Elizabeth Warren pushed her socialist chips into the middle of the Democratic presidential race with a bold step this weekend.
Forgive all student loan debts, was her brainchild. Strike that, forget brainchild; this is more of a brain cramp.
Dear Lord. Does Warren feel like her chances to win are tied to the scary-as-heck socialism push from Bernie and the rest of the crowded pack of Democratic White House wannabes?
Jay GreesonAnd yes, you online haters and email bashers are quick to point out how crowded the 2016 Republican field was. And you are 100 percent right. We all saw how that worked out, right?
I voted for Trump - and I would do it again, mainly because he was not Hillary Clinton - but in retrospect do we think he was truly the best of the wide swath of GOP hopefuls three years ago?
So that's now where the Democrats find themselves as we speed toward Iowa and try to separate the best candidate from the best headline-maker. And we can all agree that those are rarely the same person.
In the big sense, Warren is certainly trying to grab her fair share of the socialist platform. Just look at the things she has said 'ultra-millionaires' can pay for (and no, the actual definition of ultra-millionaire was not given, but considering I work at a newspaper, I am sure I do not qualify):
» Ultra-millionaires would be on the hook for Warren's childcare plan;
» Ultra-millionaires would be on the hook for Warren's housing plan;
» Ultra-millionaires would be on the hook for Warren's plans to make the initial payments on the boondoggle that is the "Green New Deal;"
» And, trying to out-Bernie Bernie, ultra-millionaires would be on the hook for Warren's free health care ideas.
Swell.
Now, ultra-millionaires can pay back all the student loans for all of the folks who are spouting Tolstoy while explaining whether a grande is a medium or large coffee and which one is just a regular cup of joe.
Forget the millions of folks - like my wife - who got some scholarships and took out student loans and made it a priority to pay them off as soon as possible.
Are the ultra-millionaires going to write those people checks too, since, you know, they lived up to their responsibilities and pledges in an attempt to make their lives better?
Of course not.
Not in a time when far too many politicians are saying what they can to get a job or keep a job rather than doing the job.
Not in a time when far too many leaders tell people what they think others want to hear rather than what they need to hear.
Hey, the student loan pyramid scheme needs to be overhauled. That is a good idea.
Wiping away the debt assumed by one group of people that were trying to better themselves simply because there are other groups - these unicorns known as ultra-millionaires - who have bettered themselves is not a new idea.
It's a bad idea known as socialism.
Contact Jay Greeson at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com.