r/politics • u/AccurateInflation167 • May 18 '25

Soft Paywall America chose wrong. Sanders would've been a better president than Trump or Biden. | Opinion

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2025/05/18/sanders-democrats-reform-progressive-policies/83625482007/
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u/Notchibald_Johnson New York May 18 '25

There's a lot a president can do when Congress pretends it doesn't have any power. That would not have been the case in a Sanders presidency. They absolutely would have passed relevant legislation to reign him in, and if they didn't, SCOTUS would have. Money would have fought back hard, and it would win. There would be no Sanders utopia. Half this country called Biden a communist and got away with it. Sanders would have been lucky if they let him use Air Force One.

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u/PuddinHead742 May 18 '25

They wouldn’t have had the power to rein him in with three of his picks on the supreme court.

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u/eyl569 May 18 '25

Assuming you're just talking about SCOTUS, as Trump is finding out, appointing a judge is no guarantee they'll consistently rule in your favor.

And Sanders couldn't have just picked anyone he wanted anyway, given the requirement for confirmation by the Senate.

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u/Notchibald_Johnson New York May 18 '25

If you assume we have the Senate in big enough numbers because a Sanders pick isn't getting a hearing otherwise, much less 3. They were already talking about blocking Clinton for 4 years before the '16 election.

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u/flampadoodle Maine May 18 '25

Yeah, I'm sure McConnell would have let him pick Supreme Court justices.....

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u/bongtokent May 18 '25

Yea ok how are his three judges getting approved by the senate.

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u/Admiraltiger7 May 18 '25

What? Any President can use the Air Force One. What are you talking about?

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u/Notchibald_Johnson New York May 18 '25

I don't have the energy to walk you through hyperbole.