Bernie Sanders promises us a revolution. Can he deliver? Here are my predictions:
- POLITICAL CLIMATE: As with Warren, the revolutionary agenda runs into a wall of resistance from moderate Democrats and Republicans. Most of his legislation doesn’t even get through the House, let alone the Senate. He blames the moderate Democrats, and the party splits. In the meantime, the GOP resorts to the same Obama-era terror tactics with which we are only too familiar on government shutdowns and debt ceiling increases. Government turns into a series of daily crises.
- TAXING AND SPENDING: As with the others, Sanders uses reconciliation to roll back the Trump tax cuts. The extra money is used for a variety of social programs. Medicare-for-All, however, does not even survive the House.
- CLIMATE CHANGE: Sanders is tempted to sell out the GND in favor of more social spending, but it doesn’t happen.
- IMMIGRATION: The Sanders program ultimately looks like a more humane version of Trump’s, as he has long since concluded that open borders only help the Koch brothers. No comprehensive reform package is in sight.
- FOREIGN POLICY: This is where Sanders really stands out, and in a bad way. His foreign policy is the other side of the coin from Trump’s; he blusters constantly about progressive values and human rights, but refuses to bring a stick to the party. As a result, bad guys run wild throughout the world, and our allies learn to ignore us and act on their own.
That’s a revolution, all right.