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Bernie Spends $575K on Vacation Home - Can Socialists Do That?

Sure they can - especially if they have a charitable foundation - or if they cut a deal with someone who does:

Bernie spends $575,000 on vacation home: Can socialists do that? - CSMonitor.com






Come on, everybody - it's time for another Weekend At Bernie's:




Maybe he's just sleeping - who can tell?


Bernie came right out in the beginning and said, "I want to be your President." At the Convention he was all arms to hold on to the prize of the 2016 Presidency. I guess to loose so much you got to get some gratification somehow so buying a 600 K house might help.

Seems Bernie was about Bernie and this confirms it although I'd do exactly the same thing.
 
Sure they can - especially if they have a charitable foundation - or if they cut a deal with someone who does:

<snip>
Or maybe, he liquidated his wife's family estate?

"Supporters, however, can rest easy knowing that the money came instead from the sale of the Maine family home of Sanders’s wife, Jane O’Meara Sanders. “We finally let go of it and that enabled us to buy a place in the [Champlain] islands – something I’ve always hoped for,” Ms. O’Meara Sanders told Seven Days in a written statement. The Federal Election Commission has stringent rules about where remaining campaign funds can go, and these would definitely prohibit allowing any to end up in the senator's pockets. "
 
Or maybe, he liquidated his wife's family estate?

"Supporters, however, can rest easy knowing that the money came instead from the sale of the Maine family home of Sanders’s wife, Jane O’Meara Sanders. “We finally let go of it and that enabled us to buy a place in the [Champlain] islands – something I’ve always hoped for,” Ms. O’Meara Sanders told Seven Days in a written statement. The Federal Election Commission has stringent rules about where remaining campaign funds can go, and these would definitely prohibit allowing any to end up in the senator's pockets. "

Shouldn't they be donating such worldly possessions to the poor, instead? Or is that just for other rich people to do?
 
Shouldn't they be donating such worldly possessions to the poor, instead? Or is that just for other rich people to do?
No. Not necessarily.

Socialism has wide latitude, and he's gone on the record calling himself a 'social democrat' and saying he believes in capitalism.

I think he did himself a disservice with his self-proclaimed socialist moniker, because it's too easy to label him with that end of socialism that removes the means of production and capital from private to public ownership. He ain't that guy.

Actually, he's pretty similar to my thoughts on this:

"Capitalism practiced with social restraint"

That's my saying, not his, but he seems to be concurrent with it.
 
No. Not necessarily.

Socialism has wide latitude, and he's gone on the record calling himself a 'social democrat' and saying he believes in capitalism.

I think he did himself a disservice with his self-proclaimed socialist moniker, because it's too easy to label him with that end of socialism that removes the means of production and capital from private to public ownership. He ain't that guy.

Actually, he's pretty similar to my thoughts on this:

"Capitalism practiced with social restraint"

That's my saying, not his, but he seems to be concurrent with it.


Heh, anyone can arbitrarily proclaim themselves to be anything - but if they practice double standards, asking others to pony up while reserving summer villas for themselves, then they look like hypocrites. There are a lot of Left-wing politicians who do this.

Orwell's Animal Farm in action.
 
Heh, anyone can arbitrarily proclaim themselves to be anything - but if they practice double standards, asking others to pony up while reserving summer villas for themselves, then they look like hypocrites. There are a lot of Left-wing politicians who do this.

Orwell's Animal Farm in action.
Fair enough, I won't argue that.

But if 'Social Democrat' was available as a DP lean, I'd hop on it.

Instead - the closest I can find is 'Libertarian Left', which leaves some to be desired and causes me conflicts with hard-core straight-up Libertarians.
 
Heh, anyone can arbitrarily proclaim themselves to be anything - but if they practice double standards, asking others to pony up while reserving summer villas for themselves, then they look like hypocrites. There are a lot of politicians who do this.

fixed it for you
 
As a more fiscal conservative I really don't care what he does with his money. If he has that much to spend let the man keep as much money as he has earned and use it how he pleases (so long as it's not illegal ie. buying drugs, etc.)
 
Or maybe, he liquidated his wife's family estate?

"Supporters, however, can rest easy knowing that the money came instead from the sale of the Maine family home of Sanders’s wife, Jane O’Meara Sanders. “We finally let go of it and that enabled us to buy a place in the [Champlain] islands – something I’ve always hoped for,” Ms. O’Meara Sanders told Seven Days in a written statement. The Federal Election Commission has stringent rules about where remaining campaign funds can go, and these would definitely prohibit allowing any to end up in the senator's pockets. "

Doesn't Bernie want most of "family estates" to go to the govt through his massive death tax?
 
Doesn't Bernie want most of "family estates" to go to the govt through his massive death tax?

Oh you mean the estate tax, which allows for regime changes?

Bernie is not a "Socialist leader." If anything, he advocates for social welfare and has done so as an Independent, and as a Democrat.
 
