For the Record: President Obama is Not a Socialist

There are few things that hinder the progress of society more than the spreading of misinformation and downright lies. Take this one, for example:

"President Obama is a Socialist."

Republicans, along with the right-wing media, have been upchucking this phrase throughout his campaign and presidency.

Which is funny, because the last time I checked, Obama didn't run for the Socialist Party USA. He ran for Democrat.

If Obama was a "Socialist," why doesn't America's Socialist Party even recognize him as one? Quite to the contrary, they regard him as huge a supporter for capitalistic ideals as any other non-Socialist president.

Why else would he go to great lengths to save failing American businesses like banks, insurance companies and auto makers—with the public's money, no less? Would it be because he's a Socialist, the likes of which do not believe in a private sector? I think not.

So he wants to tax the rich more and the poor less. One might think that a Socialist would surely do this. But taxing the rich an additional 3% isn't going to shut down the private sector. At the end of the day, Americans are still living in a capitalist society, perhaps one that provides greater economic opportunity for more people—not just 5% of the population.

President Obama is a lot of things: the words progressive, liberal, reformer come to mind. But he's certainty not a Socialist disguised as a Democrat. Any attempt to convince people otherwise is the sort of desperate attack that tries to win points by spreading lies—akin to accusations that he was a terrorist during the '08 campaign.

It's easy to throw the word Socialist around. The hard thing to do would be to look up what Socialism actually meant and really see (as opposed to getting spoon-fed by desperate republicans) what's going on here.