Income Inequality

When it comes to ending income inequality for good absolutely nobody has a greater shot than Bernie Sanders of completely messing this up. Anybody remember that scene in Shawshank Redemption when Andy Dufresne calls the warden “obtuse”, meaning the warden is both dumb and incapable of seeing anything but his own agenda without any concern for other people?

Well, Bernie Sanders is that, but I would like to add a third meaning to the word “obtuse” that doesn’t really equate to the movie’s usage, just to Bernie.

Bernie Sanders is obtuse because he gets the biggest, big picture of income inequality-that it is in fact happening (Sadly, that is far more than one could imagine coming from a Republican) and yet quite similarly to his supporters, he understands almost nothing else. I mean that doesn’t stop these people from supporting him, the TV told them that socialism is the answer so they’ve proudly responded that way without any questioning or reading, not even a quick Wikipedia session on the current state of Venezuela.

When it comes to being obtuse, Bernie Sanders seems to only understand that we have a problem with income inequality and corruption-ask him where it comes from and you’re likely to get a loud, spit-filled, self-righteous response, devoid of ‘facts’ or ‘reasoning’.

Bernie has an odd voting record one that indicates to me exactly that Bernie really does grasp the level of corruption that we’re faced with. He voted against the bailouts in 2008, which tells me that he understands that the rich will always publicize their losses and privatize their gains-which is exactly the point of socialism, yet very impressive of a socialist to want no part of it, at the same time-very rare. I’ll give him some crazy points, he’s earned them.

Liberals were almost in complete agreement on the bailouts being a good thing for the American people, but Bernie didn’t take that bait, I suspect he was sticking to his agenda more than anything though. I wonder if he understands that bailouts are meant to transfer wealth out of the hands of the middle class and working poor?

I wonder if he understands that the Federal Reserve was in part created by JP Morgan, in order to help bailout the rich with tax payer money and to cover the losses on their risky investments in order for the wealthiest men to make money when they win AND when they lose?

I know someone who certainly does understand where income inequality comes from, Ron Paul. If only Ron Paul had run with a campaign similar to Bernie’s, pushing the same issues about the financial difficulties facing young people in America.

If I could somehow get Ron Paul to sit down with Bernie Sanders for half an hour, I believe they would have a tremendous amount in common actually. They’re only 5 years apart: it is obvious that Bernie is far superior at speaking to people’s emotions because he is in fact a total demagogue who truly hates income inequality, but is absolutely clueless about what causes it and that Ron Paul is a competent brilliant doctor, who lacks the persuasive abilities of Bernie Sanders. They are the two biggest outlier potential candidates in recent memory, it’s a shame that Ron Paul and he couldn’t sit down and teach Bernie about economics, finance and why Marxism doesn’t work to stop rich people from stealing.

Oddly, it was Ron Paul who recently stated that Bernie Sanders, the communist, is the most free market candidate running-even when compared to the Republicans. That shows you the sad state of American politics. Paul also stated that Ted Cruz is no libertarian and that by default Bernie is the closest to a libertarian remaining (after his son dropped out).

I like the phrase the “devil is in the details” for someone whose campaign message is built around a central theme -wresting economic power away from Wall Street and returning it to working people, I really wish he would spend some time learning economics or maybe, how to actually do that. Basically, Ron Paul’s entire campaign only I don’t believe he ever mentioned the words “income” or “inequality”, instead he used the political opposites “freedom” and “liberty” which do not at all resonate with people who call themselves liberals which comes from the word liberty, but don’t tell them that.

Bernie Sanders is obtuse, ignorant and self righteous.  He has absolutely no idea what he is doing and it shows through his tweets, his speeches, in debates and his voting record.   In 2000, Sanders voted for the Commodity Futures Modernization Act, a landmark bill which blocked federal agencies from regulating credit default swaps which were at the heart of the panic of 2008.

In a speech on the House floor, on year before he voted for the CFMA, Bernie Sanders complained that the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act would create new “taxpayer exposure to potential losses should a financial conglomerate fail. It will lead to more megamergers, a small number of corporations dominating the financial service industry and further concentration of economic power in this country,” This did not stop him a year later from voting for the CFMA,  in favor of legislation to exempt a large part of the banking sector from regulation.

Did age catch up with this guy 16 years ago? Is he competent? Maybe he only gets the big picture and nothing else