Summary of Obama's Ties to Socialism...

[No_Socialism]

1. Obama himself attended socialist conferences in the 1980's and lectured his family after attending these conferences.

"He went to socialist conferences at Cooper Union and African cultural fairs in Brooklyn and started lecturing his relatives until they worried he'd become "one of those freaks you see on the streets around here." "

Source: New York Daily News:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2007...se_stuns_.html

2. Obama attended meetings with the "Chicago Democratic Socialists of America"



From their website: "Our mission is to establish democratic socialism as a political force in the United States and around the world by training and mobilizing socialist activists to participate in a vibrant and diverse socialist organization at both the local and the national level."

In 1996 Barack Obama attended one of their meetings:

"Over three hundred people attended the first of two Town Meetings on Economic Insecurity on February 25 in Ida Noyes Hall at the University of Chicago. Entitled "Employment and Survival in Urban America", the meeting was sponsored by the UofC DSA Youth Section, Chicago DSA and University Democrats. The panelists were Toni Preckwinkle, Alderman of Chicago's 4th Ward; Barack Obama, candidate for the 13th Illinois Senate District; Professor William Julius Wilson, Center for the Study of Urban Inequality at the University of Chicago; Professor Michael Dawson, University of Chicago; and Professor Joseph Schwartz, Temple University and a member of DSA's National Political Committee."

"A true welfare system would provide for medical care, child care and job training. While Barack Obama did not use this term, it sounded very much like the "social wage" approach used by many social democratic labor parties. "

Source: Chicago Democratic Socialists Website:
http://www.chicagodsa.org/index.html
http://www.chicagodsa.org/ngarchive/...hive/ng45.html

3. Obama Endorses Bernie Sanders, the only openly socialist senator in the US Senate.

Obama endorsing Sanders:

"Sanders is the first self-described socialist to be elected to the U.S. Senate."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernie_Sanders

Source: Obama Himself:



4. Obama Speaks at Socialist Leader Saul Mendelson's Funderal

From the Chicago DSA Website: "Saul Mendelson - You joined the Socialist movement at the age of 18. You chaired the Socialist Club at the University of Chicago. You taught and inspired students at DuSable High School. You fought in the civil rights struggles with the NAACP, with CORE, and with the Negro American Labor Council. You have held fast to your belief in democratic socialism."

"At the memorial service held at the 1st Unitarian Church on South Woodlawn, speaker after speaker recounted Saul's contributions. The service was ably MC'd by a retired colleague, Bob Clark. I spoke first and was followed by Saul's friend Deborah Meier, a MacArthur Genius Grant recipient who is now starting a new school in Boston. Amy Isaacs, National Director of the ADA, spoke of what Saul had meant on foreign affairs to the ADA. Other speakers included Senator Carol Moseley Braun, Alderman Toni Preckwinkle, State Senator Barak Obama, Illinois House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie and a good friend from New York, Myra Russell. The concluding remarks were made by an old friend, Harriet Lefley, who is now Professor of Psychology at the University of Miami Medical School."

Source: Chicago Democratic Socialists Website:
http://www.chicagodsa.org/ngarchive/...l#anchor868634

5. The Chicago Democratic Socialists Endorsed Obama

Chicago DSA Endorsements in the March 19th Primary Election

Barack Obama

Source: Chicago Democratic Socialists Website:
http://www.chicagodsa.org/ngarchive/ng45.html

6. Obama Campaign Worker Seen With Communist Cuba Flag Depicting Marxist Che Guevara on it. Other Obama supporters "Che" Sympathizers

For those of you who don't know who Che Guervara is:

"Guevara later served as Minister of Industries, in which post he helped formulate Cuban socialism"
"Guevara played a key role in bringing to Cuba the Soviet nuclear-armed ballistic missiles that precipitated the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962. During an interview with the British newspaper Daily Worker some weeks later, he stated that, if the missiles had been under Cuban control, they would have fired them against major U.S. cities."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Che_Guevara




Many Obama supporters on his website see "Che" as a hero:

http://my.barackobama.com/page/dashboard/public/CjjF
http://my.barackobama.com/page/dashboard/public/CjjF
http://my.barackobama.com/page/dashboard/public/gGJKjv
http://my.barackobama.com/page/dashboard/public/gGB5hc
http://my.barackobama.com/page/dashboard/public/CLmp
http://my.barackobama.com/page/dashboard/public/gGGMQB
http://my.barackobama.com/page/dashboard/public/gG5SSr
http://my.barackobama.com/page/commu...t/marisela/BV3
http://illinois.barackobama.com/page...rd/public/CC8v
http://my.barackobama.com/page/dashboard/public/gYQqz
http://nevada.barackobama.com/page/d.../public/gGVCjm
http://iowa.barackobama.com/page/com...up/IowaHQ/CJQ3
http://my.barackobama.com/page/dashboard/public/gGNXhB
http://my.barackobama.com/page/dashboard/public/gGv3LW

Source: Lone Star Times:
http://lonestartimes.com/2008/02/13/ocf2/

7. Obama Wants to Normalize Relations with Communist/Socialist Cuba

Source: Obama Himself:

(This pizzed off a lot of Cuban Americans that fled from Communist Cuba)

8. Obama's mother attended classes in high school where there was a member of the Communist party on the school board. 2 teachers that highly influenced her life taught about Communism and Marxism.

