HBO’s Bill Maher Pledges Support To Hillary Clinton Rival Bernie Sanders

They like Social Security. Maher said the numbers didn’t add up, Sanders said “not true”, then said a Medicare for-all-program would be more cost-effective than our current health care system profiting insurance companies.

As I watched the first Democratic debate Tuesday night, I was amazed by two things. “It’s already a socialist country”, Maher said.

That’s because there are official Democratic Socialists – both in other countries and in the United States – and they generally want something more aggressive than he does.

Sanders said that most Americans need to better understand the what democratic socialists like himself aim to achieve. The same goes for Sanders, who, despite his progressive record and rhetoric on climate change, hasn’t produced a detailed plan yet, either. Lord knows they didn’t mention, much less champion, our founding ideal of liberty. It’s already a socialist country. “I want to see you get the nomination”, Maher, an outspoken liberal, told Sanders.

“He’s not a democratic socialist”, said William Galston, an expert on domestic politics at the Brookings Institution.

If the Republican nominee, whoever that may be, emphasizes that philosophy, we can compete for the presidency against Hillary or any other Democrat that may be nominated.

But to those whose personal economy is still clouded by the long shadow of the Great Recession, who see less opportunity, a shrinking middle-class and growing income inequality, the term capitalism might very well mean a rigged game of lobbied-for preferences granted to large organizations; preferences unavailable to small enterprises or individual citizens. “It amazes me, and it really kind of scares me”.

The “new” liberal trend, starting in the late 70s, put American social-liberalism and European social-democracy in a quandary: how could you con the workers into supporting imperialism without the inducement of socialist-lite goodies in their bag of presents? We saw people gathered in an air-conditioned auditorium in Las Vegas – Las Vegas, that odd and mysterious capitalist beast, a place where a million glitzy desert lights shine, and to which many in the audience had flown on a gas-guzzling, cocktail-addled, bargain-basement flight – cheer at the thought of giving up fossil fuels. There was essentially no competition for the hearts and minds of the working class. Appealing to the social consciousness of the majority class was abandoned by both major parties and we socialists had the field all to ourselves. “If you were born to be a master carpenter, a mezzo soprano – or even a pro football player – here in America you could make it”. “The American people say yes”. He inspired a whole generation of young Republicans to adopt a philosophy we need to re-emphasize and use to contrast with the Democrats’ leftward direction. With a firm reasoning based in logic, Maher pushed the Vermont Senator on the fact that the word “socialist” is enough to shut down the majority of American voters. Sanders has not advanced any such reforms in either chamber of Congress or on the campaign trail this year (he voted against the 1996 reform).