Back in the 1950s, a lot of conservatives, objecting to the bipartisan legislative fact that FDR's New Deal was going to remain in place, used to talk about "creeping socialism." President Eisenhower, who represented the moderate-to-liberal wing of the Eastern establishment GOP made no effort during his two terms to roll back the New Deal.
The Robert Taft faction objected strenuously, but the Eisenhower forces always carried the day. This included, by the way, the 91% income tax rate that Ike wouldn't cut. It was left to Democrat JFK to take the first supply-side steps and slash the top rate from 91% to 70%. Twenty years later, Reagan took it down to 28%.
Please see my book, "JFK and the Reagan Revolution," still available on important websites and bookstores, but I digress. The point of all this is, we've come a long way. The size and scope of government today is monumentally larger than FDR's New Deal and, under Joe Biden's big government socialism, it's gotten even bigger under the Green New Deal for starters, although it's extended beyond climate change and the war against fossil fuels.
The original sponsors of the Green New Deal, which is Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Ed Markey, have now come back with a brand-new legislative proposal, which I will call Green New Deal II. This is not creeping socialism. This is now galloping socialism, and I can't wait for Joe Biden to start promoting it.
Under the guise of climate policy, the Green New Deal II would completely socialize and nationalize our healthcare sector, which unfortunately was partly nationalized under Obama's Affordable Care Act, which the GOP never rolled back.
The Green New Deal II twins, AOC and Markey, are very worried about the physical, mental and behavioral health consequences of climate change. Got it? They are particularly concerned about the carbon footprint of the healthcare industry.
They've set up something called the "Office of Climate and Health Equity," including individuals who are disproportionally affected by climate change. Now, are you ready for this?
Individuals "disproportionally affected" are defined by a laundry list of social justice, diversity, equity and inclusion-type criteria. You only get help from Uncle Sam if you're under 5-years-old or over 65, and you have to qualify for something called "gender minority status," but, also, your immigration status, your race and ethnicity and "your experience of racial bias."
Now, if you're a heterosexual White male over 5 but under 66, you're out of luck. You’re exempt from any of these Green New Deal II benefits and the benefit is going to be money, lots of money. The AOC-Markey bill will undoubtedly nationalize the entire pharmaceutical industry, as well as the healthcare industry in general.
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By the way, a big hat-tip to Justin Haskins of the Heartland Institute for pointing all this stuff out on Fox Digital. Please go and read it. Incidentally, the first AOC-Markey Green New Deal bill was priced out at just under $100 trillion. I haven't seen a cost benefit of this one, but of course, it is central-planning socialism on a grand scale.
Now, you will probably say: this could never happen in America and I would probably say: never say never. Just look at the Obama years and the Biden years. Save America. Kill this bill.
This article is adapted from Larry Kudlow’s opening commentary on the June 5, 2023, edition of "Kudlow."
