He’s using socialist in the literal sense of government (as a proxy of the society) owned and operated services though, not the commonly understood in the US meaning of fascist/dictator/unspecified horrible thing.
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Then, by all means, you should pay for diverse political speech. It’s your money, burn it if you want to.
But forcing me to pay for speech I find loathsome — like, say, nativism, to use a completely random example — is immoral.
Surely you can see the difference between a government official (who, for better or worse, represents the whole country) and a candidate for public office (who represents only those who share his views).
You could argue that your taxes (plus associated reform) would go towards reducing Donald Trump (or the reincarnation of George Wallace, or whoever)'s access to the same level that (say) the Green Party enjoy.
Rather than what we have now, where blowhard billionaires (or their client politicians) get all the access to shout over everyone else.
Wouldn’t that be worth it?
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Nope. That’s still giving my cash to a candidate without my consent.
Unless you are the Secretary of the Treasury, the money doesn’t even have your name on it.
It is our money. There is nothing moral about dragging consent into your apparently not liking the rules.
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We could put @popobawa4u in charge of campaign funding. They’d have to barter skills for access or something.
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Trump and Carson are currently hawking books too. Others in that clown car are probably toting their own as well. And the future speaking engagements are gonna be huuuuge! Not that Hillary and other dems don’t make money those ways. It just seems clear that they’re not as likely to run if they don’t have a reasonable shot at winning (or in Sanders’ case, of at least affecting the election-cycle discourse). All of which, to come full circle, accounts I think for such a crowded red clown car. (And none of which I mean to say I think you don’t know already.)
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I’m willing to wager money that whatever Republican takes the primary is our next POTUS
Are you under the impression that bbs is some kind of betting joint?
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It’s certainly my money when it’s in my bank account.
As it happens, I do like the rules — the rules as they stand now, with voluntary public financing.
And you may not like the implication, but, yes, it is a question of consent — I don’t want to associate with Donald Trump, but if elections were publicly financed in full, I’m forced to financially support him against my will.
Okay, so you’re willing to put up (against your will, I take it) with plutocratic control of a system that is not actually a democracy so that your money isn’t sullied by association with views you disagree with. Others would rather support all views with some of our taxes because it would likely produce a better chance that those offering more democratic policies would get into office. It’s pretty easy for me to choose a side in that disagreement.
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No I’m under the impression it is a haven of people who haven’t the brains to find facts to support their nonsense who think Huffington Post is “news” who think in memes not in truth. I think it is a place where vulgar people who can’t form a thought that doesn’t have emoji or gif attached are less true than ones that do. I think this is a place where young people come to get support for ideas that do not merit support. Look at the Democratic ticket, one is an elderly socialist who isn’t even a Democrat but an Independent Who has a lot of ideas on how to spend money with no ideas how to get the money to spend. The other candidate is an aged woman who is currently under Federal investigation with a very real chance of an indictment being issued. Whose own staff cannot name a single accomplishment for. A woman who has lied her entire adult life and who very well may have caused the death of her staff. Do you think its any wonder America is how it is? With nine million American’s out of the workforce, rampant unemployment and constant crime? The people have gotten so sick of the Democratic party that they are begging me twice a day for money. They cannot pay their debt with what they have and are now asking for tax dollars to pay for their convention. I know all there is to know about both parties. I’ve worked for Presidents of both, my father was a Democratic Voting Judge. Even he said he would never vote for another Democrat after a lifetime of supporting them.
I reject your premise.
Why am I not surprised that you didn’t explain why.
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I mean, you’re right: we don’t live in a democracy, we live in a federal republic with democratic input mechanisms. But I don’t think that’s what you meant. 
Yeah, I get this and I understand Acer’s point that the media may try to vilify him as the latter. However, I think it’s important that he continues to be himself regardless. If you are X and some bully (in this case the media, or perhaps the LCD public) tries to intimidate you by calling you X, you had better stand up as X. Good for Bernie for saying “I’m a socialist”. I hope he doesn’t abandon his candor for expediency, else a vote for him is a vote wasted.
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How about war? I pay a whole lot for wars I don’t support.
Wars that only in the most outlandish imagination have any possible chance of actually protecting me from harm.
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Things to consider apropos SvT…
People love somebody to hate:
Is Trump really a fascist? Four perspectives from one of the best, if not the best, magazines in the States:
Bernie Sanders’ top five race problems:
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This is worth a read too. Laughing at Trump makes it easy to overlook how not all of his populist appeal is negative:
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Oh my glob. Between the memes, ad hominem attacks and lack of facts, where to begin?
You don’t like candidates because of agism? The two you mentioned are in good health (maybe not as healthy as Trump claims his doctor claims… 
) And the mechanisms of our government have a means of dealing with the death of one in office, should a tragedy like that occur.
Sanders has no idea where to get the money? Sanders has said many times how he plans to fund his vision. It’s on his campaign web site. It’s no secret.
You talk of lies. I invite you to take a look at this. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/13/opinion/campaign-stops/all-politicians-lie-some-lie-more-than-others.html?_r=0
Yes, Hillary, even Bernie are on the list. Scroll down, they’re towards the bottom.
Candidates under investivation? You forgot to mention Christie. And Kasich. But what of it? Investigations are a dime a dozen. Well, actually, they can be several million dollars, and the republicans seem to love spending years on some, even if there’s no result. It’s almost as if they use them as a political diversion.
Unemployment? The data I see shows that it typically goes up under the policies of republican presidents and down under democratic ones.
One of the best correlates to crime is income disparity, which republicans foster. Plus, I invite you to take a look at this.
http://editions.lib.umn.edu/smartpolitics/2009/09/16/red-states-have-higher-crime-r/
You know “all there is to know about both parties”? Wow. That’s great.
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