So, what has Bernie accomplished that is worthy of so much adoration?

[Amimnoch]

Senator Sanders is an INCREDIBLE orator, what has he actually done?

In all of his years in Congress only 3 bill's that he either sponsored, or co-sponsored has been made into law (none of which were particularly ground breaking or of any significant import). He's proven again and again that he's great at saying no, so I'll concede he'll be great at using the Veto power. Heck Hillary was just as successful as he was in only 8 years in Congress (not her greatest accomplishment either imho). However, Hillary had much success in the DOJ, first lady of Arkansas, FLOTUS, and Secretary of State.

So, in short.. What has Bernie DONE that makes him worthy of my (or anybody's) vote??

[JaneyVee]

1. And Hillary introduced more legislation in 8 years...

Than Bernie did in 25 years; 417-379

[NCTraveler]

2. "Senator Sanders is an INCREDIBLE orator"

I kind of stopped there. The praise was nice though. lol.

[Amimnoch]

3. Ahh, so that's his crowning achievement. Gotcha.

Thank you.

[NCTraveler]

4. I have yet to see him perform at the speaking level you are giving him credit for.

I think this is actually the first time I have ever seen his oratory skills promoted as being anything above par.

I truly had never heard this. I don't think many will agree with you on it including his own supporters. He is kindly mocked for his oratory skills. See SNL.

[1StrongBlackMan]

5. He voted correctly on (almost) every issue of interest to the left. n/t

[Major Hogwash]

6. Yes, Hillary got a road named after Tim Russert, and a post office named after some . .

. . . other guy she knew.

GOOD GOING, HILLARY!!!!

Because naming post offices after YOUR friends is what being a Senator is all about!!!

[Amimnoch]

8. Anything at all to say that's FOR your candidate?

Come on, surely you can give me SOMETHING that BERNIE did?

[Major Hogwash]

13. Bernie isn't Hillary, he didn't vote for the Iraq War.

He used his brains to decide not to vote for the Iraq War, instead of checking the balance in his banking account the way Hillary did before she voted for the Iraq War!!!!!

[oasis]

32. What's checking a bank account balance got to do with the IRW vote?

[LiberalArkie]

7. What about S. 893 (113th): Veterans’ Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2013

Plus naming 2 postoffices in VT.

I know HRC had 3 bills enacted during her term. And Bernie had 3 during his term so far.

S. 3145 (110th): A bill to designate a portion of United States Route 20A, located in Orchard Park, New York, as the “Timothy J. Russert Highway”.

S. 3613 (109th): A bill to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 2951 New York Highway 43 in Averill Park, New York, as the “Major George Quamo Post Office Building”.

S. 3613 (109th): A bill to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 2951 New York Highway 43 in Averill Park, New York, as the “Major George Quamo Post Office Building”.

https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/browse?sponsor=300022#current_status[]=28

But naming a highway after Tim Russert?

[DCBob]

9. He connects with the anger many feel on the left.

I support Hillary but I get why many adore Bernie. They think he feels and understands their pain. I think Hillary does too... she just doesn't communicate it very well.

[Amimnoch]

11. I do get why as well. As I said he's an incredible orator.

I just need more than a good speech for my vote.

So far I've got 1 single really awesome achievement and that was S. 893 (113th): Veterans’ Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2013 that LiberalArkie pointed out (one of the 3 successful bills of 25 years in Congress).

[NurseJackie]

18. I think he's an horrible orator.

His voice, his scowl and grimace, his finger-wagging, his anger, his posture, his leaning are all things that grate on my nerves.

I'm sure that many may find such things to be "genuine" or somehow "endearing" but I find them to be distracting and off-putting.

[Dawgs]

22. You think Hillary's better?

Have you ever seen her in person?

[NurseJackie]

26. Yes, I do.

She's no Obama, but she's infinitely better than gruff Bernie.

[Dawgs]

27. Wow! You saw her in person and still feel that way? Okay.

It was just the opposite for me.

[99th_Monkey]

10. There's a very detailed list, outlined in an OP 4 days ago. It totally answers your question.

Here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251605502

[Amimnoch]

12. Thank you!!

I hadn't seen that one, and have been asking for a while now. Will take some time to really look at it. On a quick glance, he may be more worth reconsidering than I'd originally thought.

[99th_Monkey]

33. My pleasure. I just 'happened' onto it, just after seeing your OP

I think it's called synchronicity .. I love it when that happens.

[Capt. Obvious]

14. Deja vu

[pinebox]

15. Bernie's done more than most and here's some highlights

~In 1992, Congress passes Sanders' first signed piece of legislation to create the National Program of Cancer Registries. All 50 states now run registries to help cancer researchers gain important insights.

~Voted against the Clinton-era North American Free Trade Agreement, which we now know sent millions of American jobs overseas.

