{"id":2922,"date":"2015-07-01T14:28:58","date_gmt":"2015-07-01T19:28:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/napervilledemocrats.org\/ntdo\/?p=2922"},"modified":"2015-07-01T14:32:18","modified_gmt":"2015-07-01T19:32:18","slug":"bernie-sanders-as-santa-claus-and-why-not","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/napervilledemocrats.org\/ntdo\/bernie-sanders-as-santa-claus-and-why-not\/","title":{"rendered":"Bernie Sanders as Santa Claus – and Why Not?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"BernieSanders\"When I was appreciating EJ Dionne yesterday<\/a>, I read a little further down in the list and found this piece from a few weeks ago respecting Bernie Sanders<\/a>, and making some solid points:<\/p>\n

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Bernie Sanders: The new St. Nick<\/a><\/h2>\n

By E.J. Dionne Jr. Opinion writer May 31<\/em><\/p>\n

How is it that Democrats forgot about the joys Santa Claus can bring? How is it that Republicans managed to steal the Santa idea from the party of FDR and never let go?<\/p>\n

Understanding why Bernie Sanders\u2019s presidential candidacy is important requires revisiting the politics of St. Nick. The senator from Vermont has little chance of defeating Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination. But he is reminding his party of something it often forgets: Government was once popular because it provided tangible benefits to large numbers of Americans.<\/p>\n

At a time of rising inequality and short-circuited social mobility, Sanders is unapologetic about taking some wealth and income away from those who have a lot of both to ease the path upward for those who don\u2019t. He has proudly called himself a democratic socialist<\/a>, but he doesn\u2019t spin abstract Marxist theories. He wants government to do stuff, and the sort of stuff he has in mind is potentially quite popular.<\/p>\n

Political commentators routinely complain about politicians who are not specific enough. Sanders has more specifics than Ben and Jerry\u2019s has ice cream flavors. He has called for $1?trillion in infrastructure investment<\/a>. He wants the federal government to mandate a minimum wage of at least $15 an hour and restrict the ability of employers to declare normal employees as \u201cmanagers\u201d and thus rob them of overtime pay.<\/p>\n

He would replace our current health-care hodgepodge with a Medicare-for-all single-payer system. He thinks the government should provide free college education for all comers, arguing that the Scandinavian nations and Germany are \u201csmart enough to understand<\/a> that the future of their countries depends on the education their young people get.\u201d<\/p>\n