How Bernie Sanders will pay for his programs

I have read several instances of where people have questioned how Bernie Sanders will pay for the free programs he is proposing, like college tuition, universal healthcare, expansion of Social Security and more. You can see a full explanation of all issues by the candidate here but let me cover the above three in this post. For those of you who follow the Bern, you probably know that his aspirations are quite lofty, but that he believes sincerely in his ability to reach for and attain these goals. And in each case he has a specific solution to fund each program.

What the general public has to understand--something Bernie's supporters already know--is that these reforms have been so long coming that the momentum of needed change is now on their side. The time has come to rid this country of the corporate and wealth control that has been building for so many years now. The people need America delivered back to them and this is exactly what Bernie Sanders plans to do. There will be a fight and ideologues like Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan, plus the bulk of the conservative right, will have to be dealt with. We can only hope the people will win.

First, free college tuition for all will cost around $75 billion a year. It will be paid for by imposing a tax on Wall Street speculators that would generate about $300 billion in revenue. See the link here for detailed information.

Second, healthcare coverage for every American, paid for by a 6.2 percent income-based health care premium paid by employers, a 2.2 percent income-based premium paid by households, progressive income tax rates, taxing capital gains and dividends the same as income from work, limiting tax deductions for the rich, adjusting the estate tax, and savings from health tax expenditures.

Three, the expansion of Social Security Paid for by lifting the tax on taxable income over $250,000 so that the wealthy pay the same percentage of their income into Social Security as working people. More information here.

A Bernie Sanders presidency will give us the chance to catch up with other Social Democracies around the world that already offer these programs to their people. But it is up to the people of the U.S. to make this happen.

NOTE: I do plan to repost this randomly.

Bernie Sanders Sayings

Do the elected officials in Washington stand with ordinary Americans - working families, children, the elderly, the poor - or will the extraordinary power of billionaire campaign contributors and Big Money prevail? The American people, by the millions, must send Congress the answer to that question.

Mitch McConnell is Senate token asshole

Mitch McConnell the village idiot at work

It takes the language of a sailor--used to be one--to describe this numbnuts who has opposed everything Barack Obama has done from the first day he took office. Most likely Mitch McConnell is a racist, but it is confirmed that he hates the President and makes me ashamed that Kentucky is my birth state. It is beyond me how McConnell was ever elected to Congress, then became Senate head? This jerk is the epitome of what is wrong with the GOP Congress, actually the Republican Party in general.

Apparently there is nothing we can do to get rid of him now, but it should prove to Republican voters what is wrong with their side of the aisle, and to Progressives that we need to get to the polls in November to vote conservatives like him out of office. But I can't imagine those on the right coming to their senses when 35% of them support Donald Trump, with Ted Cruz even in the double digits. This country is fucked up and will only survive under a Progressive President like Bernie Sanders, with much of the unrest pointing certain segments of the population in his direction.

The naysayers are already condemning the Bern for his Nevada loss. Clinton should have won that state with a unanimous vote but she didn't and Sanders walked away with 15 delegates to her 19. Do you remember that Bernie was once behind by 40 points in Nevada? And by the way, here's where Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders stand in the pledged delegates that will choose the Democratic nominee...they are tied at 51 delegates apiece. But Sanders still needs more money to fight off Clinton's Super Pacs and you can contribute here.


 

Bernie Sanders Sayings

What the American people want to see in their president is somebody who not necessarily can win every fight, but they want to see him stand up and fight for what he believes, take his case to the American people.

Bernie Sanders holds his own in delegates

Wasn't able to post again on Saturday due to a glitch on Blogger, but Bernie Sanders did come in second with 47.4% of the vote to Hillary Clinton's 52.5%. Not significant and certainly not what Clinton expected with her experience in 2008 from this state. And she was outdone by Sanders on the Latino vote with Bernie getting 53% while winning 68% to 28% of the younger voters. Nate Silver's FiveThirtyEight noted that most of Nevada voters are "mostly old.

