GOP Leaders Starting to Oppose Government Corporatism

Well, at least the version Obama promotes anyway

President Obama rolled out the same old corporatist industrial policy in his State of the Union address, while again pretending to wage war on the "special interests." In response, Republican Sens. Marco Rubio and Rand Paul both made real, but inadequate, gestures toward the appropriate antidote: free-market populism and an end to cronyism.

Obama spoke of "getting rid of tax loopholes and deductions for the well-off and well-connected," and chastised those who would "protect special interest tax breaks."

Obama is correct that these are problems, but if he is serious about fixing them, he has to change his ways. From day one, Obama has peddled "special-interest tax breaks" and "loopholes for the well-off and well-connected." His 2009 stimulus handed out tens of billions of dollars in green-energy tax breaks, with the lion's share going to large corporations.