The welfare-regulatory state just got a whole lot bigger. There's not a whole lot left to socialize or nationalize. By the time Obama and Congress are through with what likely will be the peak of their power this year, there may be NOTHING left to socialize or nationalize (leaving aside freedom of speech—and trust me, if it’s up to them, that’s coming!) So what's next for Republicans? It's not Republicans who matter. It's whoever steps up to actually become the Opposition Party for freedom, individual rights and individual liberty. For decades, even for almost a century now, America has needed -- and many Americans have yearned for -- a party that stands for the opposite principles and the opposite policies of the welfare-regulatory state. Other than Ronald Reagan, nobody in American politics (after Franklin D. Roosevelt) ever articulated or verbalized any of these principles, and almost none of these policies were ever even proposed. Under Republicans such as George W. Bush, policies of the welfare-regulatory state (such as prescription drugs, federalized education and business regulation) actually expanded, just as they would have under a Democrat. All of this led, as I always feared, to the election -- by default -- of a socialist President to end all socialist Presidents, and a socialist Congress like America (and therefore the world) has never seen. After all: Why have socialism-lite under a hapless Republican when you can have the real thing?

So we got completed socialism. What’s next? One thing is clear, and one thing is potentially good, even in the midst of the disaster. There are no more gray areas. It's practically impossible to be in favor of the welfare state any longer, unless you are an outright and explicit socialist. You can't credibly argue for the good old days of watered-down socialism as represented by the legislation of people like Franklin D. Roosevelt and Lyndon B. Johnson. Now, we have the real thing -- in health care and many other areas, and who knows what next in the coming six months alone, now that Congress and the President have discovered they can get away with bypassing the Constitution and normal legislative procedure to pass whatever they want. (Don't think "deem and pass" is dead, either).

It's a little pathetic to look at the Republicans who currently inhabit Congress, remembering they were part of the good old days of the moderate pre-socialist welfare-regulatory state. They clearly don't want to advocate for the real thing. But if not, what alternative do they have? Their only credible alternative is to start dismantling Big Government as we know it. This means fighting for the gradual yet decisive dismantling of Big Government as a permanent and long-term strategy, and being prepared to demand that a Republican presidential candidate sign on for this approach when running for office to (hopefully) succeed Obama. It's more than about repealing ObamaCare. It's fine to make that a top priority. But you can't credibly fight for the repeal of ObamaCare without repealing, in the process, the very justification of the government-controlled economy, including the "popular" entitlement and redistributive programs that will, in short order, bankrupt the country fiscally and morally.

The decline of America under semi-socialism has been inconsistent and halting, although the overall trend has been pretty clear. There's no lack of clarity any longer. Socialism is here. As Court Jester Joe Biden remarked, “This is a big f---g deal!” Is socialism here to stay? That is the question. No major civilization in history that ultimately declined and collapsed ever reversed course. Still, America is a nation without precedent. The ancient Greeks, the Romans and other great civilizations ultimately collapsed economically and were raided by enemies. It's up to America to buck the trend.