Bernie Sanders by Gage Skidmore, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0/Original

Bernie Sanders is the only 2020 Democratic presidential candidate who is proudly running on an openly socialist platform.

As it turns out Sanders is going one step beyond simply running on socialism, he’s modeling it for the whole world to see.

Senator Sanders has been pushing for a federal $15/hour minimum wage, despite arguments and evidence that such a threshold actually cuts jobs and benefits and drives away business. He was even the first candidate to unionize his staff. However, that move has come back bite the Sanders campaign as workers began complaining that they were making less than the proposed federal minimal wage.

Campaign manager Faiz Shakir told Newsweek that the campaign has been in talks with United Food & Commercial Workers Local 400 to secure a more acceptable pay rate but the union had refused their offer to bump up campaign salaries to $42,000 per year because…wait for it…

…it meant they would be making too much money to be eligible for full healthcare benefits.

You really can’t make this stuff up.

Shakir also told Newsweek that leadership at the campaign previously offered a pay increase for field organizers, but that the offer was rejected in a formal vote. According to the Post, Shakir offered organizer pay to be raised to $42,000 annually and extend the workweek to six days. The offer was reportedly rejected because it would have elevated staff to a pay level in which they’d be responsible to pay more of their own health care costs.

Discussions are still underway, but in the meantime Shakir says the campaign will guarantee a $15/hour by…wait for it…

…cutting the amount of hours staffers can work in a week.

“We look forward to continuing those discussions and obviously are disappointed that some individuals decided to damage the integrity of these efforts before they were concluded,” Shakir said. “As these discussions continue, we are limiting hours so no employee is receiving less than $15 for any hours worked.”

What seems amazing to this writer is that even when faced with proof that a minimum wage hurts more employees than it helps its proponents still insist on it. They would rather fewer people work fewer jobs for more money than more people work more jobs for a base salary and the opportunity to promote through the ranks.

It is the opposite of the compassion they advocate for.

But Americans should be grateful for this small microcosm of socialism in the big pond of the presidential race.