Is Bernie Sanders Correct That the Economy's Rigged?

Charles Krauthammer weighs in on fiscal policy and presidential politics on "The O'Reilly Factor."

BILL O'REILLY: In 2014, about 32 percent of Americans making less than $30,000 a year showed up to vote. Joining us now from Washington, Charles Krauthammer. So, let's deal with the economy first. Do you think it's rigged?

CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: No, because I think the word rigged implies some kind of conscious will of the part of those who control the economy to put down the poor. I do think, however, that a large percentage of what determines if you're poor or not, is a matter of the lottery, the human lottery, who your parents are. Where you're born at a simple level. If you're born in the United States, that is six out of a hundred humans, you won the lottery, you had a better chance than you were born in the Congo.

If you're born to people, to a single mother, out of wedlock, without a man in the family, with poor educational system around you, that's the lottery and you have lost it. And it's very hard. So to some extent it's true that your life chances are not entirely in your hand. And I think they are largely out of your hands. Nonetheless, there are things that you can do, politically, by changing society. Changing the culture is extremely hard, nobody has a good answer to that.

O'REILLY: But here is my, I do--I have a good answer for it.

KRAUTHAMMER: Oh, you do? Let's hear it.

O'REILLY: OK. Here's the answer. I think you're right about the lottery of life and determining economic success in most cases, but not all. I'm an example. I mean, I was born to responsible parents. We didn't have any money. And, you know, there was a pathway that I was shown. That is the key. So my theory is that public schooling has to lay out a pathway to little children. I mean, five, six, seven years old. And say look, here is where you are in life. All right? This is what you have to overcome. And this is how you do it. And that has to be drummed inculcated, boom, boom, boom. That has got to be a course along with math and spelling and English. That has got to be a course, you see what I'm talking about?

KRAUTHAMMER: No, I don't. I don't. And I'll tell you why.

O'REILLY: But I think it has to be a course.

KRAUTHAMMER: It's not a course, it's not something you teach. It's something that you get by the lottery of life. I didn't say that the lottery means you have to be, have rich folks if you want to do well in life. What I said is you have to have the human capital. Two parents, married, who inculcate the values you're talking about. That is the most important...

O'REILLY: But if you can overcome that...

KRAUTHAMMER: With a course--come on, are you kidding me?