And for the record, I have no doubt myself and
@jon_mx (and a myriad of others) could have a good conversation around what "socialism" is in this country today and I'm also willing to bet we'd agree more than we disagree.
For example:
The principle philosophy here, I don't disagree with. I simply disagree with the components used. So, for me, the dollar amounts don't matter. It could be $1 or $500 or $5,000,000. Ignoring the textbook definition and going with "what socialism really means in today's terms", I'd suggest that any time a group of people get a "cut" that then falls on the backs of another group of people, that's socialism. Any time people get an "increase" and the slack of that "increase" isn't picked up by the rest, that's also socialism. So, to me, when taxes are slashed for the really rich and it's left to the rest of the country's tax payers in the form of "national debt/deficits", that's a socialistic move. When taxes are raised ONLY on the rich, that too is socialistic, IF those tax dollars aren't simply spent on "stuff" rather than paying down the debt. If those dollars raised by increasing taxes are simply spent on other stuff, then it becomes "raising taxes on people to buy more stuff"....that's not really socialistic IMO. That's just irresponsibility being paid for by the rich.
There's a ton of gray area when we start straying from the core principles of socialism, but straying from those core principles is the only way people can convince others that "socialism" even exists in some meaningful way here in this country. If it doesn't really exist, then the term can't be framed in the fear mongering way it is. It's my belief that the term will pretty much be phased out by the time my kids are adults. The only people that associate fear to socialism anymore are those who were around during the times where legit socialism existed. The baby boomers are falling by the wayside. However, until that tipping point is reached we'll still get the "Oh, that's how it starts!!!!!!!!!" and "It doesn't happen overnight....they lull you to sleep and BAM, you're a socialistic society" shtick we hear from the fear mongers.