"A socialist is likely to win the 2020 election. No, not Bernie Sanders."
By Catherine Rampell - Columnist covering economics, public policy, politics and culture
February 24 at 6:43 PM
"In some ways, in fact, Trump has proved himself a more successful socialist than Sanders is likely ever to be.
Many of Sanders’s core “socialist” agenda items, after all, are opposed by not only Republicans but also by moderate Democrats and even Democratic leadership. Trump, meanwhile, has brainwashed his supposedly free-market party into backing a command-and-control-style economy. When it’s commanded-and-controlled by Trump, anyway.
With nary a peep from his party, Trump has tried to prop up pet industries, such as coal, by government fiat. Indeed, other Republicans have since copied his strategy at the state level."
The command and control aspect of Trump makes him a worse threat than Bernie.
"Likewise, in a move that once would have had Republicans screaming bloody murder, Trump has slapped tariffs on virtually every major trading partner around the world to protect favored industries, such as steel. This not only failed to rejuvenate steel but also led to widespread retaliation, including tit-for-tat tariffs aimed at farm country, a key part of the Republican base."
Trump has told the DoD acquisition people to award A MULTI-BILLION DOLLAR contract to Microsoft, by telling them not to award the contract to Amazon.
A third farmer bailout is in his budget! SOCIALISM!
The GOP raged against the auto bailout when Obama did it . . . Interesting hypocrisy, eh?
The "Trump Bots" follow the Supreme Leader, the Dear Leader, their King in all he says and does.
"Conservatives, likewise, complain that Sanders and his socialist allies wish to bloat budget deficits. Under Trump, of course, this has already happened. The deficit in fiscal 2019 was a whopping 48 percent higher than it was in fiscal 2017, thanks to GOP policies. And while “Crazy Bernie” does intend to jack up tax rates to (partly) offset his spending, Trump has raised some taxes on Americans, too — he’s just done it more regressively, through taxes on imports rather than income.
Trump’s version of socialism soaks the poor, not the rich."
Trump proves MLK right that socialism is for the rich, rugged capitalism is for the poor.
Bernie needs to fight Trump on the definition of "Socialist" and he can win that argument.
Before I get into the technical definitions and explanations of "SOCIALISM" let's all agree there are a lot of things we need government to do for us as they collect tax dollars to do those things. That is good.
The truth is, a FACT, is that the United States has very substantial "Socialist" programs and policies, some with sneaky intellectual names to make you think it is not "Socialist."
Social insurance policy, i.e., "SOCIALISM," is a GLUE that makes America STRONGER DAILY, WEAKENED BY RIGGED CAPITALISM.
Is Universal Health Care Socialism?
Sep 5, 2018 By ETIENNE DEFFARGES
https://thehealthcareblog.com/blog/2018/09/05/is-universal-health-care-socialism/
The November midterms elections are approaching, and one of the major topics is health care. Democrats are campaigning on retaining Obamacare, in many cases advocating that we move towards universal health care.
That would be pure socialism, retort Republicans, who would rather repeal the Affordable Care Act as they attempted in 2017, even if this leads to 20 million Americans losing coverage.
Is Universal Health Care Socialism?
Only if we believe that every other developed market-based economy in the world is socialist since the U.S. is the only one without universal coverage. We spend almost $10,000 per year per capita on health care, about twice as much as most developed countries. However, in terms of major health outcomes, such as infant mortality or life expectancy, we are laggards. In a recent OECD survey, we ranked 27th out of 35 countries in life expectancy. Japan spends about $4,000 per year per capita in health care, yet the average Japanese has a life expectancy of 84 years, versus 79 for the average American. Why?"
Go find the answer if you care to know it.
I include here a list of 75 plus "socialist" imbued policies and programs. Call them what you want, a "safety net," welfare, they all involve a US government deciding winners and loser. Some even have "social" in the title!
I believe I copied this from an article, but do not have a way to credit the author at this time. If he/she/they catch this, let me know - it is YOURs, not mine, and I will provide you the credit due.
The United States has long balanced public and private needs. Congress continuously balances private versus public, whether Republican or Democrat. We need to stop fighting and start seeking common ground.
“The United States has six major welfare programs: TANF, Medicaid, CHIP, SNAP, EITC, Supplemental Security Income, and housing assistance. To be eligible, recipients' income must be below the poverty levels set by the states. There are other limits as well. TANF recipients must get a job after two years. They won't receive additional benefits should they have another child while under this program.
