Spread the Wealth?

The “spread the wealth” statement that Joe the Plumber (real name: Joe Wurzelbacher) extracted from Barack Obama isn’t likely to sit well with Americans who continue, despite the best efforts of academia and the mainstream media, to resist socialism, notes James Pethokoukis of U.S. News & World Report.

He cites a June Gallup poll:

When given a choice about how government should address the numerous economic difficulties facing today’s consumer, Americans overwhelmingly—by 84% to 13%—prefer that the government focus on improving overall economic conditions and the jobs situation in the United States as opposed to taking steps to distribute wealth more evenly among Americans.