How to handle the Democrat equals Communist Bull Shit:

[Ocelot II]

91. Yes, but the whole point is to avoid calling any of it socialism,

because it isn't socialism. Socialism is an economic system in which the government owns and controls the means of production and distribution, and we don't have that. What we have is a capitalist system in which some functions are managed by the government using money paid into it by taxpayers. Even so, the government does not own or control many of those functions; it pays private businesses to build roads, for example, because it is less efficient and cost effective for a government to own and assume the costs of all the aspects of road construction than it is to hire private contractors to do it. Health care, even that which is currently subsidized by the government (e.g., Medicare), is not a system in which the government owns hospitals or clinics or employs doctors; it just pays some of the costs of treatment by private providers. In a truly socialist system the government would own and manage the medical providers. Universal health care, as we understand it, is Medicare for everybody, but not supplied by government-owned clinics.

The word "socialism" gets some people's panties in a bunch because it carries the implication that the government would own and control everything. We don't have or want that. What we do want is a stronger social safety net.