But at the outset Bernie Sanders won 15 Nevada delegates to Hillary Clinton's 19. Overall, Sanders has 52 delegates, Clinton 67 and with this close a race, and the fact that we have only gotten started in primaries and caucuses, I'd say Bernie is sitting pretty good.

Clinton Nevada Hispanic lead over Sanders cut to 3 points

The Latino vote in Nevada will be very important today and Bernie Sanders has improved his standing in just one week from behind 11 points to just 3 on Feb. 14. Overall Bernie is within 2.4 points. Of course we are in the moment, Nevada, that is, but Clinton's steady decline and Sanders durable increases bode well for the rest of the country. A win in Nevada should carry positive momentum into the So. Carolina primary.

More later on the Nevada race.

Bernie Sanders Sayings

Establishing a 0.03 percent Wall Street speculation fee, similar to what we had from 1914-1966, would dampen the dangerous level of speculation and gambling on Wall Street, encourage the financial sector to invest in the productive economy and reduce the deficit by more than $350 billion over 10 years.

Bernie Sanders surges again in national polls

Bernie Sanders jumped 14 points in national pools against Hillary Clinton in just one month. On January 16, it was 59 to 34, Hillary by 25 points. By February 16, this had changed to 53 to 42, Hillary still ahead but by only 11 points, while in the process Clinton lost six points with Bernie gaining 8. Sanders still has a problem with minorities but holds strong on white men, Independents and voters under age 50.

Clinton concerns voters with her ties with Wall Street and for Sanders it is his foreign policy experience. The key factor here is the 14 point advance for Bernie in just 30 days, and these increases have been consistent. With this kind of escalation, and on a regular basis, Bernie could be running very close to his opponent by March's Super Tuesday. But I believe the key states for Sanders will be Michigan, Illinois, Pennsylvania and California.

Bernie Sanders Sayings

Let us wage a moral and political war against the billionaires and corporate leaders, on Wall Street and elsewhere, whose policies and greed are destroying the middle class of America.

Corporate CEOs demanding better education laughable

It was an Arizona newspaper headline that said it, "CEOs see schools as a key weakness," but unique as this state is in its stand alone nature, particularly with guns everywhere, I think the issue might apply nationwide. Corporations want our schools to train the people they will eventually hire, but they don't want to spend one penny to support this education. I don't mean with direct donations to the schools; I am talking about them simply not paying their federal taxes.

Here is a chart of corporations that do not pay any taxes broken down by the S&P companies and Fortune 500 companies. Included are corporations like Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. Americans for Tax Fairness says, " Tax avoidance through offshore tax loopholes is a significant reason why corporations, which paid one-third of federal revenues 60 years ago, now pay one-tenth of federal revenues.

This is one of Bernie Sanders major talking points, to make these companies pay their fair share of taxes again. Bernie has his own list of "Top Ten Corporate Tax Avoiders." It includes: General Electric; Verizon; Bank of America; Pfizer Pharmaceuticals and FedEx. In a way, it is un-American not to pay these taxes when it deprives children of an education, in some cases the only meal they may have all day.

LATEST: Bernie sanders within one point of Clinton in Nevada Caucus

Bernie Sanders has literally destroyed Hillary Clinton's lock on the non-white vote by pulling to within one point of his opponent; Sanders 47%, Clinton 48%. This just three days before Nevada caucuses on Saturday. The new figures were apparently a shock to the Clinton campaign, and yet another sign that Bernie Sanders has grown to the candidate for all the people of the U.S. We're not only talking African-American but the large number of Latinos working in the casinos.

The Bern nas gained 13 points on Clinton since the last poll in October of 2015, a phenomenal jump when considering the odds he is up against. But Nevada isn't really as diverse as many think and less than some of the future primaries, coming in at 15% of caucus-goers, Latino, 15%, African-American, and 3% Asian-American. 65% were white. Nevertheless it is a good test for Bernie Sanders and one that he both relishes and plans to excel in.

Bernie Sanders Sayings

For many, the American dream has become a nightmare.

Under the Republicans...government doesn't work

This is something a Bernie Sanders Presidency will correct and take to new heights.