Obama's tax plan is socialist

A lot of Republicans have been implying lately that Barack Obama's tax plan is socialist, and they're right on. Unless you are living under a rock, you probably know that Obama says he will cut taxes for 95% of Americans, and only people making over $250,000 a year will have their taxes increased. What Obama isn't telling anyone is that 40% of Americans don't pay any income taxes at all. Obama will give these people a "tax cut" simply by giving them free money. Where's this free money going to come from? The other 60%, of course.

I have seen some pretty terrible arguments trying to defend Obama's tax plan. First of all, a lot of people merely say that Obama wants to spread the wealth, but this does not mean he is socialist.

I agree that an America under Obama would not necessarily be a socialist country, since socialism is defined as "a theory or system of social organization that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole" (Dictionary.com). Making the tax system more progressive would not be enough to be considered socialism in itself. But it would make America more socialist than it is now. For libertarians like me who want America to be as un-socialist as possible, Obama's tax plan is taking the country in a direction we don't want it to go.

Another horrible argument is that if Obama's tax plan is socialist, America has been a socialist country since 1913, when the 16th Amendment was passed, giving Congress the authority to levy an income tax. In other words, since the graduated income tax system has existed for a long time, it must be good. Since when does how long something has existed have to do with how good or bad it is? Liberals are entirely right that America stopped being a purely capitalist country with the advent of the income tax. They are wrong when they claim that this is okay. I personally support the abolition of the 16th Amendment. At the very least, the tax system needs to become less progressive and instead more fair, in other words closer to a lump sum tax, which is, in my opinion, the fairest kind of tax.

Obama's tax plan, although not socialist in the absolute sense, is more socialist than the tax system we have now. I think our tax system is too socialist the way it is, and Obama, if elected, would make it even worse.