Webb: Bernie Sanders announces his ‘new’ communism jobs, health-care plan

As Finland retracts its socialism, communists if not by name but in policy are out in the open in America. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) plans to announce a federal jobs proposal that would guarantee every adult American a job with at least a $15 per hour wage and health benefits. We’ve seen this play before after the Bolshevik revolution 101 years ago. Ask yourself the question, was Joe McCarthy right to the extent that they are here and they have continued to fester and grow in the underpinnings of our society?

It’s provocative but let’s review some more evidence. The Revolutionary Communist Party, USA (www.revcom.us) has more than a website and magazine. It has membership and an organized effort. The Party for Socialism & Liberation (www.pslweb.org) is another group established since 2004. On college campuses they excel at a soft form of communism. We cannot ignore the existence of groups like the Working Families Party in the state of New York. They have become a state-level player in politics and by endorsing Cynthia Nixon for governor, they forced Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo to go even further left and issue an executive order giving the vote universally to paroled felons. Various candidates on the Democratic side of the aisle now run with the endorsement of or as outright communists in local elections. What makes you think this will always be a local election issue?

{mosads}If capitalism and other forms of economic systems evolve, then why are we to believe that communists will not evolve to current times and alter their message and methods? What they didn’t alter was their core belief in spite of overwhelming evidence of their failures across societies.

Now that I have your attention, in no way am I retracting my statements about Sanders or his supporters Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and others.

They are not communists but the globalists have come to America this week. The new term being used is internationalist, in contrast to the economic nationalist President Trump.

Emmanuel Macron, president of our oldest ally France, makes a state visit more than a year into Trump’s presidency, which will be followed by a visit from Angela Merkel representing German interests.

The underlying tone is the role of the European Union and its stranglehold, on not only France and Germany, but on other nations in the union.

There are three themes to the Macron visit. First, our nations’ long and enduring friendship as this year marks the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I.

Second, is the nature of our trade relationship. France is our third largest trading partner in Europe with more than $1 billion in commercial transactions daily. The United States is the largest foreign investor in France with approximately $78 billion in investment.

Third, the administration presents France as a strong and reliable ally. In spite of our recent actions in the Middle East over the Syrian government’s use of chemical weapons, the broader issues are more complex. As we act in our national interest, so does France. We may never be able to fully understand their national interest but one thing is for certain, their resources are not like ours when it comes to military capability or sustainability in a foreign theater.

Germany is next and it’s likely that the only difference will be in the linguistic accent. The economic situation is similar though the numbers are different and there are similarities in both nations because of the European Union’s governance. A key question is how they will be effective as NATO allies. Remember the Ronald Reagan rule: trust but verify.

We need a sliding scale in our diplomatic interactions around the world. We can no longer give all upfront and expect results. The Trump administration wants to see a give-and-take that moves forward to a more positive outcome even if not ideal.

Focus more on the economic nationalism that is needed for the United States to prosper and reduce trade deficits in the long run with all nations. An economically weak nation cannot be generous and available when others around the globe are in need. When you add to this the demand by the Trump administration that other nations pay their fair share, you begin to see the hypocrisy in these nations responses versus actions.

Webb is host of “The David Webb Show” on SiriusXM Patriot 125, a Fox News contributor and a frequent television commentator. His column appears twice a month in The Hill.