Iowa Democrats choose national security risk over socialist

February 2, 2016

 

Former Secretary of State, and current focal point of an FBI investigation, Hillary Clinton avoided an epic upset in last night’s Iowa caucus. As recently as November, Clinton led in Iowa polls by nearly 30 points, but last night she barely avoided a complete disaster, narrowly edging socialist Bernie Sanders in the Hawkeye State. The Democrat campaign now heads to New Hampshire where Clinton is expected to lose to the previously little-known junior Senator from Vermont by a wide margin.

  • The 2016 Democrat primary is beginning to look eerily similar to 2008 when then-Senator Barack Obama rapidly closed the gap and eventually defeated presumed frontrunner Hillary Clinton.
  • One week from today, voters will go to the polls in New Hampshire, where Bernie Sanders holds a commanding 18 point lead as of Monday according to the Real Clear Politics average.
  • Clinton’s unexpectedly narrow victory comes just days after the latest revelation in her email scandal revealed that her private server contained nearly two dozen emails with Top Secret intelligence that could not be released as they contained operational intelligence, which if revealed could put lives at risk.
  • New Hampshire Democrats are poised to throw their support to a self-described socialist whose extremist views will endanger House Democrats in November.
    • Sanders’ “single-payer” health care scheme would represent a complete government takeover of health care, which would cost an estimated $13.8 trillion over its first decade.
    • Sanders’ tax plan would raise taxes on Americans by an estimated $13.6 trillion.

 

NRCC COMMENT: “Hillary Clinton’s scandal-plagued campaign was lucky to sneak out of Iowa with a narrow victory, but it is clear that her campaign is in serious trouble. House Democrats are rightly terrified at the prospect of their preferred candidate losing the primary, and instead sharing the ballot with tax-hiking socialist Bernie Sanders in November.” – Bob Salera, NRCC Spokesman

 

Background:

Official: Withheld Clinton emails contain ‘operational’ intel, put lives at risk. “Highly classified Hillary Clinton emails that the intelligence community and State Department recently deemed too damaging to national security to release contain “operational intelligence” – and their presence on the unsecure, personal email system jeopardized “sources, methods and lives,” a U.S. government official who has reviewed the documents told Fox News,” (Catherine Herridge and Pamela K. Brown, Fox News, 2/1/16)

Bernie and the high cost of ‘free’ health care. “But, as O’Rourke warned us, BernieCare will really cost us a whole lot more. Sanders’ own estimates suggest that BernieCare would cost roughly $13.8 trillion over its first decade of operation, roughly a 30 percent increase in federal spending. To pay for it, Sanders would sock us all with a big tax hike. He would increase the top income-tax rate to 52 percent and add hefty hikes in capital-gains taxes and estate taxes. Corporations would face a new 6.2 percent payroll tax, which would mean either fewer jobs or lower wages. He would also hit every American with a new 2.2 percent income tax.” (Michael Tanner, New York Post, 1/31/16)

Sanders Tax Plan Would Raise $13.6 Trillion, Dwarfing Clinton’s – Analysis. “Bernie Sanders’s tax proposals would raise $13.6 trillion over the next decade, increasing federal revenue by more than 30% to pay for an expansion in government’s role in the economy, according to an analysis released Thursday by the Tax Foundation. The tax increases from the Vermont senator and Democratic presidential candidate dwarf those of his rival, Hillary Clinton, by a 27 to one margin. Mr. Sanders’s tax increase is roughly the opposite of a $12 trillion tax cut proposed by Republican front-runner Donald Trump.” (Richard Rubin, The Wall Street Journal, 1/28/16)