WW II facists were hardly socialist

In a June 8 letter, Jim Vanne made several outlandish claims that can only be described as an outright butchery of history. The most egregious of his claims was the assertion that the fascist governments of Germany and Italy during World War II were socialist entities.

Though it has become fashionable to use “socialist” and “fascist” together, they are two completely different political ideologies. Purposely confusing these facts is like spitting in the faces of veterans and victims of the war. Mr. Vanne also incorrectly stated that our “real debt” was $70 trillion. The true figure is $14.32 trillion as of May 6. As a percentage of GDP, the debt is still lower than the years following WW II.

This is despite America suffering the greatest economic collapse since the Great Depression, two of the longest foreign military campaigns in US history, and with federal income tax rates lower than during the Great Depression.

Rescinding the Bush tax cuts would easily bring yearly deficits to manageable levels without sacrificing social programs. Somehow, I don’t think Karl Marx would agree that raising the top tax bracket from 36 percent to 39 percent is socialism. The Nazis routinely marched into villages, made people dig their graves and gunned them down.

To say that somehow anything going on in today’s debate could in any way be compared to those horrific events is a travesty. It has come to the point where we should consider a purposeful misrepresentation or misuse of any of the facts of WW II to be the moral equivalent of denying the existence of the Holocaust. I suppose it is possible Mr. Vanne is grossly misinformed rather than attempting to perpetrate a campaign of misinformation. But it is still the responsibility of any person to verify facts they present in support of their argument.

Sava Matevich

Naperville