It's not fucking socialism

I'm really over people like Andrew Sullivan saying that the bailout is socialism. It's not. This is what I wrote to him:

Andrew,

Please, please, please stop with calling the bailout socialism. No one who's not a blinkered conservative can claim that.

If it were socialism, there would be some better stake for taxpayers. State-owned companies work to the benefit of their shareholders, i.e. the people: the people share both the risk of failure as well as the benefit of success.

Here, Wall street benefits when times are good, but the taxpayer is on the hook when it's bad.

I've said it to you before and I'll say again, this is not socialism. There is simply no upside to the consumer (apart, maybe, from the economy collapsing but that isn't what I mean). Wall street executives made huge gambles, made big profits for themselves, and now that it's all falling apart, the taxpayer is on the hook. It's not socialism, but it's a sure sign that the U.S. has become a kleptocracy.