Free Republic

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) dismissed the mounting concerns from establishment Democrats, who fear that she and presidential hopeful Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) are moving the Democrat Party “too far left,” asserting that the ultra-leftist movement is “bringing the party home.”

In her first-ever visit to Iowa this weekend, New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez addressed a crowd of more than 2,200 at a campaign event in Coralville on Saturday for Bernie Sanders. To help explain why she has endorsed the Vermont Senator in the presidential primary, she relied on a retelling of her own, now-familiar biography: how she began as a waitress at a taco joint in downtown Manhattan; how she kept canvassing cards and a change of clothes in a Trader Joe’s bag tucked behind the bar so she could go directly to house parties after her shift; how she,...

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., had a billionaire in his sights at a campaign rally in Iowa Saturday night — and for once, it wasn’t President Trump. “Tonight we say to Michael Bloomberg, ‘Sorry, you ain’t gonna buy this election,’” Sanders told a crowd in Coralville, outside Iowa City. “ … Those days are gone.” […] Sanders also excoriated Bloomberg for avoiding the earliest states on the primary and caucus calendar and focusing his efforts on the states that hold nominating contests on Super Tuesday and later in 2020. “You’re not going to get elected president by avoiding Iowa, New Hampshire,...

At an event in Iowa, Bernie Sanders acknowledged that his $16 trillion plan to address climate change is “expensive.” The Saturday event, dubbed the Climate Crisis Summit, featured both the independent Vermont senator and Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and was held in Des Moines, Iowa. During the event, Sanders spoke about his “Green New Deal” plan, which plays off a resolution by Ocasio-Cortez. “Building on the Green New Deal, we have brought forth a rather detailed proposal, and I have been criticized by some who say it is expensive,” Sanders told the crowd Saturday. “Well, they’re right, it is. It’s...

The Socialists vs. Billionaires Democrat Primary Bloomberg joining the primaries from hell will make them even worse. Fri Nov 8, 2019 Daniel Greenfield 34 Daniel Greenfield, a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the Freedom Center, is an investigative journalist and writer focusing on the radical Left and Islamic terrorism. Joe Biden is running out of money. He blew too much cash on private jets while blowing away debating opponents with his confused mumbling and bleeding eye. Now Joe’s down to the single digit millions, while Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders are in the double millions. Unless Joe can wangle a job...

One of the challenges presented by the leftward turn in the Democratic presidential primary race is effectively capturing the scale of the tax and spending proposals the leading candidates have put forth. The numbers regularly stretch into the trillions, or even multiple tens of trillions. To put that in contrast, a decade ago, early drafts of the health law that became Obamacare were viewed as pushing the boundaries of political acceptability because they ran just over $1 trillion over a decade. A trillion dollars! Even for Washington, that was a lot of money, an expansion of the size of government...

... The constitutional objection to wealth taxation is based on two clauses that require any “direct tax” to be apportioned among the states based on population. So, since 12 percent of the population lives in California, Californians must pay 12 percent of any direct tax. For the Warren and Sanders wealth taxes, that would be a deal breaker. To match revenue fractions to population percentages, as the Constitution’s direct tax clauses demand, we estimate that the wealth tax rate in West Virginia — the poorest state per capita — would need to be roughly 10 times the rate in more...

Independent Vermont senator and 2020 presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders is not impressed by tech giant Apple’s efforts to increase the supply of affordable housing in California amid a growing crisis. In a statement on Monday evening, Sanders called out the Cupertino, California-based company out for trying to distract from a problem it helped create. “Apple's announcement that it is entering the real estate lending business is an effort to distract from the fact that it has helped create California's housing crisis – all while raking in $800 million of taxpayer subsidies, and keeping a quarter trillion dollars of profit offshore,...

Not that we needed any further confirmation of Bernie Sanders's deep-seated contempt for the United States and its heritage, but a monumentally significant tweet that he sent out on Tuesday made it crystal clear that his political agenda has nothing whatsoever to do with defending the Constitution of the United States. Rather, it is entirely about gaining limitless power and dominance over the lives, the actions, and even the private thoughts of every living American. In a manner reminiscent of Barack Obama's pledge to “fundamentally transform the United States of America” during his presidency, Sanders tweeted: “Our campaign is not...

Democratic presidential front-runners Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are confronting the same challenges to their health-care policies that foiled state lawmakers who tried to launch universal health systems in recent years. Legislators in Vermont, Mr. Sanders’s state, backed Medicare for All before figuring out a detailed financing plan, and the final numbers were too high to sell politically. Colorado weighed its own version of guaranteed health care, but public support fell as the industry ramped up an opposition effort. The plans’ fates in Vermont and Colorado show the obstacles the Democratic presidential candidates face in selling voters in the general...

