"A spectre is haunting Europe - the spectre of Communism."
With those words, Karl Marx launched a revolution with "The Communist Manifesto." Interestingly, the opening of his essay, cowritten with Friedrich Engels, begins with the assertion that the European powers are using the "branding reproach of Communism" to label their opponents. Marx then says, "It is high time the communists should openly, in the face of the whole world, publish their views, their aims, their tendencies, and meet this nursery tale of the spectre of Communism with a Manifesto of the party itself."
If Marx were alive today and living in San Francisco, perhaps he would have instead written this: "A spectre is haunting Democratic politics - the spectre of socialism." Certainly, the "branding reproach of socialism" is now publicly acknowledged to have been used against the Democratic Party, and against its standard bearer, Barack Obama. It is high time for Obama and his allies to publicly assert their political and economic philosophy. If it is socialism, say so. If it is not, please explain why.
This, of course, is made immediately relevant by Obama's famous comment to Joe the Plumber that, "I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody." In particular he was talking about his tax plan, which is a plan for redistribution of wealth from top to bottom.
This is a matter of fact. When Obama tells you that his tax plan will benefit 95 percent of taxpayers, he is misstating the truth. The fact is that 30 to 40 percent of Americans, the poorest among us, already don't pay any taxes. But what Obama's plan will do is allow them to sign up for a variety of tax credits, so the government will send them a check for a couple thousand dollars or more every year. Where does the money come from to make those payments? From Americans who do pay taxes. It literally is redistribution of wealth. Instead of using taxes to pay for the necessities of infrastructure and defense that they were intended for, the government as envisioned by Obama will be "spreading the wealth around."
The question is whether Americans care. And if they don't, why not?
Ask yourself, why did we spend 50 years after World War II fighting a Cold War to eliminate communism if we actually believe in it? Is this nation actually prepared to admit we were wrong, and Karl Marx was right? Marx's credo, "From each according to his ability; to each according to his need," has a nice ring. It can easily be seen as an institutionalized form of Christian charity - providing for the less able, or the less advantaged. But look at the results of communism and socialism in Europe, and you will quickly conclude that any philosophical niceties are vastly outweighed by the political realities.
When you look at Marx's list of goals for communism in chapter two of "The Communist Manifesto" (www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1848/communist-manifesto/ch02.htm), you can see that socialism has already made great advances in the United States. But in particular pay attention to No. 2 - "A heavy progressive or graduated income tax."
In this regard, Obama has outdone Marx himself. A progressive tax just puts a greater share of the burden on the rich. We already have long since had such a tax. But now Obama wants to find a way to hand out money to the poor. Is it any wonder that he is ahead in the polls?
As Ben Franklin reputedly said, "When the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic."
xxx
- Frank Miele is managing editor of the Daily Inter Lake and writes a weekly column. E-mail responses may be sent to edit@dailyinterlake.com
smood
Obama sure is vulnerable to blackmail. His homey network is full of people who can't stand the light of day. They know all kinds of things the leftist media suppress -- people like Auchi (the Iraqi billionaire), Rezko (the corrupt Syrian multimillionaire), Emil Jones (the Godfather of Southside), and the whole Daley Machine. That's not even counting the freaky radicals or the pols Obama has surrounded himself with. Mayor Daley's brother is one of the official transition leaders, for heavens' sake, along with Valerie Jarrett and a whole, privately paid operation that doesn't have to follow Federal rules on transparency, lobbying or accounting.
kyzer
LMAO, Obama this Obama that. He's the next president and if you people believe he has the power to change America to socialism/communism then your pretty dumb. Remeber the constitution we can overturn any and all legistlature he passes. He has already stimulated the economy and isn't even in office yet, guns sales went soaring. Get over it we've had a lot worse pres.'s and there will be worse ones yet to come. Read any book/bio about a president and you'll notice none of them are good people, but its the idiocracy that have here in America keeps electing retards. Take governement back and stop whining about whats going on and do something cowards.
mtboat
What are you pretending not to know? Ok I'll play with our number one poster(I counted). An Illuminist is one who follows and agrees with the so called "enlightened" ones multi generational plan to achieve a one money, one government, one religion, one leader type of world. Our two candidates both are advised by men such as these. Obama was asked who his main advisors were,and he responded..Richard Haas, and John Bolton. Current director and number two for the CFR.
