Congressman Says 17 House Members Are Socialists

You have to go all the way back to 1929 to find a member of the Socialist Party in the U.S. House of Representatives, but U.S. Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.) says the "workers' party" is alive and kicking on Capitol Hill.

While addressing elected officials yesterday in his Birmingham-area district, the conservative congressman told an audience at the Trussville Civic Center that socialists in Congress are pressuring President Obama to cater to the far left of the political spectrum, The Birmingham News reports.

"Some of these guys I work with, the men and women in Congress, are socialists," the congressman said.

When asked to name names following his remarks, Bachus could only cite one person – U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.), a self-described "Democratic Socialist." But he demurred when pressed to name specific members of the House who subscribe to socialism.

He had a number though. Bachus was able to say that 17 house members are socialists.

If he's concerned about the rise of socialism, a new Rasmussen Reports polls shows that Bachus may have reason to worry. According to its findings, just 53 percent of those asked prefer capitalism to socialism. Twenty percent of respondents favored socialism to the free market system.