Where Obama wants to take us via Daniel Hannan

Daniel Hannan, an elected British member of the European Parliament for 11 years, tells us here exactly where Obama wants to take this country and better yet describes the end result, should he be successful.  There is nothing "new" here, nevertheless the arguments and explanations are well organized and succinctly presented by Hannan making this a good read.  I believe this analysis is accurate.  Obama is not necessarily an old line socialist who believes in the nationalization of  industry, etc.  He is more of an administrative state socialist who believes in a tightly regulated industrial economy that provides all necessities of life for all citizens in order to ensure something called "social justice".  Woodrow Wilson also believed in the powerful (and fair) administrative state in which an elite group of intellectuals and highly trained bureaucrats would run the machinery of state for the common good.  Let's call this form of governing "elitist management".  Clearly the losers in this environment are the entrepreneurs and producers who operate most effectively in a less regulated free market system.  Also, who's to say some "elite" knows better than the average individual what's best for him?

Unions -- an argument against

It seems fairly obvious to anyone who has read any of American and for that matter European history, that unions played a vital role in righting some of the early excesses at the beginning of the industrial revolution.  Early on there were many abuses of the common worker, just as appears to be case in China today.  Unions forced reforms and helped make the workplace safer and ultimately more productive.  Over time the reforms were codified into laws and the need for unions evaporated.  But unions did not evaporate but rather morphed into a special interest like any other special interest and went on about raising the cost of products and services with more and more demands on capital.  As John Hawkins points out int his article, eventually unions destroy whatever industry they successfully come to dominate, witness the demise of the textile, auto, and steel industries in the US alone.  They are now in the process of destroying the public school system and government services across the board.  Hawkins is right.  Unions in general, and particularly unions in the public service industries, have got to go and the sooner the better.  Otherwise in short order there will no longer be any taxpayers willing and able to pay for their outsized salaries and benefits.