Hillary's "I'm a Woman" Card is Ridiculous and Insulting

Hillary plays the "I'm a Woman" card every chance she gets, like somehow the fact she has different genitals than most of her running mates makes her a better candidate. Has she forgotten there's a woman running on the GOP side? I'm not more likely to throw my vote to her than I am any other GOP candidate. Why would someone's gender make any difference on the Democratic side?

When you're asked, Hillary, what makes you different than Obama, the correct answer is not, "I'm a woman." And when you're asked if you can be considered establishment, the correct answer is not, "I can't be because I'm a woman." Why would you ever suggest that voters would support you because of what's between your legs or on your chest vs what positions you actually support?

Does being a woman make you more likely to fight against the Keystone pipeline?

No. Hillary didn't take any stance on the Keystone pipeline until finally coming out against it in September, 2015. Meanwhile, Bernie was against it from the very beginning. 

Does being a woman make you more likely to rail against the greed of Wall Street?

No. Hillary refuses to reinstate Glass Steagall, and during the last debate said she'd only look at breaking up big banks if they posed a risk. Meanwhile, she has several ties to Wall Street she may be reluctant to sever and Bernie has been wanting to break up the banks since the fallout where they already proved their risk to the economy.

Does being a woman make you most qualified to lead us in clean energy?

No. Hillary has yet to name a stance on fracking. Meanwhile, Bernie's climate plan goes further than Hillary's in addressing clean energy on a global scale and on transportation in addition to home energy sources.

Does being a woman make you more likely to fight for better health care?

No. Hillary wants to "build" on the Affordable Care Act and "reduce costs" with no clear end goal other than to make it better. Meanwhile, Bernie has a plan for universal healthcare for all Americans that should have been enacted years ago.

Does being a woman make you more likely to fight for fair trade policies?

No. Hillary only came out against the TPP October, 2015 after hoping it would set a gold standard. Meanwhile, Bernie has been against it at least since December, 2014. And he's always been suspicious of unfettered free trade policies where as Hillary has back-peddled on NAFTA. Only Bernie has actually spoken about the real horrors of the bill - being negotiated behind closed doors and giving corporations the power to challenge environmental laws, to name a few- while Hillary only said it would hurt American workers.

Does being a woman make you more likely to stand up for LGBT issues?

No. Hillary was against same-sex marriage until 2013 and up to that point only supported civil unions. Meanwhile, Bernie approved Burlington's first gay pride parade in 1983.

Does being a woman make you more likely to fight against mass incarceration?

No. While Hillary and Bernie fair equality in supporting reductions in jail sentences for non-violent drug offenders and deprivatizing our criminal system, Hillary refuses to decriminalize marijuana, making it legal only for medical purposes. Meanwhile, Bernie wants it off the list of outlawed drugs altogether.

Does being a woman make you more likely to keep us from another complicated and costly war?

No. Hillary is supportive of having the US lead the charge against ISIS, bringing up questions of how well she's really learned from her mistake in voting for the Iraq war. Meanwhile, Bernie has said that regional nations should lead the charge with US assistance. He has also questioned the US's role as "world police" and the amount of instability that is brought to a region when a regime is toppled.

Does being a woman make you more likely to fight for a living wage?

No. Hillary wants to raise the minimum wage to $12 and hour. Meanwhile, Bernie wants to raise it to $15, which is calculated to get working families out of poverty and off welfare.

Does being a woman make you more likely to fight for affordable education?

No. Hillary wants to implement debt-free college, meaning students and their families will still have to play. Meanwhile, Bernie wants to remove any barriers to achieve a college education by making it tuition-free.

Does being a woman make you more likely to fight to take big money out of politics?

No. While Hillary has said she wants to overturn Citizens United, she has taken large corporation donations throughout her political career and during her current campaign. Meanwhile, Bernie has sworn off such donations. During his political career where he's been offered corporate money, he's either refused it or donated it.

I'm asking, Hillary, because these are the issues I care about. And when placed side by side, you are weaker on these issues than Bernie Sanders. The two of you fair equally in your stances on Social Security, police reform, and women's issues. But why stop there? When it comes down to it, there is another candidate who will fight more for the positions I care about and who has a consistent record to back it up (you don't). Yes, he happens to wear pants. So do you, by the way. Why would you insult the intelligence of your voters, especially women voters, by suggesting your vagina makes any kind of a difference?

