Democratic Elites Once Again Demonstrate Their Contempt for Organized Labor
by Jake Johnson
June 6, 2016

According to one influential study, economic elites have near total control over public policy — Shawn Gude calls this "the business veto."

According to Gude, the tremendous power and influence wielded by big business allows elites to "perpetually subvert that most basic condition of democratic rule — that ordinary citizens, not corporate paymasters, set the agenda."

Organized labor has always posed a threat to this established order. And it is because of this fact that many Democrats have, instead of standing in solidarity with working people against corporate overreach, jumped ship to join the side of those who now bankroll the party.

Throughout the 2016 primary process, the state of the Democratic Party has been laid bare by a candidate who has persisted in rejecting the new status quo — a status quo that accepts as perfectly normal the torrent of corporate cash that has infiltrated the political process.

By standing for a tradition that the Democratic Party has left behind — the tradition that, in the past, used mass politics to push reforms that lifted working families — Bernie Sanders has exposed, on a national stage, the rightward lurch of the Democratic establishment.

It is telling that while the party leadership's favorite candidate courts Republican donors, repudiates single-payer health care, and swims in Wall Street cash, Bernie Sanders is the one being blamed for sparking disorder and preventing unity.

This is how far the Democrats have fallen.

Franklin Roosevelt once castigated those he called the "economic royalists" for using their vast wealth to exert pernicious influence on the political process.

Today, Bernie Sanders is delivering a similar message — and receiving nothing but scorn from party leaders.

Perhaps, in today's political landscape, this scorn is the greatest compliment one can be paid.

Who, after all, would want to be praised by the party that has, under the guise of pragmatism, left behind its working class base to pursue the riches offered by the corporate class?

CNN
Sanders: Clinton too willing to use U.S. military
By Eric Bradner, CNN
June 5, 2016

Washington (CNN) — Bernie Sanders unleashed a sharp attack on Hillary Clinton over foreign policy on Sunday, casting her as too eager to use U.S. military force and saying her family charity's acceptance of foreign countries' contributions could be a conflict of interest.

The Vermont senator told CNN's Jake Tapper the former secretary of state is too quick to "rush in" and remove dictators and he criticized Clinton's approaches to Iraq, Libya and Syria.

"I worry about that, yeah, I do. I think her support for the war in Iraq was not just an aberration," Sanders said of Clinton's vote to authorize the Iraq War, in the interview that aired on "State of the Union."

"I think that her willingness to kind of push President (Barack) Obama to overthrow (Libyan leader Moammar) Gaddafi and lead to the kind of instability that we're seeing now in Libya -- not inconsistent with her other views on Syria, where she wants a no-fly zone, which I think can suck us into never-ending conflict in that area," he said.


Speaking about Iraq's Saddam Hussein and Gaddafi, Sanders said: "These are terrible, brutal dictators. But our job is to think what happens the day after these people are removed -- the kind of instability that occurs."

"The world would be better off with these dictators out of power, but there are ways to get them out of power without causing mass instability and the deaths of many, many, many hundreds of thousands of people," Sanders said.

He conceded that "no, it's not that easy, but you bring the entire world together."

Sanders was also sharply critical of the Clinton Foundation -- the Clinton family's charitable organization -- for accepting millions of dollars in donations from countries like Saudi Arabia during her tenure as America's top diplomat.

"Do I have any problems when a sitting secretary of state and a foundation run by her husband collect many millions of dollars from foreign governments which are dictatorships?" Sanders said. "You don't have a lot of civil liberties or democratic rights in Saudi Arabia. You don't have a lot of respect there for opposition points of view, for gay rights, for women's rights."

"Yes," he said. "Do I have a problem with that? Yeah, I do."

