Bernie Sanders: "I will not make that mistake."

[MelissaB]

Melissa-

One of the biggest mistakes President Obama made once he was in office was, after mobilizing millions of Americans during his brilliant 2008 campaign, to basically tell those supporters, 'Thank you, I’m going to sit down with John Boehner and Mitch McConnell and take it from here.’

I will not make that mistake.

What we’re building together as part of this campaign is not just about electing a president. No one person, not me or the best president you could imagine, can make the changes we need by him or herself.

What's necessary to make change happen is a mobilized grassroots movement. That’s especially true when a few wealthy billionaires and corporations have their sights set on buying our elections.

If we’re going to accomplish what we want for this country, it won’t happen by negotiating with Mitch McConnell — it will only happen when millions of Americans get out and make their voices heard.

We have a chance to do that today.

Last week, the House of Representatives stopped a bad trade deal that would have continued the approach that forces American workers to compete against workers in nations that have near non-existent minimum wages, where independent labor unions are banned, and where people are thrown in jail for expressing their political beliefs.

But make no mistake, Wall Street, corporate America and their representatives in Congress will try again to pass this bad trade deal … as soon as tomorrow.

This is our chance to make our voices heard. Click here to enter your information and be automatically connected to your member of Congress. Urge your member of Congress to hold fast and vote against any legislation that would allow the president to “fast track” the disastrous Trans-Pacific Partnership.

The TPP follows in the footsteps of other unfettered free trade agreements like NAFTA and CAFTA that have been supported by corporate America and that cost America millions of decent-paying jobs.

Since 2001, nearly 60,000 manufacturing plants in this country have been shut down, and we have lost almost 5 million decent-paid manufacturing jobs. NAFTA alone led to the loss of almost three-quarters of a million jobs — the Permanent Normalized Trade Agreement with China cost America four times that number: almost 3 million jobs. These agreements are not the only reason why manufacturing in the United States has declined, but they are important factors.

The TPP would also give multinational corporations the ability to challenge laws passed in the United States that could negatively impact their “expected future profits.” Take, for example, Phillip Morris, a company using this process to sue Australia and Uruguay for passing legislation designed to prevent children in those countries from smoking. Or a French waste management firm suing Egypt for over $100 million for increasing the minimum wage and improving labor laws.

Virtually every major union and environmental organization in the United States is against the deal that Congress could vote on again tomorrow. Major religious groups are as well because they know what it could mean for some of the poorest people on the planet.

Click here to be automatically connected to your member of Congress and urge her or him to vote against legislation that would enable the implementation of the TPP.

Not a lot of presidential candidates would use their campaigns to influence legislation being considered in Congress. Some candidates haven’t even expressed an opinion on this critical issue, which, frankly, I don’t really understand.

But as I’ve said before, this campaign is not about Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, or Jeb Bush -- it’s about the needs of the American people.

And we need a new approach to trade in this country — one that benefits working families and not just the CEOs of multinational corporations.

Make your voice heard,

Bernie Sanders

[democrank]

1. President Obama`s mistake, which Bernie so clearly described

explains so, so much.

[rhett o rick]

25. It was only a mistake from the eyes of progressives. It was carefully orchestrated

and very effective for the conservative wing of our party. The big mistake was for progressive to believe him as a candidate. Not that we had choices.

[Enthusiast]

36. Correct....

[SamKnause]

2. Hear hear !!!!!!!!

[cui bono]

3. Obama either squandered the people's energy and will or he turned his back on it.

Neither one makes him look good.

[Doctor_J]

11. Or the campaign was a giant lie

That's my view

[rhett o rick]

26. I think it's obvious it was a giant lie. He made no bones about it. He couldn't wait to tell

the conservatives that he was pretending to be progressive but he was really one of them.

[Scuba]

35. Rahm's opinion of progressive ideals echoed what his boss was obviously thinking.

[rhett o rick]

42. The tactic was smart. Pretend to be progressive to separate from HRC but once elected

dump the progressives and woo the conservatives. Almost all his appointments were conservatives.

