Bernie Sanders Sayings

It is incomprehensible that drug companies still get away with charging Americans twice as much, or more, than citizens of Canada or Europe for the exact same drugs manufactured by the exact same companies. Bernie Sanders

Bernie Sanders really needs your support now because there's hope

Bernie Sanders took a hit in South Carolina with Hillary Clinton gleaning just over 73% of the vote to Bernie's 26%. But with significant qualification. 61 percent of voters in So, Carolina's primary identified as black, with only about 35 percent saying they were white; Almost 47% of So.Carolina's white population is older, a group which identifies with Clinton. And although Bernie captured the younger vote, even with blacks, the numbers just weren't there.

No excuses...we had all hoped and somewhat expected better for Sanders but it just didn't happen. So where do we go from here? Naysayers like Nate Silver's 538 are saying that So. Carolina is the beginning of the end for the Bern but he's never given him a chance from the beginning and look where the candidate has come from there. The delegate momentum in heavily on Hillary's side 544 to 85, most of which are super delegates.

If you count just pledged delegates, It's Sanders 65, Clinton 91, a reasonable margin considering the odds against Bernie. But let me explain the agenda behind super delegates that could be trouble for the Bern in the long haul. They can support whomever they want to and it is expected a number of them will simply follow party lines. Unless some of them switch their support before the convention, and they can because the commitment is not binding.

So it is yet again too early for the naysayers, as it has been now several times. In the last RealClearPolitics combined national polls for Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, it was Bernie 42.2%, Hillary 47.2%, a gap of only 5%. And this included the Fox conservative poll. The Bern has shocked the media enough times already that they should have learned by now. But like the Fiddler on the Roof, it's "tradition." Tomorrow, what's ahead.

African-Americans should think twice before voting for Hillary Clinton-2

Bernie Sanders involved in civil rights in early years

In Michelle Alexander's The Nation article she said, They {the Clintons didn't take extreme political risks defending blacks, didn't fight right-wing demagoguery about the black communities, did not give black communities the hope they needed after industrialization devastation of their neighborhoods. In fact, the writer claims, they did just the opposite. And then I proceeded to separate Hillary from Bill's deeds...sort of.

But the connection continues. "...Clinton declared that 'the era of big government is over' and immediately sought to prove it by dismantling the federal welfare system known as Aid to Families With Dependent Children (AFDC). Hillary Clinton supported this move and continued to call it a success as recently as 2008. Clinton said in one of the Democratic debates, “The economy does better when you have a Democrat in the White House.”

The above was said in reference to her husband’s record of lifting wages and creating jobs, both of which are in question when it comes to black communities. But for years these two have have been adored by African-Americans as if all during this time no one else has championed civil rights for blacks. Bernie Sanders has been working quietly all during this period and, of course, he is Hillary Clinton's opponent for the Democratic nomination.

Here are the Bern's accomplishments: In 1962 as a student at the University of Chicago, he was arrested for desegregation; He participated in the March on Washington;  Achieved high ratings from leading Civil Rights Organizations; Endorsed Jesse Jackson the first competitive black candidate for the Democratic nomination for the presidency; Strongly condemned police violence over the past year. There's much more and you can see it in the above link.

The point here is that Bernie Sanders doesn't just talk the talk, but he goes into the street to back up his words. That's why he deserves the nomination over Hillary Clinton.

Bernie Sanders Sayings

A growing number of communities do not trust the police. Law enforcement officers have become disconnected from the communities they are sworn to protect. Violence and brutality of any kind, particularly at the hands of the police meant to protect and serve our communities, is unacceptable and must not be tolerated. We need a societal transformation to make it clear that black lives matter and racism will not be accepted in a civilized country.

African-Americans should think twice before voting for Hillary Clinton

Rosa Parks famous bus ride

In The Nation, Michelle Alexander, an African American journalist, writes: "The Clinton's legacy has been the impoverishment of black America--so why are we still voting for them?" The article comes at a time when Hillary is using black Americans as her "firewall" again opponent Bernie Sanders, who also is proud of his civil rights background. And the South Carolina Primary February 27, will be the first battleground to test the mettle of both candidates before blacks.

"What have the Clintons done to earn such devotion?, Alexander asks. Her answer...Not take extreme political risks defending blacks, not fight right-wing demagoguery about the black communities, not give black communities the hope they needed after industrialization devastation of their neighborhoods. In fact, the writer claims, they did just the opposite. It is true Clinton should not be held accountable for what her husband's administration did. Or should she be?

