Sen. Bernie Sanders said one good thing when he spoke Monday at the Democratic National Convention. It was that the presidential election is not about gossip, fundraising, campaign strategies or polls, all the things that preoccupy news outlets. It is about the kind of future we are going to have.
And what does that mean?
It means be wary, America. Be wary of Bernie. Be wary of Hillary Clinton. You need to be wary of Donald Trump, too, but it's the Democrats turn on stage so let's get to them.
With exceptions, the members of this party wish to wage a war on the economy by means of a socialist-inspired, redistributionist, utterly devastating strategy known as progressivism. They always make it sound sweet, warm-hearted and just--they are going to give you all kinds of stuff for free and kick the bad guys--when they are really going to punish you along with guys who are not always that bad.
If you want a truly bad guy, at least in terms of ideological inanity, turn to Sanders, someone feverishly intent on spending us into oblivion. He wants a federal health plan that wouldn't leave a soul without coverage. Stressed-out entitlements that need adjustments to stave off crisis? Spend more, he shouts. And if that's not enough, get ready for free education at public universities.
The list goes on, and the cost could be $31 trillion over a decade according to an analysis by two reputable think tanks telling us his hit-the-rich tax plan would fall short of paying the bill by an eye-popping $18 trillion. Consider that amount on top of a debt already at $19 trillion. What you're talking about is next gouging the middle class for revenue that would still be insufficient. Following that could well be economic disruption that would give us job evaporation.
Don't worry, said some even when Sanders was still a candidate, because few of his excessive ideals will turn real. Well, understand a few things. Socialist aspirations now afflict major proportions of the population. Sanders has accumulated pushing power, and he has pushed Clinton aboard his leaking boat. If she wasn't already there on all the above, she is now, if with some exceptions on some points.
On top of that, she wants to shut you up. Within her first 30 days in office, she says, she will introduce an amendment to the First Amendment. It would give politicians in Washington new power to control political speech, and don't think they will be cautious as the nanny state edges toward totalitarianism. Clinton's intent is to keep corporations from dictating elections with their advertising, but studies show Americans outsmart them. Time and again, the side where the most is spent is the side that loses.
Of course, there's also a fear that the corporations are corrupting politicians, but Clinton stands firmly against that proposition, or at least once did in a debate with Sanders. Even though her campaign was being drenched in corporate moolah, she herself could never be bought, she said.
The real problem here is in fact the honesty of politicians--they should be watched more than CEOs. Is Clinton a worry? Given the history of the Clinton Foundation, super-dollar speech reimbursements and a refusal to turn over tapes of talks before donors, maybe so. Add on distant whoppers along with more recent email deceptions, and the answer is almost surely so.
There are other concerns, such as how 30 years or more of the future could be affected by Clinton's nomination of as many as three Supreme Court justices quite probably believing the mere Constitution should not inhibit their leftist morality. The biggest hope with Clinton as president may be that she has been lying about what she really believes and will go different directions.
------------v------------
Jay Ambrose is an op-ed columnist for Tribune News Service.
Editorial on 07/28/2016