Rob123
mtboat: (-: I can see where one side, instead of two, would make going to war awfully difficult. Not good for San Deigo, huh? Don't worry, it won't happen. We're way too cantancerous to all see 'it' the same way.
mtboat
No we will not see it all the same way. So the ones who don't"see" will be ridiculed, and minimized,persecuted and finally removed. Doesn't look too good for the good guys.
Rob123
"When stuck in the river, it is best to dive and swim to the bank yourself before someone drops a large stone on your chest in an attempt to hoosh you there." Eeyore Eeyore's Gloomy Little Instruction Book
mtboat
Oh bother... I'm just a little black rain cloud.
Otis
The rest of should take Marx's mothers advice: If Karl, instead of writing a lot about capital, had made a lot of it ... it would have been much better. What the Obamessiah has in mind for U.S. has failed every where it has been tried ..... Just look at his state of Hawaii, scrapped their socialist health insurance laws after 7 months...... Thank you Frank and "Joe the Plumber" for illustrating this absudity.
lousia
Thank you Mr. Frank Miele for a great 2 cents column,it was the best read to wake up to a sunday am.and see what a big mess this election is in, the socialistic news media the big ones ABC, NBC,CBS,great ick CNN,Have made their dumb points as usual.I can't believe some people will vote for a socialism way of life, when we had many men and women die in wars, to protect America, and her freedoms. and this person obama, his friends scare me, his minister, his religion,whatever or which one it is, his ideas,and like one guy I heard on the news say, it will be great when he gets in ,I won't have to work to go to college , I can study some and party what a life,and the goverment will pay for it, Who is the goverment the hard working American People,most people anymore don't know that, or the dead beat, met a few of them in my day. that don't want to put themselves out for anyone, not even their families,work's dirty word for them . and the people that do need the help theres more social programs now then you can imagine for them.
Ted
The republicans have driven the financial system straight into the ground requiring a massive bailout, and yet they say that the dems are socialist. GET A GRIP. LEARN SOMETHING! Did the bosses in Idaho tell you to run this drivel?
dukas
Hidden taxes. Obama's approach is loaded with them. Against drilling. If we dont drill not only the price up at the pump but everything we do depends on gasoline in one form or another. All prices will rise, it may not be a payroll tax or income tax, but it will come out of everybodys pocket, rich or poor. The left complains about the right clinging to guns and bible, yet the left clings just as hard to perversion and socialist goals.
mtboat
As I have said many times here....both sides are promoted and funded by the same motley crew of fascists. Communism is a tool. It is the bogey man to scare you into a mindset. The new world order does not want a communist world. It was useful though, to achieve their goals. But communism will be falling away too...just like all the other isms. Just another "arm" on the octopus. We are actually headed for a type of global monarchy. Know who the false monarch will be?
Abenaki
Obama is not going to reveal anything more than a glimpse of what he has in store for the nation. To do so would probably cost him the election. No, what you see is the pea being slipped under the shell you think you see as he skirts the issues. After he is elected, and assuming he will have a Democrat majority in both houses of Congress, you will see the gradual introduction of legislation to take as much as he can from the financially successful and provide this money to the less wealthy. The clamor for more and more entitlement programs will increase, productivity will decline, and our nation will become one of many unable to compete in the New World Order.
OPPRESSOR
Ahh! Sunday morning and I wake up to read that Colin Powell just endorsed Barack Obama. Or as many of the readers in here would call it, "Just another dumb nigger in the tank for the Arab Muslim Marx loving socialist!" when six years ago, he was the darling of the GOP. Does it ever occur to many of you WHY so many people with Washington ties who, on paper, should be voting McCain but aren't? They see McCain (version 2008) and don't want four more years of the last eight. Even more, there had been a resounding WTF!? throughout much of the Republican party regarding his pick of Palin. If there was some brains behind the beauty, McCain had a good shot at this election. "You have to please those Christians, John, you wont win an election without them!" Those undecided voters may be many things, but stupid isn't one of them.
