Bernie Sanders on "Why I Am Running"
Following is why Bernie Sanders is running and why I am voting for him. Please join me and around 200 people interested in hearing a streaming video of Bernie at the Sebastopol Grange, this Wed., 6-9. Come early, bring some snacks or drinks (non-alcoholic), meet some of your friends and be part of an historic campaign that is sweeping the nation. I will bring NY Times articles to document the inspiring energy that Bernie is bringing.
The video will also be shown at half a dozen other places on July 29 in Sebastopol, Santa Rosa, Rohnert Park, and elsewhere. Click on the link to the video below to hear and see Bernie in action.
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Shepherd -
As I travel across the country, I am constantly struck by the level of enthusiasm and engagement there is for the political process. Everywhere I go, from Portland, Maine to Phoenix, Arizona, Americans are ready to discuss the critical issues facing our country. And this Wednesday night, July 29th, over 70,000 individuals have signed up to attend organizing meetings in their communities.
It is clear to me that people are taking this primary very seriously, and as an early supporter of our campaign, you have a unique role to play in our success going forward.
In that light, I wanted to make sure that you saw our new five minute video about the issues driving our campaign.
Watch the video and make a $3 contribution to help us continue to build an organization capable of challenging the billionaire class in this campaign, and after I'm elected president.
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In the meantime, let me be very blunt and tell you why I am running.
This country faces more serious problems today than at any time in modern history, and establishment politics will not successfully resolve them.
Corporate greed is rampant, and the very rich keep growing richer while everyone else grows poorer. Despite an explosion in technology and a huge increase in productivity, the middle class continues to disappear, most Americans work longer hours for lower wages, and 45 million live in poverty.
The skyrocketing level of income and wealth inequality is not only grotesque and immoral, it is economically unsustainable. It is unconscionable that 99% of all new income goes to the top 1%. It is absurd that the top one-tenth of 1% own almost as much wealth as the bottom 90%, and that one family (the Waltons of Walmart) has more wealth than the bottom 130 million Americans.
As a result of the disastrous Supreme Court ruling on Citizens United, the billionaire class is spending huge amounts of money to buy candidates and elections. We are now witnessing the undermining of American democracy and the rapid movement toward oligarchy where a handful of very wealthy families and their Super PACs will control our government.
The scientific community is virtually unanimous in telling us that climate change is real, is caused by human activity, and is already bringing catastrophic damage to our planet. Yet, the Republican Party is prepared to reject science in order to gain campaign contributions from the Koch brothers, Big Energy companies and others who make billions on fossil fuels. If we do not act boldly on climate change, the planet we leave to our grandchildren may be uninhabitable.
The United States once led the world in terms of the percentage of our young people who had college degrees. Today, in a highly competitive global economy, we are now in 12th place. Hundreds of thousands of bright young people have given up on the dream of higher education, while millions of others leave school with oppressive debt.
Our infrastructure -- roads, bridges, rail, airports, water systems, wastewater plants, levees, dams -- is crumbling, and Congress refuses to appropriate anywhere near the necessary funds to rebuild it. If we do not invest substantially in infrastructure, a bad situation will only become much worse.
Despite substantial gains, we still have a long way to go to achieve equality for minorities. Instead of investing in opportunities, we are locking people up at an incredible rate. We now have the highest incarceration rate in the entire world with over 2 million in prison and millions more on probation or parole. We have a broken immigration system that divides families and keeps millions of hard-working people in the shadows.
Most of the major Wall Street financial institutions that we bailed out because they were "too big to fail," are now bigger than they used to be. The six largest financial institutions now have assets equivalent to nearly 60% of our GDP, issue 35% of the mortgages, and oversee 65% of credit cards.
Our tax system is wildly unfair - rigged to benefit the very rich. Major corporations that earn billions in profits stash their money in tax havens and pay nothing in federal income taxes, while billionaire hedge fund managers pay a lower effective tax rate than nurses or teachers.
Despite growing poverty among seniors, almost all Republicans, and some Democrats, want to cut Social Security and benefits for disabled veterans. They want more austerity for the elderly, the children, the sick and the poor, and more tax breaks for the rich.
The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have cost us thousands of lives and trillions of dollars. The United States spends more on the military than the next nine biggest-spending countries combined. Today, there are massive cost over-runs with defense contractors and the Pentagon cannot even pass an independent audit.
