McCain, Palin hint Obama plan is socialist

ST. CHARLES, Mo., Oct. 20 (UPI) -- John McCain and Sarah Palin pressed their attacks on Barack Obama's tax plan Monday, both saying it would "spread the wealth" of U.S. taxpayers.

At a campaign event in St. Charles, Mo., McCain said his Democratic presidential opponent believes in "redistributing wealth -- not in policies that grow our economy and create jobs and opportunities for all Americans," CNN reported.

Palin also criticized Obama's tax plan last weekend and Monday in Colorado Springs, Colo.

"Barack Obama calls it spreading the wealth, Joe Biden calls higher taxes patriotic. Joe the Plumber said it sounded to him like socialism. And now is not the time to experiment with that," the Republican presidential contender said.

Joe "the Plumber" Wurzelbacher gained national notoriety during the presidential debate in which both candidates used him to make their points on tax rates for small businesses.

During the weekend, Palin and Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., a Cuban-American, called Obama's plan socialism with Martinez comparing Obama's plan to the tax structure in communist Cuba, CNN reported.

Obama's tax plan calls for tax relief for 95 percent of U.S. workers and their families. Non-partisan tax policy organizations said 40 percent of Americans don't pay income tax, many of them lower-income wage-earners who file payroll taxes through their employers.

He noted the references to socialism while on the stump.

"Lately, (Senator McCain) and (Alaska) Governor Palin have actually accused me of -- get this -- socialism," Obama said. "It's kind of hard to figure how (millionaire) Warren Buffett endorsed me; (former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman) Colin Powell endorsed me; and John McCain thinks I'm socialist."