ALCompton
Mr. Miele, I am curious about your stance on welfare, Social Security and Medicaid. Ben Franklin's quote begs the question of a practice, which is already in play - overtly and covertly. Please address the real question: lobbyists and their financial support of each candidate and party. We need transparency regarding lobbyists; they are the ones, who Ben Franklin refers to as bestowing money, not the US Government. Our politicans are benefactors, puppets, at the behest of big business. The funny thing, the redistribution of wealth as you suggest, enables the poor to buy more products, be consumers, and return the money to big business's coffers. If anything, it's Reagan's trickle down theory modified. Hate to be cynical, but I doubt personal finance classes will be offered to assist people with their "newfound wealth".
cowboyznut
I don't believe in the trickle down theory or socialist theory how about fairtax .org You keep what you earn and if you spend lavishly you pay taxes more lavishly and if your frugal you pay less, but no one is slighted for working hard and earning money.
mtboat
" Democrats do not differ significantly from Republicans except on a few minor social issues. Both are bought and sold like Saturday evening whores to transnational corporate and banking interests. Both support attacking small and defenseless countries under false pretense, engaging in mass murder in the process. Both are complicit in undermining and dismantling piecemeal the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Both are for open borders. Both plot against the national sovereignty of the country they claim to represent."- Kurt Nimmo, InfoWars.
Bronco
Most of you fear that if one ticket wins, erosion of the Constitution, socialism, increased dependence on government and other ills will result. I share the fear but of the opposite ticket. How is it possible to miss that the present administration has disastrously eroded our constitutional protections and freedoms? As for socialism does the reader not mind being a serf to a gang of ignorant thugs who've just destroyed the economy, and with it our retirement, our children's education and every other security our hard work should have bought us? The recent "bailout" solved nothing, but made us, as taxpayers, indentured servants to Wall Street, banks and big business, paying them even more for their bad decisions than the millions they've already made with no obvious benefits to us. Have any of those CEOs offered to donate any of the multiple millions they were paid? Was anyone fired for the half-million-dollar exclusive retreat that immediately followed the bailout of one of those companies? As for dependence on government how can it possibly be increased when government has bankrupted us and itself with war and corporate bailouts? You reader fear Obama-Biden? It's McCain-Palin who terrify me.
Bronco
cont...The current administration uses crisis to take more and more away from us, and there's nothing to suggest a reversal of those policies at a time when we face an emergency of monumental proportions. Somewhere deep inside you resides the real reason you won't vote for Obama/Biden. It has nothing to do with Frank's Two Cents.
agenuineamerican
The real vote Nov. 4th is for either ......the "United States of Capitolism.....versus.....the "United States of Socialism". If, (and God forbid) Obama gets elected, we will be probably see a separation of the U.S. into two separate countries..... with the citizens of each "state" voting to be one of the two labels above. Also, if 95% of blacks vote for Obama, ....the real "racists" in America will clearly be the black population. What a shame after such progress in American!
bombergirl69
Not to mention to all those bitching about ob's "taxing the rich"..if money doesn't get back into people's hands, who do you think is going to buy stuff? One might look to the french revolution for some interesting economic similarities: staggering debt, most of the taxes born by the little people, the debt from two foreign wars (7 years war and am independence), increasing costs of food (akin to our health care costs) taking more and more from people's meager wages, not to mention complete disconnect/lack of understanding of the country's plight on the part of the ancien regime (an apt name for the Bush folk) and seen here in the "let 'em eat cake" theory adherents. Now let's see, what happened to the primary advocate of THAT philosophy.....
alcohol
How is it that 20,000 people rule over the lives of 6 billion? All you chefs, drivers, maids, mechanics, personal assistants, accountants, attorneys and especially hookers serving these villains would be wise to dose potassium cyanide into the next cocktail your boss downs with their $50 cigar. Anyone that disavows our Bill of Rights, sends troops to kill innocents, or robs the public funds to benefit criminals gets 100mg (like a few grains of salt, cyanosis is a beautiful thing). Make sure you capture their last moments. Voting is for chumps!