[Enthusiast]

37. Super sized.

[raindaddy]

15. Or the third option ....he never had their backs.

[nomorenomore08]

29. He made promises he couldn't/wouldn't keep, just like nearly every candidate.

That said, I was considerably less enthusiastic voting for him the second time around.

[SoapBox]

4. My gawd, this man speaks directly to my heart!

We won't get fooled again, with Bernie.

[bvar22]

5. Thank You, Bernie.

[font color=white]......[/font][font size=3]Obama's Army for “CHANGE”, Jan. 21, 2009[/font]

[font color=white].....................[/font][font size=3]"Oh, What could have been."[/font]


An Army left standing in the field without leadership will dissolve,
which I believe was the pre-planned outcome for the Obama Administration.
Instead of "Follow Me", OBama's Army was told to "Chill Out".


How sad is that?
He coulda been a contender.

[haikugal]

7. ^^^^^THIS^^^^^+1 million!!!

[JDPriestly]

8. So true. I worked hard for his campaign.

I thought that he would change, do better, be stronger in his second term.

I have been sorely disappointed.

The TPP is the icing on a very crumby cake. I am so disappointed that Obama is pushing the corporate cart. So wrong.

[SoapBox]

12. In 2008...

I did more than I ever had in my life. I worked in an office in Torrance, CA...mostly entering data from canvassing...picking up their phone for them...and there was such a shortage of window signs that I was making color and b/w signs to give away (I must have made hundreds on donated paper)...the place was absolutely humming with activity and excitement.

Second time around, not much activity...I think there was kind of a "shoe-in" mentality.

Bernie...I would happily do the same as in 2008...it would be even more exciting.

[JDPriestly]

14. I'm ready to start campaigning too but so far haven't heard from any California organizers.

If you are organizing for Bernie in Los Angeles, please send a message to my DU e-mail. Thanks.

[bvar22]

13. I thought he was going to LEAD a reform movement.

He abandoned The Movement standing in the streets,
and after getting comfortable in the Oval Office, all his Army got was the Middle Finger from the Obama Administration.

Many left and formed the OWS, gawd bless them.

[Rilgin]

17. Who can forget the DU Memes pre and post election

During the campaign, the lines were "We are the change". It was all about we the people and about us.

After he got in office, I knew we were in trouble from his first appointments of the same tired corporate tools at the same time the mass movement was abandoned. On Du, we started seeing a picture of Obama winking at us and saying "I got this". You probably remember this as well.

I totally agree with this whole thread that not using the motivated people in the streets to overwhelm the status quo in washington was either the first and biggest mistake of Obama's presidency or the first sign that he was a fake progressive.

[truebluegreen]

33. +1 nt

[maindawg]

16. Not Fair

The President is not a king. He is expected to work with the Congress to pass laws. Its not his fault if the Congress refuses to work with him. Its not a pissing match. If Americans really wanted a Congress that worked with the president they would have voted for one. I know your saying, 'they did, because dems got 1 million more votes overall. But they did not come out in 2010 and now we are stuck with a skewed district map so that crazy people get elected.
The President has to answer to the billionaires who financed his election. The very same billionaires who own Hillary. Thats how it works.

Now we have a fire brand who speaks for all the people. It will be very interesting to see what happens when its time for a convention and the Bernie supporters come out in force. If he were a republican they would not allow him to attend the convention at all. They have suck archaic rules that no one can even speak or vote at all if you arent aligned with the party choice. Ron Paul found that out.

Bernie already said he would not run as an independent. So he will have to beat Hillary outright for the nomination.

I would love a Bernie and Hillary ticket. I think Hillary is a great legislator but I dont think she is a great leader.

