Is Obama actually a moderate Republican?

President Obama says that raising taxes on the wealthy is downright capitalist.

(Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

last updated 8 January 2015

If the conservative media is to be believed, the United States has been on a steady march toward socialism ever since President Obama took office in January 2009. From ObamaCare to Wall Street regulatory reform, Obama has extended the hand of the state into every corner of the economy, stultifying free enterprise and crushing the American spirit.

Of course, Obama sees himself quite differently. And in a new interview with Univision's affiliate in Miami, Obama claims that most Americans think he's smack-dab in the middle of the ideological spectrum. "The truth of the matter is that my policies are so mainstream that if I had set the same policies that I had back in the 1980s, I would be considered a moderate Republican," he said.

Obama's remarks come in the midst of negotiations with the GOP to avert the fiscal cliff. Obama says his position — that the wealthy pay more in taxes — is well within the bounds of capitalist orthodoxy. "What I believe in is a tax system that is fair," he said. "I don't think government can solve every problem. I think that we should make sure that we're helping young people go to school. We should make sure that our government is building good roads and bridges and hospitals and airports so that we have a good infrastructure."