This is the plan?

For sheer boldness, you gotta love those deep-breathing Beltway Democrats who suggest America ought to alter her traditional economic principles to overcome the global recession.

They're convinced capitalism is so last century. As for self-interest, free trade and dreams of individual wealth? So much misguided "let-them-eat-cake" thinking. Wealth-sharing is the new ticket. It is, as Oscar winner Sean Penn might say, "elegant." And all the rage in Europe.

But you'll excuse me if I don't obediently take my place at this kooky séance table.

First, I don't think the spirit of FDR is worth conjuring, other than to learn how to prolong a recession.

Second, President Bam's guiding assertion is absurd. To fix the woes "inherited" from President Bush, we must now engage in a wilder form of federal deficit spending? It's a rationalization akin to an alcoholic celebrating the first day of a sober life at the Glenfiddich distillery.

And third, how is a plan for stealing from the more productive in society to "help" the less productive good for anybody in the American hive? And why isn't it called by its correct name if it's to be part of the public discourse? I guess the same way we allow a $787 billion spending bill to be called a "stimulus and recovery" bill.

Democrats, of course, will say socialism is not at all what they intend. They will say they strive only to provide "equal opportunity" for all. Yet, if recent American history has taught us anything, it is that Democratic handout programs turn into spirit-crushing disasters in which the participants, instead of quickly finding self-reliance, find permanent hopelessness.

Look, all good Americans believe in giving everyone a fair shot. Social conservatives, however, really believe in creating fair opportunities, not outcomes. It's not about giving people somebody else's fish. It's about teaching, sharing and celebrating the joy of fishing, not to mention equal access to the good fishing holes.

No one will starve. But some will do it better. That's American.

What's now happening in Washington, if I may borrow a phrase from Monty Python, is something completely different.

Spend a little time looking at Obama's Web site, which "explains" his new $3.55 trillion annual budget proposal. You can find it at www.whitehouse.gov/. Look for the code words. It should make the hair on the back of your neck stand up.

The president says we must "break from the troubled past ... and chart a new path." We are "inheriting the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression -- which will force us to increase deficit spending temporarily as we try to jump-start economic growth."

To do this, America must eat the rich to feed the poor. We have to do this, the president says, because of the "legacy of fiscal irresponsibility left to us."

Do you get it? Understand how it's somebody else's deficit? And to fix it, we have to triple down on the deficit. You know, fight fire with fire. Save cancerous capitalism by radiating it with socialism. If he were truly transparent, his budget proposal would end like this: "Now, c'mon, honey. Don't be scared ... come closer and feel the warm embrace from Mother State."

Sorry. I'm not in the mood for a group hug today.

Asking Americans to give up capitalism temporarily for a form of socialism is like ordering a Catholic to give up Christianity for Lent.

The word "insane" doesn't quite capture the self-destructive nature of the request.

Sherman Frederick (sfrederick@reviewjournal. com) is publisher of the Las Vegas Review-Journal and president of Stephens Media.