Create Your Own Thomas Friedman Op-Ed Column - McSweeney’s Internet Tendency
Despite his incessant douchebaggery, based on the provided quote Friedman is right on this one. (I'm not creating a free account or logging in to read it).
My moderate democrat in-laws reside near you, David, and find Senator Warren hard to take. They (like me) admire Senator Sanders for his sincerity, but struggle to support a candidate who has no clue what his proposals will cost. That's not a Faux News talking point - that's rabid conservative Anderson Cooper this Sunday on 60 Minutes:
"How much will that cost?” Cooper asked.
“Obviously, those are expensive propositions, but we have done our best on issue after issue – in paying for them,” Sanders responded.
“Do you know how all – how much though?” Cooper pressed. “I mean, do you have a price tag for all of this?”
“We do. I mean, you know, and, and, the price tag is – it will be substantially less than letting the current system go,” Sanders responded. “I think it’s about $30 trillion.”
“That’s just for Medicare for All, you’re talking about?” Cooper continued. “Do you have a price tag for all of these things?”
“No, I don’t,” Sanders responded. “We try to – no, you mentioned making public colleges and universities tuition free and cancelling all student debt, that’s correct. That’s what I want to do. We pay for that through a modest tax on Wall Street speculation.”
“But you say you don’t know what the total price is, but you know how it’s gonna be paid for. How do you know it’s gonna be paid for if you don’t know how much the price is?” Cooper pressed.
“Well, I can’t, you know, I can’t rattle off to you every nickel and every dime,” Sanders responded. “But we have accounted for, you – you talked about Medicare for All. We have options out there that will pay for it.”
Jesus wept.
Friedman is right that the progressives can't win without the moderates, and the moderates won't win because if Sanders isn't the nominee the progressives will feel (again) slighted by the DNC, and a small but significant number of them will "punish" the DNC by refusing to turn out for a nominee they consider to be a sell-out.
Don't get it twisted; I'm a conservative and some part of me enjoys this. But I am being honest when I say I wish the DNC were better organized. A strong DNC makes the GOP wary of going too far off the rails, and when there's no viable threat from the DNC the GOP can run idiots like the Current Guy with no fear of losing. Even if they lose, a strong DNC makes for a moderate Republican administration. A shitshow DNC results in President Trump. For the love of all that's good and decent, please put James Carville in charge of something ASAP.
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