Bernie Sanders Vows To Take On Billionaires — But Which Ones?
19 CommentsFri, May 01 2015 00:00:00 EBY JOHN MERLINE05/01/2015 04:53 PM ET
When running for office in 2012, President Obama frequently inveighed against "millionaires and billionaires" who don't pay their fair share of taxes.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, a self-described socialist arguably to the left of Obama who plans to run for president in 2016, wants to narrow his focus to just billionaires.
In the speech launching his campaign, Sanders said he would take on the "billionaire class," whom, he said, "are literally able to buy themselves elections and candidates. Let's not kid ourselves. That is the reality right now."
There's a slight problem here. Only 536 billionaires are in America. The idea that this little club has the kind of influence Sanders claims seems farfetched.
There's another problem for Sanders. Which billionaires does Sanders want to take on? He mentions only the conservative/libertarian Koch brothers by name.
But what about Bill Gates? The richest man in the world gives huge chunks of money to efforts that liberals like, such as the $1.5 billion donation to the United Negro College Fund. And Gates gives lots of money to Democratic candidates. In 2012, he ponied up for Obama's re-election bid and gave the DNC $12,900.
Maybe Sanders means to target the third richest man in the world — Warren Buffett. Except Buffett is a liberal who has endorsed Obama's economic policies and has given $1.2 billion to pro-choice organizations, according to Fox News.
OK, how about George Soros (No. 29 worldwide, according to Forbes)? He's donating his fortune to countless left-wing causes such as Media Matters and the Center for American Progress.
Then there's Tom Steyer (No. 1190), who is trying to buy elections and proud of it, calling it charity work. In the 2014 midterm elections alone, Steyer dumped $74 million trying to get pro-environmentalist Democrats elected.
Indeed, if you look at the complete list of U.S. billionaires, you'll find lots of other prominent liberals like David Geffen (No. 195), Sumner Redstone (No. 225) and Laureen Powell Jobs (No. 45), or liberal leaning types like Michael Bloomberg (No. 14). Silicon Valley billionaires like Jeff Bezos (No. 15), Larry Page (No. 19) and Sergey Brin (No. 20) also tend to give their money to Democrats.
Those are a lot of billionaires trying to buy elections for Democrats. Will Sanders attack them as forcefully as he does the Koch brothers? Or is his campaign about silencing only those billionaires with whom he disagrees?
Read More At Investor's Business Daily: http://news.investors.com/blogs-capital-hill/050115-750639-bernie-sanders-wants-to-silence-only-conservative-billionaires.htm#ixzz3ZAc6FqBM
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