Bernie Sanders Offers GOP Debaters a Tutorial on Democratic Socialism
John Nichols
http://www.thenation.com/article/bernie-sanders-offers-gop-debaters-a-tutorial-on-democratic-socialism/
The Republican candidates had a lot to say about the senator, and he has something to say to them
(snip)
“You’ve got a choice between honest socialists on the left, like Bernie Sanders, and lying conservatives on the right,” announced the governor.
Asked about Jindal’s remarks on CNN’s New Day program, Sanders seized the moment to offer perspective that was entirely missing from the Republican debate.
“I know for Governor Jindal it is easy to try to frighten people—we throw out a word, ‘socialism,’ oh my goodness we’re all supposed to be shaking in our boots. But I think that if you look at some of the real success stories in many of these countries, there’s a lot that we can learn,” said Sanders, referencing the accomplishments of European social democracies. “Countries like Finland and Denmark and Sweden are much more homogeneous than we are, they are much smaller than we are, but there are lessons that we can learn. Why are we the only major nation on earth that doesn’t guarantee health care to all people? Forget Scandinavia, I live a hundred miles away from Canada; all of their people have health care and they do it much more cost-effectively than we do. Why are we the only major country on earth that doesn’t guarantee paid family and medical leave, so when a working-class woman has a baby she’s not forced to be separated from her baby and forced to go back to work a week or two weeks later?”
= new reply since forum marked as read
Sen. Sanders!