[chev52]

19. Obama working harder than ever now.

Obama has sure put a lot of energy for this TPP agreement, and against his base. He for sure never put this much effort into a single payer health plan or trying to found out who were the major culprits behind crashing the economy.

[SusanCalvin]

21. Yep.

I know there were obstacles, but in a lot of cases he didn't even try. I used to say I was convinced that the man either had never bought a car, or got taken every time.

[bvar22]

22. There is no such thing as "fair" when we are talking about Armies...

..or "movements", or the future of the Working Class, The Poor, the New Deal,
and the direction of the Democratic Party.

[rhett o rick]

27. Obama's Army was told to "sit down and shut up".

He's still telling us to shut up. Shut up about torture, shut up about domestic spying, shut up about single payer, shut up about so-called Free Trade. Wait until he pardons Cheney and tells us to shut up.

[awoke_in_2003]

32. The inclusion of Rick Warren and Rahm Emmanuel

followed by the axing of Van Jones- it was perfectly clear.

[Enthusiast]

39. ACORN was an impediment to the miscreants.

Can't have anything standing in the way.

[eomer]

43. Yes, exactly, he told Congressional Dems to shut up about TPP but it didn't work this time.

Just pissed them off.

[rhett o rick]

44. I want to give a lot of credit for the new bravery of some of the progressive Democrats in

Congress, to the Populist Movement currently supporting Sen Sanders. I think the progressives are noticing that Sen Sanders is getting a lot of support and it gives them courage.

[Enthusiast]

38. Someone that could turn their back on that much love and hope, well..

they're not much in my book.

[marym625]

6. K&R!

Unfortunately, I can't make the auto call thing work.


Love the message!

[Doctor_J]

9. meanwhile Mrs Clinton says she wants to be even more accommodating to the republicans

How can any democrat seriously support her over Sanders?

[PADemD]

10. Absolutely!

I complained about that at the time.

Some of our local volunteers met after the election but received no direction from anyone, not even the county Democratic Party.

[Wilms]

18. ^

[uwep]

20. This is his problem - not being able to negotiate

Sanders cannot negotiate because of his inflexibility to compromise. This was Bill Clinton's asset as well as Obama's. Sanders will not win in the general election and we will get a repug as pres. Goodbye all of the social programs since FDR.

[bvar22]

23. Have you noticed yet that those FDR "social programs" are being dismantled as we speak?....

...and they are being dismantled by Democratic Presidents.

[SusanCalvin]

24. This is the Bernie group.... nt

[pennylane100]

28. Yes,

Bill Clinton compromised us all into approving NAFTA. That noise you remember from his presidency was the giant sucking sound of our middle class jobs leaving us. Then be prepared to listen to the noise ramp up if the next round of trade bills eventually pass.

What I do not understand, and I am open to all explanations, is that apart from the Bush fiasco in the Middle East, which harmed the whole world in epic proportions, NAFTA and proposed new trade agreement appear to be the biggest betrayals of the 98% population than any proposed by the repugs. What am I missing?

[rhett o rick]

30. Like Clinton and Obama's negotiations did us any good. LOL. Social programs are very important

but if we continue to let Goldman-Sachs drain all our resources and lose our economic equality, social equalities will soon be also gone.
Our biggest threat is from the billionaires and the Goldman-Sachs.

[cui bono]

34. Quite the opposite. Obama's huge weakness was his lack of negotiating skills.

He gave them what they wanted before the negotiations even started, then they asked for more.

In negotiating you are supposed to ask for more than what you are willing to accept. Bernie will do just that and will take the hard line and call the Republican's bluffs when necessary.

EDITED

[Enthusiast]

41. Nice!

[Enthusiast]

40. Great strategy. But we're used to being played. It won't work.

Get lost.

[smokey nj]

45. Aren't you cute with your circa 2008 Hillary avatar!

[Kalidurga]

46. You don't negotiate with traitors.

[TheNutcracker]

31. As he points, I believe he will not lead in the same manner. GO BERNIE!!!