Mandatory programs such as Social Security and Medicare aren't welfare programs. They are entitlement programs based on one’s payroll tax contributions.
Many Americans believe that too much federal aid is being doled out. Ironically, most of them live in states that receive the most federal aid. They don't know it because the aid is invisible, unlike food stamps and TANF checks. This invisible aid includes jobs from federal contracts and tax credits.
Other Americans believe too many undocumented immigrants are on welfare. But only a small percentage of undocumented immigrants benefit from food stamps and Medicaid. Many are only able to do so because they live in homes with eligible U.S. citizens.”
1. The Military/Defense - The United States military gets huge sums of tax dollars to keep us secure. The Military Industrial Complex is intimately tied to the government. We are all protected by our military whether we pay taxes or not. This has socialist characteristics.
2. Highways/Roads – Public roads, tax dollars are used to maintain, expand, and preserve our highways and roads for every one's use.
3. Public Libraries – Public libraries are taxpayer funded.
4. Police – All law enforcement is a taxpayer funded “socialist” program. Anyone can call the police whether they pay taxes or not. They are there to protect and serve the community, not individuals, a purely socialist concept on a state level.
5. Fire Dept. - Like law enforcement, state socialism. If you are required to pay a fee every month for the service, and you fail to do so, your house could burn down. A man from Tennessee had this happen to him in 2011 because he didn't pay his $75.00 fee. A small town in Tennessee would rather let people's houses burn down than resort to socialism.
6. Postal Service – Obvious socialism. A public service.
7. Student Loans and Grants - If your family is not rich enough to pay for college student loans and grants are available from the federal government at taxpayer expense. Of course you have to pay back the loans, but the low interest loans are taxpayer supported. Government grants are gifts from taxpayers.
8. Bridges - Taxpayer dollars build and maintain bridges for the public.
9. Garbage Collection - Garbage is collected so we do not have to drive it to the landfill.
10. Public Landfills - Taxpayer dollars pay for landfills, storage of nuclear waste.
11. War - War would not be possible without socialism, i.e, taxes, bombing Iraq via taxpayer dollars.
12. Farm & Corporate Subsidies - Taxpayers funds farmers and Corporations / businesses to grow food for public consumption and make profits for private companies (ironic, taxes helping the profit thing).
13. CIA - Taxpayer funded to protect the public from enemies.
14. FBI - The Federal bureau of investigations is a taxpayer funded government agency.
15. Congressional Health Care - Most Congress people are covered by taxpayer-funded government-run health care.
16. Polio Vaccine - Polio ravaged the US in the ‘50s. Dr. Jonas Salk gave the cure to us free.
17. EPA – Not liked by many businesses, but taxes are working to protect people.
18. Social Security – Obviously socialist.
19. Museums - Many museums are privately owned, but many are taxpayer-funded state and federal museums.
20. Public Schools - Public education is under attack, Charter Schools are the trend, the divide between church and state is fading, but the public still enjoys tax payer funded public schools.
21. Jail/Prison System - Taxpayer money is collected and used to run this system, and many private prisons in the United States make huge profits. It’s a mix of capitalism and socialism.
22. Corporate/Business Subsidies - Tax dollars are given to big corporations to do things they should be doing anyway, i.e. morals and ethics, like not sending jobs overseas and fair hiring practices. Many businesses earn subsidies by advancing green technology and practice, donating to charity, helping communities, enabling scholarships. Donating to a political party seems a conflict of interest.
23. Veteran's (VA) Health Care - Taxpayers fund their health care in a government-run single-payer system for veterans. Socialism funds the military, the overall war, and also takes care of our troops when they return home.
24. Public Parks - If it were private, it wouldn't be a park, it would be someones back yard.
25. All Elected Government Officials - Taxpayers pay every salary, so in a sense, it’s socialism.
26. Food Stamps – Government give the poor people money to buy food they couldn't otherwise afford, just like corporate welfare. Welfare is socialism.
