Unicorns and Loch Ness Monsters Aren’t Real, but Hillary Clinton and Jerry Brown Prove that there Are (Occasionally) Honest Leftists

On rare occasions, our government-loving friends let their guard down and say things that reveal the true nature of leftism as a punitive philosophy that subjugates the individual to the state.

• An English leftist named Richard Murphy, for instance, actually argued that private income is the “rightful property” of government.
• An American statist named Matt Yglesias openly expressed a desire for ultra-high tax rates solely for reasons of spite rather than to finance bigger government.

We now have another leftist who deserves recognition for openly embracing the notion that people should be pawns of government. The Governor of California, Jerry “Moonbeam” Brown, has bragged that coercion is the core of modern leftism.

Here are some excerpts from a recent Los Angeles Times story.

Gov. Jerry Brown has been…been making an explicit case for the power of government. …Brown said politicians need to be willing to use the blunt force of government intervention… “You need the coercive power of government to say, do this,” the governor said during a panel discussion… “Never underestimate the coercive power of a central state…,” he said.

Kudos to Gov. Brown. He didn’t use fatuous rhetoric about “government is just a word for things we do together.”

He openly acknowledges that statism is force, backed up by men with guns, based on what politicians want other people to do.

Now let’s look at another politician who deserves credit for honesty.

Though, rather ironically, we’re talking in this case about a politician who generally is known for mendacity and prevarication, so this belongs in the stopped-clock-is-right-twice-a-day category.

That’s because the Daily Caller reports that Hillary Clinton accidentally stumbled into a bit of honesty when discussing the economic impact of Obamacare.

Democratic Party front-runner Hillary Clinton inadvertently slammed President Barack Obama’s signature piece of domestic legislation, the Affordable Care Act, as a full-time job killer. …a women stood up and asked, “I just want to know why there’s like discrimination against the part-time workers… Clinton said. “That…Affordable Care Act.” …Clinton continued, “…we have built in some unfortunate incentives that discourage full-time employment.”

But these excerpts from the story don’t fully capture what Hillary said.

Watch this short video and it will be very clear that she’s admitting that Obamacare has undermined full-time work.

Wow, this sounds like she’s actually aware that Obama’s failed policy is pushing people into part-time work.

And maybe she’s even familiar with the research, from both private scholars and the Congressional Budget Office, on Obamacare having a negative impact on employment.

In any event, I think you’ll agree with me that Hillary deserves recognition for recognizing that there are real-world consequences to statist policy.

Sort of like these other leftists who have admitted that big-government policies backfire.

• Nicholas Kristof wrote on the problem of government-caused dependency.
• Jeffrey Goldberg admits gun ownership reduces crime.
• Justin Cronin explains how he became a left-wing supporter of gun rights.
• Jamelle Bouie pours cold water on Obama’s gun control agenda.

Though we shouldn’t be overly impressed that Hillary recognize a problem since it’s quite possible – indeed, probably nearly certain – that her solution will be to expand the size and scope of government and make the situation even worse.

In other words, she’ll probably combine the sentiments in this poster with the sad reality of Mitchell’s Law.