It was obvious Wolf Blitzer does not take Bernie Sanders seriously
Senator Bernie Sanders (D-VT) appeared on CNN where he was interviewed by Wolf Blitzer. Ironically the segment had the caption “Race to the White House / Clinton questioned about income inequality” inasmuch as it was Bernie Sanders being interviewed. This is not only disrespectful to Bernie Sanders but to all Americans in general as it presupposes that the election is already set. It presupposes that there is nothing Bernie Sanders could do to win the Democratic nomination.
What is interesting is that so far Bernie Sanders steadfast support for middle-class centric policies far exceeds anything Hillary Clinton is talking about.
“The more serious problem is what do we do about the grotesque level of income and wealth inequality in America today,” Bernie Sanders said. “What we need to do is create millions of decent paying jobs while rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure. What you need to do is say to the wealthiest people and largest corporations, — You know what? You have to start paying your fair share of taxes. You can’t stash your money in the Cayman Islands. — What you are going to have to do if you really want to grow the middle-class is say that everybody in this country regardless of their income, if they have the ability, they are going to get a college education. And today I just introduced legislation that would make public colleges and universities tuition free.”
Wolf Blitzer dismissively asked where the money would come from. Bernie Sanders is proposing taxing stock, derivative, and other transactions of financial instruments. This would also have the side benefit of reducing speculation on Wall Street. Currently Wall Street is more akin to gambling in Las Vegas.
Taxing financial instruments is well overdue. For too long stocks and other passive income have received preferential treatment. People who make income from the stock market generally produce no product or service, yet they are paid more and pay less taxes just to shuffle money around. It is important that Americans understand that it is the worker who puts more at stake than any investor whose intent is to capitalize on the work of someone else. It is a re-framing of thought that will be required in order for Americans not to fall for the fallacies that continuously have us voting against our own financial interest and well-being.
Bernie Sanders will bring that debate to the Democratic primary.