JCM
The author's comments are not only valid but prophetic. As evidenced by the "the end justifies the means" mentality displayed by many posters here, we can next expect political officers squashing dissent and book burning in town squares of anything in print that speaks against what's happening. Don't believe me? Last night someone stole the political banner out of my front yard. I'll leave it to you to decide who the sign was for. The silencing of dissent has already begun in our schools and walks the streets of our towns, but few seem to be alarmed. I believe that Benjamin Franklin had it right. I'm just waiting for the crow to come home to roost.
Woody
Here goes Frank playing fast and loose with the truth. He says "The fact is that 30 to 40 percent of Americans, the poorest among us, already don't pay any taxes." ALL Americans pay taxes. Homeowners pay taxes directly, renters indirectly. People pay taxes when they put gas in their cars and when they buy tires. The truth is about 10% of the very poorest Americans do not pay any Income Tax. Hell, illegal aliens pay taxes. So, Frank, have any opinion you want, but please tell the truth.
Habu
A wonderful synopsis of Obama and Marx. Naturally there are those who don't understand and come up with the Democratic talking points,eg. Woody who either truly doesn't understand or is a useful idiot; poor bombergirl trying to squeeze the Fr.Rev. into her rationalization communism, quite pitiful. She needs to ditch Albert Sorbel. One of the truly sad things going on which will have a direct result on Montana is the 500% increase on ammunition and confiscation of guns that Obama wants so dearly. But that is offset by those uneducated that see the checks in the mail. Did they earn it. NO. Do they deserve it. NO. But since they have noe honor they would sell out for a six pack Frank GREAT article.
johnsorel
If Frank and so many here on this blog are willing to go down the path of calling Obama's tax plan communist, then to be completely honest they need to be willing to advocate the following: 1) No more public funding for Montana roads. It will get A LOT more expensive to live in Montana when other state's stop subsidizing our road system. 2) No more public education. I guess kids from poor families will no longer get an education. Off to the salt mines for them? 3) No more National Parks. Guess what will happen to our economy without Glacier National Park? 4) No public colleges and universities. Hrmm who needs em when we all will live in an uncivilized Mad Max kind of world. If you call Barack Obama a "socialist" or worse, what are you then advocating? It is nothing less than Anarchy. But instead, Frank and his other mental cowards will instead send their kids to public schools, visit our national parks, enjoy free public highways and complain about it because they are nothing less than absolute hypocrites.
alcohol
Where's FlatheadCop and his comrades? I want to know if they will assist in attempting to confiscate our guns and ammo when Obama gives the decree? (notice I said when) Do I have to buy more pvc pipe and another shovel, bubbas?
Kalispell Native
Now I KNOW I'm voting for Obama. Anyone who can get Frank's panties bunched up so tightly that the chafing is palpable (e.g., driving Frank to play the tired old "Communist" card) must be representative of some true change. If you love the way Washington has worked the last 26 years, vote McCain and expect more of the same. Frank must truly love the status quo, so much that the current income tax system is holy and beyond improvement (lest that anyone who would propose to lower taxes for the majority of Americans, as Obama will do, be brended a Marxist). Joe the Plumber has already been exposed as a guy who isn't a plumber at all, and Joe has already admitted he will do better under Obama's plan than McCain's plan. Fact is, if you earn less than $200,000 per year, Obama woll not raise your taxes a cent. McCain fails to ensure the same. If fairness is Cummunism, I will still select fairness any day of the week over the Fascist dildo we've endured the past 8 years (or the senile senator from Arizona who voted with him 90 percent of the time).
johnsorel
Studies show that nearly 70 percent of the casualties in the war in Iraq are from families that make less-than-average incomes. If it is communism to expect the rich to pay more in taxes, what is it when we expect the poor to pay more in the lives of their children? Frank -- you need to get a moral compass.
alcohol
We have a Marxist communist with ties to terrorist and militant groups through association who is probably not even a citizen, having been born in Kenya, promising to cut taxes when the government is bankrupt. He wants to spread your wealth around like a good socialist, and continue to give mortgages to people who are not qualified, while he lies about his background. He gets all his advice and support from the upper tiers of the Illuminati, like Buffet and Brzeszinski. The Caligula Clone is no better. They both want to Weimarize you, and will act like puppets and lapdogs for their elitist handlers. They both not only voted for the bailout, they promoted it! We have rumors about another false-flag attack to establish martial law (we're not sure who the dictator will be, whether Caligula, McCain, Obama or Biden) with all the legislation in place (the Patriot Acts, the Military Commissions Act, the John Warner Defense Act, etc.), while the Group of Eight discusses the need for a new world financial system along with a new system of currencies.