Did Bernie earn his own money like other Dems and Republicans do? Yes? Then who cares?

He has never been an enemy of the wealthy, but of those who promote corporate "too big to fail" welfare at the expense of public programs.
 
Exactly. I hate to say it, but it's the same idea when Donald Trump exploits loopholes for profit.

Play by the rules if you want to win, or be a starving artist, pumping out idealism.
 
Or maybe, he liquidated his wife's family estate?

"Supporters, however, can rest easy knowing that the money came instead from the sale of the Maine family home of Sanders’s wife, Jane O’Meara Sanders. “We finally let go of it and that enabled us to buy a place in the [Champlain] islands – something I’ve always hoped for,” Ms. O’Meara Sanders told Seven Days in a written statement. The Federal Election Commission has stringent rules about where remaining campaign funds can go, and these would definitely prohibit allowing any to end up in the senator's pockets. "

I love how the Koch Bro's/Murdoch's are actually daft enough to think the Sanders movement is gullible enough to think Sanders is illegally stealing campaign money in order to pay for a 575,000 house, and then just give in to the Koch Bro's desire to disappear. I also love how they treat owning 3 houses as being equivalent to extreme wealth --like when John McCain couldn't even remember how many houses he owned. Or that we already didn't know how much Sanders was worth when he released his tax returns earlier this year.

Like, oh yeah, I think that Sanders owning three houses is such hypocritical opulence that I'm going to stop fighting against the billionaires who rig the system with hundreds of millions of dollars every election cycle.
 
Heh, anyone can arbitrarily proclaim themselves to be anything - but if they practice double standards, asking others to pony up while reserving summer villas for themselves, then they look like hypocrites. There are a lot of Left-wing politicians who do this.

Orwell's Animal Farm in action.

Do know what a socialist is? particularly a social democrat? They are not communists.

The problem with most people on this board is they want to talk about things they do not understand. Bernie Sanders version of democratic socialism advocates government involvement in broader areas. He is not advocating government ownership and absolute equal distribution of the fruits of labor. He likes the models of Canada, Germany and Norway. People own nice luxury cars and vacation homes in each of those places.

What does Sanders mean by ‘democratic socialism’? | TheHill

$575K for a vacation home is not really that much of an extravagence for a US Senator. Its actually reasonably modest. Where is the double standard here?

Perhaps you might like to learn a little about the subject matter before posting next time.
 
He's not in the running. Why are you campaigning againt him?

They don't like OurRevolution. It's an existential threat to Murdoch, the Koch Bro's, etc. They're terrified of Sanders campaigning with the Progressive Left and managing to get them into office. At this point, they probably know that ignoring him isn't going to work. So it's time to turn on the faucet of bull****.
 
Shouldn't they be donating such worldly possessions to the poor, instead? Or is that just for other rich people to do?

You seem to be confusing devout Christians or Buddhist monks with social democrats.
 
Doesn't Bernie want most of "family estates" to go to the govt through his massive death tax?

No, not "most" family estates. His proposal included an exemption of $3.5 million per person/$7 million per married couple. That knocks out about 99% or more of "family estates."
 
Heh, anyone can arbitrarily proclaim themselves to be anything - but if they practice double standards, asking others to pony up while reserving summer villas for themselves, then they look like hypocrites. There are a lot of Left-wing politicians who do this.

Orwell's Animal Farm in action.

Specifically what double standards?
 
Specifically what double standards?

Bernie wants "the rich" to give up their money so that his followers can have nice things. Well, Bernie is looking like one of the rich - why isn't he ponying up? Why wait for others, when he's got plenty to give right away?
 
Heh, anyone can arbitrarily proclaim themselves to be anything - but if they practice double standards, asking others to pony up while reserving summer villas for themselves, then they look like hypocrites. There are a lot of Left-wing politicians who do this.

Sorry, his tax returns are a matter of public record. Did he fail to pay his fair share of taxes? Did he make his money by exploiting working people? Is he actively taking corporations' money as a Senator in order to pay for his vacation home?

The answer to all of those are: No, no, and no.

Orwell's Animal Farm in action.

It's hilarious that you're summoning the work of a Democratic Socialist to slander a Democratic Socialist. You probably can't even see the irony.
 
Sorry, his tax returns are a matter of public record. Did he fail to pay his fair share of taxes? Did he make his money by exploiting working people? Is he actively taking corporations' money as a Senator in order to pay for his vacation home?

The answer to all of those are: No, no, and no.

You are citing what Bernie has paid according to the laws that exist, and not according the laws that he advocates bringing into existence.

Surely he could stand to give a little more in that regard. But socialists are all about getting others to pony up more money, and never themselves. Charity always begins in someone else's home, according to them.


It's hilarious that you're summoning the work of a Democratic Socialist to slander a Democratic Socialist. You probably can't even see the irony.

Orwell satirized his fellow Socialists because his own socialism had allowed him to interact with and observe other socialists so intimately.
 
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