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D., Minn.) on Sunday said she is excited Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) will "fight against western imperialism." "I am beyond honored and excited for a president that will fight against western imperialism and fight for a just world," Omar said during a Sanders campaign rally in Minneapolis. Omar praised Sanders, who honeymooned in the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War, for standing up for human rights. "The fight for human rights is undeniable," Omar said. "We realize that that recognition isn’t about punishing our political foes, but leading within a moral obligation." Despite...

Nearly half of voters want President Trump impeached and removed from office, according to a new Fox News Poll. In addition, 6-in-10 believe the president did ask foreign leaders to investigate political opponents -- and two-thirds say that action is inappropriate. Forty-nine percent want Trump impeached and removed from office, 4 percent say he should be impeached but not removed, and 41 percent oppose impeaching Trump. That’s about where things stood in early October, when 51 percent said impeach/remove, 4 percent impeach/don’t remove, and 40 percent opposed altogether. ...

Sen. Joe Manchin (D., W.Va.) rejected presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders's claim that he could pressure the West Virginia senator and other moderate Democrats to vote in favor of Medicare for All. "Bernie is damn wrong on that one," Manchin said Wednesday when asked by NBC News about Sanders saying his health care plan would have support from moderate Democratic senators. Sanders said in a CNBC interview that moderate senators, including Manchin and Sen. Jon Tester (D., Mont.), would rally behind his agenda and deliver the votes to implement a government-run healthcare system. "Damn right they will," Sanders said when asked...

A year out from the 2020 general election, most Democrats are currently pessimistic about most of the candidates' abilities to defeat President Donald Trump, Insider polling shows. Out of seven weekly polls conducted over two months between mid-August and mid-October, there are just three candidates that more Democrats think would beat Trump than lose to Trump. Across the polls, 66% of Democratic respondents believed former Vice President Joe Biden could beat Trump, 54% believed Sen. Elizabeth Warren would beat Trump, and 49% believed Sen. Bernie Sanders would be able to defeat Trump. Biden and his team, in particular, have been...

A day before President Trump addressed the annual gathering of the International Association of Chiefs of Police in Chicago, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) gave some rather shocking advice to a young black student at Benedict College in regards to how he should behave around a police officer if he's pulled over while driving. .@BernieSanders to black student on how to handle getting pulled over by the police: “Identify who the police officer is - respect what they are doing so that you don’t get shot in the back of the head.” pic.twitter.com/MND84NELLL — chris evans (@notcapnamerica) October 26, 2019 "I...

Senator Bernie Sanders believes that the super-rich and large corporations are actively working against working class Americans and in an interview with CBS News compared some of the ultra-wealthy to drug addicts. Ending corporate greed was the theme of a five-stop, two-day swing through Iowa this week - marking his return to a first in the nation state since suffering a heart attack 25 days ago. "There's always been greed in this country - no question about it. But I think 40, 50 years ago, the big money interest in this country made a decision that they were going to...

The halfway mark of the Democratic debate calendar is coming up, and the sixth debate will likely feature the smallest stage yet. New thresholds announced by the Democratic National Committee for the sixth debate — which will be hosted by POLITICO and PBS on Dec. 19 in Los Angeles — represent only a modest step up from the criteria for the next debate in November. But they could still seriously endanger the participation of all but the top five candidates.. To make the December debate, candidates must hit 4 percent support in at least four DNC-approved polls of primary voters...

DES MOINES -- Julian Castro, Beto O’Rourke and Bernie Sanders took to that stage at the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines Thursday night for a town hall hosted by The League of United Latin American Citizens. Hundreds of Latinos attended Bernie Sanders got loudest crowd reaction Julian Castro impressed some with immigration knowledge It was an opportunity for not only the moderators--including Spectrum News’s own Annette Gracia--but the audience to ask questions. The candidates were surrounded by hundreds of Latinos ready to cheer on their favorites. “Should we make public colleges and universities tuition free? Yes. Well you know...

Bernie Sanders insists he feels better than ever less than a month after heart surgery, but his return to the campaign trail this week sparked new questions about the unusually old age of the Democratic Party’s leading 2020 presidential candidates. Both Sanders, 78, and Joe Biden, 76, suggest their age isn’t a major issue, but voters, particularly older voters, aren’t so sure. Gordon Lundberg, a 71-year-old retired Lutheran pastor from Ames, said candidates’ health is a key issue for him because he understands how it feels to age. He’s leaning toward Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts because, even though she’s...

The idea of 2020 hopefuls Joe Biden or Pete Buttigieg facing off against President Trump next November would be a tragedy as the Democratic party continues to forge ahead without a true frontrunner, Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., said during a Thursday interview with The Intercept’s “Deconstructed” podcast. Omar was asked about the field of 2020 candidates and whether she preferred Biden or Buttigieg. She answered, “None,” before characterizing their hypothetical nominations as “tragic.” Host Mehdi Hasan asked.“But if you had to pick one? If one of them is the candidate for your party, who would you rather it be?” Omar...