GeorgeSoros
For KN that doesn't understand the FED. The essence of a fiat currency system is deficit spending. The ability of government to spend more money without directly raising taxes by creating money out of thin air backed by nothing, which has intrinsic value is the driving force behind it. The populace still gets taxed, through inflation, which is caused by the increase in the money supply each time more money is pumped into the system, but few understand this principal. Bankers add their own twist by charging interest on the money, which they create out of thin air to fund government spending by providing a medium of exchange, which is worthless except for the value which the populace decides to place on it. This is how bankers control governments. Governments often allow this instead of issuing their own money because they do not understand how money works and figure it is best to leave it to the professionals - big mistake! Most people do not understand these monetary systems. Suffice it to say that hyperinflation is on its way because deficit spending is all the government knows how to do.
mooseberryinn
Given all the highly unlikely promises being made in the name of politics, next year is going to be so disappointing for so many. I'd like a candidate to just tell it like it is for a change.
MontanaJim
Let's see..first we had Frank comparing Obamma and Hitler. Now it's Obamma and Marx. Stay tuned for next week when we have Obamma and who?...Ho Chi Minh...or Stalin...maybe even Attila the Hun. So many bad people, so little time left Frank. Hey, here's an idea...how about comparing Obamma and Bush/Cheney. Now that's something we can all talk about.
bombergirl69
MontanaJim- ha! funny. May as well compare McCain to Father Time or Methuselah - as he has NOT allowed his medical records to be seriously reviewed and Palin has released nothing. Maybe we'll get Obama compared to OJ..uh oh, hate to give Frank ideas, as you say, he is running out of time.
Bronco
Hey Republicans, paranoid much?
alcohol
He was not raised as an African American, was not raised by African Americans, and was not raised in an African American neighborhood. LIE I do not vote Present any more than any other IL Representative. The issue at hand is not the purpose of the Present votes but rather their frequency. 129 Present votes is not a common number for any Representative in the Illinois State House, other than Senator Obama. LIE- I barely know William Ayers A.K.A. Abu Zayd TRUTH is William Ayers (or Abu-Zayd), Louis Farrakhan, and Senator Obama all live in the same neighborhood. Ayers is the founder of the Woods Fund, of which Senator Obama was its director from 1999 to 2002. Perhaps one might ask oneself; who chooses the director of the Wood Fund? Perhaps its founder? Secondly, if Senator Obama announced his campaign run in Illinois from Ayerss home, did he not ask Ayers permission first? If the Senator did not know Abu-Zayd Ayers well, then how did he come to choose Ayers front steps to announce his campaign? Random chance? LIE I support a 2nd Amendment right to bear arms. TRUTH is Senator Obamas policy on guns seems to change
alcohol
TRUTH is Senator Obamas policy on guns seems to change specifically in regards to the audience he is addressing. There are many quotes from the Senator in which he suggests an all out ban on handguns. Bare in mind that these bans PRIMARILY affect LEGAL gun ownership. LIE- I Was A Constitutional Lawyer Truth is Senator Obama was NEVER a Constitutional Lawyer, nor a PROFESSOR of Law. LIE- I Was A Professor Of Law. Truth is Senator Obama was NEVER a Professor of Law, nor a Constitutional Lawyer. LIE- I passed a tough Nuclear Bill. I am strong on Nuclear Regulation. Truth is The Bill did not pass, primarily because there was very little nuclear regulation in it. This could be attributed to the fact that the nuclear power company, Exelon, has been a donor to all of Senator Obamas campaigns thus far. LIE- I have the solutions to repair our economy. Truth is Senator Obamas 111 economic proposals were just combined into an amendment to a bill, and the amendment was defeated 97-0. Senator Obama rejected his own proposals; apparently, they were not the solutions or fresh ideas he was speaking about. LIE- I have been a bold leader
alcohol
