Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) has often warned that America is being transformed under President Obama from a free-market system into a totalitarian socialist one — and now she’s employing an interesting piece of tautology, depicting the pre-Obama era as some kind of perfect free market.
Bachmann told the Christian Examiner site: “I think it is jaw dropping when you think that under his watch, the federal government has taken ownership or control of the private economy. People know that something has really changed. The federal government now owns or controls 30 percent of the private economy. Just over a year ago, you couldn’t say that. Just over a year ago, 100 percent of the private economy was private. Today, 30 percent is owned or controlled by government.”
That’s right, the private economy of a year ago was 100% private. By using last year’s economy as the benchmark, before the economic collapse and the bailouts — which were spearheaded by President George W. Bush and supported by Republican presidential candidate John McCain, along with Obama’s participation in the Senate — then 100% of that year’s private economy was private.
Of course, the private and public portions of an economy fluctuate over time, depending on the needs and policy decisions of the era. But at the end of the day, this year’s private economy is 100% private, too. The private economy of 1928 was also 100% private. And even in 1945, in the midst of heavy defense spending and regulations from World War II and the New Deal, the private economy was 100% private!
