Defining Socialism Down: Bernie Sanders left out a few details about his political creed.

Wall Street Journal ^ | June 14, 2019

[reaganaut1]

Part of Bernie Sanders’ apparent political appeal is his authenticity. He may be a socialist, but at least he’s honest about it. Then again, his speech on Thursday defining his idea of democratic socialism may begin to erode that reputation.

The Vermont Senator presents himself as the ideological descendant of FDR, whom many seniors still revere and millennials incorrectly believe rescued America from the Great Depression. Medicare for All, a federal jobs guarantee and energy-industry takeover? Mr. Sanders says they are merely an extension of New Deal programs like Social Security, unemployment insurance and the Tennessee Valley Authority.

“Like today, the quest for transformative change was opposed by big business, Wall Street, the political establishment, by the Republican Party and by the conservative wing of FDR’s own Democratic Party,” the Democratic Socialist declared. “While he stood up for the working families of our country, we can never forget that President Roosevelt was reviled by the oligarchs of his time, who berated these extremely popular programs as ‘socialism.’”

We can understand why Mr. Sanders wants to define socialism in this way, since the polls show the word is politically toxic for most Americans. But he’s underselling his own contributions. FDR’s social programs were based on the principle of work in return for benefits. Workers chipped in part of their payroll to finance their own retirement many years hence. The benefits are unsustainable now, but at least they require someone to work.

Mr. Sanders pitches Medicare for All as an income transfer program. Take from “billionaires” like Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and give to everyone else. But there aren’t enough Bezoses to finance government health care for everyone, so Bernie will eventually have to go after the middle class. This did not show up in his Introduction to Socialism lecture.

[Elsie]

Rights bestowed by God Almighty are permanent, and meaningful.

Not if you do not fight to KEEP them!!

[Elsie]

Bingo!

[libertylover]

The benefits are unsustainable now, but at least they require someone to work.

Not really. Many receive benefits who don't work and never have worked.

[Rockingham]

Roosevelt's love of expansive regulation and new federal agencies disordered markets and created uncertainty that impaired investment and hiring. His policy of gold accumulation also contributed to the worldwide decline in gold-based monetary liquidity that made the Depression so wrenching.

Even the banking crisis in 1933 can be laid at Roosevelt's door in that he refused during the transition to approve having the Fed and US Treasury act as lender of last resort to the struggling banking system. Economists and bankers eventually prevailed on Roosevelt to adopt such a policy, which then spurred the beginning of recovery.