America’s welfare state was built over generations, but its greatest expansions came under Democratic presidents and Congresses. Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal dramatically expanded government control of personal lives. Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society added more control with Medicare, Medicaid, and the War on Poverty. Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act expanded federal financing and control of healthcare.
Republicans have sometimes expanded these programs and frequently failed to reverse them. Yet the century-long direction is difficult to miss. Democratic policy repeatedly took control from individuals and placed it in the hands of government. Each big step made today’s move toward socialism a small step.
Social Security deserves distinction because workers and employers paid dedicated payroll taxes into a retirement insurance system. But when Social Security collected more than required for current benefits, its surpluses were “invested” in Treasury securities by the Democrats in control. Then that borrowed cash was spent for other purposes, leaving Social Security an interest-bearing government IOU promising repayment that never happens.
Beginning in 1969, following Johnson administration action, Social Security transactions were included in the unified federal budget, allowing its surpluses to reduce the reported overall deficit. The retirement obligation remained legally owed to Social Security, but accumulated cash helped finance broader government operations [translated: more social, regulatory, economic control].
Healthcare shows how far this progression has traveled. Medicare primarily serves people who paid payroll taxes throughout their working lives, while Medicaid and Affordable Care Act subsidies represent broader government financing of healthcare.
CBO projects federal health insurance subsidies totaling $33.6 trillion from 2026 through 2036, including Medicare, Medicaid, and ACA subsidies. The ACA retained private insurers, hospitals, and healthcare corporations while expanding government subsidies and regulation, creating a hybrid socialist system of private enterprises increasingly dependent upon government-directed money.
Democrats continue advocating expanded government involvement in healthcare and economic security. What began as a safety net has grown into a government-supported welfare state.
That history provides context for today’s Democratic Socialists. The Democratic Party remains distinct from DSA, yet Democratic-socialist candidates seek and win office through Democratic primaries. Is this a departure from the Democratic Party’s historical direction, or an acceleration of it?
The welfare state grew program by program and subsidy by subsidy as responsibilities steadily migrated toward Washington.
First Samuel 8:11 warned Israel about concentrating authority in earthly government: “This will be the behavior of the king who will reign over you.”
Government dependency has a price. History teaches that authority surrendered by the people is exceedingly difficult to reclaim. History also points to the Democratic Party as the champion of socialism in America over the last 100 years. It is a dangerous progression.
Christian News | The Daily Jot
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Sources:
Social Security Administration, “The Social Security Trust Funds and the Federal Budget”
https://www.ssa.gov/history/BudgetTreatment.html
Social Security Administration, “Internet Myths and Social Security”
https://www.ssa.gov/history/InternetMyths2.html
Congressional Budget Office, “Federal Subsidies for Health Insurance, 2026 to 2036”
https://www.cbo.gov/publication/62539
Congressional Budget Office, “Affordable Care Act”
https://www.cbo.gov/topics/health-care/affordable-care-act
Democratic Party, Party Platform
https://democrats.org/where-we-stand/party-platform/
Democratic Socialists of America, “What is Democratic Socialism?”
https://www.dsausa.org/about-us/what-is-democratic-socialism/
Democratic Socialists of America, Political Program
https://program.dsausa.org/