Mind Spreading Some Wealth Over Here?
Barack Obama was called a socialist at most every stop the Republican ticket made during the final weeks of the campaign. But when Obama arrives in Washington today for the first time as president-elect, the accused socialist will sit down with the real thing: President Bush.
John McCain said Obama is a socialist because he favors a progressive income tax system in which the rich pay more -- basically the way the tax code has worked for the last century or so. True socialism, however, is when the government owns the means of production - the sort of system the Bush administration has been setting up in its last months.
This morning, the administration announced that it will take a $40 billion ownership stake in AIG, part of $150 billion in taxpayer money going to the insurance giant. This would be the same AIG that, days after its first government bailout was announced earlier this fall, paid for a $440,000 retreat at the St. Regis Resort in California with golf outings and spa treatments.
But the socialism doesn't stop there. With the government already investing tens of billions in the banking industry, the auto industry, the airlines and homebuilders are pleading for their own federal handouts. No doubt all are entitled to some form of government ownership in the United Socialist States of America. But these are not the most deserving industries.
The Post's ombudsman, Deborah Howell, wrote in her column yesterday about a serious "tilt toward Democrat Barack Obama" in its election coverage. And yet the Washington Post Co.'s earnings declined 86 percent in the third quarter. The McCain campaign accused the New York Times of being an arm of the Obama campaign, and yet that company's debt now has junk-bond status.
Surely, the newspaper industry has earned a bailout from the Obama administration for all the favorable coverage it has provided. If the president-elect wants the loving coverage to continue, he should spread a little socialism our way.
-- Dana Milbank
By Dana Milbank |
November 10, 2008; 10:08 AM ET
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Posted by: lostinthemiddle | November 10, 2008 1:48 PM
I was flipping the channels when Faux began gleefully running some statements(or partial statements) by Howell about the Post's tilt. But Faux thinks they are balanced??? We will continue our Post subscription but somehow I don't think that will help your earnings.
Posted by: silverspring25 | November 10, 2008 2:56 PM
Somehow everyone is neglecting what the Democratic Congress has done.... and what they are doing now. Government is corrupt and is getting worse. I've lost all faith. I have also lost all faith in unbiased news reporting... it's scarey because there are too people out there that believe everything they hear and don't take time to think for themselves... of course that takes time and some level of self-education.
Posted by: jbjurstrom | November 10, 2008 6:15 PM
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This made me smile.