Palin: Obama's Tax Plans Could Mean Nightmare Communist State

Sarah Palin had a few memorable moments during her campaign stop in Des Moines, Iowa, on Saturday. But the most eye-opening of them all came, it would appear, when the Alaska Governor somehow drew a connection between Barack Obama's tax policy and an encroaching, nightmarish, communist government. The Illinois Democrat, she hysterically suggested, would, through his proposals, create a country "where the people are not free."

"See, under a big government, more tax agenda, what you thought was yours would really start belonging to somebody else, to everybody else. If you thought your income, your property, your inventory, your investments were, were yours, they would really collectively belong to everybody. Obama, Barack Obama has an ideological commitment to higher taxes, and I say this based on his record... Higher taxes, more government, misusing the power to tax leads to government moving into the role of some believing that government then has to take care of us. And government kind of moving into the role as the other half of our family, making decisions for us. Now, they do this in other countries where the people are not free. Let us fight for what is right. John McCain and I, we will put our trust in you."

That yarn goes well beyond what Palin and McCain have, to this point, been comfortable asserting: mainly that Obama is proposing economic socialism. But there are a few things to keep in mind here: the McCain-Palin ticket does not oppose a progressive tax system. In fact, back in 2000, the Arizona Republican said rich people paid more in taxes because they could afford to do so.

"I think the first people who deserve a tax cut are working Americans with children that need to educate their children," he said, "and they're the ones that I would support tax cuts for first."

More importantly, Obama's tax plans are less progressive than those in place during the Clinton years. In fact, the rates that people making over $250,000 would have to pay would be the same as during the 1990s -- a time definitely not marked by the absence of freedoms.

Comments

[radnip]

Wow, Reagan and Clinton are communists. I had no idea. Go Sarah!

Without and her supporters, this would be a dull, dull campaign.

[lindajoy]

EITC - Reagan loved it, Bush loved it, Clinton loved it.... But no one loves it the way business loves it.

I support it, but I wish folks understood that the earned income tax credit is a corporate subsidy, not a welfare giveaway. Corporations can continue to pay low wages - not living wages.

So, please, let's stop letting McCain - a staunch SUPPORTER of EITC's and Sarah Palin - Alaska owns the oil resources and redistributes the wealth to the citizens (ala Marx) - call this redistribution of wealth, communist, socialist, or heaven knows what. They love EITF cause it let's them vote against increases in minimum wages, and they believe it creates jobs. This repub ticket is a total whack job.

[princessofnowt]

The more I see these socialism ads and bits on MSM, the more I think----
Taxing the rich to get back the money they STOLE and CONNED Americans (the world?)
may not be enough.

If they are going to call that socialism/ marxism whatever to FOOL and CON the ones who are still THAT gullible- they need to be PROSECUTED and made to GIVE BACK THE MONEY THEY STOLE.

Forget taxing to get it back. Seriously. Shut up already, you liars and thieves.

They need to be exposed so nobody believes them and falls for this EVER again.

[DAE]

Hey, why not give them a real dose of socialism and confiscate their unearned wealth. Rather than an earned income tax credit how about an unearned income tax! Why should these bankers, financiers, and other parasites be making their million dollar bonuses and billion dollar incomes when the companies and corporations they run are tanking? If they think the Democrats are socialists just wait until the s_hit really hits the fan.

[JustLynn]

Senator McCain collects Social Security...isnt that socialism? He has government provided health care coverage...isnt that Socialism? He voted YES for this debacle of a bailout for Wall Street...isnt that Socialism.... public schools...socialist....and on and on and on....why is Socialism bad only when the middle class is the recipient of the benefits instead of the donkey carrying the load?

[ladydriver]

Does anyone have a link for McCain collecting SS? I want to see that for myself. Not that I don't believe you, but it seems so wrong for him to be collecting when he's married to a millionairess, and getting paid for being in the senate. Like he needs the money? He makes me sick.

[pipp]

Every time this woman gets her fanatical frenzy on, she reminds me of the mean head mistress character, of an all girl's seminary in the late 1930's Shirley Temple movie, "The Little Princess". Particularly the scene where Shirley is being heavily bullied by this woman and falls asleep and dreams of this horrid woman as the town witchy and dangerous gossip monger. Saturday's speech has Palin right there channeling this same horrid do-badder.

[moonwatcher]

The McCain/Palin ticket has been saying that Obama is a communist. From what I can see it is not communist that have been trying to stop voters from voting. It is not communists that have been spying on Americans. Last night I watched as business commentators told us that they were capitalist and they needed more capital. That is why they needed more tax cuts. What has been happening the last eight years? Don't they have enough capital now? It was too bad about the lay offs. People will just have to suck it up. As Graham said, stop your whining. Udall said Obama's plan is wrong. He's throwing money at the problem. Others said we shouldn't bail out GM and Chrysler. We should rely on foreign automobile countries. Just what is America producing now a days?. What is happening to our industrial complexes and our workers? Apparently, banks can be socialized but the American worker is out of luck. I believe in capitalism but I believe it must have regulations and compassion and care for the worker. Loosing a job is an economic tragedy for most people. We can learn from capitalism critics. Religion is the opiate of the people. Capitalism must have constant war. I think some of these critics are correct.

