Hey Patti
Welcome to the thread, and enjoy the discussion!
I want to avoid getting into discussion here, as I know I don't know enough of the detail, and I also don't have the time to get into it as carefully as some posters, but I did want to comment on the use of language and 'labels':
Why people can't see he is a Socialist with exrremely dangerous connections who is dangerous for this country i just don't understand.
I'm not going to get into the 'dangerous connections' bit; others are talking about that and I really am not qualified to comment. But on the 'socialist' thing... no. Obama is not a socialist. He wouldn't even be considered as a social democrat. In some of his policies, he's to the right of Bill Clinton, who was not a social democrat in European terms.
Obama clearly believes in the provision of a state safety-net, and you'd be hard-pushed to find many Republicans who disagree with the principle there. He talks about some redistribution of wealth and about using the tax system to accomplish that, and of course redistribution is a socialist principle. Even conservatives aren't opposed in principle to redistribution, however: that's what a progressive tax system (one where you pay a greater % of your marginal income in tax the more your income increases) is for. The 'trickle-down' theory of Reaganomics is also redistributive; however, experience has shown that it just doesn't work - as Ann commented, the gap between rich and poor has widened significantly over the past 25 or so years. What she didn't say is that this is a relationship - between the top and bottom deciles in the income scale - which had remained relatively stable for over 100 years.
Anyway, Obama's not a socialist.
- and, for some commenters here, 'socialism' isn't a dirty word! Just as an added note, socialism is not the same as communism; I sometimes get the feeling that people see them as the same. Communism is complete State control. Under a socialist government, private industry can and does exist - see France for many years. The Labour Party in Britain, in power for the past 10 or so years, is not a socialist party; they now call themselves social democrats, not even democratic socialists. Obama would be to the right of the Labour Party and probably closer, in political philosophy, to the British Conservative Party.
Wendy
