Bernie Sanders Speaks

[Suzanimal]

This guy's obsessed with voter turnout. At least he's laying off deodorant and sneakers, for now anyway.

The Nation: As long as we’re talking about the evolution of public policy, let’s talk about the evolution of a word: socialism. You appeared on ABC’s This Week and, when you were asked whether a socialist can be elected president, you did not blink; you talked about socialism in positive, detailed terms. I don’t believe a presidential candidate has ever done that on a Sunday-morning show.


...

I have always believed that the countries in Scandinavia have not gotten the kind of honest recognition they deserve for the extraordinary achievements they have made…. The Danish ambassador, whom I talked to a couple of years ago, said to me that in Denmark it is very, very hard to be poor; you really have to literally want to be outside of the system. Well, that’s pretty good. In Denmark, all of their kids can go to college; not only do they go for free, they actually get stipends. Healthcare is, of course, a right for all people. They have a very strong childcare system, which to me is very important. Their retirement system is very strong. They are very active in trying to protect their environment…. And, by the way, the voter turnout in those countries is much higher; in Denmark, in the last election, it was over 80 percent. Political consciousness is much higher than it is in the United States. It’s a more vibrant democracy in many respects. So why would I not defend that? Do they think I’m afraid of the word? I’m not afraid of the word.
...

http://www.thenation.com/article/bernie-sanders-speaks/

HARWOOD: After the revolution, what does it look like? What do you see happening to the 1 percent?

SANDERS: What is my dream? My dream is, do we live in a country where 70 percent, 80 percent, 90 percent of the people vote? Where we have serious discourse on media rather than political gossip, by the way? Where we're debating trade policy, we're debating foreign policy, we're debating economic policy, where the American people actually know what's going on in Congress? Ninety-nine percent of all new income generated today goes to the top 1 percent. Top one-tenth of 1 percent owns as much as wealth as the bottom 90 percent. Does anybody think that that is the kind of economy this country should have? Do we think it's moral? So to my mind, if you have seen a massive transfer of wealth from the middle class to the top one-tenth of 1 percent, you know what, we've got to transfer that back if we're going to have a vibrant middle class. And you do that in a lot of ways. Certainly one way is tax policy.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/102694365

[Vanguard101]

Honestly, if 90 percent of Americans voted, we would be a progressive country

[hells_unicorn]

Honestly, if 90 percent of Americans voted, we would be a progressive country

All the more reason to abolish universal suffrage, idiots and ballot boxes are a lethal combination, and it's bad enough with 50% of the country voting.

[Vanguard101]

All the more reason to abolish universal suffrage, idiots and ballot boxes are a lethal combination, and it's bad enough with 50% of the country voting.

Lol how can you support freedom and believe this

[Brian4Liberty]

I have always believed that the countries in Scandinavia have not gotten the kind of honest recognition they deserve for the extraordinary achievements they have made…. The Danish ambassador, whom I talked to a couple of years ago, said to me that in Denmark it is very, very hard to be poor; you really have to literally want to be outside of the system. Well, that’s pretty good. In Denmark, all of their kids can go to college; not only do they go for free, they actually get stipends. Healthcare is, of course, a right for all people. They have a very strong childcare system, which to me is very important. Their retirement system is very strong. They are very active in trying to protect their environment…. And, by the way, the voter turnout in those countries is much higher; in Denmark, in the last election, it was over 80 percent. Political consciousness is much higher than it is in the United States. It’s a more vibrant democracy in many respects. So why would I not defend that? Do they think I’m afraid of the word? I’m not afraid of the word.

Bernie Sanders is delusional. If he doesn't know the essential differences between Denmark and the US which would prevent the US from being Denmark, he has lost touch with reality. First of all is scale. It's a very small country, which naturally limits the growth and waste of the tax ticks. It's a homogenous culture, with different values than other places, values which somewhat enable socialism to exist in the first place. Socialism is a side effect of that culture, it is not some kind of separate concept that can be pounded into other cultures and nations.

[Sola_Fide]

Lol how can you support freedom and believe this

Do you think universal suffrage has helped liberty or hurt it in America?

[LawnWake]

Do you think universal suffrage has helped liberty or hurt it in America?

Within the context of statist society, universal suffrage is a part of liberty.

If universal suffrage hurts or helps a society depends on its political leaders. And since political leaders like nothing more than expanding their power, I would say universal suffrage at least somewhat stunts the pace of progress into full totalitarianism.

Most intellectuals are progressives anyway. Most educated people will be voting socialist since that's what's expected of educated people.

Granted that libertarians are also predominantly intellectuals or educated, but present a minority among intellectuals.

[angelatc]

Lol how can you support freedom and believe this

How can you support freedom and not believe this?

[Danke]

Honestly, if 90 percent of Americans voted, we would be an even more regressive country

FTFY

[Vanguard101]

How can you support freedom and not believe this?

So you want individuals to be taxed, regulated, and enslaved, but not have the right to vote?

