海角大神

Want to set a conservative鈥檚 hair on fire? Just mention redistribution of wealth and watch the fireworks. It happened Sunday when Barack Obama was canvassing a neighborhood in Toledo, Ohio.

Fox News cameras were there and (which is now all over the Web) between a self-employed plumber named Joe Wurzelbacher and Obama.

More taxes?

Wurzelbacher explained that by working hard (10-12 hours a day) he was in a position to buy a business. If he bought a truck and expanded the business, he wondered if his success would be greeted by a penalty in the form of higher taxes.

鈥淵our new tax plan is going to tax me more, isn鈥檛 it?鈥� Wurzlebacher asked.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not that I want to punish your success,鈥� Obama explained. 鈥淚 just want to make sure that everybody who is behind you, that they鈥檝e got a chance for success too. My attitude is that if the economy鈥檚 good for folks from the bottom up, it鈥檚 gonna be good for everybody 鈥� I think when you spread the wealth around, it鈥檚 good for everybody.鈥�

The common good

Spread the wealth around.聽 That can mean many things. It could mean a rising tide lifts all boats. But it could also mean government taking from one group of people (the people who earned it) and giving it to those who did not.

This is what Obama detractors are saying his tax plan is all about. And many are wondering why the McCain campaign isn鈥檛 being more vocal about this. They contend Obama鈥檚 policy proposals are damning enough. Forget Bill Ayers, they say, go after his policy.

The Journal

In the context of the Democratic nominee鈥檚 conversation with the plumber (video below), many blogs are linking to a yesterday that charges that Obama鈥檚 tax plan isn鈥檛 what it sounds. They say it鈥檚 a big gimmick:

One of Barack Obama鈥檚 most potent campaign claims is that he鈥檒l cut taxes for no less than 95% of 鈥渨orking families.鈥� He鈥檚 even promising to cut taxes enough that the government鈥檚 tax share of GDP will be no more than 18.2% 鈥� which is lower than it is today.

It鈥檚 a clever pitch, because it lets him pose as a middle-class tax cutter while disguising that he鈥檚 also proposing one of the largest tax increases ever on the other 5%. But how does he conjure this miracle, especially since more than a third of all Americans already pay no income taxes at all? There are several sleights of hand, but the most creative is to redefine the meaning of 鈥渢ax cut.鈥�

For the Obama Democrats, a tax cut is no longer letting you keep more of what you earn. In their lexicon, a tax cut includes tens of billions of dollars in government handouts that are disguised by the phrase 鈥渢ax credit.鈥� Mr. Obama is proposing to create or expand no fewer than seven such credits for individuals.

No preconditions

Not surprisingly, the McCain campaign agrees with that assessment in a sarcastically toned statement:

鈥淚f Barack Obama鈥檚 goal as President is to 鈥檚pread the wealth around,鈥� perhaps his unconditional meetings with Hugo Chavez, Raul Castro, and Kim Jong-Il aren鈥檛 so crazy 鈥� if nothing else they can advise an Obama administration on economic policy,鈥� a McCain spokesman told Fox News.

Agreed

calls Obama鈥檚 tax proposals straight up 鈥渟ocialism.鈥�

John McCain is reportedly considering a broad, simple capital gains tax cut. An across-the-board cut would be a real middle-class rescue, focused on generating new private sector employment 鈥� the proven way of 鈥渟preading the wealth around,鈥� a concept which Obama, with his deftly disguised socialism, cannot grasp.

Blogosphere erupts

They aren鈥檛 the only ones calling it socialism. The conservative blogosphere regards the Fox video as manna from heaven. This is something they say empirically shows Obama is in favor of redistribution of wealth.

There鈥檚 the blunt and simplistic approach from : 鈥淥bama is a socialist. I have said it before.鈥�

doesn鈥檛 have a lot to say about it, but we鈥檙e assuming that she isn鈥檛 a fan of the Obama tax proposal, which she denigrates.

Over at the this is the view:

Welcome to Barack Obama鈥檚 new America, it鈥檚 called redistribution of wealth and his tax cuts for 95% of America is nothing more than Government welfare for people that don鈥檛 pay taxes at all. Haven鈥檛 we already been down this path ? This was done in the 70鈥檚 and the Democrats are bent on bringing it back. Only can today鈥檚 鈥減rogressive鈥� see fit to cater to the 鈥漰arasite class鈥� and bury the American worker further. Mission almost accomplished.

goes right to the author of The Communist Manifesto:

Ahhhh - income redistribution. Take from those that have and give it to those who don鈥檛. Make sure everyone has an equal piece of the pie. In the words of Karl Marx, 鈥楩rom each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs.鈥�

One of our readers commenting on another story writes:

Obama has stated today that 鈥榟e wants to spread the wealth around鈥�. At least now he is honest about his redistribution of wealth ideology.

鈥淭he inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.鈥� - Winston Churchill

T minus 21

As for the traditional media, there鈥檚 not a lot out there. But Obama鈥檚 comments 鈥� far from JFK鈥檚 鈥渁 rising tide lifts all boats鈥� statement 鈥� have started a buzz in blogland. Whether it catches on and McCain latches on to it, we鈥檒l have to wait. There鈥檚 not a lot of time left.