Bernie Sanders Needs To Drop Out Of The Election For This Reason Alone
An expensive reminder why Sanders needs to drop out.
At 74-years-old, Bernie Sanders undoubtedly needs protection from the mobs of crazy, flannel-clad hipster millennials who want to get close enough to ask if they can adopt him as their grandpa, #feeltheBern, or take a quick selfie. That's why he's got the Secret Service behind him for the campaign—but did you know that service is really freaking expensive for taxpayers? Like, $38,000 a day expensive. That means for every day Sanders remains in the 2016 presidential campaign, taxpayers are bleeding money.
Like Sanders, both Ben Carson and Donald Trump opted into Secret Service protection while campaigning.
As the wife of Bill Clinton, Hilary Clinton's Secret Service protection is covered. As for the Republican side, only two candidates pursued the service. Like a bad experience with Comcast, Carson suspended the service days after he dropped out of the campaign. As for Trump, I'm honestly a little bit surprised he didn't pursue his own form of protection with "Trump Security" or by building a moveable wall around himself to keep out Muslims, Mexicans, or any other people part of the 99 percent.
I digress.
Sanders, still in the campaign, continues to use the Secret Service.
In a fiscal 2016 budget request, the Secret Service estimated it would require $123.5 million for protecting presidential candidates.
According to The Washington Post, the Sanders camp did not dispute the high cost of acquiring the service.
However, the Sanders campaign did argue that the cost of his protection now is significantly lower than when Sanders was at the height of his campaign—when he was attending several rallies a day, summoning baby birds to his podium, and, oh yeah, when he actually had a chance to win the nomination.
Sanders, who recently vowed to work with Hilary Clinton to stop Donald Trump, has no realistic chance of winning the Democratic nomination.
In a live-streamed speech in Vermont on Thursday, Sanders announced he is no longer actively challenging Clinton, and that their collective goal is to now "defeat Trump badly."
He told supporters the major task they face in the next five months is the Trump takedown. "And I personally intend to begin my role in that process in a very short period of time," Sanders said.
That "short period of time" is adding up.
Thanks to some number crunching over at Slate, if Sanders chooses to stay in his current limbo it means his security detail could cost taxpayers more than $1.56 million in the weeks between the last primary and when the Democratic convention begins on July 25.
Is anyone else a little bit confused here?
Sanders, whose tax plan outlined a major hike for things such as universal, single-player healthcare, social security, and paid family leave, is using existing tax dollars for protection in a campaign he admittedly will not win.
Sanders, you need to make like Steve Jobs in college and drop out already. You've made your point, you've raised awareness, and you've done all you needed to do. Now's the time to get behind your party, (and maybe Hilary will share her Secret Service detail with you, too).