27. Sewer System - Taxpayers pay for this socialist system.
28. Medicare - The most liked socialist program in America.
29. Court System – We pay for our lawyer, but the courtroom, judge, and jury is taxpayer paid.
30. Bird Flu Vaccine - Our federal government used taxpayer funds for these vaccines.
31. G.I. Bill - The G.I. bill allows veterans to pursue an education by using taxpayer dollars.
32. Hoover Dam - Our country use to build things using taxpayer funds.
33. State/City Zoos - Many zoos are run by the state and/or city, using taxpayer funds.
34. IRS – Obvious government function paid for by taxes.
35. Free Lunch Program - The taxpayers of the state pay for this.
36. The Pentagon - Socialist top to bottom, taxpayers fund the pentagon 100%.
37. Medicaid - Our government uses taxpayer funds to provide health care for low-income people.
38. FDA - Infested with corporate corruption and wrong many, many times. Have banned things that would have helped people, but also stopped many harmful foods and products from being sold to the public.
39. Health Care for 9/11 Rescue Workers – Funds are being cut, but that is a very controversial act.
40. Swine Flu Vaccine; other medical - Thank the government. HIV treatment cost taxpayers millions.
41. Disability Insurance (SSDI) – Paid for via taxpayer dollars.
42. Town/State Run Beaches - Socialist structure makes it all possible.
43. Corporate Bailouts/Welfare - We ALL use, benefit from, and like socialism in part or whole and in many forms. The United States Gov uses social programs to help the working poor/poverty poor, farmers, the middle class, millionaires & billionaires (tax avoidance), corporations (tax breaks), and even Congress people. Ehen our government bails out too-big-to-fail banks or the car industry, it is socialism.
44. State Construction - Ever see those construction workers in your town fixing potholes, erecting buildings, repaving highways and roads, and fixing things all over town? They themselves and the work they do is taxpayer-funded state socialism.
45. Unemployment Insurance - All your working life, you pay payroll taxes. Some of these taxes go toward a program that temporarily provides for people who lost their jobs until they can find another one. You pay for others, others pay for you. Especially these days, you never know when you might lose your job. You may need temporary assistance until you get back on your feet. The government recognizes this. UI also keeps the economy moving in times of recession because people still have some money in their pockets to buy goods and promote demand.
46. City/Metro Buses - If you lack transportation, you can catch a city bus. Taxpayer funds and the fee you pay to take the bus make it possible for millions of people to go to work.
47. WIC - WIC is a federally funded program to assist women, infants, and children. WIC helps low-income families by providing funding for nutrition, education, and health care for children.
48. State Snow Removal - Even though sometimes it may take them longer than you like to get to your street, do you like having snow plow service to clear our roads and highways in the winter? This is a state socialist taxpayer-funded service.
49. PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) - PBS operates on donations and government funding. The provide non-partisan news and information to the public. They are the home of Sesame Street, Masterpiece Theater, and The Antiques Roadshow. Surveys show that they are literally the most trusted name in news. I wonder how Fox feels about that?
50. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) - The CDC helps promote and enact the health and safety of the public along with helping to prevent and control illness and disease. The CDC is a government program that operates on taxpayer funding.
51. Welfare - Is there anything the republicans hate more? Of course I'm talking about the welfare that goes to poor people. Corporate welfare is not only accepted in the republican Kabul, but it's mandatory that we give our tax dollars to billionaires and not question the logic of it. Though if you look at it realistically and not through the red scare glasses in which the right sees the world, welfare helps the economy. As I've said many times, when poor people have money in their pocket, they buy things made and sold by companies. This creates a demand. To keep up with demand, businesses must hire to keep up. If you yanked everyone who is on welfare off of it tomorrow, the economy would take a blow and lose jobs due to the down tick in consumer demand because we just took what little money they had away.
52. Public Street Lighting - Like being able to see at night when you walk or drive? Thank Socialism.
53. FEMA - If Disaster strikes, FEMA is there to help pick up the pieces. As a part of homeland security and an agency of the federal government, they use taxpayer dollars to help cities, states, and towns recover and rebuild. I don't know to many private companies that could assist in disaster relief and ask nothing in return. Thank God for socialism.
54. Public Defenders - Ever been in trouble and couldn't afford a lawyer? Well the taxpayers and the government make sure you still get representation.
55. S-CHIP (State Children's Health Insurance Program) - S-CHIP is a program that matches funds to states for health insurance for children in families that cannot afford insurance but make too much to qualify for Medicaid. Your tax dollars go towards covering uninsured children, is that so wrong?
56. Amtrak - Amtrak transports tens of millions of passengers a year in 46 states and three Canadian Providences. It is owned by the federal government and your tax dollars are used to fund it. All aboard!!
