In his latest attempt to one-up Elizabeth Warren and establish his brand of “democratic socialism” as something entirely different from the progressive capitalism practiced by some of his peers, Bernie Sanders is preparing to unveil a new plan that would involve cancelling all of the country’s outstanding $1.6 trillion in student debt.
The massive student-debt jubilee would be financed with a tax on Wall Street: Specifically, a 0.5% tax on stock trades, a 0.1% tax on bond trades and a .005% tax on derivatives trades.
Sanders plan would forgive roughly three times as much debt as Elizabeth Warren’s big student-debt amnesty plan, which would forgive some $640 billion in the most distressed student loans.
Additionally, Sanders’ plan would also provide states with $48 billion to eliminate tuition and fees at public colleges and universities. Thanks to the market effect, private schools would almost certainly be forced to cut prices to draw talented students who could simply attend a state school for free.
Reps Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Pramila Jayapal of Washington have already signed on to introduce Sanders’ legislation in the House on Monday.
The timing of this latest in a series of bold socialist policy proposals from Sanders – let’s not forget, Bernie is largely responsible for making Medicare for All a mainstream issue in the Democratic Party – comes just ahead of the first Democratic primary debate, where Sanders will face off directly against his No. 1 rival: Vice President Joe Biden, who has marketed his candidacy as a return to the ‘sensible centrism’ of the Democratic Party of yesteryear.
By introducing the student-debt plan, Sanders has outmaneuvered Elizabeth “I have a plan for that” Warren and established himself as the most far-left candidate in the crowded Democratic Primary field. Hopefully, this can help stall Warren’s recent advance in the polls. The plan should help Sanders highlight how Biden’s domestic platform includes little in the way of welfare expansion during the upcoming debate.
via ZeroHedge News http://bit.ly/31PN19h Tyler Durden