Why Bernie Sanders Is Doing So Well

Socialist politics in America has been around for more than a century, but socialists have rarely made any significant inroads into the workings of the U.S. government.  To that point, Bernie Sanders is the only U.S. Senator who claims to be a true socialist; although the Socialist Party of America claims 69 members in the House of Representatives. Still, that's only about 16% of the current-serving 435 Representatives in this country, but one thing is true, we have never had a "declared" socialist President.

So, why is Bernie Sanders doing so well on the campaign trail?

Simply, socialists do well when the electorate senses that the current economic conditions are stacked against them.  The Great Recession hurt a lot of Americans, and the policies of the Democrats and Barack Obama have done nothing to pull those Americans out of the hole that they were left in since the end of that recession.

This, then, was an open door for Bernie Sanders to walk through and garner large crowds with a lot of socialist rhetoric.  He tells his crowds that the deck is stacked against them.  He says it isn't fair that the ranks of millionaires and billionaires has been growing while their own incomes are in decline.  He further tells them that big banks and big corporations such as Walmart, are getting rich off the backs of the poor; and, for that reason Wall Street is also evil.  That no one should have college debt.  College should be free.  All of us should have Medicare.  His list of his nanny state agendas goes on for ever.

Of course, this is music to the ears of those that envy the wealth they see, everyday on TV, and in the movies.  What Bernie Sanders never tells you is how he's going to pay for all this.  Other than tax the rich out of existence which, by itself, would never actually cover the cost of all of his socialist programs.  Nor, does he explain how he would convert America to a nanny state with so little support for this in Congress.

Yet, people come out in hordes to hear him, and he is gaining ground against Hillary in the polls.

To every other politician in this country, Bernie's popularity should be a warning sign that this country is drifting towards socialism.  A fact that has left many European countries, like Greece, in tatters.  As a conservative, I believe that less government intervention and smaller government would better serve this country.  The current glad-handing between lobbyists and politicians -- on both sides of the aisle -- is truly favoring the rich, big labor, and big business; playing right into the hands of the likes of Bernie Sanders.

Don't think it is just the Republicans who are playing favorites in our economy.  Barack Obama -- just days before the $787 billion Stimulus Package was voted into law -- issued an executive order that told all of his departments to apply Project Labor Agreement rules to any federally funded project; wherever possible. Simply, what that did is funnel the vast majority of construction dollars to the 18% of construction workers and their companies that were unionized; leaving the almost all, small, independent, non-union construction companies out in the cold.  It raised the cost of all projects so that there were fewer that could be done; and, as such, reduced the overall impact of the Stimulus Package. 

References:

American Socialists Release Names of 70 Congressional Democrats in Their Ranks: http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2010/08/american-socialists-release-names-of-70-congressional-democrats-in-their-caucus/

Bernie Sander On the Issues: https://berniesanders.com/issues/income-and-wealth-inequality/

Influence & Lobbying | OpenSecrets: https://www.opensecrets.org/influence/

Greek disaster is all about socialism - CNBC.com: http://www.cnbc.com/2015/07/01/greek-disaster-is-all-about-socialism.html

5 Ways Socialism Destroys Societies - John Hawkins: http://townhall.com/columnists/johnhawkins/2014/02/25/5-ways-socialism-destroys-societies-n1800086/page/full

Executive Order 13502 -- Use of Project Labor Agreements for Federal Construction Projects: https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/executive-order-use-project-labor-agreements-federal-construction-projects

Project Labor Agreements: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Labor_Agreement