Hillary Clinton supported Bill Clinton's 1994 crime bill using, "...racially coded rhetoric to cast black children as animals. 'They are not just gangs of kids anymore,' she said. 'They are often the kinds of kids that are called ‘super-predators.’ No conscience, no empathy. We can talk about why they ended up that way, but first we have to bring them to heel.'” This kind of discourse is a far cry from what she is saying in South Carolina today.

And while on the recent campaign trail, "...she continues to invoke the economy and country that Bill Clinton left behind as a legacy she would continue."

Alexander goes on, "When Clinton left office in 2001, the true jobless rate for young, non-college-educated black men (including those behind bars) was 42 percent. This figure was never reported. Instead, the media claimed that unemployment rates for African Americans had fallen to record lows, neglecting to mention that this miracle was possible only because incarceration rates were now at record highs." Likely because of the 1994 crime bill Hillary supported.

More on this tomorrow, including Bernie Sanders record on civil rights.

Bernie Sanders Sayings

The cost of college education today is so high that many young people are giving up their dream of going to college, while many others are graduating deeply in debt.
 

How Bernie Sanders will pay for his programs

I have read several instances of where people have questioned how Bernie Sanders will pay for the free programs he is proposing, like college tuition, universal healthcare, expansion of Social Security and more. You can see a full explanation of all issues by the candidate here but let me cover the above three in this post. For those of you who follow the Bern, you probably know that his aspirations are quite lofty, but that he believes sincerely in his ability to reach for and attain these goals. And in each case he has a specific solution to fund each program.

What the general public has to understand--something Bernie's supporters already know--is that these reforms have been so long coming that the momentum of needed change is now on their side. The time has come to rid this country of the corporate and wealth control that has been building for so many years now. The people need America delivered back to them and this is exactly what Bernie Sanders plans to do. There will be a fight and ideologues like Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan, plus the bulk of the conservative right, will have to be dealt with. We can only hope the people will win.

First, free college tuition for all will cost around $75 billion a year. It will be paid for by imposing a tax on Wall Street speculators that would generate about $300 billion in revenue. See the link here for detailed information.

Second, healthcare coverage for every American, paid for by a 6.2 percent income-based health care premium paid by employers, a 2.2 percent income-based premium paid by households, progressive income tax rates, taxing capital gains and dividends the same as income from work, limiting tax deductions for the rich, adjusting the estate tax, and savings from health tax expenditures.

Three, the expansion of Social Security Paid for by lifting the tax on taxable income over $250,000 so that the wealthy pay the same percentage of their income into Social Security as working people. More information here.

A Bernie Sanders presidency will give us the chance to catch up with other Social Democracies around the world that already offer these programs to their people. But it is up to the people of the U.S. to make this happen.

NOTE: I do plan to repost this randomly.

Bernie Sanders Sayings

Do the elected officials in Washington stand with ordinary Americans - working families, children, the elderly, the poor - or will the extraordinary power of billionaire campaign contributors and Big Money prevail? The American people, by the millions, must send Congress the answer to that question.

Mitch McConnell is Senate token asshole

Mitch McConnell the village idiot at work

It takes the language of a sailor--used to be one--to describe this numbnuts who has opposed everything Barack Obama has done from the first day he took office. Most likely Mitch McConnell is a racist, but it is confirmed that he hates the President and makes me ashamed that Kentucky is my birth state. It is beyond me how McConnell was ever elected to Congress, then became Senate head? This jerk is the epitome of what is wrong with the GOP Congress, actually the Republican Party in general.

Apparently there is nothing we can do to get rid of him now, but it should prove to Republican voters what is wrong with their side of the aisle, and to Progressives that we need to get to the polls in November to vote conservatives like him out of office. But I can't imagine those on the right coming to their senses when 35% of them support Donald Trump, with Ted Cruz even in the double digits. This country is fucked up and will only survive under a Progressive President like Bernie Sanders, with much of the unrest pointing certain segments of the population in his direction.

The naysayers are already condemning the Bern for his Nevada loss. Clinton should have won that state with a unanimous vote but she didn't and Sanders walked away with 15 delegates to her 19. Do you remember that Bernie was once behind by 40 points in Nevada? And by the way, here's where Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders stand in the pledged delegates that will choose the Democratic nominee...they are tied at 51 delegates apiece. But Sanders still needs more money to fight off Clinton's Super Pacs and you can contribute here.


 

Bernie Sanders Sayings

What the American people want to see in their president is somebody who not necessarily can win every fight, but they want to see him stand up and fight for what he believes, take his case to the American people.

