Mike Johnson Sells Socialism to the American People

Sounds like someone is a little nervous about a potential shift in the electorate

By: Austin Abbring

June 28, 2026

Mike Johnson is so painfully unfunny and such a cuck to President Trump and the GOP. A couple of days ago, he delivered a speech where he attempted to mock socialism and DSA (Democratic Socialists of America) platforms. This did not turn out to be the flex he thought it was, as these principles are necessary if we are going to make any real change or progress in this country. We have a broken system, economically and governmentally. Capitalism is failing the vast majority of Americans so much so that we are at the altar of oligarchy and kleptocracy.

This speech was delivered in the wake of a huge night in New York, where three progressives, endorsed by Mayor Mamdani, notched major wins in their districts, taking down more status quo moderate Democrats. Both the Republican Party and a sizeable portion of the Democratic Party fear a seismic shift to the left amongst the electorate, as many progressive and socialist policy goals are gaining serious traction with young people. A considerable amount of Generation Z and Millennials have grown up watching their parents and families struggle and are now experiencing those very struggles themselves. Young people will not comply with the status quo that has punished the middle class since the Reagan era. We desperately need rapid change in this country, economically and socially.

Let’s review, point by point, along with polling, Speaker Mike Johnson’s attempt to ridicule the DSA:

1) “Abolish the Electoral College or replace the two-party system with a multi-party system democracy”

According to polling, around 55-60% of Americans support the popular vote deciding the presidency rather than the Electoral College. Already twice this century, in the 2000 election and 2016 election, the winner of the popular vote did not win the presidency. The Electoral College system often discourages voter turnout in heavily partisan states where people may not feel that their vote would have any impact, even if they are likely to vote in line with their state’s usual lean.

This system also gives a disproportionate advantage to smaller states with smaller populations and practically eliminates any realistic third-party option. The House of Representatives has also been capped at 435 since 1929. During that time, the country’s population has obviously grown, making it much harder for a House member to accurately and effectively represent their constituents. Expanding the House would also combat partisan gerrymandering. While abolishing the Electoral College would be a Herculean task, as it would require a constitutional amendment to end it, there are reforms that can be made to essentially create a system where the popular vote supersedes the Electoral College.

2) “Expand the House of Representatives and implement proportional representation and rank-choice voting in all elections”

There are not many general-public polls on these two issues, but they align in stepping towards abolishing the Electoral College. Rank-choice voting (RCV) would eliminate the role of “spoilers” in general elections and would allow voters to feel more empowered with their ballots. No longer would people be burdened with the feeling of “voting for the lesser of two evils”, which I can most certainly relate to. In my young adult life, Donald Trump has been on every ticket, and I have had to vote for Hilary Clinton, Joe Biden, and Kamala Harris, all of whom are much further to my right politically. There has never been a presidential Democratic candidate that I have been overly excited about voting for; I have always essentially voted to try and prevent a GOP candidate from being elected and doing damage in my state or on a national level. RCV would go a long way toward improving our election system.

3) “Establish public ownership of the largest corporations and essential industries to ensure democratic control and accountability to the people”

The way Mike Johnson frames this position is exactly what we have been wired to fear by the wealthy individuals who run our capitalist system and attempt to propagandize us with. This is why the 1% want us fighting on “culture war” issues as a distraction from us being robbed blind by them and entrenching us further into our labor, which only benefits them. You must sift through the weeds and determine exactly which sectors should be publicly owned, and you will find it clearly makes sense: healthcare, transportation, energy including electricity, oil, and gas, and telecommunications.

The removal of private ownership of energy and utility companies, transportation, and telecommunications would more easily guide us toward modernizing our energy grid, ensure connectivity across the country, truly begin the transition to renewable energy sources, and protect our national security. We are getting a worse product and seeing less of the profitability of these industries taxed, as shareholders are the only real winners of our current setup.

The private healthcare industry is also a disaster. Families pay thousands of dollars per year for no guarantee of better coverage and for more of a headache in terms of re-upping every year, trying to get reimbursed for care, and hoping your primary doctor is still in your network. Private health insurance essentially acts as a pointless middle-person or a mafia. Not to mention around 50,000 people die prematurely each year due to lack of health insurance coverage, largely by being priced out, and that was with the expanded ACA subsidies that were in place, which have now been basically wiped out with the big ugly bill last year. We are also the only developed nation without some form of universal healthcare. The private health insurance sector is a wasteland. It, along with the other industries mentioned, must be publicly owned and run.

4) “Abolish ICE and grant amnesty for all [immigrants without citizenship].”

I will keep this one brief, as I have extensively covered my feelings towards abolishing ICE. Fifty percent of the country now agrees with that sentiment. We have a rogue agency that essentially acts as Donald Trump, Stephen Miller, and Tom Homan’s Gestapo. The agents are masked, badge-less, and, in many instances, detain people without a warrant. ICE is another outgrowth of 9/11 paranoia. At least two U.S. citizens, Alex Pretti and Renée Good, have been killed by ICE agents, and another 52 detainees have died in custody since 2025. This is out of control and must be stopped.

Additionally, two-thirds of Americans are in favor of granting undocumented immigrants amnesty, either immediately or after a brief waiting period. I am in favor of instant amnesty, as around half of the undocumented immigrants residing in the country have resided here for at least a decade. These individuals have been paying billions and billions of dollars in taxes into programs they cannot draw from at the federal level, have already integrated into our communities and have had children on U.S. soil, make up around 5% of the workforce, contribute around a trillion dollars to our GDP annually, and have stimulated local, state, and federal economies.

