The Confusion Surrounding Bernie Sanders

Yesterday evening socialist presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, seeking the Democratic Party presidential nomination, launched his national grassroots support organization.

He claimed that more than 3.500 grassroots organization locations from around the country were tuning into his private network broadcast and in total more than 100,000 volunteers were listening in.

He noted that these local organizations were not a top down creation. "We read about them in the papers. We don't organize them," he said.

He attributed the grassroots effort to people saying, "enough is enough." And he repeated the slogan "enough is enough," throughout his speech as though he were going to make it the rallying slogan of his campaign.

Of course, my immediate thoughts turned to Rand Paul, and how he has blown the chance to capture part of the "enough is enough" crowd, by cozying up to Mitch McConnell and by, now, attempting to be part of the neocon camp that wants to derail the deal reached with Iran.

We really need a candidate who is anti-establishment and understands basic economics. Sanders is far from that person.

As one point he called for an increase in the federal minimum wage, now at $7.25, to $15.00.

Nearly every economist alive, including Paul Krugman on certain days, will admit that this will cause unemployment, especially among youth and more specifically low skilled black youth,

That's why I was completely stunned when Sanders immediately followed up his call for a minimum wage hike, by pointing out the staggering unemployment levels among youth 17-21. He rattled off the numbers, white youth unemployment 33%, Hispanic youth unemployment 36% and black youth unemployment 51%. He said this could not stand.

But Sanders gave no indication he understood that the minimum wage, he proposed to hike, is at the core of the youth unemployment problem.

He then went on in his speech to decry the fact that many in the US have to hold down two and sometimes three jobs. But then he called for a vast number of expensive new government programs, which would have to result in higher taxes---and likely force many to work even longer hours becasue of the higher taxes.

He proposed tuition free education  at all public colleges and universities. Public funding of elections, Medical care in the form of a single payer program and a path to citizenship for the undocumented, which of course would result in an increased cost associated with providing public services to these new "citizens."

The supporters cheered as though 'Sanders could actually pull off all his contradictory proposals. Proof positive that significant confusion exists in all of the 50 states. The masses are looking for solutions everywhere, even those that don't make much sense.

 -RW