Tipsheet

They Aren't Even Trying to Hide It Anymore

The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) aren’t even trying to hide it anymore. They want to expand the size and scope of government to the point that it would look more like the Soviet Union than the United States of America.

Megan Romer, DSA’s co-chair, made an appearance on Fox News with host Shannon Bream to discuss the organization’s policy ideas, which were quite eye opening. She said "yes" when asked whether DSA wanted to abolish the Senate, replace the presidency and Supreme Court, abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), grant amnesty to illegal aliens, defund the Pentagon, abolish prisons, and empower the government to take over large corporations.

Romer’s comments ignited a firestorm on social media, with folks from the left and right criticizing the DSA’s radical stances. However, at least some Democrats are trying to gloss over them.

Democratic Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL-8) avoided answering questions about the positions DSA-backed candidates are pushing, saying the Democratic Party is a “big tent party.” When asked whether the party should embrace some of these views, he said, “No, and I think the vast majority of Democrats do not. But of course, we're a big tent party where people have different viewpoints.”

I think that the mainstream viewpoints are ones of, you know, making sure that everyone has a chance to get on the up escalator of the economy. And secondly, that everyone has a chance regardless of who you are, where you come from, or the number of letters in your name. There are 29 in mine. And so I think those are kind of the, the big tent kind of priorities of the Democratic Party.

The DSA’s platform calls for major changes to the government structure. During her conversation with Bream, Romer stressed that the Senate is designed to limit everyday people’s influence. “The Senate is an anachronistic institution, and it comes from the British House of Lords. It is meant to protect power. You know, the Senate was part of the system that was made to make sure that the people didn’t have too much of a say. So we want to expand the Congress significantly, but make it a unicameral legislature,” she said.

On immigration and military spending, the DSA supports abolishing ICE, ending national borders with long-term amnesty for people in the country illegally, and defunding the Pentagon. Romer described these as part of a longer vision rather than instant changes. “This is part of this longer-term plan,” she said. “If we can get to a place where the U.S. is not destabilizing countries in order to mine them for resources, there will be significantly less migration… we’re not saying open the borders tomorrow, we’re saying rebuild an economy and a society that works for everyone. And the open borders is part of a longer-term, international plan.” 

The platform also backs abolishing prisons in large part over time and putting most large corporations under public or government ownership. Romer highlighted the role poverty plays in sending people to prison. “So the long-term plan, when we think about most people who are in prison, they are mostly in prison for crimes of poverty,” she said.

If the DSA has its way, the government will own major corporations while failing to protect Americans’ rights from criminals who violate them. People will read George Orwell’s 1984 (if it’s still allowed) and feel like they are reading a history book instead of a work of fiction.

It will be a world that is the exact opposite of what they say they want. The powerful will become more powerful and the weak will become even weaker, a scenario that will materialize as the socialists insist that it is all in the name of equality. But, as we learned from Orwell, some animals will always be more equal than others.