The author hasn't provided any reason this is correct besides "betcha". Was there a more common insult than "communist" by the American right in the last decad

The author hasn't provided any reason this is correct besides "betcha". Was there a more common insult than "communist" by the American right in the last decade? Most using it think it's synonymous with "socialist" and means Obamacare. All the examples were NOT cold war era; Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Salt, Kundun, lots more. The Death of Stalin is a poor example, along with praise, it was criticized for making light of great suffering.