Bernie Sanders, an Independent Vermont senator and self-identified socialist, wants to increase the size of government. Not just increase, but astronomically, exponentially expand the size and scope of the federal government. The size: $18 trillion worth over the next 10 years. This is making both sides of the political aisle shake their heads. Not in the disgust, but “how come I didn’t think of that!”
According to the Wall Street Journal, the long shot 2016 presidential candidate, who is giving the anointed Hillary Clinton a run for her money, wants to allocate $15 trillion to a government-run health-care program, infrastructure spending projects, Social Security expansion and free post-secondary schooling.
So far, however, his campaign plans only garner $6.5 trillion over the same period of time. Campaign insiders tell the newspaper that there will need to be additional taxes and the introduction of new payroll taxes for both the employee and the employer.
Warren Gunnels, Sanders’s policy director, conceded that it’s a costly program but it’s needed. “Sen. Sanders’s agenda does cost money,” he said. “If you look at the problems that are out there, it’s very reasonable.”
Now, the Sanders plan contains the words “at least,” which means the $18 trillion is just a conservative number. For a socialist like Sanders, he has all these other grandiose ideas for funding childcare and preschool, which are billion-dollar programs.
Overall, pledges made by Sanders would substantially increase total federal spending by approximately one-third, which is equal to a projection of $68 trillion over 10 years. Yikes! This also means an additional $11.5 trillion added to the national debt. If Sanders were elected to the White House twice then the national debt would be more than $30 trillion by the end of his tenure.
The American Thinker runs an interesting comment about the Sanders plan:
“The good news is, even many Democrats would blanch at those numbers. Not because they disagree with the ideas, but because they realize that turning America into a socialist paradise is a long-term project to be carried out stealthily – like the proverbial boiling frog scenario. But for proposing all these goodies, Sanders should be considered the most honest person running for president. It’s doubtful he can win, even if the GOP runs the devil himself. But he has positioned the Democratic Party far, far to the left of the mainstream of America.
“And they might be paying for that for years.”
George Bush, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton seem like fiscal conservatives compared to him. Since she’s losing ground, will Clinton adopt a similar campaign strategy? The millennial voters are eating up the food Sanders is serving – Sanders continually has thousands of supporters coming to his campus rallies – so she may have no other choice.
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