Bernie Sanders had his hands flying in the town hall on FOX last night (4/15/19). With an audience that was balanced by political persuasion, Bernie felt it necessary to start the evening castigating FOX. Moderator Brett Baer politely reminded Bernie they invited him and he accepted.
That said, I tried hard to hear his policies throughout the town hall. The apparent supporters in the audience appeared to have figured out early that they can keep him from getting put on the spot by applauding at his every utterance to a pointed question. I thought the questions would have given him an opportunity to lay out some level of specifics about “Medicare for all”, a reduced defense budget, a tax policy that addresses the inequality and the corporate greed he says is “not American” etc. I got nothing on what he would do but a lot on what is wrong.
Q: Should we send the hoards on our southern border here illegally to sanctuary cities? A: Immigration is a problem that needs a solution. Q: Do you agree with the Green New Deal? A: Climate change must be addressed. Q: How to pay for Medicare for all? A: Your deductibles and co-pays will be free and insurance companies are raking in “billions and billions” of profits. Q: Yes, but won’t taxes go up? A: Yes. Health care is not free. (Finally some truth.) Q: Your tax return indicates you are part of the 1%. You advocate for a 52% tax rate for the wealthy. Why not just pay that voluntarily? A: Why don’t you ask Trump that? Martha, you make a lot of money why don’t you do that?
Bernie: We know Trump is a “pathological” liar and this economy was well on its way to prosperity under Obama. Trump is the most dangerous President we’ve ever had but if that is all we run on, we’ll lose.
Well Bernie, if all you have to run on is pap for your ill-informed supporters, you should lose. Your unwillingness to share your policies shows how shallow and poorly thought out they must be.
Current Day Publius 