Of Course Obama is a Socialist

As I have commented in the last few posts….when you promote broadbased redistribution of wealth through government that is called socialism.  When did we redefine what socialism means?

Socialism is harmful to philanthropy and it ultimately rewards slothfulness and promotes inertia.  Here is a poignant example from a conversation I had a few years ago on a trainride from Brussels to Paris.  I was sitting across from a mid-twenties woman on the train.  We exchanged pleasantries and began talking about the elections in the USA.  This was just before the 2004 elections.  She commented on how well their system in Belgium worked.  For example, she told me, her boyfriend had been out of work for over a year and he still had healthcare coverage and the government was sending him money each month as a “salary.”  I asked her if he was actively looking for work.  She told me that he was not because he was not quite sure what he wanted to do with his life.  I just nodded and smiled politely.  She went on to praise the socialistic system of government taking care of everyone in their society.

The gentleman sitting to her right was a man in his early 50s who was listening and returning home from a long day at work.  I looked at him at one point and asked him a question.  I said to him, “How much do you pay in taxes from your salary?”  He looked at me knowing where I was going with my question and simply said, “70%.”  I, again, nodded and smiled politely.  He returned my nod with a knowing glance that he was footing the bill for his seatmates boyfriend.

This, my friends, is our future if and when we take a step toward socialism by voting for Barack Obama.  This is not what Jesus had in mind when he  talked about caring for the poor and the homeless.  True caring requires personal sacrifice.  When sacrifice is mandated by government it actually loses its transforming and redemptive power.

Joe the Plumber

Ok, I admit it I am a supporter of John McCain for president.  As much as I was a strident socialist in college my idealism waned to realism and I learned more about the reality of the selfish human spirit.  Even after nine years working for a slavishly conservative college where some measured you by just how doctrinaire you were I still lean conservative and just cannot vote for the socialist and inexperienced Obama.  As a friend of mine said, “a good speaking voice and good looks take you far in the USA.”

When push comes to shove though what will get me through the next four years if indeed  ”lighter heads” prevail in this election and Obama is elected president is the knowledge that God is still in control.

Yet, today I watched the interview that Diane Sawyer did with Joe the Plumber from Holland, Ohio.  I must say, what an articulate and sane perspective he shared with America.  Essentially he asked, if I work hard and succeed why should I be penalized and pay more taxes, or a higher percentage of my income than others who might earn less?  Good question, Joe.  To me that is discrimination and it is also called socialism.  That, my friends, is what Obama has in store for those who succeed.  He will penalize them with more taxes.

I spoke with a friend a few days ago who owns a company that is an S corporation.  He explained to me that he has sixty employees and that in an S corporation all of the corporate earnings are calculated as W-2 income to him.  Then he pays his employees bonuses, reinvests in the company and hires more people, expands the business, etc.  He commented that when all is said and done his salary is a modest one.  However, under the Obama Plan he (since his W-2 “income” is more than $250,000 a year) will pay a pretty high tax on his “earnings.”  Guess what happens then.  He probably will not  be able to afford to reinvest in his company and the company might become less competitive and lose business.  Then he would be forced to lay off people that work for him (family was how he described these people, not related by blood but related by their commitment and hard work for the sake of the company).  Hummm, so over years a successful company becomes less competitive and probably smaller in terms of the number of employees he can afford to retain.  This, my friends, is economics 101.  Material, I dare say, that democrats have historically scored “C” or worse.  

If you listen closely to what they say it is the economics of building a larger and inefficient government bureaucracy.  I am of Italian descent so I can say this; visit Italy sometime and try to get a simple document from a government agency.  You will find legions of bureaucrats and you will probably walk away exasperated and cursing, in Italian, without the document you came to secure.  The Obama platform will move us at a meteoric pace closer to the reality of the absurd socialism that many European’s have known for decades. 

So, Joe the Plumber is pretty insightful about Obama’s taxes.  I think we should all think long and hard about the importance of voting for someone with a proven record, experience and passion for our country’s future.  That person is John McCain.  And, oh, don’t buy Obama’s empty rhetoric about McCain continuing the Bush policies.  As McCain said so well he has never been and never will be George W.

God Bless America or should I say, God help us all.