Stefanik writes a tweet that sparks much amusement

Jul. 30—Elise Stefanik on Thursday tweeted about the anniversary of Medicare and Medicaid, as follows:

"Today's Anniversary of Medicare & Medicaid reminds us to reflect on the critical role these programs have played to protect the healthcare of millions of families. To safeguard our future, we must reject Socialist healthcare schemes."

Probably, a lot of readers know what I'm going to say next. Medicare and Medicaid, if not explicitly "socialism," are socialist-style programs. They have been frequently attacked over the years — most notoriously by Ronald Reagan — as socialist programs.

The most common and probably most popular refrain among those who want universal health care is "Medicare for all." The most common Republican attack on universal health care is that it is socialism.

So you see how Stefanik's tweet takes us farther down the path of absurdity. She praises government-run health care programs while warning against socialist health care. But socialist health care is health care that is run by the government.

A lot of people on Twitter reacted with amusement to this tweet. Perhaps the most sensible reaction was from "Paul Mueller" who wrote: "Glad to hear that you support Medicare for all!"

In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed a measure creating Medicare, which began operating the following year, and more events that happened on this day in history. poststar.com/news/archives/...

from Social Sec. website:

By definition, "socialism" refers to a form of economic production whereby workers co-own and co-produce goods and services and share in the profits.1 This is as opposed to "capitalism," wherein a business owner owns all of the tools and other means of production and keeps all of the profits while paying workers a wage.2

More recently, socialism has been, correctly or incorrectly, conflated with statist forms of government. Under this definition of socialism, the government—rather than individuals or businesses—owns and controls major industries, and the economy is planned centrally.

Consequently, the government is the main provider of goods and services for its citizens. Under capitalism, capital goods are owned by private individuals or businesses, and the market controls the economy. In most modern countries, however, this system is subject to federal and state legislation and regulations, and so these countries do not practice pure, laissez-faire capitalism. At the far end of the spectrum is communism, a more extreme form of socialism that eliminates the concept of private property.3 Some countries—Norway and Sweden, for instance—have mixed systems: providers of goods and services enjoy private ownership of resources, while citizens take advantage of social-needs — oriented public services. This is known as "social democracy" or "democratic socialism."456

Though the U.S. is clearly a capitalist country, one of the hallmarks of its government system is Social Security, a government-run benefits program instituted in 1935, in the depths of the Great Depression.7 Let's examine the key components of Social Security retirement benefits—specifically, the extent to which they might be considered a form of socialism.

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n 2018, the Public Religion Research Institute offered respondents two definitions of socialism. One described it as "a system of government that provides citizens with health insurance, retirement support, and access to free higher education." The other characterized it as "a system where the government controls key parts of the economy, such as utilities, transportation and communications industries." The first definition effectively refers to the Scandinavian model—and the ideas popularized by Sanders. Most proponents of social democracy see it as a way of smoothing capitalism's rough edges, making it more humane, egalitarian, and protective, rather than replacing the market outright. The second definition corresponds to the classic understanding of socialism that dominated public consciousness after World War II, when the challenge from the Soviet Union was at its peak.

As one might expect, young adults, for whom Cold War memories are dim to non-existent, were strongly inclined to define socialism as social democracy rather than public ownership of key industries. Fifty-eight percent of them picked the social-democratic option, and just 38 percent the dominant post-war understanding. By contrast, Americans 65 and older, whose views of socialism reflected the post-war conflict with communism, were somewhat more inclined to focus on government control of the economy, although even the oldest Americans now tilt toward the social-democratic definition, too.

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There has always been a gap between rhetoric and reality in discussions of (and, especially, attacks on) socialism. Not one economically advanced society can be described as purely capitalist; every one of them is a mixed economy that includes some elements of socialism. Medicare and Social Security are, in a sense, socialist, and so are our public schools and universities, our community colleges, our water supplies and sewers, and our mass transit systems. Municipally owned and built sports stadiums are forms of socialism. North Dakota still has a publicly-owned bank, created during the years when agrarian populism and socialism overlapped. The Tennessee Valley Authority is a form of socialism, as conservatives never tire of pointing out.

Ideas rooted in socialism have often been deployed to save capitalism from its excesses—usually in the face of opposition from capitalists themselves. The political scientist Mason Williams points to a comment from New Deal lawyer Jerome Frank as capturing this history nicely. "We socialists are trying to save capitalism," Frank said, "and the damned capitalists won't let us."

Will Doolittle is projects editor at The Post-Star. He may be reached at will@poststar.com and followed on his blog, I think not, and on Twitter at

@trafficstatic.

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