Embracing socialistic ideas and redistributionist policies is nothing new for host of The Daily Show, Jon Stewart.
But last night, Stewart seemed to emphatically endorse the idea of socialism. In fact, Stewart dubbed the segment “Communist Central.”
In response to a video posted by from the Media Research Center, Stewart tried to turn the table on Republicans. Stewart claimed Republicans were being hypocrites when they call President Obama’s policies “socialist” and claimed Republicans wanted socialized medicine to begin with. Stewart again used his trademark humor and typical, tiresome bashing of Republicans, which is influencing the political decisions of younger viewer base.
But Stewart’s argument falls apart because he misrepresented what Republicans want when it comes to health care.
Republicans are almost universally united in their effort to roll back the size and scope of the federal government, which would mean trimming down the rolls of both Medicare and Medicaid, if not outright privatizing both. House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan’s (R-Wisc.) plan is the first meaningful entitlement reform for Medicare and Medicaid.
“Obamacare,” in contrast, will actually increase the number of people substantially.
Stewart also singled out Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney as a hypocrite when it comes to government picking winners and losers.
“Here is how you know a socialist policy has worked: when a staunch capitalist takes credit for it with a hostel takeover,” said Stewart.
Stewart blasted Romney for supporting ethanol subsidies on the one hand, but not supporting the solar energy industry—most notably, the failed solar energy firm, Solyndra. Stewart failed to point out that both Republicans and Democrats support ethanol subsidies.
Stewart is the second prominent member of the American Left who has advocated for the purported benefits socialism in the last month. As part of an MTV show liberal pundit Bill Maher lectured a UCLA political science class on the “merits” of socialism.
Stewart may claim to be just a comedian – although he acts more like a partisan mouthpiece – one solid truth cannot be denied: Stewart has incredible pull with young people, as 21 percent of Americans under 30 have told pollsters that they their primary source for news comes from outlets like The Daily Show.
With the influence that it wields over young viewers, The Daily Show’s biased coverage toward Republicans is part of the reason why Mitt Romney stands at such a stark disadvantage with young voters the day after he clinched the GOP nod.
