It seems things have soured a little for everyone’s favorite socialist; Bernie Sanders, on the heels of a mediocre debate performance that saw him blame the whole of modern terrorism on “climate change,” thus suggesting a few solar panels in the desert could solve all of our ISIS-related woes, it seems his campaign is “rethinking” his coming out party.
Just a few weeks ago, the Sanders campaign was touting a huge upcoming speech in which Sanders, who has pushed a fully socialized health care program, free public education through a four-year degree, sky-high tax rates and an end to income inequality, would outline how to pay for the multi-trillion dollar welfare expansion through the very limited number of 1%-ers who wouldn’t be packing up their mansion for sunnier days on private, tax free islands at the very thought of a Sanders Presidency. It is now on “indefinite hold” as the Sanders campaign tries to figure out how to sell the full Socialist package without completely turning off the majority of Democratic voters.
“What we’re probably going to do to begin with is hold a major speech in the not-too-distant future, to define exactly what I mean by Democratic socialist,” Sanders said during a campaign stop in Iowa. “To me, Democratic socialism means democracy. It means creating a government that represents all of us, not just the wealthiest people in the country.”
But it’s been postponed indefinitely because Sanders has not yet finished writing the high-risk speech, or agreed that he is ready to deliver it. The delay highlights another issue facing the Sanders camp – an apparent disconnect between the candidate and his staffers, who say they are pushing the senator to give his speech sooner rather than later.
“I personally think we’re ready, he’s just got to agree we’re ready,” said senior strategist Tad Devine. “It’s very much on the horizon, it’s just a question of timing. He wants to finish the speech first.”
It could be because the Sanders campaign is having a tough time figuring out how to pay for everything without taxing the “Middle Class,” which even Sanders has trouble defining. The campaign says it’s still working on the numbers, but there are some hints as to how Sanders would ultimately pay for much of his welfare program in his past legislative dealings: payroll taxes (sometimes as high as 6%) and an across-the-board income tax raises (2.2%). Both of these would impact people clearly not in the 1%, and the Clinton campaign is already addressing his massive government program as a “9% tax on middle-income families,”adding the two numbers, according to POLITICO.
Sanders says he won’t tax anyone who “isn’t making a lot of money,” but like with Barack Obama in his initial campaign, the definition of a person “making a lot of money” is a loose one. For Obama, it was anyone making over $250,000, even though that included many small business owners whose income operated as reinvestment into their businesses. And for Sanders, it’s also a question of whether people will want to pay more than they already do, socking them with a grand plan when most of them are trying to navigate Obamacare-related healthcare cost hikes.
If Sanders thinks there’ll be a right time, though, he’s mistaken. He may as well just pull the Band-aid off and take the ten point slide. I’m sure Hillary wholeheartedly agrees.