We are at a moment of truth. We need to face up to the reality of where we are as a nation, and we need a mass movement of people to change that reality.
Let's be clear. This campaign is not about Bernie Sanders. It's about a grassroots movement of Americans standing up and saying: "Enough is enough. This country and our government belong to all of us, not just a handful of billionaires."
I have discussed some of the major crises that we face. Let me give you the outline of an agenda which addresses these problems.
Jobs, Jobs, Jobs: The truth is that real unemployment in our country is not the "official" and widely-reported 5.4 percent. Counting those who are underemployed and those who have given up looking for work, real unemployment is almost 11 percent. Even more disturbingly, real unemployment for white and Hispanic youth is over 30 percent, while African-American youth unemployment is over 50 percent.
We need a major federal jobs program. The most effective way to do that is to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure. To do that, I have introduced legislation which would invest $1 trillion over 5 years to modernize our country's physical infrastructure. This would create and maintain at least 13 million good-paying jobs. It would also make our country more productive, efficient and safe.
As a member of Congress who voted against NAFTA, CAFTA, Permanent Normal Trade Relations with China (PNTR) and is helping to lead the opposition against the TPP, I will continue my opposition to trade policies which have cost us millions of decent paying jobs as corporate America shuts down plants here and moves them to low-wage countries.
Raising Wages: Today, millions of Americans are working for starvation wages and median family income has declined by almost $5,000 since 1999. The current federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour is totally inadequate. We need to raise the minimum wage to a living wage - $15 an hour over the next few years. Our goal must be that no full-time worker in this country lives in poverty. We must also bring about pay equity for women. There is no rational reason why women should be earning 78 cents on the dollar compared to men who perform the same work.
Further, we need to implement "family values" for American working families. It is unacceptable that the United States is the only major country on earth that does not guarantee family and medical leave, sick time and paid vacations.
Wealth and Income Inequality: Today, the richest 400 Americans own over $2.2 trillion in wealth, more than the bottom 150 million Americans combined. Meanwhile, nearly half of all Americans have less than $10,000 in savings and have no idea how they will be able to retire with dignity.
In order to reverse the massive transfer of wealth and income from the middle class to the very rich that we have seen in recent years, we need real tax reform which makes the wealthy and profitable corporations begin to pay their fair share of taxes. It is fiscally irresponsible that the U.S. Treasury loses about $100 billion a year because corporations and the rich stash their profits in the Cayman Islands, Bermuda and other tax havens.
We need a tax system which is fair and progressive. Children should not go hungry in this country while profitable corporations and the wealthy avoid their tax responsibilities.
Reforming Wall Street: I have introduced legislation which would break up the largest financial institutions in the country. In my view, if a bank is too big to fail, it is too big to exist. Wall Street cannot continue to be an island unto itself investing trillions in risky financial instruments. We need banks that invest in the job-creating productive economy. We do not need more speculation and gambling in casino-type activities.
Campaign Finance Reform: We need to return to a one-person, one-vote democracy. It is not acceptable that the Koch brothers and other billionaires are spending endless sums of money to buy elections. I have introduced legislation which would overturn the horrendous Citizens United decision and will only appoint Supreme Court justices who are prepared to do that. We must also demand disclosure of all large campaign contributions. Long term, we need to move to public funding of elections.
Fighting Climate Change: The United States must lead the world in reversing climate change and make certain that this planet is habitable for our children and grandchildren. We must transform our energy system away from fossil fuels and into energy efficiency and sustainable energies. Millions of homes and buildings need to be weatherized, our transportation system needs to be energy efficient and we need to greatly accelerate the progress we are already seeing in wind, solar, geothermal and other forms of sustainable energy. Transforming our energy system will not only protect the environment, it will create good-paying jobs.
Health Care for All: The United States remains the only major country on earth that does not guarantee health care for all as a right. Despite the modest gains of the Affordable Care Act, 35 million Americans continue to lack health insurance and many more are under-insured. Yet, we continue paying far more per capita for health care than any other nation. The United States must move toward a Medicare-for-All single-payer system.