Furthermore, instant amnesty would provide a massive economic stimulus, as undocumented workers would not be subject to substandard wages. They could no longer be exploited by their employers, so they would have more money to spend at every level, and would also generate more tax revenue from the resulting wage increase. We cannot forget either that public safety would likely increase as well because undocumented immigrants would be more inclined to report crimes they witness without the fear of deportation. This is part of why sanctuary cities are among the safest in the country.

5) “End sanctions on Venezuela, Cuba, and Iran”

How many more thousands of innocent civilians need to die as a result of economic sanctions placed on these countries? These economic sanctions were instilled decades ago and have crippled any serious economic viability in Cuba, Venezuela, and Iran. This has seriously impacted the quality of life for many citizens of these nations, especially in Cuba, which is on the brink of total collapse. It is not “communism” or their economic systems that are failing the people of these countries. It is our harsh sanctions that have stunted the growth and development of these states, all in the name of protecting our capitalist system.

6) “Free Palestine. For a free Palestine with Jerusalem as the capital. End all military and economic aid to Israel. Prosecute U.S. and Israeli leaders responsible for the genocide in Gaza”

This should be a no-brainer. The Pew Research Center released a poll of 36 countries, with two-thirds of adults viewing Israel unfavorably. That position is even higher among young people. The active genocide of Palestinians in Gaza is the obvious driver of Israel losing support globally. My first and most important litmus test for any politician, Democrat or Republican, is whether they have accepted AIPAC money and what their stance is on Israel. This litmus test really applies to Democrats because there is nothing in the GOP platform that I agree with. So, for any Democrat to garner my full support, they must not accept AIPAC or any shell AIPAC lobby money, and they must agree to cut off all aid to Israel - economic and military until their government purges itself (unlikely to happen). Our tax dollars are being used to decimate an entire population. There is no excuse, no reasoning anyone could make to justify support of Israel.

7) “Abolish the carceral state. Redirect police and prison funding to public services as steps towards abolishing the carceral forces of the capitalist state”

Nearly 80% of Americans support abolishing the carceral state. Speaker Johnson scoffs at this one, but he is far in the minority on this. He heard the words “capitalist state” and got his panties in a twist and rushed to defend our precious economic system. The United States has the largest number of incarcerated people in the world. The 1980’s are a foundational decade as to when this growth began. The failed “War on Drugs”, which contributed to overcrowded prisons, and for-profit prisons are largely to blame for our carceral state. The moment low recidivism is no longer the focal point for the rehabilitation of people who are imprisoned, we are failing as a society. Keeping individuals trapped in a vicious cycle of poverty and crime must end. Abolishing our carceral state coupled with massive prison reform should no longer be a fringe issue.

8) “Defund the Department of Defense”

Mike Johnson says Department of War here, but I refuse to acknowledge that name change. Although I am aware our federal government essentially functions as a social insurance system and war machine. Especially heavy on the war machine side of things. Over half of Americans agree that our defense budget is severely inflated and would like to see that budget decreased. The debate lies in exactly how much, but many can agree that our defense spending is out of control and that the Executive Branch - especially the President - needs to be reigned in on overstepping Congress to engage in military operations around the world.

Mike Johnson is also being disingenuous in his statement. Further left-leaning individuals are not arguing for the complete defunding of the Department of Defense. We spend more than double what the next-highest country spends on its military. I have always been of the mind that we should cut our defense budget by at least half. That is half a trillion dollars that would be available to help tackle a litany of other shortcomings in this country. Cutting our defense spending in half may sound extreme to some, but even then, we would still spend tens of billions of dollars more than the next-highest country. Our national security would still be completely functional at that mark.

9) “Replace the President and Supreme Court with an Executive and Judiciary chosen and subordinate to Congress”

While replacing the President and Executive may be an extreme position, a Judiciary chosen and subordinate to Congress would be a much more realistic and viable option, and one a majority of Americans can get behind. Public opinion and trust of the Supreme Court is at record lows. The Judiciary has effectively become an extension of the Executive Branch and no longer functions as an impartial power within the checks and balances that a healthy democracy relies upon. We have also seen obvious ethical issues, especially in the form of bribes to federal judges, cough cough Clarence Thomas, by lobbyists and wealthy donors to parties.

The parts of a Judiciary selected by Congress I can really get behind are that we would no longer see appointments of justices by the President, which would ideally help keep the branch nonpartisan, and we would also see term limits for justices. As with the Electoral College and the Senate, many Americans, myself included, are absolutely in favor of massive reforms.

10) “Abolish the Senate”

Abolishing the Senate does not have the vast majority of public support yet (according to polling) and would also require an amendment to end its existence. However, I think there is some serious restructuring that is required of the Senate. The current setup still sees the same issues of smaller states with smaller populations having a disproportionate impact on legislation. Based on the 2-senators-per-state setup, Wyoming, with a population of less than 600,000, has the same legislative representation in voting on bills as New York, with its population of 20 million. I would honestly rather see the Senate expanded based on state population. If states with smaller populations take issue, they need to look at their current structure and how they attract residents. If they passed legislation to improve quality of life and incentivize business growth and development in their state, they would, in theory, increase population and thus be able to exert a larger say in Congress.

Even further yet in Senate reform, I would favor abolishing the filibuster. The filibuster essentially allows the minority party to block legislative efforts. Simply put, if you want your party in control, platform in a way that represents the people’s desires to get your votes. Especially in conjunction with these other measures, hopefully to one day abolish the Electoral College.

I suspect we’ll see a wipe-out for Republicans in November. A possible shift in policy toward the farther left will give Speaker Johnson a different tone, as he will be the powerless Speaker in a lame-duck presidency.