Talgo is the Editorial Director for The Heartland Institute and a fellow for Heartland’s Glenn C. Haskins Emerging Issues Center.