Protecting Our Most Vulnerable: Today, the United States has more people living in poverty than at almost any time in the modern history of our country. We have the highest rate of childhood poverty of any major nation, and millions of seniors and people with disabilities struggle to put food on the table because of insufficient Social Security benefits.
In my view, we have a moral responsibility to make certain that no American goes hungry or sleeps on the street. We must also make certain that seniors and people with disabilities can live in dignity. Not only must we vigorously oppose Republican attacks on the social safety net, we must expand benefits for those most in need. That is why I have recently introduced legislation which would extend the solvency of Social Security until 2065, while increasing benefits for those most in need.
Expanding Opportunity and Equality: We need to stop using prisons as a response to poverty. Our criminal justice system needs to be reformed so that we do not continue to house non-violent offenders at huge expense when that money could be used to rebuild communities and create opportunity. We need federal leadership to reform policing in America, to end racial profiling, and to fight the illegal activities of hate groups. We need comprehensive immigration reform that protects families and leads to a responsible and realistic path to citizenship.
Dismantling Structural Racism: Throughout much of our history, the elite in America has divided people along racial lines in an effort to consolidate wealth and power. We need to simultaneously address the structural and institutional racism which exists in this country while at the same time vigorously attacking the grotesque level of income and wealth inequality which is making the very rich much richer, and everyone else - especially the African-American community - much poorer. Meanwhile, too many people of color in this country find themselves subjected to a system that treats citizens who have not committed crimes like criminals. We have more people locked up in jail than any other country on earth. We need to invest in jobs and education, not jails and incarceration. Finally, no person should have to worry that a routine interaction with law enforcement will end in violence and death. Black lives matter: we must reform our criminal justice system, move away from the militarization of police forces, and invest in community policing.
College for All: The United States must join Germany and many other countries in understanding that investing in our young people's education is investing in the future of our nation. I have introduced legislation to make tuition in public colleges and universities free, as well as substantially lowering interest rates on student loans.
War and Peace: I voted against the war in Iraq, and that was the right vote. We must be vigorous in combatting terrorism, but we can't do it alone. We must be part of an international coalition that includes Muslim nations which not only defeats ISIS but which works hard to create conditions for lasting peace. I will vigorously oppose an endless war in the Middle East.
My approach to campaigning is pretty simple and straight-forward. We hold a lot of public meetings in towns that are big and small. People ask questions and make comments. We discuss the important issues facing our country. And that's it. Nothing very fancy. It's called democracy and I like that approach very much. It's something I've done my whole political life.
I hope very much that you will join me at one of our meetings. I hope that you will become part of our campaign team. And I hope that you will watch our video and make a contribution to our campaign:
https://go.berniesanders.com/sneak-peek
Let us never forget: This country belongs to all of us, not just a handful of billionaires.
Sincerely,
Senator Bernie Sanders
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Paid for by Bernie 2016
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1 Attachment(s)
Re: Bernie Sanders on "Why I Am Running"
Quote:
Posted in reply to the post by Shepherd:
Following is why Bernie Sanders is running and why I am voting for him. Please join me and around 200 people interested in hearing a streaming video of Bernie at the Sebastopol Grange, this Wed., 6-9.........
.....Let us never forget: This country belongs to all of us, not just a handful of billionaires.
Sincerely,
Senator Bernie Sanders
https://go.berniesanders.com/page/o/...84170/open.gif
But the billionaires own the electronic voting machines.
Diebold is now Premier Voting Solutions and was indicted for the umpteenth time as recently as 2013 paying $50 million instead of contesting. Their documented instances of vote manipulation, fraud, bribery, changing software at the last minute, and more are only the criminal acts they were caught at. Of course there's much more.
Unless that changes, Hillary is our next worst president ever. She was long ago pre-selected and groomed to be the next corporate figurehead and all activism and hope is a waste of time in what is just theater. Campaigning is just a vehicle for 1.5 yrs of intense, controlled media propaganda and maybe a couple drops of heightened awareness of issues, but it's theater.... and now also massive data collection. No, previous activism didn't 'help' Obama, he was already the groomee in waiting. There has not been a real election since Kennedy.
Activism time would be much better spent FIRST getting rid of electronic voting machines.
