Need a job? Bernie Sanders is going to see to it that you have one.
The socialist senator from Vermont is proposing that the government guarantee (yes, another entitlement) that every American who wants one or needs one has a job.
And not just a job. You will be paid $15 an hour and have full health benefits.
It is also not clear how Sanders’ plan would be paid for. Republicans have long opposed a federal jobs guarantee, saying such a plan would be too expensive and impractical.
The Post reported that an early draft of Sanders’ plan calls for the government to fund hundreds of projects in categories such as infrastructure, education and the environment. Americans would be entitled to receive a job with one of those projects or receive job training to do so.
Sanders, who ran a surprisingly strong campaign for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination and is rumored to be running again in 2020, joins two other rumored presidential contenders who have supported a jobs guarantee or offered guarantee plans of their own.
Last week, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y. tweeted support for a jobs guarantee, saying it would help “regular Americans who are unemployed and willing to work to better their local community.”
On Friday, Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J. announced the Federal Jobs Guarantee Development Act, which would call for the Department of Labor to select up to 15 areas to institute a job guarantee. According to Vox, which first reported on Booker’s plan, those jobs would pay the higher of $15 per hour or the prevailing wage and offer paid family leave and health benefits.
Just as Obamacare was a stealth attempt to eliminate private insurance companies, Sanders’ jobs program would seek to eliminate the private sector. Who in their right mind would work for $10, $11, or $12 an hour at a factory or office when he would be guaranteed $15 an hour by the government?
Proponents are nuts.
Hit and Run:
Post policy writer Jeff Stein turned to a study by a pack of “left-leaning economists” for the Levy Economics Institute of Bard College, who seem to think only good thingswill happen with the creation of millions of government-funded jobs, and hardly any bad things. Klein notes:
Job guarantee advocates say their plan would drive up wages by significantly increasing competition for workers, ensuring that corporations have to offer more generous salaries and benefits if they want to keep their employees from working for the government.
Scott Shackford asks the obvious question that never occurred to the socialists:
Of course, they might have to lay off some employees in order to pay for these increased wages and benefits. Or they could increase the speed by which they’re automating to get rid of jobs to save money. But that’s okay! There’s going to be all these government jobs to replace them! Paid for with tax revenue from…from…wait. If everybody goes to work for the government, where will the revenue come from? I’m sure they’ll figure out something.
So what kind of government jobs would be worth $15 an hour?
The Levy Economics Institute study provides several examples of how these guaranteed jobs might play out at the local level. Here’s one:
A local artist collective employs painters, actors, musicians, and stage hands to run year-round productions for the community. They organize school outreach programs, run summer camps, and offer free art, music, and literacy classes for disadvantaged/special needs youths. They collaborate with local schools in offering art enrichment programs.
What is it about performing that socialists love so much?
Unfortunately, there are millions of people who need jobs who simply don’t want to work. What do you think the chances are that Bernie and his red friends force them on to a government payroll somewhere?
Perhaps they could be part of a street theater company, playing the part of drug addicts, drunks, and gang members.
Oh, wait…
Bernie Sanders is, as they used to say, “tetched” — “mildly deranged, somewhat mentally dysfunctional.” A cockamamie scheme like this could never work and three Democrats who may all run for president proposing it shows how close we are to Armageddon.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member