[citation][nom]ltgrunt[/nom]I'll give you Bernie, Shinobi, but that's being generous given that he platforms Independent and identifies himself as a Democratic Socialist, which is itself a far cry from proper Socialism.And no, there are no Communists in mainstream US politics right now; Communism demands fast, violent revolution against political, social and economic elites. Ignoring everything else against the "Communists" argument, these people cannot be Communists for the simple reason that they are working within the system to accomplish goals, while the Communist ideal is to basically destroy the system and build something new, a was the case with Soviet Russia.As for the allegation that progressives are Socialist, that simply falls in line with the "calling things Socialist when one doesn't know what Socialism really is" category. Considering the fact that Teddy Roosevelt was a Progressive - back before the Progressive Party was called the Bull-Moose Party - it's a hard call to align Progressives with Socialists.[/citation]
http
/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congressional_Progressive_Caucus
Van jones - obama's "green jobs czar" was a communist but was fired for being a 9/11 truth'er
http
/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Jones#Earlier_activism
The entire point of the progressives has become to collapse the system from within under the weight of the government... its called the cloward and piven strategy.
http
/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloward%E2%80%93Piven_strategy
They are increasing the size of government every time an emergency arises or new president is elected. Obama is doing it, Bush did it, Clinton did it too. Damned near every president has increased the size of the federal government since Jefferson.
The difference between the progressives here and the communists in europe is simple... communists want revolution (usually violent), progressives want evolution... both end at the same place! Total government!
Socialism -
1 : any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods
2 a : a system of society or group living in which there is no private property b : a system or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state
3 : a stage of society in Marxist theory transitional between capitalism and communism and distinguished by unequal distribution of goods and pay according to work done
Knowing the definition to socialism and that its part of marxist theory that will eventually lead to communism lets look at what the government runs now shall we? GM, Chrysler, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (i.e. 96.2% of all mortgages in the US), now they have their fingers in health care, they are getting into further regulating the stock market, Are pushing to put a tax on co2 (which even the director of the chicago climate exchange says that if we stopped all co2 production and brought the entire economy to a halt it wouldnt cool the planet like the climate freaks want... and hes a lefty!). They've taken over the student loan program so you have to get a loan from the government to go to college if you need a loan. What they dont own or take over they regulate or tax. 40 years ago only 1 in 20 businesses needed a license to operate... now its 1 in 3!
Look at Greece the union members THAT'S
GOVERNMENT UNION MEMBERS in the Greek government rioted in the streets and burned buildings down (killing 3 people) when the government (whos debt to gdp ratio is 125%) said they had to cut spending.
@ravenwolf A better chart is the nolan chart (found at http

/www.nolanchart.com/)
Communism, Socialism and Fascism are totalitarian states like an oligarchy. Anarchy and republics are no government or small government respectively. In europe the left is communism and the right is fascism but they are both leading down the same road to totalitarianism. they are the left and right lanes of a highway to hell essentially.