No evidence Obama is a socialist

There is much in Mr. Don Frost's letter of Dec. 18 that warrants a response. His claim that “in every important and practical detail, Nazis and socialists — far right and far left — are identical.” Not so. Hitler's Nazi Germany was really a fascist dictatorship despite Hitler referring to it as socialist.

As for the practical details, consider that Hitler, unlike the supposed socialist Obama, outlawed all political parties except his own. He also did away with labor unions, save his own. He did away with free democratic elections and he employed a Gestapo secret police. He attacked neighboring countries and persecuted minority groups or anyone who disagreed with him. Unlike Obama's opponents in Congress, Hitler had no opposition from the German Reichstag. He didn't allow it.

If Obama is a socialist, how come the investors of this nation have invested heavily in the stock market since his taking office and have raised the Dow Jones Industrials to over 11,000? Those investors would know that a socialist is opposed to private business and would transfer that responsibility to the government. No investor would put money in a company if he thought the president was going to nationalize it. How come the government is divesting itself of shares of General Motors which were purchased in an attempt to keep the company running and in private hands? A true socialist president would want to run General Motors.

Mr. Frost claims that Obama believes that “it's wrong for anyone to earn more money than anyone else.” When and where did he make this outrageous statement? As for the growing income and asset disparity among Americans, that's a fact. Is that an example of socialism?

James A. Spengler

Palatine