Director, Commonwealth Policy Center

The 2020 presidential election is still two years away and 10 Democrats have already announced they're going to run. Another 13 are considering running for the highest office in the land and candidates in the packed field are trying to distinguish themselves from their opponents. Several are running to the socialist left by embracing the Green New Deal, free healthcare and college for all. Such political positioning is to be expected, but it's ironic that Democrats are moving further to the left when Venezuela has been in the news so much. Once it was a prosperous nation with democratic ideals but its economy has collapsed. It has food shortages and no longer has a health care system. Socialist policies may make for good campaign speeches, but such plans are awfully hard to live under.