In a last ditch effort; the McCain campaign and the neoconservative machine have taken to calling Barack Obama a SOCIALIST (all caps because you should be startled by this term, I tell you). It hits your brain like a runaway Straight Talk Express, bringing to mind the Bolsheviks and for those like us in the under 30 set, Hugo Chavez. The problems with this line of attack are many. Let's look at socialism, the facts surrounding the uproar, and find out what John McCain really thinks about Obama's tax plan.
This past weekend, I discussed the upcoming election with a fervent McCain supporter. When asked why he supported McCain, his response was "electing a socialist president would destroy this country." Probing further, I asked how would he define socialist. He replied "you have a dictionary, you are voting for the guy, look up socialism and take a look at his policies, then YOU tell me why he is a socialist." This person was asking me to explain to him why he would make such a preposterous argument, but I digress. The conversation illustrates the first problem: most people do not have a basic understanding of socialism.
so.cial.ism [soh-shuh-liz-uhm] n. a theory or system of social organization that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole.
The definition is so vague and does not sound like the Obama policies I know. Let's hear the truth straight from the socialist horse. Is this what Obama believes in?
F.N. Brill, National Secretary of the World Socialist Party (US): "Obama is as much a socialist as the Pope is an atheist. Income redistribution isn't a socialist act. It might aid in ameliorating income disparities within a capitalist economy for a limited time. But the logic of capitalism demands the rich grow richer (more capitalization is needed) and the poor grow poorer (their work creates the needed capital used by the rich)."
Rea Hederman, assistant director at the Heritage Foundation, "whose mission is to formulate and promote conservative public policies," said the following in regard to Obama's tax policy.
"I wouldn't call the plan socialist. I have concerns anytime that the tax code is made more complex or used as a tool for social policy. Ideally, the tax code should be made as efficient as possible to maximize economic growth and minimize the distortions that arise from taxation."
Rea, you crazy liberal...who just happens to work for a conservative think tank.
An actual socialist does not think the Obama tax plan (that you can evaluate here) is socialist. The Heritage Foundation does not think it is socialist. What about Warren Buffett, one of the richest men in the world, a man who would presumably have the most to lose should taxes increase on high earners. What say you, Warren?
May 5, 2008 Interview with Buffett on CNBC:
The interviewer, Becky Quick, asked Buffett to pretend for a moment that she was John McCain. She then asked, "Is there anything I can do, any economic issue I can get behind, that would actually make you think twice about potentially supporting me?"
Buffett: "I would say that if you felt the tax burden should be shifted in a significant way to the super-rich and away from the middle class, I would say that would make me re-evaluate you."
Quick/"McCain": "So I could eventually gain your support come November?"
Buffett: "Well, in the end, I vote on issues NOW. I think it's pretty clear in many major areas what all three candidates would do."
Then he said, chuckling, that it was "unlikely" he would back McCain "unless he has a serious change, a lobotomy or something like that."
Okay, okay. I get it. Nobody likes to pay higher taxes. Under the Obama plan, families earning more than $250,000 will pay the same amount as during the Clinton era, and we all remember how horrific the economy was back then! The chart below tracks the level of the highest tax bracket since 1913.
From a historical perspective, high-income earners under the age of 40 have never paid high taxes. If your parents were making big bucks during the Carter administration, they paid 70% in taxes of all money made above the high earner cutoff. That was the LOWEST rate since 1931! If you want to know how your taxes will change, then visit the Obama-Biden Tax Calculator and enter your information.
I will wrap this up with Mr McCain's own words, though I could go on for days. Obama's tax cuts for those making less than $250,000, and an increase to Clinton levels for those making more. What he has argued for is a laddered tax rate, the same tax structure that the US has had since the beginning of time. It is not socialism, but you can make up your own mind. So what about John McCain? We know that this mavericky maverick thinks that raising taxes on the rich and cutting taxes for the middle class is a recipe for disaster. Go ahead John, tell that socialist Obama where to put his tax plan!
Whaaaat? Say it ain't so John, you sound just like Barack Obama. Surely, someone so mavericky would have the political spine to stand behind your true beliefs. We will give you one more shot John, tell me something true.
Where did the John McCain of 2000 go? America was a better place when you stood up for what you believed and were an independent voice far away from the Republican machine. Your legacy was going to be one of a war hero, far above Washington politics, who cared more about the success of this nation than pandering to a political party. Values were thrown to the wind and you were told to win at all cost, even stooping to hire Steve Schmidt as your campaign director, the same man who shamelessly smeared you in 2000. Now, barring a surprising result on Tuesday, you will be relegated to the scrap heap, a relic who sold out his core beliefs, took part in the politics you despised only four years earlier, and utterly irrelevant.
