Is Obama a socialist?

June 16, 10:07 AMPortland Progressive ExaminerMichael Stone

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Is President Obama a socialist? Republicans want you to think so. The GOP is mounting a propaganda campaign to play on Americans' fears of government overreach and economic uncertainties, a fear that President Barack Obama is nationalizing American industry and socializing medicine.

The GOP is trying to develop the socialism charge as a wedge issue in the national debate over how to repair the economy and expand health insurance. It's a strategy they hope will pay off in campaigns for Congress next year and, in the process, help take the wildly popular President down a peg or two.

Democrats dismiss the tactic as conservative sloganeering, a desperate attempt to reverse popular opinion. Outnumbered, Republicans are trying to tap into negative public attitudes toward "socialism" and taxpayer bailouts. The party of "no" is looking for fresh recruits to sing in the chorus.

The tactic is cowardly, and reveals the intellectual and moral poverty of the GOP. With nothing positive or constructive to offer the nation, Republicans are content to oppose real change, even though the status quo is simply untenable with regards to the health of our nation.

The GOP is portraying the health care effort and government bailouts as two faces of a dangerous governmental activism by Obama and a the Democratic Congress. Yet when making the case against Obama and the Democrats, Republicans fail to mention that the bailouts and nationalizations were begun under the Republican administration of George W. Bush.

Nevertheless, it looks as if the GOP will follow the radical right wing fringe in trying to make the charge of socialism stick. Yet the Republicans may be overplaying their hand by banking on the fear generating power of "socialism". The word "socialism" may not evoke the same degree of alarm among Americans as it once did, especially among younger voters.

Indeed, Socialism is at bottom the belief that capitalism unfairly concentrates power and wealth among a small segment of society; Socialism is a recognition that capitalism creates a flawed, unfair and unequal society. Socialism simply advocates for the creation of a society in which wealth, power and opportunity are distributed more evenly.

In real world terms, socialism is simply an expression that human beings should be treated with dignity, and afforded the simple necessities of life: nutrition, housing, medical care. A subtle, egalitarian redistribution of wealth would lead to the transformation of society, a society where everyone could be proud, a society free of the specter of homelessness, children living in poverty, and millions of Americans denied access to health care.