LIE- I have been a bold leader in Illinois. Truth is Senator Obama indeed passed into law such various bills, however, a great many of these bills were only appointed to him as their sponsor meaning they were created and worked by others and then Senator Obamas name was placed on the legislation to give him credit for the bill. In regards to the Taped Interrogations legislation, most cities in the nation have been taping police interrogations for decades. That would hardly seem bold. Missing or refusing to vote on bills 129 times does not further the argument of bold action either. LIE- I barely know Tony Rezko. I did about 5 hours of billed work for him. Truth is Antoin Rezko first spoke with Senator Obama in 1990. Senator Obama worked at the Davis, Miner, Barnhill & Galland Law firm, specializing in legal issues involving land development. It is in this area of law that the Senator came in contact with Rezko and his company, Rezmar Corp. Senator Obama left the law firm for the State Legislature, while one of the firms founders, Mr. Allison Davis, left his firm to form a new development company, New Kenwood LLC
alcohol
LIE- I am tough on Terrorism! Truth is Pakistan is a nuclear nation and a fragile if not reluctant ally of the United States. Senator Obama missed the Iran Resolution to declare the Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization. In addition, he remains on friendly terms and accepts donations from Louis Farrakhan and Jeremiah Wright Nation of Islam members that support Hamas call for the destruction of Israel. Wright even reprinted the Hamas Manifesto for his church members, possibly including the Obama family, who were in attendance. Senator Obama continues his associations with Rashid Khalidi, the former PLO spokesman and supporter of Palestinian Suicide Bombers. Nadhmi Auchi and Ali Abunimah have been involved financially with structures opposed to Israels right to exist. With friends like these, including American Terrorist William Abu-Zayd Ayers, who needs Jihadists? LIE- I have always supported Universal Health Care. Truth is enator Obamas mandate for health care coverage applies only to children. Once they are adults then can opt out of buying health care. Any emergency room visits or other health service costs they cannot afford will be passed onto the tax payers of America. His plan is no where near Universal. LIE- I disagree with
alcohol
His plan is no where near Universal. LIE- I disagree with my church all the time. Rev. Wright is like an Uncle to me and you cant choose family. Truth is And we have the freedom to choose someone other than Senator Obama for President because of the judgment he displays and the company he keeps. The Senator claims You cant choose family; we respectfully remind the good Senator Rev. Wright is not his family, he is his pastor. And you can always choose a different pastor if you dont like what he has to say. Considering the Obamas have donated on average $500/week to Trinity, or about $22,000/year, we find that a strange way of showing ones disagreement or dissatisfaction with ones church. Incidentally, Rev. Wright has just retired to his $1.6 Million dollar mansion, in an almost exclusively White neighborhood. So much for practicing what you preach.
Rob123
If a Muslim Intellectual walked up to you, Bull-Habu-George S., et al, and said "Relax", I bet you would take it as a threat to everything you hold dear and start planning a frontal assault. That's not healthy. But, sadly, fear sells. And a certain percentage of Muslims know, and use it, too. Get'en mighty old. Time for a Change.
MontanaJim
By my count, Bull, you used up 11 posts, in a row, trying to tell us why we shouldn't vote for Obama. Why didn't you just give us the name of the book from which you learned all this "information" and let us read it for ourselves if we wished? Since you are so hot on reading information, why not read the lengthy article on McCain in Rolling Stone magazine and then spend another eleven posts telling us what it said. Then we could all decide for ourselves. There is a reason for the word limit. This is not a literary review, it is a place to give a SHORT idea of your opinion. Please don't think I read all eleven posts, I quit in the middle of the second one.
franko
4Fish: The Obama web site doesn't tell the whole story, BUT the tax credits they list are all REFUNDABLE... That means you don't have to pay taxes to get the credit. Anyone with a job will qualify for some of these giveaways.
