Candidate Scorecard: Sanders Leads, Populism Drives Debate

[eridani]

http://www.nationofchange.org/2015/10/10/candidate-scorecard-sanders-leads-populism-drives-debate/

That Sanders leads the others is no surprise, but most striking is the extent to which all of the major Democratic candidates have endorsed populist economic and political reforms. All three leading candidates have plans to raise taxes on the rich, crack down on corporate tax havens and loopholes, and limit capital gains tax breaks for investors. All support raising the minimum wage, guaranteeing paid family leave and paid vacation days, and empowering workers to organize and bargain collectively. All call for curbing the role of big money in politics. All favor action on climate change and a larger public investment in infrastructure and R&D. On economic and political reform, as well as social issues, the contrast with the Republican field is stark and clear.

The growing populist movement in this country is driving this debate. The Sanders surge reflects that. But so does the decision of mainstream politicians – Hillary Clinton and Martin O’Malley – to embrace bolder populist political and economic reforms. All of these candidates accept the reality that this economy is working only for the few. And that isn’t an accident or an act of nature. It is because the rules have been rigged and the deck is stacked against most Americans. And that has to change.

Our Candidate Scorecard reveals both the scope and the limits of Clinton’s effort to appeal to the activist base of the party. On every economic issue where she has broken from President Obama, she has adopted a more progressive position – opposing the Keystone pipeline, opposing the TPP, promising to repeal higher taxes on good health care plans, limiting deportations. She has broken with her husband’s legacy on mass incarceration and on trade. She has forged new ground on corporate incentives and regulation of Wall Street’s casino.

On the other hand, she has not yet chosen to challenge many of the ways this economy is rigged against working people. She opposes breaking up the big banks, a new Glass-Steagall Act that would separate Wall Street’s casino from federally guaranteed deposits, and a true financial transactions tax. She has not embraced expanded Social Security benefits or Medicare for All, the necessary next battle in health care reform. She doesn’t call for taxing investment income at same rates as the income from work, or for taxing multinationals at same rates as domestic small businesses by repealing the deferral of taxes on income earned abroad which gives multinationals incentives to shift jobs or report profits abroad (with an estimated $2 trillion now nominally stashed abroad to evade taxes). She’s not advocated new higher tax rates on millionaires and billionaires, and thus is vague about the scale of her public investment agenda.

[LiberalElite]

1. And yet -

just 3 minutes before your post, someone posted an OP that H's lead "climbs higher..." Maybe it's so it won't drown in the Sanders tsunami?

[Demeter]

2. It's the Real thing--Bernie!

Don't settle for imitation.

[CanonRay]

3. Populism is driving OUR debate

I don't know what the hell is driving the other side. Insanity perhaps?

[SoapBox]

4. Exactly!

That last paragraph above says it all.

I am simply stupefied how so-called Democrats are nuts for her...talk about supporting everything that is wrong in America!

I have never even thought of myself as an ultra Liberal or way out in the fringe...I just want fair and honest...that's why I fully support Bernie and not her...she feels dishonest and I do not trust her.

It seems that almost everything has become corrupt and dishonest.

[CanonRay]

5. I meant the Democratic side in General

Insanity is driving the Republicans, IMHO. I think Sanders presence has alerted Hillary to the populist movement and whether she wishes to or not (and I'm not sure which) she has had to respond to it.