Discussion for article #242858
Well played sir!
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I loved that line!!!
My favorite so far.
For what it’s worth, I agree with Josh – what is OMalley doing on the stage? He has no support, even from his own state.
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O’Malley is just window dressing to make it look like a real contest/debate.
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The only thing the Democratic candidate debates have shown so far is that O’Malley is not ready to run for the presidency, and probably never will be. He comes across as a used car dealer to me.
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I thought there were several instances in which O’Malley did quite well and I was impressed with his responses, not that I can remember any specifics right now. I don’t consider him to be superfluous to the process of nominating a candidate, and he may well prove to be a viable contender as time goes on.
At this point I feel absolutely comfortable with any of the Dem candidates becoming our next president.
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I agree. Truth be told, looking at the 2016 presidential election, these three candidates are the only adults in the room.
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Unfortunately a majority of the American electorate that actually turns out to vote is made up of infants and the Donald has promised them all diapers.
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See, this is why I cannot support Bernie.
He states, without any reservation, that HE will fix the tax code the way he wants, totally ignoring the FACT that laws are proposed in THE HOUSE and then sent to THE SENATE and THEN to reconciliation between BOTH, and THEN and ONLY THEN to the Presidents desk.
If he thinks he can get a +50% top-tax rate through the HOUSE and SENATE, I want some of what he is smoking.
He has been in Congress long enough to KNOW he is bull-shitting everybody.
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In my opinion Hillary won this one too.
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Well played? That’s snark right?
So his top marginal tax rate is not going to be 90%. Then what will it be? For someone whose whole campaign is predicated on rectifying income inequality, Senator Sanders has been reticent to reveal what exactly his tax plan will look like.
If he is the party nominee, the Republicans will flay him alive with the “well, it won’t be 90% marginal tax rate” mewling. He will be deemed a “tax and spend Democrat on steroids”; a socialist (wink, wink Communist) who is looking to confiscate the taxpayers’ earnings.
Senator Sanders’ inability to articulate a tax plan will be colored as an intent to hide his true confiscatory intentions.
Well played?" Sure, if you’re a potential Republican candidate.
Well sure, it would have been an even better answer if he had been prepared to name a specific number for the top tax rate, then followed it with the line about not being as much of a socialist as Eisenhower, under whom the top rate was 90%. To be fair, both of the other candidates have said rates on the wealthy should be increased, but as far as I know, neither of them has specified what they think the top rate should be either. .
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Sanders’ at one point during the campaign responded to an interviewer’s question about the 91% marginal tax rate in the 1950’s with the comment that such a rate “wasn’t too high”. Such comments will be hung around his neck like a millstone in the general election if he is the party nominee. The Republicans wish that he is the nominee because their message and campaign write themselves.
He’s playing it too cute by half in not having a vetted tax plan, while shouting in his wearisome speaking style about how he will “fix” income inequality. Such silence speaks volumes about his capacity to actually get something done.
Have Hillary or Martin O’Malley said what they think the top tax rate should be? Do any of the Republicans have tax plans that add up? You’re right that Bernie should hurry up and get his tax plan finalized and be prepared to specify the top tax rate and other important features – but so should everyone else, whether you enjoy their speaking style or not.
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Senator Sanders has made “fixing” income inequality the raison d’etre of his candidacy. That he has not addressed how he will specifically accomplish this makes him appear rather disingenuous, at best, and a bit of a fraud, at worst…
Nonsense. Bernie has offered specific, paid-for plans to make college tuition free (paid for through a tax on Wall Street transactions), to enact Family and Medical leave (paid for through a small payroll tax), to shore up social security and expand benefits (paid for by eliminating the cap on Social Security contributions), among other many other specific proposals addressing income inequality – directly and indirectly.
Yes, he still has significant work to do to explain how he would pay for some of his other proposals (notably single-payer health care, by far the most “expensive” part of his platform, where the short answer is Americans would pay more taxes, but not have to pay private insurance premiums, and overall would spend less).
And no, none of this would be easy, but he’s very clear that winning these kinds of changes would require a major political upheaval, or as he puts it, a “political revolution.” So, long term, difficult to achieve goals, as opposed to short-term, easier ones? Sure. Unrealistic to believe that even in a best-case scenario they would be easy to achieve during a Sanders presidency? Again, sure, but again, he is quite forthright about that. So…disingenuous? Not in the least.
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I respectfully disagree. His rhetoric is empty without specific proposals with regard to income tax rates and allowances.
And, even if he eventually crafts some specifics to flesh out his rhetoric, his record of accomplishment in getting progressive legislation enacted in Congress leaves a great deal to be desired.
Sanders’ candidacy has been useful in expanding the range of issues of importance and possible remedies, but his capacity as a leader for effecting such change seems quite limited. The debate last night did nothing to change that.
While I disagree with your characterization of Bernie’s platform as “empty rhetoric,” I do think there’s a valid argument to be made that Bernie’s most suited for the role of a prophet and an envelope-pusher, as opposed to actually serving as president (I read an interesting article somewhere a while back that made that argument). And part of this is that most people, probably including Bernie and his team, never thought he’d get as far anywhere near as far as he has in this race. Of course since it’s still wildly unlikely that he becomes the nominee, how effective he would be at enacting any significant portion of his agenda (which would obviously be all-but-impossible without major changes in Congress…though to be fair the same is true of most of Hillary’s proposals) is probably a moot point.
Still, I agree that given his position as the clear second-place candidate he has a responsibility to up his game, since there is always the chance that he gains ground, and/or Hillary stumbles, or for that matter Hillary drops dead of a heart attack between now and the nomination. The chances of him becoming the nominee are very low, but they are not zero, especially given the lack of other candidates in the race (other than O’Malley) so he really ought to be prepared to step up in the unlikely event that he’s thrust into the role of Democratic nominee. And I agree that at this point he does not appear completely ready for that, especially on foreign policy, but even, as you point out, on some of his domestic proposals.
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Really? Comments saying that we should have our taxes the way they were during the greatest sustained decade and a half of growth in world history will be hung around his neck?
Because you know, just pointing out that fact might be a reasonable counter - higher top bracket taxes create a strong middle class. The more you lower them, the more you weaken the middle class. It’s not a hard parallel to draw.
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I say, ix-nay on the ocialist-say, He doesn’t have to make anything out of the socialist claim, it’s basically our capitalistic Democratic way that he is invoking, only without he plutocracy and Oligarchs wrecking it.
Bernie is operating in/on theory and not being all that realistic about the mess we are in. Yes, he says we need major revolution but that won’t happen major revolution style most likely, it will be incremental, gradual and step by step, probably more like baby step by baby step. We are in fact turned around enough to head down that road thanks to President Obama. What is Obamacare if not the path to single payer or Medicare for all, whatever? The school system needs to change as does tuition costs, Bernie can tackle this without being the Prez, see; Warren, Elizabeth, for example. This goes for the IRS and Wall Street all the same.
The two biggies for becoming President are the economy and national security. Bernie is only batting .500 in this game and that average won’t cut it.