Tag Archives: Democratic socialism

Misdirection To Promote Socialism

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On Sunday, Jonathan Turley posted an article at his website about the lies being told about Scandinavian socialism.

The article notes:

This week, Darializa Avila Chevalier was asked if there has ever been a “successful model of socialism anywhere in the world outside the United States in terms of both human rights and widespread economic justice.” The member of the Democratic Socialists of America responded by citing Sweden and Norway. It is a common false claim made by socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders and others. I address the claim head-on in Rage and the Republic. 

The article quotes Rage and the Republic:

‘Leaders such as Senator Bernie Sanders have heralded the alleged success of “democratic socialism” in Europe, a pitch that is obviously taking hold with many younger Americans. Sanders and others often refer to the prosperity of Scandinavian socialism, including Sweden and Norway. It is a dangerous myth that is promulgated by many in the media. The question is not whether Scandinavian socialism can work in the United States (it cannot) but whether Scandinavian socialism can work in Scandinavia. Sweden is a particularly curious choice as a model for democratic socialism. In reality, Sweden shows not only the success of capitalism but also the limits of socialism even in a relatively small nation. Sweden turned away from the type of socialist theories increasingly in vogue in the United States.

…

The Scandinavian countries also differ from the United States in other key ways. For example, Norway has largely sustained large public welfare systems through oil revenues. The country imposes a corporate income tax rate of 78 percent on extractive activities to fund its public welfare programs…

Countries like Denmark and Sweden are strong adherents to capitalist principles and are listed among the most capitalist nations on Earth. Indeed, leaders often express surprise by American references to their socialist principles. In 2015, the Danish Prime Minister Lars Rasmussen observed, “I know that some people in the U.S. associate the Nordic model with some sort of socialism. Therefore, I would like to make one thing clear. Denmark is far from a socialist planned economy. Denmark is a market economy.” Likewise, Social Democratic Minister of Finance Kjell‐Olof Feldt stated “That whole thing with democratic socialism was absolutely impossible. It just didn’t work.”

Right now America is not a true capitalist economy. Unfortunately we have drifted into crony capitalism and quasi socialism in some areas. True prosperity for everyone will occur when we get back to the free market economy our Founding Fathers envisioned.

The Problem With Ranked-Choice Voting

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Ranked-choice voting in the New York City mayoral primary gave a victory to Zohran Mamdani, a member of the New York State Assembly from the 36th district, based in Queens, since 2021. He is a member of the Democratic Party and the Democratic Socialists of America. (see previous article referencing the Democratic Socialists of America.) 

Here are a few of Zohran Mamdani’s ideas according to his campaign website:

1. As Mayor, Zohran will immediately freeze the rent for all stabilized tenants, and use every available resource to build the housing New Yorkers need and bring down the rent. The number one reason working families are leaving our city is the housing crisis. The Mayor has the power to change that.

2. Zohran won New York’s first fare-free bus pilot on five lines across the city. As Mayor, he’ll permanently eliminate the fare on every city bus – and make them faster by rapidly building priority lanes, expanding bus queue jump signals, and dedicated loading zones to keep double parkers out of the way. Fast and free buses will not only make buses reliable and accessible but will improve safety for riders and operators – creating the world-class service New Yorkers deserve.

3. Zohran will create the Department of Community Safety to prevent violence before it happens by prioritizing solutions which have been consistently shown to improve safety…Police have a critical role to play. But right now, we’re relying on them to deal with the failures of our social safety net—which prevents them from doing their actual jobs. Through this new city agency and whole-of-government approach, community safety will be prioritized like never before in NYC.

4. Zohran will implement free childcare for every New Yorker aged 6 weeks to 5 years, ensuring high quality programming for all families. And he will bring up wages for childcare workers – a quarter of whom currently live in poverty – to be at parity with public school teachers.

He may provide living proof of the Margaret Thatcher quote, “The trouble with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money.” The only question is going to be how long that will take in New York City. The city avoided bankruptcy in 1975 (article here).

Just to add some perspective, the following headline was posted at The New York Post on Wednesday:

Luxury real estate brokers say wealthy New Yorkers are already looking to flee after Zohran Mamdani’s primary win

The Republican candidate for Mayor is Curtis Sliwa, founder of the Guardian Angels. However, generally speaking, Republicans do not win mayoral races in New York City. Eric Adams is running as an independent candidate.

Who Has Spent The Most Money In The 2016 Presidential Campaign?

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The American Thinker posted an article today about spending in the 2016 Presidential Campaign. The article reminds us that Bernie Sanders has continually railed against ‘the big money in politics.’

The article reports:

The small-dollar fundraising juggernaut that has kept Bernie Sanders’s insurgent White House bid afloat far longer than anticipated has generated another unexpected impact: a financial windfall for his team of Washington consultants.

By the end of March, the self-described democratic socialist senator from Vermont had spent nearly $166 million on his campaign — more than any other 2016 presidential contender, including rival Hillary Clinton. More than $91 million went to a small group of admakers and media buyers who produced a swarm of commercials and placed them on television, radio and online, according to a Washington Post analysis of Federal Election Commission reports.

The article includes the following graph:
2016CampaignSpendingI guess it was okay to complain about the money before you were actually receiving it.