Bernie has gone all in on the idea of national rent control and more federal housing. The next question is whether the rest of the socialist lemmings will follow him over the cliff? Bernie Sanders is again promising more free crap from the federal well.
Commissar Sanders takes on housing
Bernie lives in a socialist utopia. There the so-called “highest earners” pay for Medicare for all. They also pay for the Green New deal, and free education. Now Bernie is making them responsible to pay for yet another new spending program. This time Commissar Sanders is addressing homelessness and affordable-housing issues.
Bernie is doubling down by coupling it with an irresponsible, probably, unconstitutional national rent-control scheme. Sanders said he would pay for his latest free crap program by establishing a “wealth tax”. The new tax would apply to the top one-tenth of the “1 percenters”. That’s a Bernie calculation. He thinks the wealthiest 175,000 will pay for his new free crap program. That’s in addition to everything else he proposes to give away.
More soak the rich
Those are the same taxpayers Bernie has vowed he would take aim at to pay for his “Medicare for All” scheme. That government takeover of health care would carry a price tag estimated at $32.6 trillion over 10 years. The 1 percenters are the taxpayers who are going finance “College for All” at a cost $47 billion a year.
Bernie says he’s addressing “the outrageously high price of housing.” Bernie’ rent-control legislation would vastly expand federal housing programs. It would cap annual rent increases at 1.5 times the rate of inflation or 3%, whichever is higher. Can you say uncoupled from reality?
Bernie gets AOC backing
Bernie is joined by AOC. She introduced what she called a “suite” of proposals. They are called “A Just Society.” There are few economic concepts more counterproductive and destructive than rent control. Economist Gunnar Myrdal said, “Rent control has in certain Western countries constituted, maybe, the worst example of poor planning by governments lacking courage and vision.” Assar Lindbeck was more blunt, writing: “In many cases, rent control appears to be the most efficient technique presently known to destroy a city — except for bombing.”
Conclusion
“Putting a price ceiling on any product below the market rate causes shortages: Demand outstrips supply.” For someone who proudly champions socialist “economic justice,” Mr. Sanders has done extraordinarily well for himself financially. Much better, in fact, than most capitalists. Mr. Sanders owns three houses, including a four-bedroom Vermont lakefront home he bought in 2016 for $575,000. Maybe Bernie should put his money where his mouth is. A good socialist would lead by example. He would redistribute his own wealth. That could do that by simply donating two of his three homes to a needy Vermont family.