Many faithful followers of Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) were disappointed he was not nominated for President last year. In 2016, it is arguable that the backlash from disgruntled “Bernie Bros” cost Hilary Clinton the election. As much as I like Sanders, and I certainly wouldn’t complain if he were our President, I always felt he was much more valuable in the Senate. And now the time has arrived to test my theory. Bernie Sanders is the new Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee. Reconciliation is at hand.
While the President is the single most powerful position in government, a lot of their time is also spent on pageantry and ceremony. There are a lot of speeches to make, dinners to attend, and first pitches to be thrown. None of these things are suited to Bernie and his talents. I am sure the Senator form Vermont would chafe at the notion of putting on a tux and spending hours entertaining foreign dignitaries. There is work to be done, damn it, I don’t have time for this!
Bernie is a “lunch pail” guy. Bernie is the type of person who thrives when given a filing cabinet, a box of freshly sharpened No. 2 pencils, and a pot of strong coffee. Sanders has never been afraid of tedium and hard work. It seems to be his life essence. He is exactly the person you want overseeing your budget. As Mitch McConnell has demonstrated repeatedly over the past decade, one hard-headed Senator in just the right spot can do an amazing amount of damage to the federal government. Imagine if that stubborn Senator was someone who used their power for good instead of evil?
The photo of Bernie at the Biden/Harris inauguration went viral precisely because it so well encapsulates the man himself. There in his casual attire, he looks bored, uncomfortable, and itching to get back to work. When asked about his less-than-stylish coat and gloves, Sanders’ response was basically: It was cold. This stuff keeps me warm. That type of staunch pragmatism has been sorely lacking in government accountability. Ironically, one might even say his attitude is downright conservative. (Well, one might say that if “conservative” had not morphed into a dog whistle for bigotry.) Seriously, Bernie’s whole don’t-touch-the-thermostat-just-put-on-a-sweater vibe should be making the fiscally responsible crowd swoon right now.
The notion of tax-and-spend Democrats has been a fallacy for at least four decades now. Time and time again, it is the Republicans who explode federal spending and mushroom the deficit. GOP tactics tends to be much worse: cut taxes and spend even more, particularly on programs that will have zero return. Republicans love to preach fiscal responsibility, yet whenever they have control, they act like a college sophomore who just got their first credit card. They buy a big screen TV for their dorm room and throw a keg party every weekend. Then at Thanksgiving they are begging Mom and Dad for some cash to buy the books they need to pass their finals.
I think Biden is well suited for the Oval Office. He’ll be a good leader, a good delegator, and he won’t mind the more frivolous aspects of the job. Give me Bernie hunkered down in the Senate with a stack of spreadsheets, and his street fighter attitude, ready to kick down the doors of GOP obstruction. Dating back to the civil rights activism of his youth, Bernie is a man who has always fought the good fight. I am excited to see that ethical standard brought to bear on the Federal Budget. Bernie is not even letting his popular meme go by without putting it to work. His office printed the now famous photo on sweatshirts, sold a heap of them at $45 a pop, and donated the money to Meals-on-Wheels. That is public service at its very core. That is a man who knows how to put economics to work for people. Just imagine what he can do with billions in tax revenue.
3am Cynic 