Re: Bernie Sanders on "Why I Am Running"
This Wed. there will be over 3,146 events with more than 75,000 RSVPs around the country to hear Bernie Sanders speak. If you plan to come to the one at the Sebastopol Grange that starts at 6 p.m., please come early, as we will probably need to send people away. Be sure to RSVP. Under Wacco's events section I have listed the other 6 places in Sonoma County where this historic national gathering will occur.
Re: Bernie Sanders on "Why I Am Running"
I think you are being misled (again).
July 27, 2015
Bernie Sanders: Savior or Seducer of the Anti-War Left?
by Howard Lisnoff
Ashley Smith’s “A Socialist in the Senate? The Unfortunate Truth about Bernie Sanders,” (November 15, 2006) tells the tale of how the political Left gets thrown under the relentless wheels of the military-industrial complex by supporting candidates who do not consistently serve the interests of peace. The decimation of the forces for peace is predictable as they are sacrificed and offered up to the gods of electoral politics. The marginalization in each electoral cycle of the Left is a testament to how relentless the political/economic system is in guaranteeing its outcomes vis-ŕ-vis war and peace.
A few years ago an email communication from Senator Elizabeth Warren, a steadfast supporter of an economic egalitarianism and regulation of the forces that control capital, left me with the same sense of how business as usual about U.S. war making has all but captured and controlled dissident voices. Only those on the fringes (not the fringe of significant and importance) of the political process are left to stand and are effectively marginalized and silenced. In the email the senator expressed her steadfast support of the war on terrorism.
While vigilance is an intelligent policy, the paths leading to the so-called war on terror are littered with counterproductive foreign and military policies. It is impossible to deny, in just one example, that U.S. support of religious fundamentalists in the 1980s in Afghanistan led in a direct line to the attacks of September 2001. As a result, we have witnessed over 13 years of endless wars. Mario Puzo’s admonition to “Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer,” needed to be recognized in U.S. foreign policy.
Sanders’ socialist beliefs and actions evolved into almost complete support of the Democratic Party after leaving the stage of Vermont politics and entering the national arena. Smith points out that Sanders voted with Democrats more consistently than many other Democrats: Ninety-eight percent of the time at the writing of Smith’s article. Sanders’ support for Democrats soon was reflected in their financing of his campaigns.
And here is where Sanders greatest equivocation has come. In spite of claims of being antiwar, his “hawkish” support of Clinton’s military actions in the 1999 Kosovo War caused one of his advisers to quit. When antiwar activists occupied Sanders’ office in 1999 because of that support of Clinton’s war policies, he had them arrested.
In 2001, Sanders did not support the vote in Congress to oppose the war in Afghanistan. Congresswoman Barbara Lee stood alone! This vote was followed by his support for appropriations to support both the war in Afghanistan and Iraq. In 2003 he supported the resolution that gave support to George W. Bush in both Iraq and in the larger war against terrorism, although Sanders has been a critic of the Iraq War.
Then Sanders supported only a gradual withdrawal from Iraq. When impeachment was on the so-called table against George W. Bush in 2006, he said that impeachment was “impractical.”
Sanders, like his Democratic allies, has supported Israel’s aggressive Middle East policies against Palestinian statehood. He supported HR 282, the Iran Freedom Support Act, which was similar to the resolutions leading to the Iraq War. Indeed, it appears that Sanders is even to the political Right of many liberal Democrats!
An article in the Huffington Post, “President Bernie Sanders Will Save America From Endless Counterinsurgency Wars and Protect Our Nation’s Veterans,” (July 7, 2015) is laudable for its recognition of Sanders’ support of military veterans, but is way off of the mark as far as what Sanders might accomplish against the thoroughly militarized foreign policies of the government. Presidential candidates of the past such as Ralph Nader, Jill Stein, and George McGovern have strongly and bravely criticized the militarized policies of the government and were left in the political dust.
My Facebook pages are loaded with posts on a daily basis lauding Bernie Sanders as the savior of the Left, yet some of his actions in Vermont, and in both the House and Senate, are at odds with the Left/populist image that he attempts to put forward. Whether or not Sanders has a chance of winning the Democratic nomination for president is debatable, but readers ought not to count on him to push back on the militarism and military actions that have become routine under both Democrats and Republicans who occupy the presidency. Even President Eisenhower, who warned of the dangers of the military-industrial complex, went along with the expansion of that juggernaut. And the beat goes on, as does the march of empire and greed, and the wars continue.