57. NPR - National Public Radio operates on private and federal funding along with public donations. NPR has been one of the most trusted news sources in America for over 40 years.
58. The Department of Homeland Security - Created after the terrorist attacks on 9/11, this heavily federally funded department of the U.S. government helps protect us from future terrorist attacks. This is the third largest department within the United States government.
59. OSHA - Do you have a safe and healthy workplace that provides training, outreach, education, and assistance? Thank OSHA! Brought to you by the taxpayers of America and socialism.
60. State and National Monuments - The Lincoln Memorial. Mount Rushmore. The D.C. National Mall. All brought to you and maintained with your tax dollars. Socialism is patriotic?
61. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) - The USDA enforces regulations on the farming, agriculture, and food industries to ensure food safety, natural resources, and hunger worldwide and in the United States. Your tax dollars are used to help keep what you are eating safe and even feed those who are not eating.
62. Government Scholarships - if you work hard in school and show true potential, our government will give you a scholarship towards college so you can advance your education. Your tax dollars have been used to send future doctors, lawyers, scientists, and even presidents of the United States to college.
63. Department of Health and Human Service - The overall goal of HHS is to promote, implement, and ensure the health of the American people. Your tax dollars are used to do this. Government looking out for the well being of it's people, imagine that!
64. Census Bureau - Every ten years, our government collects data about our people and economy, to better serve and represent us. From the forms that are sent to your home for you to fill out and send back in and to the census worker who shows up and kindly asks you to fill out the form if you don't send it in, all taxpayer funded socialism. The information collected is used to better understand the economic situation and population in your area. Not to enslave you in a FEMA camp.
65. Department of Energy - This taxpayer funded cabinet of the federal government oversees nuclear weapons, nuclear reactors, energy conservation, radioactive waste disposal, and energy production. To those of you who care about our environment and would rather not witness a nuclear holocaust might consider this money well spent.
66. Customs and Border Protection - the CBP is the largest law enforcement agency in America. This is big government that republicans actually do like because they don't like Mexicans immigrating to our country like our ancestors did. However, this taxpayer funded, socialist agency of the federal government regulates trade, imports, and immigration.
67. Department of Education - This cabinet of the federal government is actually the smallest. They administer and oversee federal assistance to education. They also collect data and enforce federal laws and regulations involving education. Even though the right thinks that this department is indoctrinating your children, they actually have no control over curriculum or standards.
68. Secret Service - Your tax dollars are used to provide highly-trained, skilled professional bodyguards to protect the President of the United States.
69. Peace Corps - The Peace Corps is a volunteer program run by the government that helps people outside of the US to understand our culture as well as helping us learn about other cultures. However they are more well known for their work with economic and social development in less-fortunate countries. This is a very Christian thing to do, yet it is also socialist, paid for by tax dollars for the most part.
70. Department of Justice - The DOJ is tax funded, so it has a socialist character.
71. National Weather Service – Taxes, Socialism makes weather news available to everyone.
72. The White House - Our taxpayer dollars pay for the house that the president lives in.
73. Government – More than borders, our country would not be a country without a government. Government, as an entity, operates and functions on tax dollars, a socialist structured funding system. From the military down to the dog catcher, socialism turns the wheels of society.
74. Law – Controversial laws for sure, such as Affirmative Action and the Affordable Care Act, nevertheless, socialist intent is clear. In the big picture, laws and rules make our democracy possible. Remove these laws, we have anarchy. Tax paid elected officials write, debate, then pass the laws, and the tax paid courts implement, while tax paid law enforcement enforces them. Socialist elements invade wherever taxes pay the bills.
75. Civilization – The US government is obligated to serve us and protect our rights and freedoms. How our government uses taxes is linked to socialism. When the private sector does the work better, the government steps aside, often. The government is not always effective or efficient, of course. There is fraud, waste, and abuse of tax dollars in huge amounts. But the private sector cannot govern our country. Corporations would enact laws to protect and serve Americans from their profit margins? The freedoms we have in America are enforced and protected through socialist means.
American civilization depends on us being a people united. While many Americans want it not to be true, Socialism is a glue, not the only glue, but a glue that binds us together, and makes possible many, many things we cannot accomplish as individuals working against each other.
There you have it. Ignore it and argue, but these are socialist!
