As Usual, Bernie Sanders Doesn't Know What He's Talking About(WHAT!?)

news.investors.com ^ | 12/23/2015 | IBD editorial

[rktman]

Ideology: Socialist senator and presidential candidate Bernie Sanders tweets that Americans shouldn't have to work overtime to feed their families. In so doing, he shows why tweeting without thinking is a bad idea.

Last week, Sanders, the self-identified socialist who is running for president as — quite appropriately — a Democrat, took to Twitter to say that "in the richest country in the history of the world, people shouldn't have to be working 50 or 60 hours a week to put food on the table."

Just who does he suppose is putting in the time?

[rktman]

I'm stunned that 'everything is free' uncle bernie doesn't know what he's talking about. NOT! New flash bernie. I used to work a lot more hours than that per week. Not to put food on the table (although it did help), but because it was the job we were tasked with doing. Lucky to have had the job I had for 36 years and damn proud of it. Too bad there isn't more effort being put in to someone's work effort and less effort whining. I guess we're kinda having a "weekend at bernie's" in Reno since he'll be in town on Sunday to spew his socialist bilge. I heard a quote the other night on some show: "You can work laughing or you can work crying, but you're gonna work!" I liked it.

Merry Christmas

[The Pack Knight]

Don't you see? That's why he wants 90% top marginal tax rates. What better way to cut down on 60 hour work weeks than by taxing the people who actually work those weeks? By the way, isn't the problem underemployment among the poor?

[HiTech RedNeck]

He just wants to look like everybody’s Santa Claus, even with nonexistent reindeer, sleigh, elves, toys, and bag. And so he thinks only as far as is needed to find something that looks like it fits the bill.

Dig into it? What, you ask the Bern to not just be sincere but accurate? He Berns with anger at the idea!

[HiTech RedNeck]

OH, would Donald Trump mop the floor with Bernie. People who have been voting on hypothetical tickets haven’t yet heard what will happen when Donald unloads on either Bernie or Hillary.

[KarlInOhio]

I could probably get by with working 20 hours a week if it was only my table I had to put food on. But I'm only allowed to keep about 60% of my paycheck and that's before I pay for sales tax, property tax, gas tax, utilities taxes and a dozen other taxes.

[kenmcg]

Sen. Joe McCarthy must be turning over in his grave. He was destroyed due to his efforts to expose communists in government. Now even out of the closet commies are running for POTUS>

[mjp]

If people think that they are being exploited because prices are too high and wages are too low, then the solution is more free market capitalism, and not government interventionism or Marxism. In a free market, if prices are set too high, then the business will lose sales, and if wages are set too low, then the business will lose good workers. It's in the self interest of businesses to keep prices and wage rates at market levels.

Also, if the average wage money wage rate in the economy as a whole is too low, then the solution is also free market capitalism. This is the system that most increases capital accumulation, saving, and productive expenditure, which leads to more demand for labor and higher money wage rates, and also more production and supply, which leads to lower prices.

[The Pack Knight]

But then the author throws out a whopper of his own:

“Roughly 100 million Americans want to work but can’t find jobs.” That’s not even close to true.

He appears to be referring to the BLS labor force participation numbers, which are at historic lows, and show that over 94 million out of the non institutional civilian population (over 16, not in the military, not institutionalized) of 251 million is not a member of the labor force (employed + unemployed and actively looking for a job).

Yes, that 94 million includes those who stopped looking for a job because they can’t find one. It also includes those who do NOT want a job: retirees, the disabled, homemakers, etc.

The number of Americans who want a job but don’t have one is more like 14 million. About 7.5 million “unemployed” and another 6.5 million “not in labor force but want job now.” Still far too many, but nowhere near 100 million.

[gasport]

For 20+ yrs, I worked 60+ hr/wk and on call for the remainder.

Perks included: lounge catnaps, inhalation of a sandwich while driving, seltzer for a holiday drink, etc

[gasport]

I loved it.

[Boogieman]

Thanks to Obamacare, Americans are lucky to get 30 hours a week!

Who is getting overtime besides the union employees?!?

[buffaloguy]

Bernie,

Someone has to pay for all the welfare and benefits that the government is handing out.
It isn’t free Bernie.

Sincerely,
BuffaloGuy