Is John McCain a socialist?

Central to the McCain/Palin campaign’s rhetoric lately has been the allegation that Barack Obama is a socialist (which, sadly, is something of a four-letter word). Their evidence: Obama’s encounter with the now famous “Joe the Plumber,” wherein Obama explained to Joe that the point of his economic plan, and by extension the progressive tax and the liberal welfare state, was to help bring up those “behind” Joe. Obama’s misstep was using the (honest) phrase, “spread the wealth around.” McCain has used this soundbite to justify labeling Obama with the scarlet letter ‘S.’

Yet John McCain embraces the same “socialist” principle:

Here is the relevant soundbite:<blockquote>When you reach a certain level of comfort, there’s nothing wrong with paying somewhat more.</blockquote>

If John McCain believes Barack Obama is a socialist, then he too is a socialist – it’s the very same principle. (For the record, I don’t believe either is a socialist. And I believe soundbite politics insults our intelligence.)

I tip my hat to Daniel Miessler for posting about this.