Originally posted by Badabing
Can Bernie supporters please give me your reasons you support him? I just don't get it given his policies. Tell me what you like about them. And I'm not here for a debate, just general insight.
I'm not a Bernie supporter but here are my positions on his platform, all major parts:
Originally posted by dadudemon
You're all over the place. Let's make it easier to focus the topics:Here are Bernie's and my positions:
[b]1. Free college across the board?
-Nope. I think making state schools free for those who make less than $150k a year should be okay. Maybe $175k, depending on the city. State schools are already free for some and in some ways - just extend those programs to 85% of the rest of Americans. Bernie's plan is too bold and too costly. Some others had ideas on how to save more money on this stuff, as well. One idea was to require performance metrics by institutions to be met: job placement percentages, graduation rates, and post-graduation income levels. If their degree programs do not allow their graduates to make a certain amount of money or get jobs to an acceptable level, they lose their federal funding.2. Medicare for all?
-Yes. Almost just like Bernie proposes. It will save us trillions. However, there are better ways to go about implementing this such as requiring a small copay for the most commonly used services. As QuickTrip discovered, making medical services for free under their insurance policy encouraged abuse of their insurance policy. To combat this, they required $5 copays. Utilization of the insurance greatly reduced making their incredibly generous insurance policy now operate in the black. Seriously, a simple policy like that drove down unnecessary utilization - that's something Bernie can introduce to save massive amounts of money. Something about humans having to pay even just a little discourages them from going to the doctor for tiny things like bruises or minor scrapes.3. Modern infrastructure investments (part of the Green New Deal)
-Yes to the infrastructure stuff but no to much of the Green New Deal. This is one of the greatest ways we can invest in our economy - modernization and repairing our infrastructure. This is capitalism at its finest and is the basics of basics of what the founding fathers intended after they re-wrote the Articles of Confederation and gave us the US Constitution. Build the infrastructure that best suits the American needs to facilitate prosperity and efficiency. The dividends are the companies ability to have faster and greater reach while lowering costs. It allows for the American worker to more safely and cheaply travel. Traveling Americans are spending Americans are working Americans.4. Conservation of lands, expanding protected lands, killing energy infrastructure (this all gamut)
-Not a good idea. We have enough regulation in this as is. We don't need more conservation lands or more energy regulations.5. Immigration Reform
-Yes, almost all of his suggestions in this area except the DACA stuff. Read it: it's not bad.6. Workplace Policies
-Almost no to all of these. No to expanding unions and their powers, yes to the regulation for firing employees only for "just causes", no to punishing companies for paying low wages, and no to cancelling "right to work laws" that many states have voted on and passed (that's an abuse of the Reserved Powers as outlined in the US Constitution in the 10th Amendment).7. Housing for All:
-No, plain and simple. This is stupid. The just cause eviction stuff is good. No to the gentrification crap he suggests. No to his idea about how to end homelessness (his Medicare for All would address much of this by providing care to the mentally ill which constitutes a great majority of the homeless). And no to his idea about building 2020s Hoovervilles (building houses for Americans).8. Expanding Social Security.
-No. Dismantle it. Get rid of social security. Require that every worker invest in their own retirement of their choosing but obviously regulate that.9. Better care for elderly:
-Yes, covered under Medicare for All.10. Fix, Improve, Update the Veteran's Programs
-No. Get rid of ALL of it. Kill the whole program. Instead, they use Medicare for All just like all the other Americans. Once discharged, they shouldn't be using a special veterans medical care program. They should get to use whatever doctor, medical facilities, and hospitals they want - just like every other American. Use the "workers" from the VA program to help beef up the Medicare for All program when it is expanded to all Americans - they are working in very similar fields and will have a much easier transition than most. Also, use some of the insurance company workers who will lose their jobs to work in the Medicare for All program, too.11. Prison reform:
- Yes to almost all of these. Seriously, almost all of the items in this list. No more for profit prisons, improving public defender stuff, end mass incarceration (we imprison and jail people far too much in the US), get rid of three strike laws (thank for profit prison lobbyists for this), get rid of mandatory minimums, expand alternatives to detention, end the War on Drugs, legalize Marijuana and expunge all records related to this, decriminalize addictions and treat them as medical conditions, refocus military police into community police who also have programs for the homeless; create a prisoner bill of rights to ensure minimum level of humane treatment, medical care, rehabilitation, and education opportunities are present (prison should be used to separate bad people from the population so they can be rehabilitated to reenter society as productive members - that means greatly changing the idea that prison is all about punishing and Americans will hate that); and reform the police with oversight and penalties for abuse.12. Medical Debt and Credit
-Yes to all of these. But I say implement a discharge period of medical debt. It may take a while when we move to a Medicare for All.13. Invest in primary and secondary schools:
-Mostly yes to these items but I would alter some of these. Yes to providing free meals to kids (taking care of our children, veterans, and elderly is the most important thing we should be doing). No to the gun violence prevention laws - the last thing we need is another low prohibiting guns at schools - they already exist and they will do nothing. Yes to massive pay raises for teachers. they should get a minimum of $60k a year with locality pay adjustments (standard of living) and biyearly inflation adjustments to pay. We should increase the requirements for earning a teaching certificate, of course. No to his ideas about defunding charter schools but yes to adding in a requirement of quality for all schools (charter or otherwise). If the charter schools do not break any laws and they meet the minimum standards, leave them alone and keep funding them.14. Extreme Wealth Tax
-No. Dammit, no. Stop this stupid shit, Bernie. Fair Tax Plan. That's all you need.15. Fair Banking
-Cap loan and credit card rates to 15% - yes, this was the same idea I had, including the same percentage. And they should do it just like God intended in the bible - only 7 year terms for usury.After 7 years, it's all principal or you discharge the debt. 🙂 Teeheeeee!
No to his idea of postal office banks run by the government. lol, wtf?
16. Funding, Investing More, into Minority and Historically Black Colleges
-No to literally everything in this. It's just more racist policies by another Democrat. Regulations for all, across the board, with no special treatment for anyone. [/B]