Fascist or Socialist?

One problem with name-calling is that the name-callers often don't know what they're talking about. One example that caught Southern Man's idea the other day was a speech in which RNC chairman Michael Steele referred to Our Glorious Leader's health-care proposals as "socialism."

Now, Southern Man isn't surprised that the party with which he as voted since earning his franchise is led by idiots but he does wish that they'd get their name-calling straight. Under a socialist regime, the government both owns and controls businesses; for example, General Motors and Citibank are now effectively owned by the government and thus have been socialized. Fascists exert control but don't have actual ownership. In the proposed health care system the government would make the rules but not own the system, so the proposal plans are fascist rather than socialist. Please take note, Mr. Steele, and call it what it really is.

An economic system in which you work and which consumes all of your resources but in which you don't own any assets or exert any control is called "marriage."