Before anyone jumps on the anti-bandwagon, this will hopefully be a series of what is wrong with most, if not all the candidates. This is the easiest one to start with.
This is not to take away from the person of Bernie Sanders. It is not an attack on who he is but what his ideas and policies would do to the United States and why he would be wrong for the presidency. He is a self-proclaimed "socialist". Now most will argue with that and say, no he is a democratic socialist. But so what, Hitler called himself a National Socialist. It doesn't matter what you call yourself, it is what you do that matters.
In a perfect world Sanders would be correct. But in a perfect world Sanders would be wrong too. Let's look at the things he stands for and what may be the issue. All these are coming from his own website.
A Living Wage--Proposes a $15 per hour minimum wage. In a perfect world, it would be nice if everyone could live the life of a millionaire. No one would have to work. No one would have to worry about bills to be paid. Everyone would have a 4 story home with a pool and 3 classic cars in the garage. But in a perfect world he is wrong because to get all of those things someone has to do the work. Someone has to build the pool, car, and house. Someone has to produce the materials, even if you built these things yourself. It would be great if everyone could have these things. But in reality it cannot be done. The $15 would almost double what most minimum wage earners are getting now. So how would that hurt? Large corporations would not offer all the products they do now. They would cut back and specialize only on a few products. Sure, maybe someone would pick up the product but no one would compete against them. If there is no competitions then that company can charge all they want and you are stuck with their price. Then the government would have to step in even more to create price ceilings and more regulations that slow the business even more. Adam Smith wrote about the laws of competition and how when companies compete, the consumer wins. Smaller businesses would not hire as many people out of plain fear that their business would not be able to afford to hire anyone. Plus, who really makes minimum wage anyway? Good companies but not a whole lot of experience or education is needed; McDonald's, Walmart, teenagers at their first job, pizza deliverers. etc. Not many companies start at minimum wage anyway. Not many adults who are worth anything take these jobs. You stand at Walmart and all you hear is "when do I get my break", while they are bagging your groceries. You order a cheeseburger and you get a fish sandwich. The teenager is on their cell phone. The pizza comes cold. Sorry Bernie, the hike would not work and is not needed. However, there could be a law that was passed that raises the minimum wage $1 every two or three years. This would allow small businesses to make arrangements to meet the demands and would allow larger corporations to expand when needed without many layoffs or stoppage of products.
Free College--Make tuition free so graduates have no debt when they enter the workforce. In a perfect world everyone would be educated first at home then with each level everyone would be educated even more. No debt, no real estate taxes, no books to be bought, computers for everyone with access to the internet and all the technology. No tests to pay for, no graduation fees for cap and gown. But in a perfect world he is wrong because again, all those things that he wants free someone has to work, create, and/or be paid for. How would professors earn a living? How would books be paid for? How would buildings and newer facilities with that best of technology get paid for? In reality, not all people are college material. Some are barely high school material. Some would say education is a right. Actually it is a privilege. Why? Because some people do not care about education. If you do not care then you lose your right. Now public education for children should be free. Estate taxes should be gone somehow. but then again how are schools going to be built? How would teachers be paid? How would new textbooks and technology be accessed? Yes, there needs to be a change in education but free college? It would be paid for, but by the upper and middle class. He says Wall Street will pay for it. How? If more people went to college free then thousands upon thousands may enter the college. That sounds good until you have to incur the costs. Wall Street would not be able pay for all fluxion and growth. That means tickets to extra curricular activities would raise. Food on campuses would raise. Colleges would find other fess like travel fees, security fees, and other smaller things that are already free. All this would stop the middle class person from succeeding in college. And don't be fooled, the middle class is still the largest group in the USA. Yes, interest rates are too high. But there are already many scholarships and grants that most people can get IF they actually cared enough to try and get in high school. Sorry, Bernie, it would back fire.
Creating decent paying jobs--Claims he would put 13 million people to work. But doing what? In a perfect world everyone would have a job and work according to their ability and need. All would afford their luxury and accrue their desires. But in a perfect world he is wrong. Look at the jobs he said he would create:roads, transit systems, bridges, airports, seaports, etc. We can agree that these replaced. But his plan is to create government paying jobs to get these done. Who would pay for it? The middle class again. If these need done give incentives for privately owned construction workers to be hired. Local communities should be in charge of it. But taxes would still have to be raised somehow to pay for this, unless the local communities could find other ways to do it. This one is a no-win situation. But who would your rather have in charge of the project, the government or the one who works for a living? Sorry Bernie, the concept is great but it needs improved.
