“It is hard to watch other states and cities across our nation leap toward socialism… Let’s keep our state moving forward by always rejecting the falsehoods sold by the radical left.” — Secretary of State Kris Warner, Facebook post, November 5, 2025.
Although I should be accustomed to it, it is always disturbing when MAGA politicians go off halfcocked about socialism. Here are some of the “radical left” socialist programs that Warner must be complaining about:
- Medicare
- Medicaid
- The Affordable Care Act
- Social Security
- SNAP (food stamps)
- Meals on Wheels and Office of Aging services
Oh, these are not the programs he was referring to? Many of my friends would be insulted if I told them they and their families are dependent on liberal “socialist” programs. People have such short memories.
Every single one of these programs was once characterized by right-wing politicians as a “socialist program.”
For example, let’s remember what Ronald Reagan said about Medicare before it was enacted:
- “From [Medicare] it’s a short step to all the rest of socialism.”
- ”Medicare will usher in federal programs that will invade every area of freedom as we have known it in this country.”
- If Medicare is passed, “we are going to spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it once was like in America when men were free.”
I’m a capitalist who spent decades as a high-level executive in corporate America, working in states like West Virginia. Yes, government on all levels is generally not efficient. However, it’s very effective in many areas. And, in some cases, it has proven to be more efficient than the private sector.
For example, Medicare overhead/marketing is 2 percent versus 12 percent for private insurance companies. In this instance, socialized health insurance is clearly more cost-effective than private insurance. We are simply being held back from Medicare for All by the health-care industrial complex (insurance companies, providers, drug companies) that likes things the way they are, with tens of millions of dollars in compensation to CEOs. They say universal coverage is unaffordable, but studies show differently. Canada and other democracies with universal health care all have per capita health expenditures a fraction of ours … with better results.
Traditional Medicare was clearly an expansion of government when enacted 50+ years ago, but it’s one that the public supports. Before Medicare, only about half of all seniors were covered by private insurance. Polls have shown that virtually no voters, even the MAGA folks, want to do away with it now.
Will Medicare for All cause our insurance system to fall apart, as Trump said in his 2018 USA Today editorial? Numerous polls show support for Medicare for All, including one recently illustrating 59 percent in favor. That poll showed support was strong in every category of Americans — except the MAGA faithful. A Gallup poll used the words “universal coverage” and had the same result — 62 percent supportive. Even almost two-thirds of independents were in favor. Again, the MAGA people were the only ones opposed.
America is still free and capitalistic despite what Reagan said about Medicare prior to enactment. Likewise, the sort of rhetoric spouted by Warner is simply a way of scaring American voters away from expansion of domestic programs designed to help the less fortunate. Programs that wealthier people like Warner’s financial backers will pay for and therefore dislike.
I’ve used Medicare as an example, but I could use many others. Social conservatives like Warner have a bad habit of talking about the ills of “socialism.” However, I don’t hear them asking that we convert our government employees in our military into private mercenaries. And, when we have used military “contractors,” the expense to the U.S. has been much greater.
In his Facebook post, Warner also stated, “Let’s always hold fast to our Christian conservative values that made our state the best to raise a family in the country.”
Yet, the numbers tell a different story about the state and its needs for public program expansion. For example, West Virginia has the fourth-highest poverty rate in the nation at 14 percent… and the second-highest mortality rate. It also has the third-highest incarceration rate and third-lowest income.
Instead of preaching about Christian values, West Virginians would be better off if Warner practiced Christianity by supporting the “socialist” programs he criticizes. As the Bible (Proverbs 14:31) states: “Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.”
- Jack Bernard was a corporate executive and a consultant for West Virginia hospitals. He is now a columnist and activist.
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