Resurrection Of Socialism?

Consider this development in the government’s attempt to shore up the mortgage market:

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson swung the weight of the federal government behind Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the beleaguered companies that buy or finance almost half of the $12 trillion of U.S. mortgages.

Paulson, speaking on the steps of the Treasury facing the White House, asked Congress for authority to buy unlimited stakes in and lend to the companies, aiming to stem a collapse in confidence. The Federal Reserve separately authorized the firms to borrow directly from the central bank.

When the government OWN industries, isn’t that socialism? A Washington Post pundit uses the N-word in calling for complete nationalization

of these two institutions, arguing that instead of just lending them money the state should get something back by owning them.

Government-run health care is now, some are saying, inevitable. Liberal politicians have been threatening to nationalize the oil industries. Now that conservativism is being repudiated, do you think the once discredited economic system of socialism is coming back into favor?