Americans are as socialist as Bernie Sanders:
Compiled by Lee Poulsen
Bernie Sanders' position |
Americans or Registered Voters |
Percentage agree |
| The rich do not pay nearly enough in income taxes | Wealthy households pay too little in federal taxes[1] | 68 |
| Sanders’ policy and legislation is to crack-down on offshore tax havens for the rich and corporations. Sanders’ bill required corporations to pay the top corporate tax rate on profits they hide offshore. | The government should “close any and all tax loopholes for large corporations that ship jobs offshore.”[2] Business owners that favor closing all overseas tax loopholes in their entirety3 |
68 85 |
| Called for a constitutional amendment that would effectively prevent corporations from making political donations; he also supports public funding of elections. | Ban all political donations from individuals and private groups and shift to a government-funded system[4] | 50 |
| “Instead of cutting Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and nutrition programs, we should be expanding these programs.” | Expand Social Security5 "Increase Social Security benefits and pay for that increase by having wealthy Americans pay the same rate into Social Security as everyone else."[6] Support Medicaid expansion |
65 79 75 |
| Support a single-payer healthcare system |
Support a single-payer, Medicare-for-all healthcare system[7] | 50 |
| Support regulating greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, factories and cars to reduce global climate change |
Support regulating greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, factories and cars to reduce global climate change | 64 |
| Big banks “are too powerful to be reformed and must be broken up.” |
Support “breaking up big banks.”[8] | 58 |
| Raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour “over the next few years.” | Change minimum to $15 an hour by 2020 | 63 |
| Legislation guaranteeing that workers can form and join a union. | “Support a new law that would make it easier for labor unions to organize workers.”[9] | 53 |
| Scathing statements fon the increasing wealth gap |
The current distribution of wealth is unfair[10] Government taxation on the rich should be used to reduce the wealth gap[10] |
63 52 |
| Very concerned about student debt and wants to do something practical to combat this problem |
Believe that education beyond high school is not affordable for everyone[11] Young adults that believe student debt is a problem[12] |
79 57 |
| Warns of the dangers of global warming and the need to take practical steps to combat it |
Believe global warming is occurring13 Believe human activity (emitting greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide) is causing it13 |
71 57 |
[1]AP-GfK 2/23/2015
[2]AfTF 10/30/2013
[3]ASBC/MSA 4/11/2013
[4]Gallup 6/16/2013
[5]PPP/MoveOn 11/20/2013
[6]CfCCA/SSW 9/5/2014
[7]GBS Strategies 1/19/2015
[8]PCI 1/20/2015
[9]Gallup 3/17/2009
[10]Gallup 5/2/2015
[11]Gallup 4/16/2015
[12]Harvard IP 5/24/2015
[13]Yale/Gallup 5/2105
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For years, as a conservative, I and others have been complaining that the US is being driven toward socialism. Calling democrat leaders socialists, saying government regulations that are passed socialist in nature, etc.
During those years I was commonly dismissed as being somewhat silly for using the term socialism. Accused of not knowing what socialism is, assured that Democrats are not trying to implement socialism, that Americans would never allow socialism, that Obamacare has nothing to do with socialism, etc.
No, we are not there yet, but its hard to imagine that we are not well on our way to being there isn’t it?