Americans who accept the scare tactics of "conservatives" saying "Socialist Democrats" are "Communists" overlook public praise Trump's heaps on Putin, the Russian leader who is a card carrying life-long COMMUNIST.
Jul 8, 2018,12:00 pm
"Sorry Bernie Bros But Nordic Countries Are Not Socialist"
Jeffrey Dorfman - Contributor - Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. Policy
I use economic insight to analyze issues and critique policy.
"The Myth of Scandinavian Socialism"
The Nordic model is far from socialist.
by Corey Iacono
https://fee.org/articles/the-myth-of-scandinavian-socialism//amp
Health care is a RIGHT in all advanced, modern democratic nations. The US needs to join those smart nations and stop bull shitting Americans about the cost. Figure it out, Congress and Mr Prez, and get it done!
"Medicare for all is NOT "Socialism" any more than Social Security."
Published on Sunday, November 17, 2019
by Common Dreams
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/11/17/lets-be-very-clear-medicare-all-not-socialism
"Let's Be Very Clear: Medicare for All Is Not Socialism"
What we have now in the U.S. is a for-profit health insurance model that privatizes profit and socializes risk. And it's not working.
By Michele Swenson
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/11/17/lets-be-very-clear-medicare-all-not-socialism
First of all, Medicare for All is not socialism.
Socialism has been simply defined as "the nationalization of the production of goods and services." Examples of "socialized medicine" include the U.S. Veterans' Administration hospital system, where the federal government owns the hospitals and employs doctors and providers. The United Kingdom is another example of "socialized medicine."
Traditional Medicare is not "socialism," but rather, a model of "social insurance"—intended to protect individuals against economic hazards, such as unemployment, old age, serious illness, injury or disability. As social insurance, Medicare is publicly managed, with each individual paying according to his/her means, e.g., through a progressive tax structure, for universal health care coverage providing access to all necessary care. Also called Single Payer or Public National Health Insurance, proposed Medicare for All is public government-managed health insurance. It is an actuarially sound single large risk pool insurance model intended to cover the entire U.S. population. Government collects and distributes insurance funding for healthcare that is provided predominantly by independently managed hospitals and private practitioners.
Huge Profit-taking & Taxpayer Subsidies to Commercial Health Insurers
By contrast, the U.S. multipayer private health insurance model is milked as a profit-center by numerous segments of the health care economy, including Wall St. investors, media advertisers, private insurers, and the pharmaceutical industry [and doctors]."
More.
"False narratives conveyed by MFA opponents, including Donald Trump's October 3 executive health care order titled "Protecting Medicare from Socialist Destruction," serve as distraction from the privatization of profit and the socialization of risk at the heart of the avaricious private health insurance machine. The insurance industry's siphoning of health care dollars from government coffers is in fact a form of "corporate socialism."
Symbiotic Relationship: Congressional Recipients of Corporate Money Oppose Medicare for All
A search of OpenSecrets.org reveals large contributions to many Congress members from insurance, drug, hospital, and other segments of the health industrial complex that profit hugely from the private health insurance model. Consequently, it is no surprise that congressional priorities commonly place the corporate bottom line before people's health.
The many proposals for a so-called "public option"—"Medicare Buy-In," "Medicare X," "Medicare for All Who Want It"—are "Faux" Medicare plans that maintain at their center the inefficient system of multiple private, fragmented, administratively costly and actuarially unsound small-risk-pool insurance plans with narrow networks that deny full choice of doctors and hospitals."
More.
"Excess Profit-Taking by Private Medicare Advantage Insurers"
More.
"The Empty Threat of "Losing One's Private Insurance"
More. The propaganda on costs vs benefits is just that, propaganda.
"Media Reap Windfall Profits from Insurance/Pharma Ads"
Corporate media perpetuate the false narrative around Medicare for All as "unaffordable" and "socialism," even as media accumulate huge profits for airing drug and insurance ads, reportedly reaping $5.2 billion for drug advertisements in 2016 alone. The perverse incentive of large cash gains contribute to perpetuation of an incestuous financial arrangement: Corporate media counts among its owners private equity firm investors holding stakes in highly profitable medical and pharmaceutical companies—the same companies that pay huge cash sums to advertise through those very same media outlets.