"In 1955, the chairman of the Mercer Island school board, John Stenhouse, testified before the House Un-American Activities Subcommittee that he had been a member of the Communist Party.
At Mercer High School, two teachers -- Val Foubert and Jim Wichterman -- generated regular parental thunderstorms"
""I had them read 'The Communist Manifesto,' and the parents went nuts," said Wichterman"
"For Stanley Ann, the teachings of Foubert and Wichterman provided an intellectual stimulant"

"Obama called his mother "the dominant figure in my formative years. . . . The values she taught me continue to be my touchstone when it comes to how I go about the world of politics."

Source: Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/p...9.story?page=1

MORE ABOUT DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISTS (The Group that Obama Had Ties to in Chicago):

In its broadest sense, democratic socialism could refer to any attempts to bring about socialism through peaceful democratic means as opposed to violent insurrection.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_socialism

Social democracy is a political ideology that emerged in the late 19th century out of the socialist movement.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_democracy

In general, contemporary social democrats support:

* A mixed economy consisting mainly of private enterprise, but with government owned or subsidized programs of education, healthcare, child care and related services for all citizens.
* Government bodies that regulate private enterprise in the interests of workers, consumers and fair competition.
* Advocacy of fair trade over free trade.
* An extensive system of social security (although usually not to the extent advocated by democratic socialists or other socialist groups), with the stated goal of counteracting the effects of poverty and insuring the citizens against loss of income following illness, unemployment or retirement.
* Moderate to high levels of taxation (through a value-added and/or progressive taxation system) to fund government expenditure.

Social democrats also tend to support:

* Environmental protection laws (although not always to the extent advocated by Greens), such as combating global warming and increasing alternative energy funding.
* Support for immigration and multiculturalism.
* A secular and progressive social policy, although this varies markedly in degree. Most social democrats support gay marriage and abortion rights.
* A foreign policy supporting the promotion of democracy, the protection of human rights and where possible, effective multilateralism.
* As well as human rights, social democrats also support social rights, civil rights and civil liberties.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_democracy

Socialism refers to a broad array of ideologies and political movements with the goal of a socio-economic system in which property and the distribution of wealth are subject to control by the community.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialism



OBAMA POLICIES (BABY STEPS TOWARDS SOCIALISM?)


1. Obama wants to roll back Bush tax cuts and raise taxes even though we are being taxed nearly 600% higher than we were 100 years ago


Year - Tax Burden

1900 5.90%
1910 5.02%
1920 11.96%
1930 11.61%
1940 17.98%
1950 24.87%
1960 27.88%
1970 29.90%
1980 30.68%
1990 30.80%
2000 33.98%
2001 33.01%
2002 30.27%
2003 29.51%
2004 29.69%
2005 31.53%
2006 32.29%
2007 32.69%

Source: Office of Management and Budget; Internal Revenue Service; Congressional Research Service; National Bureau of Economic Research; Tax Foundation.
http://www.taxfoundation.org/taxfreedomday/

2. Obama's Voting Record:

Barak Obama:

Strongly supports an increase in taxes for the wealthiest Americans
Voted NO on raising estate tax exemption to $5 million
Voted NO on supporting permanence of estate tax cuts
Voted NO on permanently repealing "death tax."
Voted NO on repealing the Alternative Minimum Tax
Strongly opposes the reduction of taxes on capital gains
Voted YES on $47B for military by repealing capital gains tax cut
Voted NO on retaining reduced taxes on capital gains and dividends
Voted NO on extending the tax cuts on capital gains and dividends
Supports universal health care which provides access to health care regardless of ability to pay.
Supports increased government spending on health care.
http://glassbooth.org/explore/index/barack-obama/11/

Limit benefits given to recipients if they have additional children while on welfare? Barak Obama: NO
Eliminate government-funded welfare programs? Barak Obama: NO
http://www.vote-smart.org/npat.php?can_id=9490

3. Obama wants Universal Healthcare (Socialized Medicine):

Obama says that his healthcare plan would cost $50-$65 billion per year. However, he also says that he will have "universal healthcare" by the end of his 1st term and he does NOT attach a cost to that that I have seen.
http://www.suntimes.com/news/electio...7obama.article

"Health care spending is 4.3 times the amount spent on national defense"
http://www.nchc.org/facts/cost.shtml

About Obama's Plan: the "costs would be staggering."
- Health Care Expert Stuart Butler of the Heritage Foundation
http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/po...healthcar.html




Obama gets an endorsement from the "Communist Party USA"

"Our Party actively supported Obama during the primary election."
http://www.cpusa.org/article/articleview/858/1/39/

Criticisms of socialism

# 1 Reduced prosperity
# 2 Distorted or absent price signals
# 3 Reduced incentives for workers
# 4 Slow or stagnant technological advance
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticisms_of_socialism

[No_Socialism]

Reagan video of him warning of socialized medicine and socialism:

[diuretic]

Freakily obsesssive.

