What The Bernie Sanders Winter Coat Controversy Gets Wrong About Socialism
Bernie Sanders
It’s been 2018 for less than a week  but that’s apparently long enough to gin up a faux scandal about Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ allegedly lavish spending habits.
This time  Sanders  is in trouble for sporting a winter coat at New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s swearing-in ceremony on New Year’s day that a gumshoe reporter at the conservative Daily Wire discovered retails for $690.
 “Socialist Bernie Sanders  wears a $700 jacket while complaining about rich people ” a Newsweek headline blared.
Sanders’ supposed hypocrisy is a favorite topic of Newsweek  which used a similar formulation in June to call out  Sanders  for raking in more than $1 million in 2016  largely thanks to book royalties.
Back in August 2016  we were meant to be absolutely furious that  Sanders  and  his  wife Jane O’Meara Sanders purchased a $600 000 summer home on Lake Champlain in Vermont.
When  Sanders  asks “how many yachts do billionaires need?”  he  does so in the context of attacking a billionaire-funded GOP political program that would cut taxes for the wealthy even as it deprives millions of Americans of health insurance coverage.
It is not so much that  Sanders  is attacking wealth per se  as  he  is attacking those who prioritize extravagant wealth above ensuring that all people have access to a decent living standard.
Pacific Press/Getty Images  Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)  speaks at New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's swearing-in ceremony on Jan. 1  2018.  He  was sporting a $690 coat  according to a conservative site.
“Everyone deserves to be wearing a nice coat like  Bernie Sanders  ”  he  added with a chuckle.
It’s been 2018 for less than a week  but that’s apparently long enough to gin up a faux scandal about Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ allegedly lavish spending habits.
This time  Sanders  is in trouble for sporting a winter coat at New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s swearing-in ceremony on New Year’s day that a gumshoe reporter at the conservative Daily Wire discovered retails for $690.
 “Socialist Bernie Sanders  wears a $700 jacket while complaining about rich people ” a Newsweek headline blared.
Sanders’ supposed hypocrisy is a favorite topic of Newsweek  which used a similar formulation in June to call out  Sanders  for raking in more than $1 million in 2016  largely thanks to book royalties.
Back in August 2016  we were meant to be absolutely furious that  Sanders  and  his  wife Jane O’Meara Sanders purchased a $600 000 summer home on Lake Champlain in Vermont.
When  Sanders  asks “how many yachts do billionaires need?”  he  does so in the context of attacking a billionaire-funded GOP political program that would cut taxes for the wealthy even as it deprives millions of Americans of health insurance coverage.
It is not so much that  Sanders  is attacking wealth per se  as  he  is attacking those who prioritize extravagant wealth above ensuring that all people have access to a decent living standard.
Pacific Press/Getty Images  [TGT]speaks at New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's swearing-in ceremony on Jan. 1  2018.  [TGT]  was sporting a $690 coat  according to a conservative site.
“Everyone deserves to be wearing a nice coat like  [TGT]  ”  [TGT]  added with a chuckle.