Bernie Sanders plans on exponentially expanding government influence on areas of people's lives, such as education, health care, and child care in order to consolidate areas that are now shaped by a confusing mix of federal rules, state laws, and private markets. Critics would attack this drastic expansion of government power by accusing the Sanders of trying to intrude or take over areas of people's lives that were once private. Although I do agree that the government needs to regulate certain industries, I think that the expansion of federal power that Sanders is planning is impractical. How would he practically fund such a big project? I don't see his vision of expansion getting realized, considering the size of the federal government is already so big today.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/how-bernie-sanders-would-transform-the-nation/2015/09/30/d3b57b8e-616a-11e5-9757-e49273f05f65_story.html?postshare=1181443698475854
Sanders' plan, though not necessarily realistic, is a real mediation of what the people - not politicians or businessmen - want. I think the article points out an important factor that is problematic: Sanders lacks the support of the political elite required (at least according to Cohn's article "Donald Trump vs. the Party: Why He's Still Such a Long Shot" we read previously) for them to succeed in elections. His recent Senate bills "attracted zero Democrats as co-sponsors" and his ideology has made him a "lonely leftist" that, however, still champions what the people want. Although this makes him appeal to the people, it makes too liberal and not moderate enough to be widely backed. I'm curious to see how far his populist support will take him in the long run and if it will be enough (probably not) to win him the election.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the expansion of power that Bernie Sanders wants would be impossible to achieve in today's political climate. At this time people feel that the government is already too involved in citizens' everyday lives. Sanders wouldn't receive much support from more moderate democrats or any support from conservatives. People also need to remember that a bigger, more involved government will mean more taxes.
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ReplyDeleteI don't think Bernie Sanders will be effective using his plan. The US already has over 18 trillion in debt and its budget is unbalanced. According to the article, Sander's plan requires an additional 3.27 trillion minimum to fund his plans. His source of revenue for these plans come from additional tax for capital gains revenue, businesses, and working people. The outcome of higher taxes may in fact harm the US as large corporations and business will continue to outsource jobs, bringing the US GDP down. However, as a political platform, Sanders is doing a good job: there are obviously more poor/middle-class people than rich people and by guaranteeing free college, he wins many votes from the poor/middle-class who cannot afford full tuition.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Howard, the article that you are using does state that Bernie Sanders is proposing an over 3.4 trillion dollar increase in taxes, and as this implies an unknown number over 3.4 trillion, there is a possibility that he would be able fund this huge project. However, I do agree that his vision will probably not be realized, as there are and would be an extremely large amount of people opposing it. On the other hand these proposals are helping Sanders, as his extreme liberal stance draws voters away from the more moderate Clinton and to him.
ReplyDeleteI would consider Sander's plan to be well-intentioned but very impractical. I do believe that the government should have more control over various departments, especially ones related to education,and health care, because it would theoretically allow for a higher amount of regulation. However, like you said, it would be highly improbable for this plan to come to fruition. The amount of funding necessary is too high, and the current state of our politics would also make it exceedingly difficult to gain complete support for his plans.
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