[Artemis34]

What I can't believe is that conservatives have the nerve to mention "transfer of wealth" after they have presided over the biggest "transfer of wealth" by looting the national treasury to line the pockets of their friends. And they haven't just robbed us of our past wealth, but they rob us of our future wealth as well with the growing national debt.

So, in summary, they don't believe that "transfer of wealth" is bad. It is only bad if it benefits anyone below the top 1/10th of 1% in wealth. "Redistiribution of wealth" is okay as long as it goes from working people to the already extremely rich.

And they aren't opposed to taxes that serve the private good (rather than the public good). Taxes used for "no bid" contracts to contractors that deliver little or no value but are paid. They aren't opposed to social security tax as long as they can loot that too and turn over our national wealth to their friends on Wall St.

[steve52]

The Republicans are desperate. Red baiting, race baiting, outlandish lies, all are legitimate tactics for the end game that they know they will lose regardless. The lower they go, the more they damage their already wounded party.

I can hardly wait for the circular firing squad to start in earnest, an event that will begin Nov 5. It's gonna be ugly. Pass the popcorn!

[LJA]

Why the panic about Obama wanting to increase taxes on the rich? He wants to bring them up as during the Clinton’s presidency. Was Clinton a socialist then? This word has been thrown around without a real knowledge of the meaning. These are dirty tactics and negative ploys that are no longer working. The majority of the American people are more intelligent than you think.

[geedafotus]

There is no comparison between Clinton and Obama. I wasn't a fan of Clinton but would take him back in a minute to keep Obama out of the White House. He at least repected the Constitution something Obama does not.

In a report on Government spending this is what was found. Overall, we find that America's lowest-earning one-fifth of households received roughly $8.21 in government spending (benefits) for each dollar of taxes paid in 2004. Households with middle-incomes received $1.30 per tax dollar, and America's highest-earning households received $0.41. of Government spending

The statistics on income taxes are as followers in 2006 the Top 25% of tax payers paid 86.27% of all Federal income tax. So it makes sense that when you cut tax or a rebate the top 25% of tax payers get the benefit because they paid the most in the first place. Why would someone think they should get an equal share back when they paid little or nothing in the first place. Never mind, I get it, their Democrat liberals that don’t understand how it works.

[moonwatcher]

The top 25 percent of income people have more than 86 percent of the wealth of the country and should be paying 86 per cent of the taxes.

[jevans1729]

The thing I find most amazing about this whole discussion is that the wealthy have ALWAYS paid more in taxes. I find it also amazing that such staunch Republicans as George H.W. Bush raised taxes, (remember read my lips?) and the great Ronald Reagan raised taxes. (Payroll taxes) Yet no one called them communists or socialists. It should be noted that at one time the top tax rate in this country was over 90% and that was during a Republican administration!!! (Eisenhower) So now how did Obama get to be the socialist/communist again?

[DAE]

Oh cry me a river! The rich whiners are going to go on strike if they can't have their cake and eat it too. How much disposable income does someone making $250,000 have after deducting the expenses that someone making $60,000 would spend for food, clothes and shelter? Well the typical American has none. The millionaires and billionaires are doing just fine thank you.

[LJA]

Michele Obama is a classy lady! She never said one bad word against, Palin, Hillary, Cindy or Jon McCain. All you hear from Cindy and Plain are personal attacks on Barack Obama and negative innuendos against Michele. What a difference! No wander people are flocking to Obama. They want a positive attitude, not divisive and snobbish attitudes.

[LJA]

Why the panic about Obama wanting to increase taxes on the rich? He wants to bring them up as during the Clinton’s presidency. Was Clinton a socialist then? This word has been thrown around without a real knowledge of the meaning. These are dirty tactics and negative ploys that are no longer working. The majority of the American people are more intelligent than you think.

I must also add that Michele Obama is a classy lady! She never said one bad word against, Palin, Hillary, Cindy or Jon McCain. All you hear from Cindy and Plain are personal attacks on Barack Obama and negative innuendos against Michele. What a difference! No wander people are flocking to Obama. They want a positive attitude, not divisive and snobbish attitudes.

[Debbie1996]

Let me try again for those who can't read the tax tables I posted - Under Clinton - everyone's taxes were higher. Bush lowered the tax rates for everyone - introducing a more progressive system which resulted in the bottom 40% of American's paying NO INCOME Taxes. Now Obama would like to reintroduce Clinton's top rate and send checks to people who pay NO INCOME TAXES. And no thi is not the same as Clinton where the bottom quintile may have received a net tax credit the next quintile had a total tax burden of 1.5%.

[pipp]

So?

[idaresay]

Obviously the arena here is very sensitive to some threads of free speech... not all forms of speech are free to be disseminated... I do see much questionable language and extraordinarily abusive comments as long as they are about republicans, or McCain, or Palin, and their type... so after having been taken down on my very first comment... I will try to be much more sensitive to the views that are espoused by the obviously highly educated participants on this site... you have my apology... and for now I would leave you with the following thoughts on Obama's tax plan at risk of developing a communist or socialist society:

You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away men's initiative
and independence.
You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and
should, do for themselves.
- A.L.

