Obama: Opposition to socialism equals “selfishness”

Wow. Just wow (h/t: GP):

On the stump this week, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., has pushed back against Sen. John McCain’s description of his tax policies.

“The reason that we want to do this, change our tax code, is not because I have anything against the rich,” Obama said in Sarasota, Florida, yesterday. “I love rich people! I want all of you to be rich. Go for it. That’s the America dream, that’s the American way, that’s terrific.

“The point is, though, that — and it’s not just charity, it’s not just that I want to help the middle class and working people who are trying to get in the middle class — it’s that when we actually make sure that everybody’s got a shot Γ’β‚¬β€œ when young people can all go to college, when everybody’s got decent health care, when everybody’s got a little more money at the end of the month Γ’β‚¬β€œ then guess what? Everybody starts spending that money, they decide maybe I can afford a new car, maybe I can afford a computer for my child. They can buy the products and services that businesses are selling and everybody is better off. All boats rise. That’s what happened in the 1990s, that’s what we need to restore. And that’s what I’m gonna do as president of the United States of America.

“John McCain and Sarah Palin they call this socialistic,” Obama continued. “You know I don’t know when, when they decided they wanted to make a virtue out of selfishness.”

Here’s the video:

If the McCain campaign doesn’t saturate the airwaves with this this weekend, they’re crazy.

Jennifer Rubin responds:

Aside from insulting voters who think it isn’t selfish to use their own money to build businesses, raise children, and give to charity (ask Joe Biden about that!), his formulation shows an appalling lack of understanding about how people get rich. The government is going to give people goodies and then they’ll have more money to spend? Wow. Who knew it could be so easy? No working, earning, saving, building businesses, hiring more people, investing and the like. Money just comes from thin air, from the government.

Yeah, and not only are you “selfish” if you oppose socialism, you’re not being sufficiently “patriotic”, either.

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