Free Republic

Is Barack Obama a socialist? A Marxist? It is hard to believe that question could even be seriously asked of a major party political candidate. Nevertheless, there have been a few times that voters have gotten a glimpse of Obama in unguarded moments. Glimmers that remind me of the left-wing academic whom I ran into a number of times while we were both at the University of Chicago Law School. — When Charlie Gibson asked Obama in April why he supported higher capital gains taxes, even if that meant less government revenue and thus less money to give to those...

Would Obama, Dems Kill 401(k) Plans? October 23, 2008 10:47 AM ET | James Pethokoukis | I hate to use the "S" word, but the American government would never do something as, well, socialist as seize private pension funds, right? This is exactly what cash-strapped Argentina just did in the name of protecting workers' retirement accounts (Efharisto, Fausta's Blog). Now, even Uncle Sam isn't that stupid, but some Democrats might try something almost as loopy: kill 401(k) plans. House Democrats recently invited Teresa Ghilarducci, a professor at the New School of Social Research, to testify before a subcommittee on her...

Sen. John McCain on Monday labeled his Democratic presidential opponent "the redistributor," saying a newly revealed Chicago radio interview from 2001 exposes Mr. Obama's plan for the nation. In the WBEZ interview, Mr. Obama, discussing the courts, social issues and economic wealth, talked about the missed opportunities during the civil rights movement for "redistributive change." "He believes in redistributing wealth, not in policies that grow our economy and create jobs," Mr. McCain told supporters in Dayton, Ohio, quoting a chunk of Mr. Obama's interview to the audience.