~Sanders is one of only 67 votes against the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act, which denied federal benefits to same-sex couples legally married. It took 17 years to overturn this Act.

~Standing up against the major pharmaceutical companies, Sanders becomes the first member of Congress to take seniors across the border to Canada to buy lower-cost prescription drugs. The congressman continues his bus trips to Canada with a group of breast cancer patients the following April. These women are able to purchase their medications in Canada for almost one-tenth the price charged in the States.

~Thanks to Sanders' efforts, IBM agreed to a $320 million legal settlement with some 130,000 IBM workers and retirees.

~About 10 years before the 2008 Wall Street crash spins the world economy into a massive recession, Sanders votes "no" on a bill to undo decades of financial regulations enacted after the Great Depression. The House passed the bill 362-57 over Sanders' objection.

~Sanders votes against the USA Patriot Act. "All of us want to protect the American people from terrorist attacks, but in a way that does not undermine basic freedoms," Sanders says at the time.

~Sanders votes against the Bush-Cheney war in Iraq. He warns at the time that an invasion could "result in anti-Americanism, instability and more terrorism." We now know that that war was one of the worst foreign policy decisions in our history.

~Sanders passes an amendment in the House to stop the government from obtaining library and book-buying records on Americans.

~Sanders defeats Vermont's richest man, Rich Tarrant, to be elected to the U.S. Senate. Sanders, running as an Independent, is endorsed by the Vermont Democratic Party and supported by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

~Sanders' authored energy efficiency and conservation grant program passes into law. He later secures $3.2 billion in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 for the grant program.

~Thanks to Sanders' efforts, funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program funding doubles, helping millions of low-income Americans heat their homes in winter.

~Sanders works with Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley to pass an amendment to an economic recovery bill preventing Wall Street banks that take taxpayer bailouts from replacing laid-off U.S. workers with exploited and poorly-paid foreign workers.

~Sanders passes language in the Affordable Care Act to allow states to apply for waivers to implement pilot health care systems by 2017. The legislation allows states to adopt more comprehensive systems to cover more people at lower costs.

~In 2010, President Barack Obama signs into law the Affordable Care Act with a major Sanders provision to expand federally qualified community health centers. Sanders secures $12.5 billion in funding for the program which now serves more than 25 million Americans. Another $1.5 billion from a Sanders provision went to the National Health Service Corps for scholarships and loan repayment for doctors and nurses who practice in underserved communities.

~Sanders works with Republican Congressman Ron Paul in the House to pass a measure as part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform bill to audit the Federal Reserve, revealing how the independent agency gave $16 trillion in near zero-interest loans to big banks and businesses after the 2008 economic collapse.

~In 2012, he becomes Chairman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee.

~Sanders, backed by seniors, women, veterans, labor unions and disabled Americans leads a successful effort to stop a "chained-CPI" proposal supported by Congressional Republicans and the Administration to cut Social Security and disabled veterans' benefits.

~Sanders introduces legislation to break up major Wall Street banks so large that the collapse of one could send the overall economy into a downward spiral.

~A bipartisan $16.5 billion veterans bill written by Sanders, Sen. John McCain and Rep. Jeff Miller is signed into law by President Barack Obama.

~In 2015, Sanders takes over as ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee, using the platform to fight for his economic agenda for the American middle class.

~Sanders votes against the Keystone XL pipeline which would allow multinational corporation TransCanada to transport dirty tar sands oil from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico.

~Both the NAACP and the NHLA (National Hispanic Leadership Agenda) have given Sanders 100% voting scores during his tenure in the Senate. Earns a D- from the NRA.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/10/6/1428616/-Bernie-Sanders-What-the-Hell-Have-You-Done-for-Us-Lately

[LWolf]

16. Adoration is the wrong word.

What has Sanders accomplished that makes him worthy of the enthusiastic support he is getting? That has, of coursed, been discussed right here. I'm sorry you missed it.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251722160

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251687842

And, of course, it's out there in other places, too.

http://www.alternet.org/election-2016/bernie-gets-it-done-sanders-record-pushing-through-major-reforms-will-surprise-you

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/10/6/1428616/-Bernie-Sanders-What-the-Hell-Have-You-Done-for-Us-Lately



Happy reading!

[think]

17. Sanders' ACA provision expanded the number of community health centers in the U.S.

Community Health Centers Expand

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Sen. Bernie Sanders announced on Thursday that the federal government designated three new community health centers in Vermont. The announcement will increase from eight to 11 the number of health centers that will provide primary care for some 163,000 patients throughout the state. Nationwide, the latest round of grants awarded today totaled $150 million for 236 new community health centers around the country to serve more than 1.25 million additional patients.

A Sanders provision in the Affordable Care Act authorized $11 billion to build, expand, and operate community health centers throughout the United States.