Rob123
Posted by:Frank 2008/10/21 01:33:27 AM Kind of like a "Perk"? Not exactly as sexy as the company Jet or Lexus or Golf Club Membership or Ski In - Ski Out 2500 Sq.Ft get away; which all comes off the bottom line BEFORE taxes, but pretty much the same notion; why is this a problem? Redistribution of wealth is as old as the hills. It's Reason and Pragmatism that gets wasted in the process of Politicians trying to get elected and then trying to get Reelected, at any cost. The process can take their eyes off the big picture {i.e.Common Good} and then the Lobbyists show them flow charts that pinpoint their likely voters and they just throw money at issues that affect that core group. And soon you have a fragmented bunch of Beltway bozos fighting for grub in the frenzy of "Once Elected, Get Reelected", you end up in a bloated financial meltdown. Our center RIGHT government could use a nudge over to center LEFT. Time for a change.
Bronco
Does this mean a vote for McCain means a vote for keeping poor people poor? Crime rates of the poor make up 80% of the total. Injecting tax dollars taken from folks who earn more than a quarter of a million dollars a year (Obama's tax plan) into the lower class means less crime and less insurance premiums for middle class earners like me. "Spreading the wealth" seems like a good idea if you are middle class and have no wealth to share. That wealth comes from the wealthy. If that's socialism, let it rear it's ugly head. Bush has already started the socialistic momentum by buying banks. If it's good enough for the Republicans, why is it so evil for the Dems? Why not pick and choose aspects from different social and economic theories and form a better government? Look where democracy has taken us. We wouldn't be looking for alternative solutions if democracy was perfect, now, would we?
Rob123
Marx and Engels set up their Communist Manifesto in a way that put it as a parallel rail next to the New Testament. However, being Philosophers of the Enlightenment, they removed God and replaced Him and his Manna with Economics and control over the Means of Production. The Perousia, or second coming of Christ, was replaced with Pure Communism, where the actuality of "From each according to his ability; to each according to his need," is met. Like the Christian end of time and ascension into heaven, Pure Communist Equality is way out there, as in "future tense", and takes a large degree of Faith and or Belief as everyday reality presents it's inequities. The Cold War used words like Christian Vs Communist, but it's actuality was Nationalism, as in Democratically Elected President Vs. a Tyrannical Czar, both fueled and empowered by high taxes and a military industrial complex the likes of which the world has seen since the beginning of tribal-national consciousness. We are already State Socialists, although we call it State Capitalism. But we are still infected with way too much Nationalism and Military-Industrial spending for our own common Good. And Europeans see us behind the "curve", and
Rob123
Last week, after Bush and Paulson basically Nationalized the 7 biggest banks, Chavez was on T.V. saying, in his puny little way, "So, George Bush is now to the Left of me?"
Kathy1226
Thank you, Miele, for this great article. There is so much angst on the left, and I cannot fathom why. They live in the greatest nation on earth, they have some of the best technology to be had, they have freedom of speech and of religion, yet it appears too many are ready and willing to embrace socialism. Some of the younger bloggers write about the wonderful things Obama will do and vehemently deny his programs are anywhere near socialism, but some write that we (all those who oppose Obama) don't understand socialism at all and that it has some great goals. Have our schools dumbed down the youth this much? I feel like I am living in Alice's Wonderland.
Kathy1226
Sorry - typo. I meant to say Mr. Miele.
mooseberryinn
To believe that the taxes will only apply to the "rich" is foolhardy. Proposed spending indicates that all taxpayers will pay much more. Much more and very soon. But then, It is already too late to expect truth to change those minds expecting "gifts".
Spage
Thanks Frank for telling it like it is. Adopting the polices Obama represents is the wrong direction for this country.
Rob123
mtboat: Ah, but we got "America's Castles" on A & E for rainy afternoons. I wonder what Wilson was actually talking about, there? He was kind of a Peacenik dreamer type of a guy. Hmmm, who was he talking about? Morgan, Stanly, Goldman, Sachs, Merrill, Lynch? The financiers who allowed us to "Remember the Luisitania" and win WW1 for the Brits & French & Italians, at great expense? But without a Fed Reserve, it was a lot of cigar smoke and individuals with Great Houses! Heck, even the Duponts were 2nd tier, until after the war and the bills were finally paid. Almost had to foreclose on Uncle Sam! Way Past Due and Delinquent!
mtboat
" I am a most unhappy man. I have unwittingly ruined my country. Agreat industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. We are not longer a government by free opinion, no longer a government by conviction and by the vote of the majority but a government by the opinion and duress of a small group of dominant men.-Woodrow Wilson..1919