In the Beginning

Meet Bernie Sanders. In 1981, he was elected (by 10 votes) to the first of his four terms as mayor of Burlington, Vermont (VT). He went on to serve 16-years in the House of Representatives and, in 2018, won a third term in the U.S. Senate. He is registered as an Independent but caucuses with the Democrats. He is best known for being a self-described Democratic Socialist adored by millions of young, progressive Democrats. Not to mention getting shafted by Hillary Clinton and the Democrat Party in the 2016 presidential election. He is Bernie Sanders.

Too bad he’s crazy.

Born in Brooklyn in 1941, Sanders moved to VT after graduating in 1964 from the University of Chicago. While a student, Sanders was an active protest organizer. Now 78, he is the longest serving independent member of Congress in U.S. history. He is often described as prickly, feisty, grumpy, a curmudgeon or just ornery. He owns three homes, flies on private jets or slums it in first class and has a net worth close to $2 million. Not bad for a democratic socialist who has been on the taxpayer payroll for 38-years and received his first steady paycheck at age 40.

Married to the Mob

Jane Sanders is Bernie’s wife. In 1988 they honeymooned in Russia, outside of Moscow. By 2004 she was president of Burlington College. Under her leadership, the FBI launched an investigation into bank fraud involving a sketchy $10 million real estate deal. The U.S. Attorney in Vermont later closed its investigation without indictments.

Sound familiar? Not to worry, Jane quit in 2011 and walked away with a cool $200,000 in cash. The college didn’t do as well. Failing to meet accreditation standards and stuck with millions in debt, they filed bankruptcy and closed. It was an unusual, albeit effective, way to stem the rising tide of student debt.

Populist or Hypocrite

President Trump calls Sanders “Crazy Bernie.” To capitalists he is. He bemoans the struggles of the proletariat, the workers, and rails against the powerful. “Railing” is Sanders’ go-to move. In vague yet brash terms, he slams Wall Street, Big Tech, oil companies and large conglomerates.

Sanders ignores the jobs, innovation and higher standard of living they help provide and assures us they are the source of all our miseries. Sanders also blasts “rich 1%’ers,” which is comical since he’s a member of the club. Even left-leaning sites write about the hypocrisy.

Rights Not Privileges

Healthcare and abortions are rights in Sanders’ world. He supports “Medicare-for-all,” just like his fellow Democrat candidates. He sponsored a bill under that banner in 2017. Sanders’ plan is for every American to have Medicare and the elimination of private insurance providers.

The current system is costly because of “billions in profits… and outrageous compensation packages for CEOs,” Sanders said in a California speech. He also said, “abortion is health care” and, in 2018, he voted against a bill to ban abortions after 20 weeks. He is 100% Pro-choice.

Deceit and Hysteria

Sanders is a climate-hawk. He co-sponsored The Green New Deal. The same bill was just exposed as a “change-the-whole-economy-thing” and not the 100% clean energy thing we were told. Sanders’ hyperbole often borders on hysteria.

He wants to, “Bring climate deniers to justice,” and once tweeted, “We must look at climate change as if it were a devastating military attack against the United States and the entire planet.” Yikes! He also linked climate change to terrorism. He did not, however, link spats with ISIS to a lack of A/C or food trunks, but you get the idea.

An Island of Sanity in a Sea of Radicalism

Sanders called our current immigration policies “heartless.” He supports a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants. One of Sanders’ top staffers is here illegally, something he has defended. He characterized the border crisis as “systematic cruelty” and his call to action “goes beyond abolishing ICE.”

He favors free healthcare for illegal immigrants, as well as decriminalizing border jumpers. Despite such rhetoric, Sanders argues effectively against “open borders” because “there’s a lot of poverty in this world.” That’s only true if a few billion is still considered “a lot.”

Is Bernie Sanders Sane?

Sanders is by far the most radical and progressive candidate in the Democrat field. Most of his policy positions conflict with mainstream American values. The most radical, however, are his $19.2 trillion new tax plan, his call for a “guaranteed government job,” his proposed “guaranteed income” and frequent praise for oppressive dictators, such as Cuban dictator, Fidel Castro.

Sanders is an oddity, to be sure, but an oddity with a lot of supporters. His 900,000 individual donors last quarter more than doubled his second place rival’s, Elizabeth Warren’s. Bernie Sanders remains a powerful force in the Democrat field. Too bad he’s crazy.