I’m sorry Bernie, but it’s hard for me to listen to what you have to say and still think of you as one of us. You campaign as a Democrat but call yourself a socialist. The media calls you a progressive. That’s an insult to progressives. How can any American call a socialist candidate for president anything but extremist?
America’s candidate for losers
Like it or not Bernie, you are the 2020 candidate for losers. You give voters an excuse for failure that they can live with. We hear it in your speeches. We read it in your press releases and on the Bernie campaign website. America is the problem. Only socialism can make an economy work for those who can’t benefit from 3.6% unemployment, rising wages,1 and less than one person to compete with for every available job.
It’s lucky that your base probably doesn’t sift through all the contradictions in your very expensive schemes for big government to make life better near the bottom. If they did, they would probably think about looking for better jobs – or even a job – all by themselves.
Trump’s base vs. Bernie’s base
Trump supporters take a lot of heat from the left. We have been called racist, ignorant, and “steeped in religious beliefs.” That last jab is pretty hypocritical when you consider the left’s fervent defense of Islam on the grounds of religious liberty, but when it comes to Americans who back Trump all bets are off no matter what we believe.
This won’t be a big deal in a socialist state because Americans won’t need religion. Instead of God we’ll have government, lots and lots of very big, very controlling, very expensive government.
Sanders‘ party turned “Trump’s base” and “Trump voters” into liberal buzzwords for white nationalism. If we’re going to slap labels on people because of who and what they vote for it’s time we talk about Bernie’s base. That phrase has a lot more truth behind it than the propaganda Democrats spread about Americans who back what the president is doing.
Consider the big picture. What does Bernie’s base want to buy with their votes? Sanders markets a middle class lifestyle dictated by government. He targets those who will fail without the state no matter how well the economy is doing.
Plan to absolve loan debt makes no sense
A plan to “eliminate all student debt”2 is a fabulous handout for young, naïve millennial Bernie supporters who want good-paying jobs and think a socialist state will not only guarantee them, but fund college education for nothing. Those who already have their degrees are told they should not have to pay back their loans.
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), a House Squader who teams with Sanders on free college, speaks of what people can’t buy because they have to make loan payments:
There are currently 45 million Americans with student debt,” said Omar. “That’s 45 million people who are being held back from purchasing their first home; 45 million people who may feel that they can’t start a family; 45 million people who have dreams of opening a business or going into public service, but are held back.3
The message is that in lieu of paying off their obligations these Americans could use the money for other things. That’s a bad lesson to teach people who are just starting their adult lives and a poor excuse to wipe out $1.6 trillion owed to borrowers while simultaneously socking the nation with the $2.2 trillion estimated cost of free college.4 Of course, personal responsibility is not what this campaign is selling. This is all about turning over the obligation to manage your life to the government.
Good-paying jobs = unions
After we’ve taken that $2.2 trillion hit, how many of the “good paying, union jobs”5 in Bernie and AOC’s Green New Economy will require a college degree?
Unions are the plan for our working future first and foremost. Blue collar workers fit the dependent proletarian model a lot better than white collar professionals who will be displaced when we create 20 million jobs with green energy.6
Displaced?
In January 2020 the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that 5.9 million Americans are unemployed. When as add the numbers for those working part time for economic reasons, the discouraged, the long-term unemployed, and the other categories in the Bureau’s report for people who aren’t working, we are still about 7 million shy of 20 million. That means lots of Americans have to get out of the way to make room for Sanders’ green socialist economy jobs.
CEOs have two obligations to Bernie’s base
Super wealthy corporate CEOs don’t have to worry. We need them right where they are. They serve a dual purpose as enemies of the people and funding vehicles. That’s why Sanders’ rhetorical bar for CEO pay makes no sense:
The last time I checked, corporations got by just fine when CEOs made a million bucks a year—one-tenth of what they make now.7
That’s a frightening, albeit nonsensical comment from Bernie. He named his S. 3410, the Stop Bad Employers by Zeroing Out Subsidies Act, after Amazon’s Jeff Bezos. The bill would force worker pay increases by punishing companies whose employees receive federal benefits.8 No one in the Senate backed Sanders on this one. Apparently even progressive Democrats set limits on extremism. Despite the bill’s failure, congressional progressives still took credit for the giant’s move to raise wages to $15.00/hr.
Of course, even Sanders must understand how important it is that CEOs make a lot of money if they’re going to pay enough taxes to support tens of trillions in spending for massive federal giveaways like universal healthcare and free college. If America’s movers and shakers actually made what Bernie deems reasonable he wouldn’t even have a platform. After all, mobilizing people who call themselves progressives because they can’t face the truth about where they are in life is a lot more difficult without the uber rich to blame for their failings.
