as seen on tv
Senator
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-l-borosage/big-money-in-politics-the_b_9769104.html
“Burn the witch! She raised millions from corporate contributors to fund her presidential campaign. Just like . .. um . . . Barack Obama? What? Wait - okay . . never mind . . . “
It’s funny how something that’s perfectly legal, and has been employed by democrats since the time of FDR (at least) can suddenly become a sin. I’m referring, of course to Bernie Sander’s jihad against corporate political contributions.
Hillary isn’t doing anything new, or illegal, or even unethical. The most expensive presidential campaigns in history? Um, that would be Obama 2012 ($880 million) and Obama 2008 ($750 million). In each of those elections Obama outspent his opponent approximate 2:1.
Who were Obama’s largest contributors? Well, Super PACs, who gave tens of millions of bundled contributions. But you were interested in the corporate side, right? When you look at businesses which have donated at least $1 million to America's worst president - it’s a who’s-who of companies in the news: Microsoft, Google, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Time-Warner, Citicorp, IBM . . .
A more cynical person than me might quip that Obama built a wall against capitalism, and forced the capitalists - and anyone with 401K savings in the stock market - to pay for it.
Now comes Comrade Sanders, in 2016. The old rules don’t apply. Because they don’t work to his advantage. He not only wants to change the campaign rules in the middle of the election. He also promises to jail and/or break up big corporations. Why? Because they’re big, and they gave contributions to other politicians. If there’s a real crime involved, we’d like to hear it, Bernie.
Imagine what the Bernie presidency would be like. Think big – let your imagination run wild. Wilder than 55 million illegal aliens. Bigger than turning every released rapist and murderer into a voter, as Virginia is attempting with the stroke of their governors pen. Bernie babies - would you like wage and price controls? And government taking for itself every dime of income and savings it believes is “excessive” or “immoral”? That’s clearly the path that Bernie is on, and what his slacker followers are agitating for.
Bernie supporters – when asked “where has this ever worked before?” – have a one word answer: Sweden.
If you ask them about places like Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina, Italy, and dozens of other failed socialist experiments, you get the look of a stunned chicken. “What’s wrong with Brazil? They hosted the last world cup, and this summer the Olympics!"
Just try to discuss riots in the street, mass poverty, mass illiteracy, and a government so corrupt that it’s rated worse than Uganda and Zimbabwe in the number of bribes it takes to get permission to even open a coffee shop. That’s what the Brazilian people are up in arms about, kids. Or you could just watch the film “City of God” if reading is too boring. Brazil does have the occasional economic revival. But usually its short lived, and based on some unsustainable commodity boom, like clearing the rain forest to grow corn ethanol; harvesting teak; mining. When the natural resources exploitation of the moment hits a speed bump, its a quick retreat once again to recession and/or hyperinflation.
Back to Bernie.
Like Sweden, Sanders comes from the whitest place in America. It snows there 7 or 8 months of the year, and it’s principle industry is Ski-tourism dollars. It also has a brand extension called “fall foliage tourism”. I think Maple Syrup ($16 for 1 pint - $1 dollar an ounce) and artisanal hockey sticks from old growth timber are also somewhere in the mix.
Vermont, like Sweden, has no tech industries. It doesn’t invent or make iPhones, UHD TVs, search engines, solar panels, or electric cars. One of Sweden's two legacy fossil fuel automakers – Saab – went bankrupt when parent company GM could no longer afford to keep throwing dollars on the fire to keep it warm. Volvo is now owned by Zhejiang Geely, which has seen sales plummet by 50% since their acquisition, as Volvo prices skyrocketed. Why can't Volvo turn out cars as well made, fuel efficient, and affordable as the Japanese and Koreans?
Even if Sweden were actually doing well (and its not – Swedes are moving to the political right in a big way), the fact that barely employed American whites with college degrees yearn for even easier times doesn’t mean the entire USA feels the same way. Hillary is spanking sanders in places that aren’t trying to based their local economies on farmers markets and medicinal marijuana. You'd expect this to be instructive to anyone with a basic understanding of Economics, and how a nation undertakes the challenge of feeding and housing upwards of 400 million people, 1/3 of who are high school dropouts.
Unfortunately, Bernies followers don’t understand economics. They only understand “more free stuff” and “I STILL won’t have to pay taxes under the new regime”.
That’s exactly the bill of goods which was sold to the masses in Brazil, Venezuela, Argentina, Italy, and all those other places.
Free stuff. No taxes. Just don't ask how the populist of the hour can make it happen.
