President Obama is not a Socialist

Thank you for accepting and good luck!President Obama has made no attempt to establish " A political and economic organization that advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned and regulated by the community as a whole. " and is therefore not a socialist. From the mouth of the President President Obama while commenting on the economy of the U.S. said this, "Yes, business, and not government, will always be the primary generator of good jobs with incomes that lift people into the middle class and keep them there. But as a nation, we’ve always come together, through our government, to help create the conditions where both workers and businesses can succeed."(1) This quote is very telling of the President’s personal views, especially when compared to socialism. He references business as being the primary generator of jobs, not the government. Remember, the structure of socialism is to have the means of production, or in other words, the business, owned by the government. Why would President Obama talk about or promote a system where business' are separate from the government if as a socialist he would oppose this separation. It is simple, the ideals he is sharing are not socialistic. President Obama once said "People call me a socialist sometimes. But no, you've got to meet real socialists. (Laughter.) You'll have a sense of what a socialist is. (Laughter.) I'm talking about lowering the corporate tax rate. My health care reform is based on the private marketplace. The stock market is looking pretty good last time I checked."(2) Do Socialists think Obama is a socialist? Billy Wharton the Co-Chairperson of the Socialist Party USA had this to say. "The funny thing is, of course, that socialists know that Barack Obama is not one of us. Not only is he not a socialist, he may in fact not even be a liberal. Socialists understand him more as a hedge-fund Democrat -- one of a generation of neoliberal politicians firmly committed to free-market policies."(3) The misconception of the Affordable Care Act. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is often viewed by some as a socialistic program, but when observed it becomes clear that it is not a socialist program. The ACA includes provisions that "are intended to expand access to insurance, increase consumer protections, emphasize prevention and wellness, improve quality and system performance, expand the health workforce, and curb rising healthcare costs"(4) The ACA does not however promote government ownership of the healthcare industry. In fact the ACA largely supports and relies on private ownership of the healthcare industry. "The ACA program relies on private health insurance companies to manage health services" Under the ACA, health insurance in America is still being delivered by private practitioners and paid for by private insurers. In fact, the vast majority of Americans who receive their health insurance from employer-paid plans will see no discernible change in their coverage or delivery, and need not access the exchanges."(5) What do socialist think of the ACA? Greg Parsons, the national secretary of the Socialist Party USA had this to say: "Obamacare cannot be considered socialist in any way, The ACA program relies on private health insurance companies to manage health services," Pason said. "A socialized system would not include 'health insurance,' but would be an actual national health-care system which would be publicly funded through progressive taxation and controlled by democratically elected assemblies of health-care workers and patients."(6) Clearly the ACA is not only not a socialist program but relies heavily on private ownership of the healthcare industry. Concluding my opening argument. President Obama's signature work (ACA) nicknamed "Obamacare" demonstrates that the President has not made any attempt to take a major private industry and put it under government ownership. In his own words the President has demonstrated a belief in private business, not public ownership as well as does not self-identify as a socialist. Socialists also do not claim President Obama as part of their group. Terrance Ball, political science professor at Arizona State University who has a Ph.D. in political science, has this to say on the subject.(7) "I grow weary of Obama and the Democrats being called socialist," said Ball, who has written about ideologies. "If you talk to any real socialist, they disown them very, very quickly."(8) President Obama is not a socialist. The ninth link provided is to an article I wrote for infobarrel. I used a lot of the content that I put up on infobarrel for this debate and wanted it to be clear that this was not plagiarized, it is my own work that I am using. (9) Sources: (1) www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/12/06/remarks-president-economy-osawatomie-kansas (2) http://socialistworker.org... (3) http://www.washingtonpost.com... (4) http://www.ncsl.org... (5) http://www.newsday.com... (6) http://www.huffingtonpost.com... (7) https://webapp4.asu.edu... (8) http://www.huffingtonpost.com... (9) http://www.infobarrel.com...