Bernie Sanders holds his own in delegates

Wasn't able to post again on Saturday due to a glitch on Blogger, but Bernie Sanders did come in second with 47.4% of the vote to Hillary Clinton's 52.5%. Not significant and certainly not what Clinton expected with her experience in 2008 from this state. And she was outdone by Sanders on the Latino vote with Bernie getting 53% while winning 68% to 28% of the younger voters. Nate Silver's FiveThirtyEight noted that most of Nevada voters are "mostly old.

But at the outset Bernie Sanders won 15 Nevada delegates to Hillary Clinton's 19. Overall, Sanders has 52 delegates, Clinton 67 and with this close a race, and the fact that we have only gotten started in primaries and caucuses, I'd say Bernie is sitting pretty good.

Clinton Nevada Hispanic lead over Sanders cut to 3 points

The Latino vote in Nevada will be very important today and Bernie Sanders has improved his standing in just one week from behind 11 points to just 3 on Feb. 14. Overall Bernie is within 2.4 points. Of course we are in the moment, Nevada, that is, but Clinton's steady decline and Sanders durable increases bode well for the rest of the country. A win in Nevada should carry positive momentum into the So. Carolina primary.

More later on the Nevada race.

Bernie Sanders Sayings

Establishing a 0.03 percent Wall Street speculation fee, similar to what we had from 1914-1966, would dampen the dangerous level of speculation and gambling on Wall Street, encourage the financial sector to invest in the productive economy and reduce the deficit by more than $350 billion over 10 years.

Bernie Sanders surges again in national polls

Bernie Sanders jumped 14 points in national pools against Hillary Clinton in just one month. On January 16, it was 59 to 34, Hillary by 25 points. By February 16, this had changed to 53 to 42, Hillary still ahead but by only 11 points, while in the process Clinton lost six points with Bernie gaining 8. Sanders still has a problem with minorities but holds strong on white men, Independents and voters under age 50.

Clinton concerns voters with her ties with Wall Street and for Sanders it is his foreign policy experience. The key factor here is the 14 point advance for Bernie in just 30 days, and these increases have been consistent. With this kind of escalation, and on a regular basis, Bernie could be running very close to his opponent by March's Super Tuesday. But I believe the key states for Sanders will be Michigan, Illinois, Pennsylvania and California.

Bernie Sanders Sayings

Let us wage a moral and political war against the billionaires and corporate leaders, on Wall Street and elsewhere, whose policies and greed are destroying the middle class of America.

Corporate CEOs demanding better education laughable

It was an Arizona newspaper headline that said it, "CEOs see schools as a key weakness," but unique as this state is in its stand alone nature, particularly with guns everywhere, I think the issue might apply nationwide. Corporations want our schools to train the people they will eventually hire, but they don't want to spend one penny to support this education. I don't mean with direct donations to the schools; I am talking about them simply not paying their federal taxes.

Here is a chart of corporations that do not pay any taxes broken down by the S&P companies and Fortune 500 companies. Included are corporations like Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. Americans for Tax Fairness says, " Tax avoidance through offshore tax loopholes is a significant reason why corporations, which paid one-third of federal revenues 60 years ago, now pay one-tenth of federal revenues.

This is one of Bernie Sanders major talking points, to make these companies pay their fair share of taxes again. Bernie has his own list of "Top Ten Corporate Tax Avoiders." It includes: General Electric; Verizon; Bank of America; Pfizer Pharmaceuticals and FedEx. In a way, it is un-American not to pay these taxes when it deprives children of an education, in some cases the only meal they may have all day.

LATEST: Bernie sanders within one point of Clinton in Nevada Caucus

Bernie Sanders has literally destroyed Hillary Clinton's lock on the non-white vote by pulling to within one point of his opponent; Sanders 47%, Clinton 48%. This just three days before Nevada caucuses on Saturday. The new figures were apparently a shock to the Clinton campaign, and yet another sign that Bernie Sanders has grown to the candidate for all the people of the U.S. We're not only talking African-American but the large number of Latinos working in the casinos.

The Bern nas gained 13 points on Clinton since the last poll in October of 2015, a phenomenal jump when considering the odds he is up against. But Nevada isn't really as diverse as many think and less than some of the future primaries, coming in at 15% of caucus-goers, Latino, 15%, African-American, and 3% Asian-American. 65% were white. Nevertheless it is a good test for Bernie Sanders and one that he both relishes and plans to excel in.

Bernie Sanders Sayings

For many, the American dream has become a nightmare.

Under the Republicans...government doesn't work

This is something a Bernie Sanders Presidency will correct and take to new heights.

Bernie Sanders Sayings

If our school curricula took the rights and duties of citizens as seriously as they do varsity football, home economics, and even study hall, young people would be far more likely to participate in the democratic process, and be better informed.