Electoral Suicide: Beware The Radical Left

Authored by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk,

6 months ago I figured a recession would kill Trump’s chances in the next election. But Radical socialism could save him

Wirepoints founder Mark Glennon says Radicals Positioning To Destroy Illinois If Its Fiscal Crisis Doesn’t.

“Socialists win big in Chicago” was The Nation’s headline on last week’s [Chicago Mayoral] elections. Jacobin, a leading socialist publication, proclaimed that the “left’s victories in Tuesday’s Chicago elections are tangible and undeniable. Few could have imagined such an unquestionably positive night for leftist candidates.” The Chicago Teacher’s Union is headed by socialist Jesse Sharkey. Their influence on elections is huge, and their longstanding efforts in schools are now showing up in election results. “CTU knows how to put a mayor in place,” said one of its vice president’s recently.

Nationally, some Democrats are beginning to question the party’s leftward shift. Even a liberal columnist in the Washington Post askedlast week if the party is committing electoral suicide.

Illinois Plans

• Progressive real estate transfer tax. It’s best seen as an exit tax on wealthier homeowners fleeing. It’s supported by both Chicago mayoral candidates who won a place in the runoff election, Toni Preckwinkle and Lori Lightfoot. The heavily Democratic City of Evanston is already implementing it.

• Rent control. Illinois politicians should be setting the rent, we’re told. A bill authorizing rent control is pending in the General Assembly and Governor Pritzker has indicated approval in concept. Preckwinkle supports rent control; Lightfoot hasn’t indicated her position.

• Universal basic income in Chicago. Just give at least $500 to every family in Chicago, no strings attached. Mayor Rahm Emanuel evidently saw enough force behind the idea that he authorized a task force to look into a pilot program. It’s leading proponent, Alderman Ameya Pawar, may well become Chicago’s new treasurer, having just won his way into the runoff election. Its cost to the city if fully implemented would be about $12.6 billion annually. Chicago’s annual budget for fiscal 2018 was $8.6 billion.

• 100% renewable energy. Both Governor Pritzker and a many Illinois lawmakers (including at least one Republican) want Illinois to commit to reaching that goal by 2050. It’s the core feature of Alexandria Ocasio Cortez’s Green New Deal for the nation, albeit with a longer deadline – 30 years instead of 10. But a Greenpeace co-founder recently wrote, “You are delusional if you think fossil fuels will end any time soon, maybe in 500 years,” and said the Cortez plan would “bring about mass death.” The Green New Deal’s price tag has been estimated as high as $93 trillion, or $600,000 per household. Illinois supporters haven’t bothered to place a price tag on meeting the goal over their longer time period. That’s a common aspect of the new left’s policy agenda – numbers mean nothing.

• Statewide $15 per hour minimum wage. Governor Pritzker made this a top priority and already signed the new law raising the minimum to $15 by 2025, statewide. That might seem reasonable around Chicago, but opposition came largely from lower income communities across the state. The Rockford Park District, for example, gives hundreds of teenagers and young adults get their first jobs at a lower wage, and the new law will open a $2 million per year hole in its budget.

Socialist Idiocy Abounds

For sure, socialist idiocy abounds in Illinois. But Glennon has the cure:

Margaret Thatcher’s famous quote needs amendment when it comes to Illinois. “The trouble with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money,” she said. But in Illinois, the trouble is you run out of other people. If the fiscal crisis doesn’t ensure that Illinois’ population loss accelerates, the new left will.

Numbers Mean Nothing

Glennon accurately states “[fiscal] numbers mean nothing”.

That was the subject of a post I wrote yesterday: Ben Bernanke – The Father of Extreme US Socialism

The radical Left wants to hijack the Democratic party and perhaps they have already succeeded.

Although such actions may prevail at the state level until states like Illinois blow sky high.

However, at the national level the nomination of someone like Elizabeth Warren or Kamala Harris may very well mean four more years of Trump.

Original source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/zerohedge/feed/~3/J028vNlwSDo/electoral-suicide-beware-radical-left