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Independent (caucuses Democrat)

Anti-Federalist vs. Bernie Sanders

Senator from Vermont

Bernie Sanders correctly identifies corporate greed, wealth inequality, and political corruption as existential threats to American democracy. He is one of the few honest voices in Washington. Where he goes wrong is in believing that the same federal government captured by corporations can be used to fight those corporations. His solutions always involve more federal power — which is exactly what the corporations want to capture.

The Record

01

Economic Justice

Bernie Sanders's Record

Federal minimum wage mandate. Federal wealth tax. Federal Medicare for All. Every solution runs through Washington.

Anti-Federalist Position

Community banking. Local living wages set by local communities. Worker-owned cooperatives. Economic justice built from the ground up, not imposed from the top down.

A $15 minimum wage makes sense in New York City but may devastate small businesses in rural Mississippi. Federal mandates ignore local economic conditions. Communities should set wages that reflect their cost of living.

02

Healthcare

Bernie Sanders's Record

Medicare for All — a single federal payer system administered from Washington, replacing all private and state healthcare programs.

Anti-Federalist Position

Community health cooperatives owned and operated by local residents. Healthcare should be personal, local, and community-driven — not run by the same government that can't process VA claims.

The VA healthcare system is a preview of federal single-payer healthcare. Veterans wait months for appointments, the bureaucracy is impenetrable, and the system is plagued by mismanagement. Sanders wants to scale this to 330 million people.

03

Corporate Power

Bernie Sanders's Record

Break up monopolies through federal antitrust enforcement. Increase corporate regulation through federal agencies.

Anti-Federalist Position

Break the corporate-state fusion entirely. Corporations only become monopolies because they capture the regulatory agencies meant to control them. The solution is decentralization, not more federal regulation for corporations to capture.

Sanders wants to use the SEC, FTC, and DOJ to fight corporations — but these agencies are staffed by former corporate executives who return to the private sector after their government service. This is not oversight — it is a revolving door.

04

Campaign Finance

Bernie Sanders's Record

Correctly opposes Citizens United and corporate campaign financing. However, caucuses with the Democratic Party — which accepts unlimited corporate money.

Anti-Federalist Position

Sever ALL corporate-state financial entanglements. No PACs. No corporate lobbying. Public financing of elections only. And do not caucus with a party that does everything you claim to oppose.

Sanders raises money by railing against corporate Democrats, then endorses corporate Democrats and campaigns for them. He is a pressure valve for progressive anger that ultimately funnels energy back into the establishment.

05

Federal Power

Bernie Sanders's Record

Every solution involves creating or expanding a federal program. Federal jobs guarantee. Federal housing guarantee. Federal broadband. Federal childcare.

Anti-Federalist Position

Every solution should start locally. Community jobs programs. Community land trusts. Municipal broadband. Community childcare cooperatives. Washington is where good ideas go to become bureaucracies.

Sanders has been in Congress for 30+ years and passed almost no major legislation. His ideas are popular, but his vehicle — the federal government — is broken. Local implementation would have achieved his goals decades ago.

The Verdict

Bernie Sanders is the most honest politician in Washington, and that is not a compliment — it is an indictment of Washington. He sees the disease clearly but keeps prescribing a medicine that feeds the disease. Federal power IS the problem. You cannot solve it with more federal power. We love the anger. We reject the address.