Furthermore, corporate media frequently invite commentary from a common pool of spokespersons from groups like the Brookings Institute, funded in part by private healthcare groups like Health Corporation of America (HCA) and United Healthcare. CNBC's Trading Nation and Bloomberg have lamented that Medicare for All would inflict "pain" on investors resulting from reduced profits from highly profitable medical and pharmaceutical companies.
Do you want to live in a country where your health is a commodity?
"Health as a Profit Center: "Free Market" Commodification of Health Care
The profiteering vision of U.S. health care "free market" advocates maintains that as means to "hold down costs" individuals should "shop around" for health care, like shopping for a house or a piece of furniture. Disregarded is the impossibility of shopping at the point of accute illness or injury, e.g., bargaining for care at the door of an emergency room or a surgical theater. Occasions of serious injury or illness require a system that does not exploit the ill for profit in the way that the current U.S. commercial health insurance model invites profiteering by providers, hospitals, drug companies and various middlemen. Stated by one wise observer, "Comparison shopping is unnecessary where everyone needs the same thing—affordable access to high-quality health care.""
No one in America should go broke due to sickness!
"Private insurance leaves too many susceptible to financial hardship and medical bankruptcy. Business Columnist Michael Hltzik recently wrote, "Debating whether the number of Americans forced into bankruptcy by medical debt is 500,000 or some other figure is nitpicking, and woefully beside the point." The fact is that the threat of bankruptcy is an "American scandal that can strike anyone," a risk unknown in other countries.
Contrast of Private and Public Health Insurance
Greed blinds corporatists to the inherent failure of U.S. private managed care health insurance to achieve either cost control or universal health coverage. Under the predominantly private health insurance model, health care spending is growing faster than the broader economy, 4.4% higher in 2018 than 2017—a record high of $3.65 trillion—further draining workers' paychecks. Private commercial insurance market costs have continued their upward spiral, with per-person spending increasing 4.5% in 2018, even as enrollment remained flat.
When he studied Sen. Bernie Sanders' Medicare for All bill in 2018, even conservative Mercatus Center researcher Charles Blahous projected a $2 trillion reduction in overall healthcare expenditures for the decade 2022 to 2031, compared to projections of current healthcare spending. The study concluded that under Sanders' plan overall health costs would fo down, and wages would rise. There are tremendous efficiencies possible with Medicare for All. Overhead and administrative costs are much better controlled under the government-run Medicare model, with only 2 percent overhead. Only Medicare for All offers full choice of doctors and hospitals, the ability to negotiate bulk drug and medical equipment rates, as well as annual negotiation of provider rates, while offering a sustainable large risk pool insurance, actuarially sound, that can provide all necessary health care and protection against medical bankruptcy.
Citing private industry's propensity for milking the system to cover only the low-cost healthiest, Dr. McCanne observes, "Only government can ensure that...financial and other barriers to access are removed, that all essential services are covered, and that the system is affordable for each of us through a universal financing system funded through equitable taxes."
Start defending your RIGHT to health care and do not let anyone tell you it is "Socialism" so they can keep getting richer off your sickness!
Moving on, how does all this "socialism help Americans. It doesn't help Americans EQUALLY.
The rich benefit most by the help they get form the US Treasury in the tax code, and bank loans favor rich because the rich a less "risky," not to mention usually white. Then, the ultimate haven for the rich is Wall Street, where the rich have immense opportunities for more growth of their wealth, while the poor cannot participate.
Then there is the for-profit prison system with bail and parole officers that ensure poor people spend the maximum time locked up in a cell.
MLK said it well, indicating America's capitalism is rigged for the rich against the poor. The United States offers "Socialism" for the rich, and rugged capitalism for the poor!
"Dr. King: Socialism for the rich and rugged free enterprise capitalism for the poor"
By Joe Cortright 21.1.2019
"A half-century ago, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. addressed the stilted rhetoric used use to talk about public spending to promote the social good:
Whenever the government provides opportunities in privileges for white people and rich people they call it “subsidized” when they do it for Negro and poor people they call it “welfare.” The fact that is the everybody in this country lives on welfare. Suburbia was built with federally subsidized credit. And highways that take our white brothers out to the suburbs were built with federally subsidized money to the tune of 90 percent. Everybody is on welfare in this country. The problem is that we all to often have socialism for the rich and rugged free enterprise capitalism for the poor. That’s the problem.
“The Minister to the Valley,” February 23, 1968, From the archives of the SCLC.*"
