What does Democratic Socialists of America believe?

“It is absolutely true that taxes would have to go up…” National Director of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) Maria Svart, 2015

“Our goal as socialists is to abolish private ownership of the means of production.” – DSA National Political Committee Member David Green, 2007

In November, Trevor Loudon released a video exposing the radical ties of Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders in anticipation of his upcoming documentary.

One of the commenters of the video responds by saying in part:

“Sanders simply believes, as do a growing number of Americans, that capitalism should play by the rules and be subject to the same laws and regulations as everyone else.”

Understanding the actual beliefs of the leaders of these groups is pivotal if one wants to understand Bernie Sanders and his ilk.

Exhibit A: DAVID GREEN

David Green is listed on the DSA website as one of the “National Political Committee Members” for 2015-17. David Green is pictured here with Bernie Sanders:

Detroit DSA leader David Green wrote in Democratic Left Spring_2007 (Page 10):

Our goal as socialists is to abolish private ownership of the means of production. Our immediate task is to limit the capitalist class’s prerogatives in the workplace…In the short run we must at least minimize the degree of exploitation of workers by capitalists. We can accomplish this by promoting full employment policies, passing local living wage laws, but most of all by increasing the union movement’s power…

This means that incrementally through increasing the power of the union and crippling business with enforced wage hikes and other burdens like rampant regulations; ALL business will ultimately crumble and the government / unions will take over. 

Exhibit B: MARIA SVART 

In December 2014, National Director of the Democratic Socialists of America Maria Svart lamented the fact that Democrats took major hits in the mid-term elections. In an article titled “Don’t Mourn, Organize,” Svart explained that the DSA should “urge” Bernie Sanders to run for president.

“We have time to organize for Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), urging him to run for president in the primaries and build a grassroots movement that is outside formal politics and in which DSA could play a major role as an openly democratic socialist organization.”

Maria Svart made some very revealing statements on a c-span, where she discussed organizing efforts for Bernie Sanders. After being confronted by a caller about how taxes would have to go up in order for DSA to have their vision of more government programs being available, Svart explained that it is “absolutely true” taxes would need to be increased after a caller challenged her.

Here is the exchange:

Mike from Elm City, North Carolina: “I just want to make a comment on this whole issue of free education and free healthcare. I think it is a bit disingenuous to say it is free when it is actually taxpayer funded. I think if you pointed out the fact that people’s taxes would go up for this, they would probably think about it a whole lot differently…”

Maria Svart: “It is absolutely true that taxes would have to go up to pay for some of these programs. But…there is a lot of corporate welfare and there have been a lot of tax cuts…I forgot to mention a financial transactions tax…” Svart also mentions taxing the “very wealthy” and cutting “wasteful defense contractor spending” as “sources of revenue” to use for more “public programs.” Svart added that the “obsession with national debt is irrational if you actually look at the way the economy works.” She also claimed that people feel a large tax burden because the “right wing” is cutting spending.

Watch the broadcast here (the exchange highlighted above starts at around the 40:48 minute mark):

Watch Trevor Loudon’s video going deeper into Bernie Sander’s radical ties here. It should be noted that this video was inexplicably blocked from Facebook for about two days. Numerous requests to Facebook to find out why have gone unanswered.

On a final note,  National Chairman of Communist Party USA (CPUSA) John Bachtell recently praised Obama’s State of the Union address, and Political Action Committee head Joelle Fishman of CPUSA also is supportive of Bernie Sanders.

“Bernie Sanders is attracting thousands at each event because he presents a specific program squarely on the side of the 99%, challenging income inequality and financial domination of the country and of politics.”

Presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders claims to be a “Democratic Socialist.” Supported by the euphemistically-named Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), it would be helpful for Americans to understand what it is that DSA actually believes.

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