[acptulsa]

Bernie Sanders is delusional. If he doesn't know the essential differences between Denmark and the US which would prevent the US from being Denmark, he has lost touch with reality. First of all is scale. It's a very small country, which naturally limits the growth and waste of the tax ticks. It's a homogenous culture, with different values than other places, values which somewhat enable socialism to exist in the first place. Socialism is a side effect of that culture, it is not some kind of separate concept that can be pounded into other cultures and nations.

That's exactly why county services looked encouraging but federal services have been a disaster. That's exactly why Europe used to be held up as a model by the socialists until the EU was created. And that's exactly how we can persuade people to elect Rand Paul and Congress critters like him. Want socialism? Fine. Trust me, you want it small and local so you can actually keep it honest.

[dannno]

So you want individuals to be taxed, regulated, and enslaved, but not have the right to vote?

What happened to None of the Above?

[rg17]

What will happen if Sanders wins the election and become president?

[Occam's Banana]

Honestly, if 90 percent of Americans voted, we would be a progressive country

All the more reason to abolish universal suffrage [...] it's bad enough with 50% of the country voting.

Lol how can you support freedom and believe this

o_O

[Krugminator2]

The minimum requirement to voting should be that you paid income tax. I think that is very fair. If you don't have skin in the game, you shouldn't be allowed to tax away someone else's property. It isn't reasonable that seniors and welfare degenerates can hold a gun to everyone's head.

[acptulsa]

The minimum requirement to voting should be that you paid income tax. I think that is very fair. If you don't have skin in the game, you shouldn't be allowed to tax away someone else's property. It isn't reasonable that seniors and welfare degenerates can hold a gun to everyone's head.

You know, that could actually go somewhere. It isn't unconstitutional, exactly. After all, originally only landowners could do it. Bt you'd have to make a change, much as you seem to be resistant to it. You'll never get away with it unless you include a grandfather clause. Once you've paid x amount of income tax, you're a voter for life.

[Henry Rogue]

Honestly, if 90 percent of Americans voted, we would be a progressive country

It isn't?

[Suzanimal]

What will happen if Sanders wins the election and become president?

[Sola_Fide]

That's hilarious!

[rg17]

That's hilarious!

And free ponies! :0

Just Kidding!

[ThePaleoLibertarian]

Lol how can you support freedom and believe this

Voting is not liberty, and democracy is not freedom.

[69360]

All the socialist Scandinavian countries have massive state income from oil and gas in the north sea that pays for all the entitlements. That model just will never work in the US no matter how much Bernie wants it too. He seems honest and I think he genuinely wants to help people. But he is misguided.

[juleswin]

The minimum requirement to voting should be that you paid income tax. I think that is very fair. If you don't have skin in the game, you shouldn't be allowed to tax away someone else's property. It isn't reasonable that seniors and welfare degenerates can hold a gun to everyone's head.

Sadly, that horse has left the barn never to return. Any politician that advocates such a policy would be so voted out of office his head would spin. Even after, I would like to see innovations where say the tax payers cannot vote to conscript non tax payers into way. A way to make sure your vote only affects you directly and not others who didn't vote for it.

But we should have a voting reform in this country. People having skin in the game is most important if this country is going to thrive again and not just survive

[Sola_Fide]

All the socialist Scandinavian countries have massive state income from oil and gas in the north sea that pays for all the entitlements. That model just will never work in the US no matter how much Bernie wants it too. He seems honest and I think he genuinely wants to help people. But he is misguided.

Plus, they don't pay for their national defense. America foots the bill for their defense.

[69360]

8,000 people turned out for Bernie in Portland Maine last night. Of course Portland is as liberal and socialist as you can get, it's Bernie's target audience. Still that's a big turnout in a state of only a million.

[Suzanimal]

I'm not feelin' the Bern.

Sanders: We Have to Raise Tax Rates Substantially Higher

In an interview with CNN's Jake Tapper on State of the Union Sunday, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders said that America's wealthiest individuals and large corporations could expect substantial tax hikes under his administration.

Sanders complained of oil subsidies, companies stashing revenue overseas to avoid taxes and billionaire investor Warren Buffett's secretary paying a higher tax rate than he does.

"Clearly, that has got to change," Sanders said. He wants to "dampen down the speculation on Wall Street," and "break up" Wall Street's biggest financial institutions.

And, he said, he would "substantially" raise taxes and use the money to repair "our crumbling infrastructure," create jobs, and defray college costs.

Asked about examples of economists who might make up his cabinet, Sanders named three liberals: New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, Nobel Prize-winner Joseph Stiglitz and former Bill Clinton labor secretary Robert Reich.

http://www.truthrevolt.org/news/sand...ntially-higher

[Vanguard101]

Voting is not liberty, and democracy is not freedom.

Holy $#@!.

[Krugminator2]

Holy $#@!.

I think that is a pretty consensus view among every strain of libertarianism.

[devil21]

I cringe every time I hear Sanders speak. He espouses what his political tribal associates actually believe and want (global communism) so at least he's honest about his aims and doesn't hide behind fake names and fake rhetoric.