Hot Topics: Am I Pinko Commie Scum?

One of the things that I'm not shocked to hear from people like this (and this and this) is that I'm some sort of socialist, left wing nut. Though to be brutally honest, I don't much care because if socialist, left wing nut means I believe in fairness and equality, then I guess they're right to that extent. But recently, the "bailout" or "rescue" plan and the surrounding inequity in our financial system has lead a lot more people to be fellow comrades. I guess when it comes to money, tough times make for strange bedfellows. It seems McCain believes in Selective Socialism.

Something is starting to catch on in America though from the academics all the way down to the factory worker--when it comes to the rich and powerful, socialism is acceptable; it's only when the weak and poor are helped that it becomes such a sin. The facts are the facts--this most recent bailout was nothing more than government subsidizing the mistakes of the rich and powerful on Wall Street and in financial centers around the country. This was socialism. There are many who were mad about this instance of socialism, though, that don't get the basic fact-of-the-matter, which is that this type of socialism goes on all the time, you just have to make enough money to take advantage of it. McCain faults Obama for claiming to want to spread the wealth (which I think is a great idea by the way, and I'll stand by that), but McCain's policies as a senator and the GOP's platform as a whole support this kind of socialism.

In the past decade, Americans have watched as their wages stagnated and even fell. With a President Obama, the middle class will see a $13,000 a year increase in wages. With a President McCain, the middle class will only see a $5,000 a year increase in wages. Perhaps it's just me, but if we are to truly be capitalists, wouldn't we promote a greater and stronger middle class who has the purchasing power to make our economy whole? Yet McCain's politics give the middle class less just in time to give the companies more.

I think we've seen the end result of deregulation in the financial and energy markets. It has lead to higher costs of living and lower wages for the average American worker. Though the fundamentals may be strong, the deck is stacked against them. Regan said deregulate now--and we did. Bush I echoed this--and we continued. Bush II played favorites with the likes of Enron and Haliburton--and we didn't stop it. Do you really think McCain won't do this too?

What we've done over the past 60 days says a lot about what our contry is willing to do for the rich and what we aren't willing to do for the poor. We're willing to bail out Wall Street for falling victim to it's own greed and laissez-faire attitude while punishing everyday Americans for living outside of their means or just trying to get by. Instead of helping the people that need it most, we helped the ones who caused the problem, hoping that, in the end, they would help us. And now most of us can't get a loan or line of credit to save our lives--and that's exactly what people have to do to get by. If that isn't basic socialism, I don't know what is.

The thing is that those people in high finance don't give two cents, quite literally, about the rest of us. In fact, they're making a killing off of our genorousity in the bailout. We've been asked instead to look at Joe the Plumber, forgetting that Joe the Banker is raping us dry and Joe the Homeowner and Factory Worker is getting the shaft.

If I may use a McCain line: Here's the facts, my friends. John McCain doesn't want to spread the wealth because people like him who have so much of it are afraid that making the pie bigger will divest them of their piece of it. What they don't get is that when the pie is bigger, everyone can have a big slice.

Or do they not want us to eat at all?

But don't worry conservative types who claim I'm pink commie scum....there are plenty of people out there who agree with me and my values. And I'll stick by them (like here and here and here and here) any day of the week.