Flipping The Script: Questions For Sanders Supporters

[nadinbrzezinski]

36. Not a suppporter of either candidate... my vote is my business, but you want to discuss policy sure

I was responding to one of the many posts trying to understand how people can support Hillary. I expressed my deep concerns regarding several of Bernie's proposed plans. Let's take three issues, for the sake of brevity.

1) Minimum wage: I think we can all agree that the living conditions in NYC are far different than in a rural town. While both candidates support large increases to the federal minimum wage, there are serious economic questions regarding whether less affluent areas can absorb an increase to $15 as quickly as other areas. Like the bill New York just passed, phasing in the increases, and seeing the economic impact being made before going even further, is a prudent way of making sure that we balance the need for a higher wage with our interest in making sure not to stunt economic growth. Why does Bernie, in his speeches, refuse to acknowledge the potential negative consequences of acting too fast?

The conditions are different but this staged increase was not the idea of either of the campaigns, though by the time 15 an hour becomes law in CA for example, that will be like pissing in the wind. By 2022 due to the increase in rent costs, that will eat whatever increase people got. At other periods of history the same arguments have been made and every time they prove to be wrong. In fact, for San Diego, just to 11:50 an hour, currently prop I, would mean a 250 million stimulus to the local economy.

There are oodles of studies but these increases tend to stimulate the economy, and actually create jobs.

2) Fracking: Banning fracking would be an easy solution, as would eliminating nuclear power. But if we do that, we do not currently have the supply of clean renewables to satisfy our energy needs. We would therefore have to either burn more coal for the time being (a worse option for the environment), massively reduce our energy needs (unlikely), or return to buying gas and oil from other countries (which is both costly, and supports unfriendly regimes). The end result is that, until clean power sources scale, we would face large price increases in energy costs that lower and middle class families can't afford. Has Bernie thought through the effects of a complete ban on fracking?

Ok to quote the people from San Diego 350.org, if we do not get off those it will be academic. By the way, solar rooftop is part of the solution never really emphasized. Fracking is also causing moderate quakes already due to the creation of instability in the land, and polluting water supplies you and I need to live. I am positive that banning it, would accelerate the development of the proper technology, or the deployment of it. Like many other sources of energies, most of what is still on the ground will have to remain on the ground... and you are right on one thing, it will require a Manhattan project level of research to get the new energies to replace fossil technologies, We are already pretty far gone with climate change to keep dancing around it.

3) College: Free tuition sounds good, I'll admit. But for starters, the plan relies on Republican states to chip in 30% of the cost. That won't happen, as we have seen with the Medicaid buy-in. Furthermore, that plan does nothing to address the costs of room/board, fees, and other ancillary costs that colleges can continue to raise at will to make up the difference. The quality of education would be questionable with millions of new students flooding into the system, and there has not been much talk of how to keep those tuition costs from rising exponentially when the government is paying the bill. This plan would require large tax increases at the state level to cover their share of the cost. Does Bernie have answers for any of these issues? And why did he build a plan that relies on Republicans to opt-in, when the ACA proves they won't?

Free college has been actual policy in the US before... see CA before Reagan. Sanders plans to do it the same way European nations currently fund it. NO not by taxing you, but taxing fast trades in Wall Street. The tax is minimal per trade, but there are millions of these trades a year. As to the quality of education, if you think private education is better, I have a bridge to sell you. At a policy level we are already seeing brain flight a real thing, due to kids not being able to afford American education. Many of those kids will chose to stay over there, and not come to the US. and you know what? I cannot blame them for it.

And I just gave you the consequences. What you posed was from a very status quo, right wing kind of analysis.