Girl, what are you doing?
Hip hop star and internet icon Cardi B is all over the place politically. But just recently, she hosted a political summit with the self-proclaimed Democrat socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, in which they discussed health care and student debt before Cardi B officially offered her endorsement — telling viewers to “feel the Bern.”
Okay, whatever: A celebrity having left-wing political views is nothing new. But what makes this case both curious and frustrating is that Cardi B’s support for Sanders runs directly contrary to the political viewpoints she’s expressed in the past.
Last year, Cardi B went on a viral rant where she demanded to know what the government was “doing with her f—–g tax money,” complaining that she “wants receipts” for the 40% of her income she pays in taxes. The rapper pointed out that when you donate to a charity, they often send you updates on what they’re doing with your money. Conservatives appreciated her point: Where is that kind of accountability when it comes to the government spending our tax dollars?
Cardi B is getting into tax policy now. She says she’s paying 40% of her income in taxes and wants to know where the money is going…”when you donate to a kid in a foreign country, they give you updates on what they’re doing with your donation….I want updates on my tax money.” pic.twitter.com/E1hITGNqee
— Yashar Ali ? (@yashar) March 23, 2018
She has even tried to skirt taxes, saying in 2017, “If you owe me a check, hold that motherf—-r for 2018, ya hurr? Because the motherf—–g IRS is tryna come for me for tax season.”
In light of Cardi B’s frustration with government waste and overtaxation, her support for Sanders makes no sense at all. In a field of Democratic presidential candidates that’s sprinting to the Left, the Vermont senator still stands out as the most socialist on economic policy. His landmark proposal, a government takeover of health care, would require at least $32 trillion in new government spending over a decade, and that’s a conservative estimate.
This means a minimum of $32 trillion in new taxes or in new federal debt that young people, such as Cardi B and her fans, will get stuck paying for. It’s no shock that Mercatus Center economist Charles Blahous predicts “Medicare for all” would require, at a minimum, more than doubling federal taxes. A paper from the Heartland Institute’s Justin Haskins estimated that 90 million tax filers would pay thousands more each year.
With Cardi B in the highest income tax bracket, her bill would surely skyrocket. That’s more of her “ f—–g tax money” wasted away without “receipts.” And that’s just one plank of the Sanders agenda, which includes other socialist fantasies such as “free” college and the cancellation of all student loans, as well as government jobs for all who want them and universal childcare.
None of these big government programs will come cheap, and in the Nordic countries such as Denmark and Sweden, where they’ve been partially implemented, it’s common for even the middle class to pay upwards of 50% or 60% in taxes.
So Cardi B should be careful what she wishes for. If too many voters “feel the Bern,” her wallet will too.