Asked if he thinks those donations create the appearance of a conflict of interest, Sanders said: "Yeah, I do. I do."

http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/05/politics/bernie-sanders-hillary-clinton-foreign-policy/index.html

WASHINGTON POST
Bernie Sanders praises Muhammad Ali’s ‘incredibly courageous’ opposition to the Vietnam War
By Robert Costa
June 4, 2016


LOS ANGELES — Bernie Sanders on Saturday called Muhammad Ali not only a sports icon, but a “man of conviction and enormous courage” for his refusal to be inducted into the military during the Vietnam War.

“Clearly, Ali was one of the great heavyweight champs of all time, a beautiful boxer and a great athlete,” Sanders said at a news conference. “But the reason that Ali struck a chord in the hearts of so many Americans was not just his great boxing skill. It was his incredible courage. At a time when it was not popular to do so, Ali stood up and said, ‘I am opposed to the war in Vietnam, and I’m not going to fight in that war.’ ”

Sanders, 74, calling himself a “bit of a boxing fan,” wistfully recalled that volatile moment in U.S. history as he stood at a lectern at a DoubleTree hotel here.

That incredibly courageous decision cost him three and a half years of his prime fighting life and cost him, probably, tens and tens of millions of dollars,” Sanders said. “... But he chose to stand by his ideals, his views.”

The senator from Vermont went on to say that Ali’s Muslim faith was central to the boxer’s life — and a part of the Ali story that should be highlighted “at a time when we are seeing a growth in Islamophobia.”

“A very proud Muslim,” Sanders said. “Don’t tell us how much you love Muhammad Ali and yet you’re going to be prejudiced against Muslims in this country.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/06/04/bernie-sanders-praises-muhammad-alis-incredibly-courageous-opposition-to-the-vietnam-war/

"End of the Corporate Age" From The Color Bars' upcoming 2016 album. Exclusive video for Bernie Sanders' Presidential Campaign.

It’s Not Over Until It’s Over
by Robert Reich
June 5, 2016

The other morning I heard from an old friend here in California who said “I’m for Bernie, but he doesn’t really have a chance anymore. So isn’t my vote for him in the California primary just prolonging the agony, and indirectly helping Trump?”

I told him:

1. True, the electoral numbers are daunting, and Bernie faces an uphill task, but a win Tuesday will help enormously. One out of 8 Americans lives in California.

2. Regardless of the electoral math, Bernie’s candidacy has never been mainly about Bernie. It’s been about a movement to reclaim our democracy and economy from the moneyed interests. And a win for Bernie in the California primary (and in other Tuesday primaries in Montana, New Jersey, North Dakota South Dakota, and New Mexico) will send an even clearer signal to Washington, the Democratic Party, and the establishment as a whole, that a large and growing share of Americans is determined to wrest back control.

3. The goals Bernie has enunciated in his campaign are essential to our future: getting big money out of politics and reversing widening inequality; moving toward a single-payer healthcare system and free tuition at public universities (both financed by higher taxes on the richest Americans and on Wall Street); a $15 minimum wage; decriminalization of marijuana and an end to mass incarceration; a new voting rights act; immigration reform; and a carbon tax. All will require continued mobilization at all levels of government. A win Tuesday will help continue and build on that mobilization.

4. Bernie’s successes don’t help Trump. To the contrary, they are bringing into politics millions of young voters whose values are opposite to those of Trump’s. Bernie has received majorities from voters under age 45 (as well as from independents). He’s won even larger majorities of young people under 30 – including young women and Latinos. Many have been inspired and motivated by Bernie to become political activists – the last thing Trump and the Republicans want.



Stand With Bernie

Sunday, June 5

New Jersey: Trump vs. Clinton CBS News/YouGov Clinton 49, Trump 34 Clinton +15

New Jersey: Trump vs. Sanders CBS News/YouGov Sanders 52, Trump 34 Sanders +18

Sunday, June 5

California: Trump vs. Clinton CBS News/YouGov Clinton 48, Trump 33 Clinton +15

California: Trump vs. Sanders CBS News/YouGov Sanders 55, Trump 32 Sanders +23

Sunday, June 5

California Democratic Presidential Primary CBS News/YouGov Clinton 49, Sanders 47 Clinton +2

Just wondering.