Howard Lisnoff is a freelance writer.
Re: Bernie Sanders on "Why I Am Running"
I don't consider Bernie to be "the savior of the left," as you describe the romantic notion of some people. He is clearly better than Hillary the Hawk, or any of the Republicans. If Sen. Elizabeth Warren eventually decides to run, that would be an asset.
I voted for Green Party candidate Jill Stein in the last election. If neither Bernie or Sen. Warren are on the Democratic Party ticket, that is what I would do, unless there was a chance that a Republican would carry California.
What I like about what Bernie is doing now is that he is animating people to get involved in politics from a grassroots level. So I consider this to be a teaching moment of open dialogue about how to proceed, as the Empire continues to fall.
Having lived in Chile during the Allende government and having experienced the fascists take over in a country that was historically democratic, I am not naive. The future is unpredictable, though I suspect that things will get much worse here as the U.S. continues its ballistic practices of war-making and economic tyranny. A spell seems to have been cast on the American people. It's time to wake up.
Quote:
Posted in reply to the post by handy:
Re: Bernie Sanders on "Why I Am Running"
Letter to the Press Democrat, Friday 7/31:
Bernie Sanders’ platform
EDITOR: Voters need to be informed in order to make an intelligent decision in the upcoming presidential primary election. The Press Democrat is giving plenty of coverage to many presidential hopefuls: Rick Perry and Hillary Clinton are mentioned in Monday’s paper, and Sunday’s contained articles about Clinton, Ted Cruz and Jeb Bush. One candidate who’s being overlooked is Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Sanders is the only candidate whose views parallel those of many progressive Americans. His platform has been consistent throughout his decades-long political career:
Universal health care as a right of citizenship.
Affordable higher education and job training.
Eliminate tax loopholes for corporations and the super-rich.
Move manufacturing jobs back to the U.S. from overseas.
Create new jobs while repairing the country’s crumbling infrastructure.
Expand renewable energy and reduce dependence on fossil fuels.
Raise the minimum wage to a living wage.
Equal pay for equal work.
It’s time for the U.S. to catch up with the rest of the civilized world in terms of health care, equality and quality of life in general. Voters deserve to know about the one candidate who has a plan to accomplish this.
CHARLOTTE TRESSLER
Santa Rosa
Quote:
Posted in reply to the post by Shepherd:
I don't consider Bernie to be "the savior of the left," as you describe the romantic notion of some people. He is clearly better than Hillary the Hawk, or any of the Republicans. If Sen. Elizabeth Warren eventually decides to run, that would be an asset.
I voted for Green Party candidate Jill Stein in the last election. If neither Bernie or Sen. Warren are on the Democratic Party ticket, that is what I would do, unless there was a chance that a Republican would carry California.
What I like about what Bernie is doing now is that he is animating people to get involved in politics from a grassroots level. So I consider this to be a teaching moment of open dialogue about how to proceed, as the Empire continues to fall.
Having lived in Chile during the Allende government and having experienced the fascists take over in a country that was historically democratic, I am not naive. The future is unpredictable, though I suspect that things will get much worse here as the U.S. continues its ballistic practices of war-making and economic tyranny. A spell seems to have been cast on the American people. It's time to wake up.
Re: Bernie Sanders on "Why I Am Running"
I'm afraid to accept the truth you speak, which my broken heart knows is real.
Quote:
Posted in reply to the post by Alex:
But the billionaires own the electronic voting machines.
Diebold is now Premier Voting Solutions and was indicted for the umpteenth time as recently as 2013 paying $50 million instead of contesting. Their documented instances of vote manipulation, fraud, bribery, changing software at the last minute, and more are only the criminal acts they were caught at. Of course there's much more.
Unless that changes, Hillary is our next worst president ever. She was long ago pre-selected and groomed to be the next corporate figurehead and all activism and hope is a waste of time in what is just theater. Campaigning is just a vehicle for 1.5 yrs of intense, controlled media propaganda and maybe a couple drops of heightened awareness of issues, but it's theater.... and now also massive data collection. No, previous activism didn't 'help' Obama, he was already the groomee in waiting. There has not been a real election since Kennedy.
Activism time would be much better spent FIRST getting rid of electronic voting machines.
