NATIONAL socialism

I was reading an article on the NY Times website about the Republicans' changing plans for their convention because of Hurricane Gustav when this line jumped out at me:

They . . . said they would mobilize corporations who have contributed millions of dollars to put on the convention . . . to raise money for relief efforts.

This, I submit, is a kind of power and influence over private industry that crosses the line from 'mere' corporate welfare. There is no way I can take claims of Republican support for free markets seriously any longer.

I suspect that Gustav has given the Republicans the perfect opportunity to pull out all the stops in an attempt to out-do the Democrats at putting on a three-ring circus of altruism over the next few days.

Thus demonstrating why it is crucial to recognize the moral foundation of Capitalism and to frame the debate about Capitalism in moral terms.

(By the way, the title of this post comes from a comment by Burgess Laughlin to Ed Cline's latest post at Rule of Reason:

I think of the difference between McCain and Obama as the difference between "NATIONAL socialism" and "national SOCIALISM.")