How Does Bernie Sanders Plan to Pay for all this "Free" Stuff?

Bernie supporters know that all this "free" stuff isn't really free. Someone has to pay somehow. But is it true that all this "free" stuff means higher taxes? If you came here with questions, here are your answers.

UPDATE 1/13/16: Bernie's Campaign released a handy dandy chart on how his plans will be paid for and the revenue they are expected to bring in. Feel free to use the information there in conjunction of this blog post.

Tuition-Free College

Tuesday, May 19, 2015, Sanders introduced legislation to help make public 4-year colleges and universities tuition free, called the "College for All Act." You can view a newsroom article here, summary of the bill here, and the full bill here.

The bill would provide $47 billion a year to states to reduce college tuition and fees:

"Today, total tuition at public colleges and universities amounts to about $70 billion per year. Under the College for All Act, the federal government would cover 67% of this cost, while the states would be responsible for the remaining 33% of the cost." (bill summary) 

The College for All Act also proposes to cut student loan interest rates in half, expand student work-study programs, and create a pilot program to eliminate a student's need to apply for financial aid every year.

Funding for this legislation would come from a 0.5% tax on stock trades, a 0.1% tax on bonds, and a 0.005% tax on derivatives. "It has been estimated that this provision could raise hundreds of billions a year."

Universal Health care

Monday, December 9, 2013, Sanders introduced legislation to provide health care to every American through a single-payer, Medicare-for-all system, called the "American Health Security Act." You can view a newsroom article here, a summary of the bill here, and the full bill here.

The bill would establish a state-based health security program (and it looks like states can choose to opt out). The bill would also establish various organizations to develop procedures, evaluate quality, and perform research.

The bill would provide comprehensive health benefits (starting on page 17 of the bill) including preventative and long-term care. And as such, would eliminate health benefits under the Social Security Act (Medicare, Medicaid, Children's Health Insurance), the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, and TRICARE. It would also repeal health insurance coverage and exchange provisions under the Affordable Care Act.

Funding for this bill (starting pg 166) would be paid by a 6.7% payroll tax on employers a, 2.2% - 5.2% income tax on employees (dependent on income bracket from less than $200k a year to over $600k a year), an 5.4% tax on modified adjusted gross income exceeding $1 million, and a .02% tax on securities transactions.

It is also worth noting that with all the programs Bernie bill would eliminate, the costs of those programs would essentially transfer to Bernie's health program, providing additional funding.

UPDATE 1/28/16: Bernie released official details on his health care plan including saving and taxes.

Green Energy Initiatives

From FirstCarbonSolutions.com

Thursday, February 14, 2013, Sanders introduced legislation, along with Barbara Boxer, in a two part proposal on Climate change, called the "Climate Protection Act" and the "Sustainable Energy Act." You can view a press release here and summary of the proposal here. You can view the first bill here and the second here.

The bill proposes weatherizing 1 million homes per year (creating jobs and saving households on energy usage and costs), tripling the budget for ARPA-E, creating a Sustainable Technologies Finance Program to invest in green energy initiatives, investing in domestic manufacturing, funding $1 billion a year in worker training, and creating a family Clean Energy Rebate Program.

Funding for this proposal would be paid on $20 carbon tax per ton of carbon emissions, rising by 5.6% per year over 10 years.

"This fee would apply to only 2,869 of the largest fossil fuel polluters, covering about 85 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, according to the Congressional Research Service. The Congressional Budget Office estimates this step alone could raise $1.2 trillion in revenue over ten years and reduce greenhouse gas emissions approximately 20 percent from 2005 levels by 2025." (bill summary)

Imported fuels would be charged the same carbon fee, unless the exporting country has a similar climate program and already charges a fee on carbon. The bill would also end fossil fuel subsidies. From this, "approximately $300 billion would go to debt reduction over ten years" (summary).
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Sanders also introduced a bill on Tuesday, July 7, 2015 to make solar energy more accessible to low income families, called the "Low Income Solar Act." This bill would cost $3 billion spanning from 2016 to 2030. You can view a news article here, summary of the bill here, and the full bill here.

