‘Sanders Snake Oil’ with a Smile
Opinion Editorial
Bernie Sanders just rode into town and he’s got the cure fer whatever ails ya. And who can resist that smile? That smile!
– “Mr. Sanders, my health ain’t so good.”
– “Mr. Sanders, I could do better fer myself if I had free schoolin’.”
– “Mr. Sanders, the rich people got it all, and we ain’t got no chance.”
Bernie slips into his John Wayne “Big Jake” character, gazes into the crowd with that finger wagging, his gravelly voice bellows “Well…I’ve got the CURE that ails ya”.
They like you. They trust you. They buy from you. It worked back then and it’s working again.
Bernie’s perfected his skill as a politician for 30+ years, crafting his democratic socialism script to resonate with average Americans. Well now, he’s grinning from ear to ear, surprised at how well the message is selling. And honestly, with all of the failures of the federal government, and greed running amuck, who wouldn’t want a hero like Bernie for President? — me, for one.
Sanders Snake Oil has the ingredients printed right on the bottle. He wants you to know what you’re getting. If elected President:
He will construct a “fairer playing field”, a more civil and humane society. It will come at a cost. Tax increases will be imposed across the board; a nominal tax on the middle class, higher levies on the wealthy and on corporations, and a Financial Transaction Tax (FTT). And in return, the American people will get a better version of Obamacare, free tuition for everyone at public colleges, and redistributed wealth giving rise to the living standards of our poor.
This is what Bernie doesn’t want you to know:
- He acknowledges and understands completely, his inability to outsmart the wealthy, and corporate accountants, and he certainly can’t do it all by himself. Any success at raising taxes on them will be negligible at best.
- He recognizes that the federal government’s role is to protect our life, liberty, pursuit of happiness, and our property. He plans to use the government to take our property.
- He will weaken those whom he’s promising to help; the poor and middle classes. They’ll be stuck paying for his programs while corporations and the rich easily evade his tax increase.
Let’s start with a reality check on Bernie’s tax plan.
Top earners and corporations have already beat the Tax Man. Stop kidding yourself. The game is over; it’s been over for years. The government and the American general public lost that gunfight.
James Henry, who served as Chief Economist at the international consultancy firm McKinsey & Co. revealed the colossal sum of wealth legally held in offshore tax havens, during a 2015 interview with Sharmini Peries:
“…we’ve estimated at Tax Justice Network $21-$32 trillion offshore…That’s just financial assets owned by individuals…In addition to that, there’s an enormous amount of corporate tax dodging that goes on using offshore havens, companies like Apple and Google and Microsoft parking intellectual property offshore. The United States estimate for quite a long time has been $100 billion per year of lost tax revenue due to the offshore segment.”
Bernie genuinely believes he’s doing good for America. In fact, he’s so committed that in 1991 he spoke against the war to an empty congress, save one lone spectator, and for this he is revered by his supporters. Not what I would call a politician who can get things done. Of course, he gets a nod for being the brave voice shouting into the wilderness. Mr. Ed, the talking horse, would have been as effective. And, he would have come at a bargain stipend; a bale of hay.
That’s just one example of Bernie having zero influence on his peers in Washington toward effecting real change. But that was over 25 years ago, when it was unpopular to speak out against the war. That doesn’t really represent Bernie’s leadership among his colleagues, right? Well, let’s hear it straight from the horse’s mouth. Pull up a chair and take a listen.
“And now let me tell you something that no other candidate for president will tell you. And that is, no matter who is elected to be president, that person will not be able to address the enormous problems facing the working families of our country. They will not be able to succeed because the power of corporate America, the power of Wall Street, the power of campaign donors is so great that no president alone can stand up to them. That is the truth.”
— Bernie Sanders speaking at an event in Clear Lake, Iowa (October 4, 2015)
Thanks for the truth. Now we can trust you.
Step right up and get your free education.
FREE when you vote for BERNEE — Vote for me and get your college education for one easy payment of $0.00. That’s right, zero dollars! (Small print read softly, briskly: additional fees will apply — to your neighbors, parents, brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, and many more).
If you’re currently enrolled in college, you’ll graduate before the FREE kicks in, but you’ll get the opportunity to pay for the next generation’s education. And you can feel good about that, while you’re also paying off your own college debt. “But tuition will be paid by the FTT”, you say? I defer to the tax haven money — Corporations will adjust quickly to an FTT by moving their company stock from the NASDAQ and NYSE to a foreign stock exchange in order to compete, to maintain trade volumes on their stock. So how is Bernie going to collect taxes from tax haven money that’s invested on foreign exchanges? He can’t. And that will result in more money being lost from the U.S. tax pool, and will put a heavier tax burden on the middle class.
For all the folks who desire to turn America into Denmark, YOU and me, are going to be paying for it. Why not put yourself on a trial run? Start by ‘taxing’ yourself, initiate a GoFundMe campaign that will ensure everyone gets free public college. It might go viral. But you’re up against another campaign — GoFundYourself.
The government has bills to pay, debt is thundering upward, and Bernie wants you to believe his tax plan will pay our current bills with some left over for his Denmark Strategy. His supporters are buying up that Snake Oil faster than tumbleweed in an Oklahoma tornado. When the dust settles, he’ll be coming to collect those taxes. Strolling down the middle of Main Street, he walks up to a pair of locals; Middle-class Mary carrying her half-filled basket of groceries, and Big Corporate Jesse with his entourage of accountants and lawyers. This story is “To Be Continued…”, but if I had to guess, Middle-class Mary looks like easy pickins for Bernie Sanders.
As Bernie makes his way toward Washington, I suggest you heed the warning of Anna Lewis, a citizen of Bernie’s home territory, Vermont — “It’s a welfare state. The working class doesn’t get a lot of breaks…we’re practically working just to pay our taxes…I don’t think Bernie’s been overly successful in Vermont so I don’t have confidence he’d do better as President.” — Elijah Solomon Hurwitz — Bernie’s Vermont — 02/04/16
