Why Are Democrats Discarding The Bernie Standard?

Yet The Reckless Multitrillion Tax-And-Spending Spree Democrats Are Now Rushing Through Congress Is Designed Explicitly To Enact A Left-Wing Smorgasbord Of ‘Major Changes In Social Policy’

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): “[T]his, in many respects, is a transformative piece of legislation.” (MSNBC’s “All in with Chris Hayes,” 7/14/2021)

• SANDERS: “To finally begin to see that type of transformative legislation … is very gratifying.” (“Bernie Sanders Lost His Fight To Be President. But Now He’s Written A Budget That Could Secure His Legacy.,” The Washington Post, 8/12/2021)

“Democrats in Congress are pushing ahead with a sweeping $3.5 trillion, 10-year spending plan that marks the latest step in their drive to expand education, health care and childcare support …  Party leaders are hoping to use the annual budget process to push through the massive broadening of the nation's social safety net envisioned in President Joe Biden's jobs and families proposals that has been blocked by Republican opposition.” (“What's In The Democrats' $3.5 Trillion Spending Plan,” CNN, 9/08/2021)

• “The budget framework seeks to establish a universal Pre-K program for 3- and 4-year-olds and a new child care benefit for working families. … The blueprint proposes making community college tuition-free for two years. … The American Families Plan calls for giving workers a total of 12 weeks of guaranteed paid parental, family and personal illness/safe leave by the 10th year of the program. And the budget resolution seeks to extend the expansions of the child tax credit, the earned income tax credit and child and dependent care tax credit -- all of which were enhanced as part of the Democrats' $1.9 trillion coronavirus rescue plan but are only in effect for 2021.” (“What's In The Democrats' $3.5 Trillion Spending Plan,” CNN, 9/08/2021)

• “The blueprint recommends adding dental, vision and hearing benefits to Medicare, as well as lowering the eligibility age -- both longstanding goals of Budget Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont who caucuses with the Democrats. … The resolution also calls for extending the enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies contained in the Democrats' American Rescue Plan, which passed in the spring. … And the resolution calls for creating a new federal health program for Americans who live in states that have not expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act.” (“What's In The Democrats' $3.5 Trillion Spending Plan,” CNN, 9/08/2021)

• “[The budget resolution] also calls for providing green cards to millions of immigrant workers and families.” (“What's In The Democrats' $3.5 Trillion Spending Plan,” CNN, 9/08/2021)

REMINDER: ‘Democrats’ Ambitious Social Policy Plan’ Would Be ‘The Most Significant Expansion’ Of Government ‘Since The War On Poverty In The 1960s’

“When congressional committees meet this week to begin formally drafting Democrats’ ambitious social policy plan, they will be undertaking the most significant expansion of the nation’s safety net since the war on poverty in the 1960s, devising legislation that would touch virtually every American’s life, from conception to aged infirmity…. [T]he proposed legislation would be so transformative — a cradle-to-grave reweaving of [Americans’ relationship to the government].” (“From Cradle to Grave, Democrats Move to Expand Social Safety Net,” The New York Times, 9/06/2021)

• “The Democrats’ $3.5 trillion reconciliation package is the biggest pile-on ever. The scale of this legislation is breathtaking …” (Punchbowl News AM, 9/08/2021)

• “The sheer scope of the effort … has some Democrats seeing similarities to Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society and Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal.” (“Democrats Sorting Through Painful Sacrifices As Social Bill Enters Final Stretch,” The Washington Post, 9/12/2021)

• “Most Americans traditionally have seen the federal government’s involvement in their finances once a year, at tax time, when they claim a child credit, get a write-off for the truck they may have bought for their business, or receive a check for an earned income credit, to name a few. That would change profoundly if the social policy bill were enacted.” (“From Cradle to Grave, Democrats Move to Expand Social Safety Net,” The New York Times, 9/06/2021)