Don’t fear deplorables. Fear this candidate for losers.
We’ve been tormented by Democratic Party charges that our president colludes with Russia. That dialogue hit a new low last week when Adam Schiff, having failed miserably at bringing credibility to his doomed impeachment case, threatened that Trump could hand over Alaska to the Russians.
Schiff knows that there are plenty of Americans who believe what Democrats say, no matter how crazy and unhinged, simply because they are Democrats. When the party tells these people to hate Trump, they will hate Trump. It’s that simple.
The same thing applies to a Bernie Sanders candidacy.
There is a subset of quasi-Democratic voters who are willing to trade what generations of hard-working, responsible Americans built for good, old fashioned Russian socialism because someone who seems like an authority tells them this would make their lives better. These are the people so desperate to not be responsible for their lives that they will support a candidate for losers. They don’t seem to care that you can’t have freedom when the government dictates every facet of our day to day existence. If they did, they would not support a single word that comes out of Sanders’ mouth, including his proposal to extend Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Green New Deal to public housing.
Green housing: Sandersyovkas
Does Bernie’s base take him seriously when he joins forces with an inexperienced Democratic congresswoman to extend the reach of her ridiculous Green New Deal?
The Green New Deal for Public Housing Act invests up to $180 billion over ten years in sustainable retrofits that include all needed repairs, vastly improved health, safety and comfort, and eliminate carbon emissions in our federal public housing. The legislation also provides funding to electrify all buildings, add solar panels, and secure renewable energy sources for all public housing energy needs.9
Are we doing all this to create those extra 7 million jobs? Instead of spending $180 billion we should ask why we want to keep people in public housing instead of using this good economy to transition them to work. Granted, suggesting that people work for assistance or – gasp – support themselves is anathema to a Democratic Party that says no to welfare to work laws no matter how well the economy is doing. Cramming people into government housing certainly fits the socialist mindset. The Soviet Union was also fond of public housing. The communist complexes were called Khrushchyovkas. If the worst thing imaginable happens in November, we can call them Sandersyovkas.
Why a candidate for losers?
America doesn’t need a socialist revolution. Iowa is still sorting out its caucus disaster, but one thing is clear no matter who gets the final thumbs up from the state’s voters. The fact that Bernie Sanders can win a single delegate anywhere in this country, especially in the heartland, is terrifying.
The first sentence of Iowa’s constitution speaks of a Supreme Being and “our dependence on him.” It also refers to a “free and independent government.”10 How about a free and independent people? A good number of Iowa Democrats must not want that. They opted for a government guarantee of financial security instead.
Workplace democracy? Yes, it’s a thing.
For those who want to work we have democracy in the workplace. Don’t get excited. It’s not what it sounds like.
Workplace democracy means transferring control of the labor force from private companies to labor unions and punishing those who don’t play by Bernie’s rules by denying them federal contracts.
Sanders promises his base that he will double union membership during his first term.11 That’s a pipe dream at best, but when you’re talking about new protections against firing workers12 it’s obvious why this candidate for losers has as much appeal as he does. What could be better for difficult to employ job seekers than landing jobs they can’t be fired from without great difficulty?
It’s pretty ironic that one of the things that’s so great about this country is that free speech allows the extreme left to turn “Make America Great Again” into a threat because it means using government to grow our nation and not maintain the individual. That’s why we should return the favor for “deplorables” and call Bernie Sanders what he is: a candidate for losers. Whether it’s free healthcare, free college, public housing, union jobs, or democracy in the one place where it doesn’t work, this campaign preaches the gospel of American failure to anyone foolish enough to listen. What’s so sad about this is that so many are willing to take the bait.
UPDATE February 14, 2020: New Hampshire opts for socialism instead of the American idea
It also happened in 2016, so we shouldn’t be too surprised. Disappointed yes, but not surprised that Bernie took New Hampshire. He didn’t win by much, but a win is a win and he gets credit for that.
The fact that he can garner so many votes from people who consider themselves Americans is appalling.
Before the primary, New Hampshire Democratic Congresswoman Annie Kuster had this to say about the results of the Trump impeachment vote:
Only one Republican Senator had the courage to choose country over party.13
Romney did the wrong thing when he chose public attention over Trump, just like the Democratic primary voters in Kuster’s state did the wrong thing when they failed to summon the courage to choose country over socialism.
Congresswoman Kuster also spoke of national unity:
We must not allow this vote to impede or deter our efforts to form a more perfect union. We must heal our deeply divided nation and work together to better the lives of the American people.14
I wish the Democratic voters in New Hampshire had chosen country over anyone but Bernie Sanders. I wish they understood that socialism is not the path to the more perfect union our founding was based on. How can Senator Kuster and the voters in her state possibly believe socialism will accomplish that?
