Republicans are The Real Socialists

I've been watching the news for the last few days (or maybe the last week) and frankly the fact that any intelligent idea actually gets out and discussed in the national media seems far-fetched and impossible. According to right wing talkers/news outlets, Obama is a socialist and that's bad. The country is really scared of that possibility. Unfortunately, the real socialists are the Republicans.

First, let's take a look at what socialism is:

Socialism refers to a broad set of economic theories of social organization advocating state or collective ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods, and the creation of an egalitarian society[1][2] Modern socialism originated in the late nineteenth-century working class political movement. Karl Marx posited that socialism would be achieved via class struggle and a proletarian revolution which represents the transitional stage between capitalism and communism.[3][4]

Let's look more closely at the phrase, "advocating state or collective ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods." Simply put, that means the government owns business.

And isn't that exactly that is happening right now with the bail-out plan originally advanced by Hank Paulson?

Exhibit 1

These are challenging times for our financial markets. We are working closely with the Federal Reserve, the SEC and other regulators to enhance the stability and orderliness of our financial markets and minimize the disruption to our economy. I support the steps taken by the Federal Reserve tonight to assist AIG in continuing to meet its obligations, mitigate broader disruptions and at the same time protect the taxpayers.

So -- the federal government is now in the insurance business.

Exhibit 2:

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson urged banks receiving $250 billion in capital injections from the government to use the funds to spur economic growth.

``We must restore confidence in our financial system,'' Paulson said at a press conference in Washington. ``The needs of our economy require that our financial institutions not take this new capital to hoard it, but to deploy it.''

With the equity purchases, Paulson is using more than a third of the $700 billion in government support Congress gave him the authority to use on Oct. 3. He didn't identify any of the lenders. People familiar with the plan said nine companies will get $125 billion: Citigroup Inc., Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Wells Fargo & Co., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp., Merrill Lynch & Co., Morgan Stanley, State Street Corp. and Bank of New York Mellon Corp.

Bottom line: the federal government is now one of the largest owners of bank equity out there.

So please -- stop telling me that the statement "spread the wealth around" is a dangerous statement. The Federal Government -- under a plan proposed by a Republican Treasury Secretary -- is alreay making investments in the means of production. This is radical socialism in a far more extreme manner.

Original here