[DrJohn]

So you're saying that we should vote for Clinton?

[No_Socialism]

So you're saying that we should vote for Clinton?

Clinton also supports socialized medicine. Reagan had some strong warnings about that (from my earlier post)



I say vote for someone who will not raise taxes, not garnish your wages, and will not implement socialized medicine.

And of course if any candidate has close ties to the socialist party or endorses socialist candidates that should be a major concern.

[DragonStryk72]

well then, you also can't vote for anyone who supports the current tax system, which would include McCain.

"Progressive income tax is the foundation of a communist society" -Karl Marx, Communist Manifesto

[No_Socialism]

well then, you also can't vote for anyone who supports the current tax system, which would include McCain.

"Progressive income tax is the foundation of a communist society" -Karl Marx, Communist Manifesto

At least McCain is promising NOT to raise taxes or make the system MORE progressive. I don't like the progressive tax system either. I like the fair tax.

While it is true that McCain won't move things away from a progressive tax, at least he will not make it worse (more progressive and higher).

[Dilloduck]

At least McCain is promising NOT to raise taxes or make the system MORE progressive. I don't like the progressive tax system either. I like the fair tax.

While it is true that McCain won't move things away from a progressive tax, at least he will not make it worse (more progressive and higher).

Just tell us who to vote for and get it over with. I don't think there are a mess of people here just dying to vote for a socialist.

[No_Socialism]

Just tell us who to vote for and get it over with. I don't think there are a mess of people here just dying to vote for a socialist.

As far as taxation and "heading towards socialism" goes, Huckabee, Ron Paul, and even McCain are all better choices than Obama or Clinton. At this point it looks like McCain is the only one who will have a chance of beating Obama or Hillary so that's who I'll have to vote for. McCain is basically keeping the status quo as far as taxation goes (but he did say that he would want a bill that would require a 2/3 majority in congress before raising taxes). Huckabee and Ron Paul propose less progressive tax systems but they pretty much have no shot...

So to answer your question, I will be voting for McCain although he wasn't my 1st (or 2nd or 3rd) choice in the primaries.

[Dilloduck]

As far as taxation and "heading towards socialism" goes, Huckabee, Ron Paul, and even McCain are all better choices than Obama or Clinton. At this point it looks like McCain is the only one who will have a chance of beating Obama or Hillary so that's who I'll have to vote for. McCain is basically keeping the status quo as far as taxation goes (but he did say that he would want a bill that would require a 2/3 majority in congress before raising taxes). Huckabee and Ron Paul propose less progressive tax systems but they pretty much have no shot...

So to answer your question, I will be voting for McCain although he wasn't my 1st (or 2nd or 3rd) choice in the primaries.

I have voted for the lesser of two evils for the last time. These candidates suck and it's embarassing to watch them pander.

[Gaffer]

I'm with Dillo I'm not voting for the lesser of two evils any more.

[No_Socialism]

I have voted for the lesser of two evils for the last time. These candidates suck and it's embarassing to watch them pander.

Ya I'm not doing cartwheels about voting for McCain but I'll do anything to keep the agenda of socialism out of the white house.

[Hayduke]

Thanks for this good information. I feel better about Obama all the time.

Is there supposed to be a problem with Socialism? The US has had a mixed socialist economy since the 1930s, propped up now by massive military spending.

Anything wrong with this?

[No_Socialism]

Thanks for this good information. I feel better about Obama all the time.

Is there supposed to be a problem with Socialism? The US has had a mixed socialist economy since the 1930s, propped up now by massive military spending.

Anything wrong with this?

Criticisms of socialism

# 1 Reduced prosperity
# 2 Distorted or absent price signals
# 3 Reduced incentives for workers
# 4 Slow or stagnant technological advance
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticisms_of_socialism

[diuretic]

Criticisms of socialism

# 1 Reduced prosperity
# 2 Distorted or absent price signals
# 3 Reduced incentives for workers
# 4 Slow or stagnant technological advance
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticisms_of_socialism

If that's a riposte then you missed the point. The word "mixed" was in the response.

I'm pretty sure that pure socialism as an economic theory in abstract an be said to be a nice idea but a failure in practice.

Whilst the US has, I think, the least amount of socialist policies in place in the western world (where we run so-called "mixed" economies) it still hasn't gone 100% free market. That's because while, in theory, free markets are fine, in practice they fail, just like pure socialism. But they fail for different reasons. Where socialism needs the energy of the free markets, the free markets need the humanity of socialism.

Sometimes I think we're just arguing about the mix (I may have said that before).