McCain - Palin and their Socialist Deception...

Recently, I was driving to work, and, as I often do, listening to the news on National Public Radio. The journalist was traveling throughout the state of Colorado, and interviewing undecided voters. Recent poll data suggests that a state many have considered a Republican stronghold could actually be up for grabs.I was struck by a comment made by one gentleman in an interview. Although I cannot remember what he said verbatim, I do recall that he mentioned he was undecided, but leaning towards the McCain - Palin ticket. When asked to elaborate on his reasoning, he stated that he felt Obama's Socialist leanings would be bad for America.

As you might imagine, this caught my attention. More than anything, I wished the reporter had followed up by asking the man how he defined Socialism. This would have provided an interesting talking point. According to dictionary.com. "Socialism" is defined as a system "of social organization in which the means of producing and distributing goods (are) owned collectively or controlled by a centralized government that often plans and controls the economy.

Let's quickly examine the labeling of Barack Obama as a socialist. The central premise of this argument is grounded in the notion that Obama wants to "spread around" people's wealth to benefit everyone else. In a recent interview with CNN, Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin was directly asked if she thought Obama was a Socialist. This was her response:

"I'm not going to call him a socialist, but as Joe the plumber has suggested, in fact he came right out and said it, it sounds like socialism to him. And he speaks for so many Americans who are quite concerned now after hearing finally what Barack Obama's true intentions are with his tax and economic plan.”

The most troubling aspect of this quote is not the accusation itself. It is the fact that the concept of socialism has been transformed into a label with absolutely no substantive meaning behind it. It seems there are two forms of Socialism - the kind talked about by the likes of Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro, and the McPalin version. George Shadroi (voting for McCain), who blogs at www.intellectualconservative.com, recently stated that "...if we look at the definition of socialism, the textbook definition, it involves consolidating the means of production into the hands of the government. However liberal he (Obama) may be, there is no indication that Senator Obama plans to nationalize our major industries or centrally run our economy."

Interestingly, upon learning about her past, it seems that both the true definition of socialism AND its McPalin construct can be easily connected to Sarah Palin's record as a governor.

A centerpiece of her sales pitch to America is the notion that she is willing to "take on big oil companies." Soon after she was elected Governor, Palin decided to implement a new tax program that vastly increased taxes on oil production.

Additionally, the state of Alaska's approach to oil royalties is extremely intriguing. Essentially, the law says that Alaskans collectively own the state's energy reserves. Accordingly, permanent residents of the state are able to collect a dividend of these royalties. The government essentially distributes money from oil revenues amongst the state's qualifying populace. Palin has hailed this as a great policy, stating that "...Alaska—we’re set up, unlike other states in the union, where it’s collectively Alaskans own the resources. So we share in the wealth when the development of these resources occurs.”

Finally, Governor Palin has also demonstrated that she will not hesitate to use Alaskan dollars to make big investments in the oil and gas - driven economy. For years, major American oil companies have shown little interest in developing their natural gas - rich land holdings in Alaska. Governor Palin vowed to tap into these fields for the good of her state. However, in order to do this, she did not try to give American companies incentives. Instead, she took the process largely into the state's hands. She decided to split the cost of building a massive natural gas pipeline with a Canadian corporation. Alaskans would fork over half the cost, roughly $500 million dollars.

George Orwell was an astute observer of political language. He once mused that

It becomes ugly and inaccurate because our thoughts are foolish, but the slovenliness of our language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts...Modern English, especially written English, is full of bad habits which spread by imitation and which can be avoided if one is willing to take the necessary trouble. If one gets rid of these habits one can think more clearly, and to think clearly is a necessary first step toward political regeneration.

In short, the McCain - Palin campaign has directly and indirectly muddied the meaning of the word "socialist" to the point where it obscures significant questions about Governor Palin's record. Unfortunately, many Americans have probably not taken the time to really notice them, nor has the American media done a very good job of pointing them out.

To recap;

A) Governor Palin has increased taxes on oil companies.

B) She openly embraces a government - run system in which oil royalties are spread equally among all Alaskans - in essence, a "share the wealth" philosphy under state control.

C) Instead of looking to the American private sector, she openly advocates investing huge sums of tax dollars in building a pipeline that will be an integral part of her state's economic infrastructure.

To borrow from the Governor's own words, I'm not going to call Sarah Palin a socialist, but sometimes, her record sounds an awful lot LIKE socialism.

Hey there, Joe the Plumber. You really ought to pay more attention.