Are you feeling the Bern? So…who is he as a political candidate?
RECENTLYBernie Sanders goes on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Sep. 18, 2015, right after the new Late Show started.
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On May 26, 2015, Bernie Sanders officially announced his bid for the U.S. presidency, running as a Democrat despite his long political career as an Independent. Initially considered an unlikely candidate for the Democratic nomination, particularly as Hilary Clinton is his primary opponent, Sanders has consistently risen in the polls throughout the summer of 2016 while garnering a large and passionate supporter base. At the time of writing, Sanders is on par in the polls with Clinton.
Sanders has self-identified as a socialist, and his detailed platform could be said to be on the extreme left of the Democratic Party. Sanders has been a longtime civil rights activist, a mayor, a U.S. Representative and a U.S. Senator.
Sanders holds an interesting position in U.S. politics. He is said to capture the energy and overall viewpoints of the American Generation Xers and Millennials, though he is often considered too extreme—even by many Democrats. Some opponents object to Sanders’ purely as an objection to socialism in general—some even going so far as to call him a Nazi. Others find his trade policies to be detrimental to the American economy and his social views to be counter to traditional “family values.”
View – Bringing Morality Into Politics: Sanders considers the disparity between America’s super-wealthy (the 1%) and everyone else to be a moral issue. If president, he plans to implement taxation schemes, among other policies, to redistribute wealth away from the ultra-wealthy and into the middle class.
View – Populism and Soaking the Rich: Opponents believe Sanders is out to punish those who, through hard work and intelligence, have risen to the top of society. This will, they say, lead to discouraging hard work and entrepreneurship while dis-incentivizing those who are most likely to create jobs.
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View – Healthcare and Education Are Human Rights: Sanders supports a single-payer universal healthcare system, meaning that the government would be solely responsible for organizing the financing of healthcare nationwide, as well as free tuition to state and public universities. He plans to pay for this by imposing a tax on Wall Street transactions as well as raising taxes on America’s wealthiest and corporations.
View – Removed from Reality: Sanders has been criticized for exaggerating his facts on healthcare. And many feel his programs would be more expensive than he makes them out to be and that the American government simply can’t afford to provide these services without individuals paying at least some out-of-pocket costs.
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View – America’s Trade Policies are Killing Prosperity: Sanders has long been against America’s free trade agreements, be it the now-decades old North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) or the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Sanders argues that they are in the interest of big corporations and allow them to, among other things, easily outsource American jobs to foreign countries.
View – America’s Trade Policies are in the Best Interest of Americans: The current framework of trade policies with foreign nations actually provides Americans with cheap imported goods.
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View – Yeah, he’s a socialist. So what?: Sanders has labeled himself a socialist, and that shows in his policy ideas and votes while a Congressman. He favors socialized medicine, education and a labor law model akin to the social welfare democracies of Western Europe.
View – Socialism is Not a Good Thing: Opponents of socialism argue that it isn’t a good thing, and even equate it (and Sanders) to Nazism. They argue that such a system discourages entrepreneurs and innovators and punishes successful people while dis-incentivizing people from working hard. They argue that by simply giving valuable services away, people won’t want to work for anything. Furthermore, opponents generally favor lower taxes and argue that socialism is expensive.
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Sanders has captured the attention of disenfranchised, left-leaning youth—a large group growing in power and influence. His policies reflect a long-held admiration by many of the social and economic programs of Western Europe and Scandinavia.
However, Sanders’ perceived extremism and identification with socialism strikes fear into America’s more free-market, meritocratic oriented parts of society. As a result, he is no less a divisive figure as Obama or Donald Trump.
Is the wealth gap really to blame for so many of America’s problems? Can America afford to be such a generous social welfare democracy?
WANT MORE?
See a full Sanders campaign speech here.
30+ years of Sanders’ voting and position record
A polling trajectory showing that, at this rate, Sanders will win the Democratic nomination
Assess where Sanders stands ideologically compared to other candidates
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t32JN7ShLJc
http://www.ontheissues.org/Bernie_Sanders.htm
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/h-a-goodman/polls-show-bernie-sanders-winning-the-democratic-nomination_b_8069452.html
http://ace.mu.nu/archives/355853.php
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/421369/bernie-sanders-national-socialism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpgJYNaIeqo
http://www.usnews.com/opinion/knowledge-bank/2015/05/27/why-bernie-sanders-free-public-college-plan-is-a-bad-idea
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/11845978/Donald-Trump-and-Bernie-Sanders-are-riding-high-on-economic-populism.-They-could-both-hurt-America.html
http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2015/08/08/bernie-sanders-10-ways-to-mess-with-the-economy/
http://twitchy.com/2015/08/09/sen-bernie-sanders-why-is-the-us-the-only-country-that-doesnt-provide-health-care-to-everyone/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/bernie-sanders-exaggerates-health-care-spending_55d3adf4e4b07addcb4487cc
Xhttp://thefederalist.com/2015/08/31/just-think-donald-trump-versus-bernie-sanders-in-2016/X
http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2004/05/why-america-needs-to-support-free-trade
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