Ronald Reagan Was A Socialist

Believe me, I was as shocked as you probably are to discover this. And I'd like to thank John McCain and Sarah Palin for finally pointing this out to me. I always thought he was a conservative-minded, supply-side, free-market idealist but apparently I was mistaken.

I stumbled upon this startling realization by listening to the recent attacks McCain and Palin have levied against Obama's tax plan. His plan calls for raising taxes on the highest bracket (currently at 35%) back to the levels they were at under Clinton (39.6%). McCain and Palin have been quick to decry this as "socialism" and "spreading the wealth around." Obviously it goes without saying that during the Clinton years we were all living under a socialist regime. Fair enough. However, while researching here I was shocked *shocked* to discover that under Reagan (from 82-86) not only did the highest tax bracket have a far higher tax rate (50%), but there were actually 3 brackets that all had higher tax rates than Obama's proposal (44%, 49%, and 50%). And while we're at it we can't let perhaps the biggest socialist of all time, Richard Nixon, off the hook either. Under his tax plans, there were a whopping 14 brackets with higher rates (ranging from 42% to 70%) than under Obama's plan.

OK, so obviously the tongue is planted firmly in cheek here, but I think it illustrates the ridiculousness of this "socialism" accusation. Ever since we have had an income tax (1913) we have had a progressive tax system. By definition, a progressive tax system is a redistribution of wealth mechanism. If you believe that redistribution of wealth is a socialist idea, then it's all socialist and we have in fact been a socialist country for the last 95 years. Personally, I think that's a pretty narrow view to take on it. At it's core, socialism is about collective ownership at the expense of individual property rights and government setting the market price for goods and services. Tax policy has absolutely no effect on the former and only a minor, indirect effect on the latter.

In any case, I have absolutely no beef with someone who supports a flat tax levying the claim of "socialism" at our tax code. What I have a real problem with is the hypocrisy of someone who still supports a progressive tax code (as McCain does) calling another progressive tax code "socialist". If he wants to say "my plan is socialist, but his is more socialist" I could accept that too.

As you might be able to tell, with it being 5 days before the election my hackles are a bit up. It really saddens me that this campaign featured two of the most honest and respectable candidates in our recent history and we still had a campaign that was this nasty. While the Democrats are certainly not blameless, it is mainly the Republicans' fault (but don't take my word for it). Fortunately, while it's never over till it's over, it looks to be shaping up to not be particularly close. Every day more and more Republican insiders are coming out with negative feelings on Palin and her actions, and Republican Congressional candidates are starting to throw McCain under the bus by running ads playing up the angle that you don't want Democrats to control both houses of Congress as well as the Presidency. My sincerest hope is that the Republicans get the thorough ass kicking they deserve on Tuesday so that they are forced to reinvent themselves, throw out the right-wing extremists, and get back to their Reagan-esque roots. When that happens, I will be proud to once again pick up the Republican banner and wave it. Until that day though, I hope they never win another election.