Steele Accuses President Obama of Fiscal "McCarthyism"

In his new column in Human Events, RNC Chairman Michael Steele compares President Obama to Joe McCarthy:

Nearly 60 years ago, Sen. Joseph McCarthy stood before a small group in Wheeling, West Virginia and waved a piece of paper claiming to have the names of more than 200 people who were members of the Communist Party and shaping foreign policy at the State Department. Of course, McCarthy never produced the list, though he went on to repeat that claim -- albeit with wildly varying numbers -- for years.  

Just a few weeks ago, President Obama stood before the American people and made the dramatic claim that his health care plan would "eliminate hundreds of billions of dollars in waste and fraud." Of course, the president never identified exactly where those enormous savings would come from.  [...]

The fiscal McCarthyism being practiced by President Obama and the Democrats is worse than cynical. It is damaging. The Democrats' knowingly deceptive claims and misguided approach to health care reform are reckless distractions from the need to bring down health care costs and make coverage more affordable for all Americans.

Steele's propensity for nonsense is no secret, but this is bad even for him.  Apparently, Steele believes any claim that isn't supported by what he deems to be sufficient evidence constitutes "McCarthyism." That's absurd.

As long as we're on the topic, Steele is the one who has repeatedly accused President Obama of supporting "socialism." He has also invoked "Stalin's Russia" and "Kim Jong Il's North Korea" in his attacks on the president.  Meanwhile, another member of the GOP, Rep. Steve King (R-IA), recently spent an hour on the House floor presenting his case that members of the Progressive Caucus are really communists.  Seriously.

But Michael Steele thinks President Obama is practicing some sort of "McCarthyism"? Please.