The Vermont Senator is ignorant when it comes to his own favorite examples of socialism.
March 5, 2020
ITEM #1: Last week, we put the spotlight on Vermont Senator and Democrat presidential candidate Bernie Sanders’ history as an apologist for some of history’s most brutal dictators.
But oh, is there more to say about Bernie.
This week, let’s talk economics.
It’s no secret that Sanders has an affinity for socialism (democratic socialism, as he likes to call it), and in particular he loves to point to the Scandinavian economic model as an example of what we should adopt here in the United States.
But as with so many things, Bernie is completely misguided on this front — not just in his preference for socialist policies, but also in his understanding of what’s going on in the countries he ostensibly seeks to emulate.
As Fareed Zakaria, writing for the Washington Post, explains:
“Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) says that his proposals 'are not radical,' pointing again and again to countries in Northern Europe such as Denmark, Sweden and Norway as examples of the kind of economic system he wants to bring to the United States. The image he conjures up is of a warm and fuzzy social democracy in which market economics are kept on a tight leash through regulation, the rich are heavily taxed and the social safety net is generous. That is, however, an inaccurate and highly misleading description of those Northern European countries today.
“Take billionaires. Sanders has been clear on the topic: 'Billionaires should not exist.' But Sweden and Norway both have more billionaires per capita than the United States — Sweden almost twice as many. Not only that, these billionaires are able to pass on their wealth to their children tax-free. Inheritance taxes in Sweden and Norway are zero, and in Denmark 15 percent. The United States, by contrast, has the fourth-highest estate taxes in the industrialized world at 40 percent.
“Sanders’s vision of Scandinavian countries, as with much of his ideology, seems to be stuck in the 1960s and 1970s, a period when these countries were indeed pioneers in creating a social market economy. In Sweden, government spending as a percentage of gross domestic product doubled from 1960 to 1980, going from approximately 30 percent to 60 percent. But as Swedish commentator Johan Norberg points out, this experiment in Sanders-style democratic socialism tanked the Swedish economy. Between 1970 and 1995, he notes, Sweden did not create a single net new job in the private sector. In 1991, a free-market prime minister, Carl Bildt, initiated a series of reforms to kick-start the economy. By the mid-2000s, Sweden had cut the size of its government by a third and emerged from its long economic slump.”
In other words, Sanders supports an economic system that proved so deficient, and so disastrous, that even the countries he consistently invokes as the system’s greatest success stories … abandoned it long ago.
It’s great to see somebody in the press finally calling him out on his ignorance.
ITEM #2: If you ever needed an indication of how extreme the left has become in the war over the courts, you got it yesterday, folks.
From the Washington Examiner:
“Sen. Chuck Schumer took aim at Supreme Court Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch, promising to make them ‘pay’ as the pair is set to rule on abortion regulations.
“‘I want to tell you Gorsuch, I want to tell you Kavanaugh: You have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price,’ the New York Democrat said Wednesday at a rally for abortion rights. ‘You won't know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions.’”
Which invites the question: What price will they pay, Senator Schumer?
It’s absolutely reprehensible for a U.S. Senator to threaten two justices of the Supreme Court because of how they might rule on a case. (You can read more about this and watch the video of Schumer’s remarks here.)
Chief Justice John G. Roberts issued a statement harshly condemning Schumer for his outrageous remarks. Here’s Roberts’ statement in full:
“This morning, Senator Schumer spoke at a rally in front of the Supreme Court while a case was being argued inside. Senator Schumer referred to two Members of the Court by name and said he wanted to tell them that “You have released a whirlwind, and you will pay the price. You will not know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions.” Justices know that criticism comes with the territory, but threatening statements of this sort from the highest levels of government are not only inappropriate, they are dangerous. All Members of the Court will continue to do their job, without fear or favor, from whatever quarter.”
Shame on Senator Schumer, for behaving so indecently and recklessly that he actually prompted the unprecedented step of a rebuke from a Supreme Court Chief Justice.
ITEM #3: The annual Conservative Political Action Conference, the nation’s largest gathering of grassroots conservative leaders and activists, was held last week.
