Why Won't Bernie Sanders Debate Walter Block?

The following exchange took place between a staff member for the socialist presidential candidate, Bernie Sanders, Walter Block and me:

From:* Robert Wenzel [mailto:rw@economicpolicyjournal.com]
> *Sent:* Sunday, May 03, 2015 5:18 AM
> *To:* Press: The Sanders Campaign
> *Cc:* Walter Block
> *Subject:* Debate Request
>
>
>
> To Whom It May Concern:
>
>
>
> Congratulations on the announcement that Senator Sanders has decided to
> enter the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.
>
>>
> EconomicPolicyJournal.com is interested ns sponsoring a debate between
> Senator Sanders and his former high school classmate Professor Walter Block
> (see below), on the issues of the day. Would Senator Sanders be interested
> in such a debate?
>
>>
> Sincerely yours,
>
>
>
> Robert Wenzel
>
> Editor & Publisher
>
> EconomicPolicyJournal.com <http://economicpolicyjournal.com/>

ATTACHMENT: 

Left-leaning Bernie Sanders' Brooklyn roots recalled>> April 30, 2015 by DAN JANISON / dan.janison@newsday.com>> [image: Image removed by sender. Sen. Bernie Sanders announced on April> 29, 2015]>> Long before moving to Vermont, Bernie Sanders -- a self-described> democratic socialist who declared yesterday for president -- grew up in> Brooklyn, as the sound of his voice suggests.>> Long before his election to the Senate -- and before cable-news audiences> grew accustomed to seeing his mad-professor mess of thinning white hair --> Sanders attended the borough's James Madison High School (class of 1959)> and, for a year, Brooklyn College.>> Walter E. Block knew Sanders back in the day. "We were both on the Madison> track team; he was one of the best runners in the city," Block recalls,> "and I was a mediocre runner. So the view of his butt moving away from me> in a distance run was far from a rarity.">>>  <http://www.newsday.com/advertise>Like Sanders, Block is now 73. Much> unlike Sanders, Block went on to become an author of provocative books> advocating free-enterprise economics. His website calls him an> anarcho-libertarian philosopher. In terms of 2016, Block's presidential> preferences run more toward another senator -- Rand Paul (R-Ky.).>> Block, who has an endowed chair in business at Loyola University in New> Orleans, projects personal good wishes to his onetime classmate. For sure,> Block opposes any brand of socialism, citing events in North Korea, East> Germany and Cuba (events Sanders would deem irrelevant to his run). That> said, Block believes Sanders' entry "will make politics more interesting.> Seeing Hillary Clinton without opposition [in the Democratic primary] would> be boring. Bernie will shake things up.">

---

On Sun, May 3, 2015 at 5:13 AM, Briggs, Michael (Sanders) <
XXXX@sanders.senate.gov> wrote:
To:Robert Wenzel

>  Can we tweet This Week do you think?

----

 *From: *Robert Wenzel
*Sent: *Thursday, May 28, 2015 1:55 PM
*To: *Briggs, Michael (Sanders)
*Cc: *Walter Block
*Subject: *Re: Debate Request

  Hi Michael,

 Just following up on our earlier email exchange. Any chance we can get
that debate going between Senator Sanders and Professor Walter Block (who
was a high school classmate of the Senator). Since Dr. Block is a well
known libertarian, I expect a debate would get considerable coverage,
including, I have preliminary indications, possibly live coverage from
C-Span.

 I can be reached at 415 xxx-xxxx

 Best,

 Bob Wenzel

     ---
 Robert Wenzel
Editor & Publisher
EconomicPolicyJournal.com <http://economicpolicyjournal.com/>
San Francisco, CA
---

From Walter Block

To Wenzel, Michael Briggs

Dear Folks:

I would be delighted to debate my old friend and fellow high school track team member Bernie Sanders. We overlapped for 4 years at Madison High School, and one year at Brooklyn College. That alone ought to pique some media interest.

I would suggest that the debate, if it occurs, should focus on economics and personal liberties, not foreign policy, since I don't think there's the proverbial "dime's worth of difference" between the two of us on those issues. I support the founding fathers' and Ron Paul's foreign policy of anti imperialism and non interventionism and am pretty sure Bernie does too.

Best regards,

Walter

Walter E. Block, Ph.D.
Harold E. Wirth Eminent Scholar Endowed Chair and Professor of Economics
Joseph A. Butt, S.J. College of Business
Loyola University New Orleans
6363 St. Charles Avenue, Box 5, Miller Hall 318
New Orleans, LA 70118

---

From: Briggs, Michael (Sanders)
To: Robert Wenzel

Sorry but no.

Sent from my BlackBerry 10 smartphone on the Verizon Wireless 4G LTE network.

---

From: Walter Block

To: Robert Wenzel

Dear Bob:

Nice try. Thanks. Hey, blog this entire correspondence? I wonder why Bernie won't debate me.

Best regards,

Walter