[Heddie]

I would rather live in a peaceful , progressive socialist country than a monomaniacal
fundamentalist "christian' military, war worshiping theocracy any day.

[luckyrico1]

me too.

[Debbie1996]

Are those are only choices?

[Missouri22250]

If you create a country like that you won't be living peaceful very long before somebody realized how weak it is and takes it over. Do you even know what a theocracy is?, this country is not even close to a theocracy.

[Artemis34]

According to Webster, a theocracy is "government of a state by immediate divine guidance" and George Bush says G-d is talking to him, so I'd say we have a fit.

http://mw1.m-w.com/dictionary/theocracy

There are many conservatives that would like to see their so-called christian views enshrined in law and have been successful in some cases. For example, you can be a US service woman raped on the battlefield and not have access to the "morning after pill" because someone else, in the government, thinks it is wrong based on their religion, not yours. This is the action of a theocracy.

Real democracies protect the rights of minorities, including those who are distained, even reviled, by the majority. This is not the case in the conservative view of America.

[Artemis34]

If Democrats are "socialist" then Republicans are "antisocialist!"

[luckyrico1]

Palin has run her state in a very "socialist" way by collecting royalties from oil companies and being the largest feeder at the earmarks feeding trough. She then cuts a check out of the Alaska state budget for every man, woman and child.

Sarah, tell your adoring "socialist-haters" what you've done for the sate of Alaska and how you managed to do it. Without the socialist "redistributing of wealth" fro the lower 48, you'd never have gotten that new sewage system for your little town of Wasilla.

Go home, Sarah. Alaska wants you and your kids need to go to school.

[Debbie1996]

- Forcing companies to compensate for the resources owned by the citizens isn't socialism -

[luckyrico1]

Don't you think if she really believed in "Country First", she would have sent the surplus back the the lower 48 (federal deficit)? "Owned by citizens" doesn't that include the rest of the country since the oil is on federal lands?

[sasidechick]

I agree with you. Alaskans pay no property tax, income tax or sales tax that I know of. She had no problem hiring Ted Stevens' lobbyist to score Wasilla some more $$.

I don't understand how a state requires no taxes from its citizens but expects the FEDERAL government to pay for things. I have to pay state income tax, city income tax, county sales tax, county property tax, etc. but Alaskans pay none of those. They get CHECKS FROM THEIR STATE for every man, woman and child because of the oil revenue. So, not only don't they pay taxes, they get refunds from the state.

Why should I subsidize ANYTHING in Alaska? When you start paying your FAIR SHARE of local taxes, then you can line up at the federal trough like the rest of the states.

[BoulderSue]

That woman is way over the top! She knows nothing about communism, socialism or liberalism, has she has not read Marx or anything about him.
My Granparent fled then Communist Ukraine. Later an uncle and family came from then Czechoslovakia during the "Prague Spring", and told us plenty about Communism. But what they told us had NOTHING remotely resembling tax plans. Barack's plan is simply a version of what we already have had forever, called progressive income tax..
Strangely Sarah uses some pretty "communistic" language describing Alaskans "collective" hold on the state's resources. A communist leaning state in our country? The reason the Alaskan Independence Party wants to secede? That makes as much sense as calling Barack's ideas "communist". Does she understand liberal European DEMOCRACIES? NOOO! Does she understand that in Marx's model, the workers rebel, overthrowing capitalist masters jumping directly to Marxist Communism? No in-between socialism, a whole different animal. Some postings here correctly point out aspects of our society that could be loosely termed socialist: Social Security/Medicare, two of the most successful government programs ever! And of course there"s infrastructure, public schools, fire/ police departments, things the government does for us we cannot do ourselves. The biggest government program? The military.
If anyone is looking for nightmare scenarios, read Jane Mayer's "The Dark Side", finalist in this year's National Book Awards. Enough nightmares in there to make you wonder what country originated them: ours, Nothing to do with taxation.
The lady needs an education.

[geedafotus]

You're right what we need is Robin Hood to ride in and steal from the rich and give to the poor. I don't think anything about a progressive tax plan is fair as you seem to think. It should be elliminated along with any other government impediment to getting ahead. Before the tax rate was lowered to at least a managable rate I can tell you stories of whole factories being closed down months on end by the owners just to keep from going into a higher tax bracket. Now that's not good for the workers, economy, or the IRS but it is an unintended consequence of a progessive tax system. And believe me it happend a lot more than you can imagine.

[jevans1729]

Geedafotus

So what did the businesses do under Eisenhower when the highest tax rate was over 90% under Eisenhower? How about 70% under Johnson? Now you want to cry about 39% Please, we amassed more welath at a 39% tax rate than at any other time in our history. Give it a rest.

[lindajoy]

"That woman is way over the top! She knows nothing about communism, socialism or liberalism, has she has not read Marx or anything about him."

Um, no, she has not.