Bernie Drops Out

That didn’t take long.  According to Heatstreet, “Bernie Sanders Leaves the Democratic Party” for a more hospitable destination.

The nomination was barely sealed up at the Democratic National Convention before Bernie Sanders, who had campaigned against Hillary Clinton for the Bernie_Sanders_Leaving_Philadelphia_VW_Sidecar_New_Lifeparty’s nod, went back to being an Independent.

Sanders, who considers himself, officially, an Independent in Congress because his views lean further left than the Democratic party’s platform, caucuses with Democrats. But until declaring an intention to run for the presidency in 2015, he had rarely, if ever, identified as a member of the Democratic Party (he’s been in politics since 1979).

Feeling the “Bern” in Venezuela

So how is that “Free” thing working out for you in the Socialist Utopia of Venezuela?

From YahooNews, “Venezuela, where a hamburger is officially $170“.

Caracas (AFP) – If a visitor to Venezuela is unfortunate enough to pay for anything with a foreign credit card, the eye-watering cost might suggest they were in a city pricier than Tokyo or Zurich.

Bernie_Sanders_Breadlines_2016A hamburger sold for 1,700 Venezuelan bolivares is $170, or a 69,000-bolivar hotel room is $6,900 a night, based on the official rate of 10 bolivares for $1.

But of course no merchant is pricing at the official rate imposed under currency controls. It’s the black market rate of 1,000 bolivares per dollar that’s applied.

But for Venezuelans paid in hyperinflation-hit bolivares, and living in an economy relying on mostly imported goods or raw materials, conditions Bernie_Sanders_Hollywood_Foolsare unthinkably expensive.

Even for the middle class, most of it sliding into poverty, hamburgers and hotels are out-of-reach excesses.

“Everybody is knocked low,” Michael Leal, a 34-year-old manager of an eyewear store in Caracas, told AFP. “We can’t breathe.”

– Shuttered stores –