Supporting Black Colleges--Providing higher education opportunities for African-American students. In a perfect world ALL students/people of ALL ethnicities would have this opportunity. No discrimination. No racism. But in a perfect world he is wrong, these type of programs only offer more divisive opportunities. How would offering these programs help African-American students? They are not offering real world opportunities. In a real world we are all on the same page and those who do the best should get the best. Many of these colleges are watered-down and do not give a real world view. There should be no "white" colleges, no "black" colleges, no "all-male" colleges, and no "all-female" colleges. If we want true equality then we do not water down anything. We do not make things easier for people to do, that just makes people lazier. We need to add programs that offer challenge, innovation, motivation, and inspiration for ALL Americans. In a world of division, especially created by Obama, and can see where a Trump presidency would go, we need someone who brings unity not more division. Sorry, Bernie, this would add to racism, not equality.
Expand Social Security--In a perfect world we would all be able to retire at a young age and be able to live off what we made and have some left over to give to the next generation. All would be able to afford their medical expenses and have a next egg for rainy days. But in a perfect world he is wrong because first of all social security is an insurance program. INSURANCE! Not something that should be controlled by the government. It's YOUR money, shouldn't YOU decide what to do with it? The program was not supposed to be a permanent solution to a temporary problem (1930's). If you expand SSI then again, it has to be paid for by someone. What we need are incentives for people to save their money. The government should not tell you what do to with your money and how much you need to save. If people are dumb enough to waste their own money then that is their own allotted stupidity. This is just another program that makes us lazier and tells people let someone else pay for you. The private sector could hire thousands of people and offer a competitive retirement plans, even off of Wall Street.
The Iran Deal-- He supports the Iran nuclear deal. In a perfect world there would be no nuclear weapons. No war. No terrorism. No bad trade deals. But unfortunately for this issue we are nit in a perfect world. Iran had proven time and time again that they are a country that reneges on deals and has supported terrorism all over the world. What should be done is a deal that says prove your worthiness first; the more you comply the more you will be given. They have already broken the del twice and nothing has been done. Sorry, Bernie, Iran needs to be dealt with not made a deal with.
Racial justice--Black lives matter. If you say no to this then take your seat in the back of the bus and be quiet. But black lives matter campaign is actually the negative response to injustice. Blaming the police for everything is not right. If you break the law then expect consequences and if you resist arrest what is a police officer supposed to do, wait for something bad to happen and then respond? Sorry Bernie, all lives matter and if it comes down to supporting the criminals or the police then standing behind those in blue is a better choice. Where are all the protest against violence and crimes period? If we had no crime then police would be less needed. They are under fire today because they have perhaps the worst job to do. If they can't use force then the criminal wins. If they use force then they are villainized. He claims that African-Americans are disenfranchised since they have a felony on their record. Well, all felons have this done to them. Should there be a way for felons to get back their vote? Sure. But those in prison do not get the right to say, remember they are there because they took someone else's right away with their criminal act.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/apr/21/police-kill-more-whites-than-blacks-but-minority-d/?page=all
https://www.yahoo.com/news/maryland-policeman-killed-unprovoked-attack-chief-005009853.html
Other issues he is wrong about but too long to go into: abortion, higher tax brackets, and Obamacare. See labels for these.
Now he does have some good ideas but how can we get them done? Equal pay, fair immigration law, caring for our veterans, supporting family values (although we disagree on what that is), climate change (although don't go extreme).
These are just seven components of what makes Bernie Sanders' presidential bid bad for America. Everything he is promising sounds good in a prefect world. And that is what Karl Marx said; a utopia. But we know utopia does not work when the government will have to intervene so many times. Socialism is socialism, it doesn't matter what word you put in front of it. Socialism on paper may open the way for equality and a friendlier atmosphere but it reality it only causes laziness and more division. People feel entitled to everything and they are not. Some would always have to work to get us everything we need. There would still be the haves and the have nots only the haves would have less than they do now. Hundreds of thousands of Americans have given their lives to fight the tyranny of socialism and communism. They fought for freedom and so that people can have the free will that we have. They died defending the right to choose. And now we have candidates who support the idea of taking away individual choice but disguise it as "democratic socialism". Change is not good just because it's change.
And perhaps the biggest point is, where in all of history has socialism been good for the whole? Not one society has been successful without killing, propaganda, and anything of the like. No thank you.