From across the hall, New Hampshire Democratic Senator Maggie Hassan talked about “the Very Foundation and Security of our American Idea” when she justified her impeachment vote:
Our founders believed that they were establishing a country that would be unique in the history of humankind, a country that would be indispensable, built on the rule of law, not the whims of a ruler. Generation after generation of Americans have fought for that vision because of what it has meant to our individual and collective success.15
Does the senator believe that the decision by her state’s voters to dump free market capitalism in exchange for Sanders-style Democratic socialism is something these generations of Americans who fought for our country would endorse? If I could, I would ask my father and his World War II veteran buddies how they feel about that. They are gone now, but I think we know what their answer would be.
On to Nevada.
UPDATE February 23, 2020: who is the big loser now?
This morning Bernie Sanders has another victory to be proud of. Nevada made him the undisputed front runner in the Democratic Party’s 2020 nomination race. This is a stunning development considering that his extreme socialist views don’t even show up on the radar for many Democrats.
It’s a stunning development for America, too, and not in a good way. Sanders is the candidate for losers, but the big loser after yesterday is our country. How is it possible that we can sink so low that we endorse a socialist for our highest office?
Europe must be laughing behind our back. China is already planning ahead. Russia knows what a Sanders win will mean for our military and defense.
While Bernie’s party ponders what to do about his most un-American of presidential platforms gaining steam under the Democratic moniker, those who supported the prosecution of Donald Trump should think about the many ways Sanders’ popularity hands our country to our competition. That’s assuming they care, of course, and the goal isn’t to emulate the Chinese and Russian economic models as superior to our own.
Just how stupid are America’s liberal voters? As stupid as the party who taught them that socialism is their best and only option to get by when the economy offers more opportunities than ever.
On to South Carolina.
Sources
1. “Private industry compensation costs up 2.7 percent from December 2018 to December 2019.” TED: The Economics Daily. February 4, 2020. https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2020/private-industry-compensation-costs-up-2-point-7-percent-from-december-2018-to-december-2019.htm, retrieved February 9, 2020.
2. “Sanders, Jayapal, and Omar Introduce Groundbreaking Bills to Ensure College For All and Eliminate All Student Debt.” Bernie Sanders. June 24, 2019. https://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sanders-jayapal-and-omar-introduce-groundbreaking-bills-to-ensure-college-for-all-and-eliminate-all-student-debt, retrieved February 7, 2020.
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid.
5. “The Green New Deal.” Bernie. https://berniesanders.com/issues/green-new-deal/, retrieved February 5, 2020.
6. Ibid.
7. “Sanders, Lee, and Tlaib Partner to Combat Outrageous CEO Pay.” Bernie Sanders. November 13, 2019. https://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sanders-lee-and-tlaib-partner-to-combat-outrageous-ceo-pay, retrieved February 7, 2020.
8. “Summary: S.3410 – 115 Congress (2017-2018).” Congress.gov. https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/3410, retrieved February 9, 2020.
9. “Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez Announce The Green New Deal for Public Housing Act.” Bernie Sanders. November 14, 2019. https://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sanders-and-ocasio-cortez-announce-the-green-new-deal-for-public-housing-act, retrieved February 6, 2020.
10. “1857 Constitution of the State of Iowa – Original.” p. vi. https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/ICP/1023055.pdf, retrieved February 5, 2020.
11. “Bernie Sanders on the Issues. Workplace Democracy.” https://berniesanders.com/issues/, retrieved February 6, 2020.
12. Ibid.
13. “Kuster Statement on Senate Impeachment Vote.” Ann McLane Kuster. February 5, 2020. https://kuster.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/kuster-statement-on-senate-impeachment-vote, retrieved February 13, 2020. https://www.hassan.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senator-hassan-announces-she-will-vote-in-favor-of-both-articles-of-impeachment, retrieved February 14, 2020.
14. Ibid.
15. “Senator Hassan Announces She Will Vote in Favor of Both Articles of Impeachment.” Maggie Hassan. February 5, 2020. https://www.hassan.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senator-hassan-announces-she-will-vote-in-favor-of-both-articles-of-impeachment, retrieved February 14, 2020.
*Chart: Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Number of unemployed people per job opening 1.0 or fewer since January 2018 on the Internet at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2019/number-of-unemployed-people-per-job-opening-1-point-0-or-fewer-since-january-2018.htm (visited February 12, 2020).
Author’s note: image added and edited for clarity February 12, 2020.
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