“This is a huge step forward for health care in Vermont in providing high-quality, affordable primary care, dental care, low-cost prescription drugs and mental health counseling to people throughout Vermont,” said Sanders, chairman of a Senate subcommittee that oversees primary health care.

Altogether, the eight current Federally-Qualified Health Centers operating now in Vermont served more than 130,000 patients last year, one of the highest participation rates in the country. The $2.4 million in new funding released by the Health and Human Services Department today for three additional Vermont centers will serve about 33,000 additional patients, bringing the total number of Vermonters served to about 163,000. In addition, about 25,000 Vermonters received dental care at community health centers, a number which will also rise.

In Vermont, $775,000 was awarded for the Battenkill Valley Health Center to operate a new Federally Qualified Health Center in Arlington, Vt., the first such facility in Bennington County to win full recognition as a Federally Qualified Health Center.

The Five Town Health Alliance in Bristol, Vt., was awarded $812,500 to operate the first center in Addison County.

Another $812,500 went to the Gifford Medical Center in Randolph, Vt., in Orange County.

And an Essex County site in Canaan, Vt., will open as part of a $456,793 grant to the Indian Stream Health Center headquartered in nearby Colebrook, N.H.

“As chairman of the Subcommittee on Primary Health and Aging, I am proud that we have seen in recent years a tremendous increase in the number of community health centers in Vermont to address the primary health care crisis in our state and throughout the United States,” Sanders said.

Northern Counties Health Care in 1976 became the first Federally Qualified Health Center in Vermont. A center in Burlington, Vt., won federal designation in 1993.

The federally-funded but locally-run centers are open to everyone and care for patients covered by Medicaid, Medicare and private insurance, as well as those who have no insurance. Payments are on a sliding scale, so people with low or moderate incomes can afford the care they need.


http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/recent-business/community-health-centers-expand-11-07-2013

[CoffeeCat]

19. I see someone is using Hillary's 2008 Democratic primary playbook!

This is EXACTLY what the Clinton camp tried to pull on Obama when he eroded Hillary's lead down to single digits in Iowa and NH!

Really?

I can't take the deja vu. It's so blatant, I'm wondering if the Clinton camp may disrupt the space-time continuium!

Look at the first two lines of this ill-conceived post; and let's substitute the Sanders references for Obama's name.

"So what has OBAMA accomplished that is worthy of so much adoration?"

"SENATOR OBAMA is an INCREDIBLE orator, what has he actually done?"

Sound familiar?

OMG...seriously.

Are they for real? This is soooooo last primary season. It didn't work then, it won't work now.

What is revealing is that this is the nonsensical talking points that emerge when Hillary knows she's in trouble in the first couple of states. I guess the latest CBS Iowa/NH Battleground poll really blew her mind.

[Dawgs]

25. Incredible, isn't it. You would think they would be a lot more humble this time.

Maybe they're just taking on the personality of their leader.

[CoffeeCat]

30. Maybe she needs to hire a new PR firm...

Seriously.

Enough with the old talking points. She's paying those people to come up with big, fresh ideas. Not recycle the old messaging strategy that gave her a third place in Iowa.

Maybe the agency has interns working this part of the campaign.

It's a mystery.

[xynthee]

20. K & R for the helpful responses

This is a question we should always be happy to answer!!

[Amimnoch]

23. There are some really good, and thought provoking responses here.

I will admit, there's more to Bernie than I'd thought. I do like to learn (even when it makes me wrong about something or someone).

There's also a few of the typical obnoxious ones as well that made me not even want to consider Senator Sanders in the first place (not yours of course).

Thank you.

[jeff47]

21. Try expanding your search to include amendments.

The talking point is bills, but Sanders is known as "the king of amendments".

[earthside]

24. Sounds like a recycled Hillary-GOP post from 7 years ago.

As you recall, that was the big rap on Barack Obama who had only been in the U.S. Senate for four years.

Oh, that Obama gave a great speech, but what had he ever done?

And in the general election it was even worse -- compared to John McCain, Obama was only an inexperienced orator.

Looking back in history, however, we can see Richard Nixon and George H. W. Bush who had tons and tons of experience and all kinds of 'accomplishments' ... we know how those presidencies turned out.

[arcane1]

28. The "He's a great orator but nothing else" thing was said about Obama too.

Why do you include Hillary's non-federal-government experience, but not Bernie's?

[TheProgressive]

29. Sanders is honest, truthful, a progressive, a liberal... and

... a statesperson. A person of by and for the people...

This is a person you can trust.

[zappaman]

31. He's not Hilary.

Which is more than enough for some.

[senz]

35. It's never too late to lose one's ignorance, Amimnoch

Last edited Sun May 15, 2016, 06:46 AM - Edit history (1)

Bernie Sanders’ Legislative Accomplishments: A Partial List

FACT: Bernie Sanders Got More Done in the Senate Than Hillary Clinton

And for good measure:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/12511324268

Glad to be of help!