Funding: This proposal gives the Secretary of Energy authorization to allocate an amount of funds ($200 million) each year from the Department of Energy for 15 years to provide low-income families with grants or loans (no more than 50% can loans, and they must meet certain eligibility requirements) to install solar panels on their homes.

Job Creation

From ThyBlackMan.com

Tuesday, January 27, 2015, Sanders introduced legislation to create 13 million jobs, called the "Rebuild America Act." You can view a press release here, a summary of the bill here, and the full bill here.

The bill proposes to spend $1.6 trillion on rebuilding America's roads, bridges, railways, airports, waterways, ports, national parks, and electric grids from 2015 to 2022. Funding for this proposal appears to come in the establishment of a National Infrastructure Development Bank to give out loans.
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Thursday, June 4, 2015, Sanders, along with Jon Conyers, introduced legislation to create jobs for youth, called the "Employ Young Americans Now Act." You can view a press release of the bill here, a summary of the bill here, and the full bill here.

The bill proposes $4 billion in grants to state and local government to promote job growth and offer services such as transportation or child care to help eliminate barriers to participating in jobs. An additional $1.5 billion would go to local areas to promote jobs for low-income or disadvantaged youths. Funding for this bill seems to come from an allocation of funds within the U.S. Treasury.

Minimum Wage Increase

From 10news.com

Wednesday, July 22, 2015, Sanders introduced a bill to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour over a period of five years, called the "Pay Workers a Living Wage Act." You can view the press release here, the summary here, and the full bill here.

This bill proposes the follow wage adjustments:

+ Minimum wage - $9 in 2016, $10.50 in 2017, $12.00 in 2018, $13.50 in 2019, and $15 in 2020.
+ Tipped min wage - $3.15 in 2016, then increased $1.50 each year until matching standard minimum.
+ Youth min wage - can be no less than $3.00 less the standard minimum.

Business are expected to adjust their finances to cover this cost.

Others

Bernie Sanders also has proposals to reduce the deficit. These include:

+ End offshore tax havens
+ Establish .03% tax on Wall Street speculators
+ End tax breaks and subsides for big oil, gas, and coal companies
+ Establish as estate tax on inherited wealth over more than $3.5 million
+ Tax capital gains and dividends the same as work
+ Repeal 2001 and 2003 Bush tax breaks for the top two percent
+ Establish a currency manipulation fee on China and other countries
+ Reduce unnecessary spending at the Pentagon
+ Require Medicare to negotiate for drug prices
+ End mass incarceration (costs billions of dollars a year)

 Conclusion

None of Bernie's proposals will raise taxes for average Americans, except for the health care bill. I don't know many people who make more than $200,000 a year. So consider that 2.2% income tax alongside what comes out of your paycheck for your employer's health insurance and what an average visit to the doctor's office costs (and then imagine what it costs for x-rays and surgery and things of that nature, and heaven forbid you have a medical emergency). Is 2.2% really that high? I've been told Briton pays 10%.

The top 2% of Americans will have some higher taxes. Taxes and fees will go up on large oil, coal, and fossil fuels companies. And Wall Street has a minuscule tax on its transactions.

When someone asks you how Bernie plans for pay for things, give them this article. And when someone tells you electing Bernie Sanders means higher taxes or increasing the deficit, tell them they're wrong.

UPDATE 09/19/15: various updates to funding info

Academic Journals Study Socialism in Burlington, Vermont

Here's something really cool I randomly ran into last week (as cool as academic nerd goes, anyway). There's a number of academic journal articles I've found dealing with socialism in Burlington during Bernie's time as mayor (and few books).

Unfortunately the articles require subscription access, so I have no idea what they say. But maybe there's some academics out there who would like to read them (and tell me about it after, please?).

+ Who Votes for a Socialist Mayor?: The Case of Burlington, Vermont

+ The Burlington Community Land Trust: A Socialist Approach to Affordable Housing? (if you'd like something accessible on the Land Trust, I talk about it here)

+ Socialism in Burlington, Vermont: Implications for Social Welfare

+ Challenging the Boundaries of Reform: Socialism in Burlington (book version)

+ The Socialist Mayor: Bernard Sanders in Burlington Vermont (is a book, not article)


And this seems to be an article about Bernie's time in the House:
+ The belly of the beast: Bernie Sanders, congress and political change

Seriously, I'm really frustrated I can't read these. I want to know!