The conference drew more than 10,000 attendees and featured a star-studded lineup of speakers — including President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, American Conservative Union Chairman Matt Schlapp, Donald Trump, Jr., Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, Kellyanne Conway, and many others.
In addition, CPAC 2020 featured Morning in Nevada PAC President and former Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt, who moderated a panel discussion focusing on the all-important issue of voter fraud and the need to ensure the integrity of our elections system.
You can check out a video of the full discussion here.
ITEM #4: On Monday a federal judge “ordered twice failed Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to give a sworn deposition over her use of a private email server while she was Secretary of State.”
Maybe no one’s above the law after all?
ITEM #5: Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tweeted last week:
“Whenever people ask for the three most important issues in our country, I tell them the same thing: The children. The children. The children.”
Yet she, like many Democrats, opposes a bill to ban killing live babies after birth. It really is incredible how extreme the left has become on the issue of life.
ITEM #6: Jorge and Betty Rivas, co-owners of a Mexican restaurant just north of Tucson, Arizona, attended President Trump’s campaign rally in Phoenix a week ago. Betty was photographed wearing a big cowboy hat with the words “Latinos Love Trump” on it.
They were subsequently slammed with all manner of hate on social media, as well as blistering reviews of their restaurant on Yelp and Google.
“Just because we are Latinos, it doesn’t mean that we have to feel like every other Latino in this country,” Jorge said in response, vowing that, “They are not going to achieve their goal of running us out of business.”
And the President of the United States came to the couple’s defense in a tweet:
“The food is GREAT at Sammy’s Mexican Grill,” the leader of the free world wrote. “I will try to stop by the next time I am in Phoenix.”
For anyone in the neighborhood wanting to show support for the besieged Trump supporters, Sammy’s is located at 16502 N. Oracle Road in Catalina. The restaurant’s phone number is (520) 818-2424.
ITEM #7: Joe Biden, Democrat presidential candidate and human gaffe machine, did it again last week in a South Carolina speech:
“I’m looking forward to appointing the first African-American woman to the United States Senate.”
African-American Sen. Kamala Harris could not be reached for comment.
He followed that up with this “oops” on FOX News on Sunday:
Joe Biden: Thanks Chuck!
Chris Wallace: Its Chris.
Joe Biden: I said Chris.
ITEM #8: Love this tweet by Lori Hendry (@Lrihendry):
Your choice for President 2020:
Trump— a man who makes things happen
Bernie— a man who takes things from those who make things happen
Biden— a man who doesn’t know what’s happening
ITEM #9: Federal Judge Randolph Moss ruled this past Sunday that Ken Cuccinelli, acting director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service, was unlawfully appointed to the position by President Trump and voided a pair of policies to deter illegal immigration that Cuccinelli had implemented.
Judge Moss was appointed by President Obama. The issue of Obama-era judges’ extremism is likely to be a hot topic in the coming year.
ITEM #10: The Catholic archbishop of Minneapolis/St. Paul last week urged priests not to vote in the Democrat presidential primary because it could be viewed as “partisan.”
We know members of the clergy often take a vow of poverty, but we didn’t know they took a vow not to enjoy their rights of citizenship. This is taking the notion of “separation of church and state” way too far.
NOTABLE QUOTES
“I don’t want @realDonaldTrump for another 4 years. I want him 4 ever!” – Randy Quaid
“We hold these truths to be self-evident. All men and women are created, by the, you know, you know the thing." – Joe Biden
“The Democrat Party is a field of lightweights in complete disarray.” – Kayleigh McEnany
“The Democrat Party Establishment is coalescing to crush Bernie Sanders.” – Breitbart News, 3/3/20
“I'm glad Pete Buttigieg dropped out. … Now we get to watch a senile hair sniffer, a cranky communist, some weird billionaire, and a woman catfishing as a Native American fight for a spot to lose against Trump.” – Ashley St. Claire
“Stop calling Bernie/AOC ‘Democratic Socialists.’ They are socialists.” – Ryan Saavedra
“(Mike) Bloomberg was asked why he pushes for gun control when he has 24/7 armed guards. Bloomberg said because he’s rich and a politician.” – National Rifle Association