I think people commonly confuse communism with fascism which has always been a component of the American makeup even right down to the age and gender roles.
That is like saying people commonly confuse AIDS for HIV. They two are different, yes, but if a country is infected with communism then it either gets cured or it gets fascism. Communism cannot survive in a non fascist nation & it is one of the strongest causes of fascism
1. I'd say it's more socialism than communism, although the end goal of communism and socialism are almost 100% the same. Socialism is just more subtle and appealing to people.
Funny thing, socialism is a term invented by carl marx, he defined it as "a society in transition towards communism" and characterized by still using money (in his dreams, he imagined that a pure communist society will not have money).
And yea, people use socialism as a different name to sell communism because the word communism leaves a bad taste what with stalin, mao, etc, etc.