January 26, 2016

Getting the appropriate soundbite

After thinking about what happened last night during the Town Hall - this morning I realized why I felt so disillusioned by the format. I didn't care that Bernie went first. I didn't even care that Cuomo was on stage with him all the time. I thought Bernie handled himself and the tough questions asked by Cuomo just fine . . . for thinking people who were actually listening for substance.

What hit me this morning after reading the nonsense headlines about "I will raise taxes. Yes I will" - was that this was the WHOLE POINT of the forum. No, I'm not a conspiracy theorist. I am a relatively observant, half-way intelligent person. And bam! I replayed that whole thing in my head.

The question Bernie got was about his healthcare plan. He explained it in a way the questioner could understand. Cuomo interrupted with "but you will raise taxes". This wasn't a question from the audience. It was Cuomo's question. Bernie responded again, in a detailed way about how a family would actually save money. None of those answers worked well in a headline to scare people. So Cuomo then did something that he didn't do to any other person and was, based on this format, completely wrong. He insisted "give me a yes or no. You will raise taxes" at which point Bernie, being the honest candidate looked him in the eye and said "yes I will raise taxes. Yes I will". BINGO! Cuomo served his Clinton overlords - and got them the headline they were seeking. Not for fairness. Not for educating the audience. Not for providing Iowa voters real information. Not for anything except the corporate media to have a headline to run and for Clinton to remind people over and over that Bernie said "yes I will raise taxes".

It's not that I have a problem with Bernie's plan and I feel like Biden - "it's patriotic to pay taxes". It's the fact that this was such a set up that is dismaying. But maybe it's just that I'm tired of the bull.

And that, my friends, is corporate democracy at it worst.

January 25, 2016

Wonderful New Closing Ad for Iowa from Sanders & Shout Out to Those Who Say No Can Do

Pitch to Iowa and set to start airing on Tuesday

“There are those who say we cannot defeat a corrupt political system and fix a rigged economy. But I believe we need to lift our vision above the obstacles in place and look to the American horizon.”

This was posted on http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-01-25/bernie-sanders-releases-optimistic-closing-ad-in-iowa

January 25, 2016

VIDEO: Elizabeth Warren: Anyone Who Says ‘Change Is Just Too Hard’ Is in ‘Bed With the Billionaires’

Forgive me if this has been posted already. I couldn't find it but perhaps it was.

This is from 4 days ago.

"Anyone Who Says ‘Change Is Just Too Hard’ Is in ‘Bed With the Billionaires"

Hmmmm - wonder if she has anyone in mind.

January 25, 2016

Very moving video Veterans for Bernie

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The vet speaking brought tears to my eyes.

January 24, 2016

The New England Joint Board UNITE HERE - manufacturing union endorsed Sanders

Another union endorsement that hasn't gotten any press.

About Us:

The New England Joint Board UNITE HERE is a union representing workers in the textile, garment, manufacturing, warehousing, laundry, and food service industries in New England. Our thousands of members are as diverse as the industries they work in. Women make up a large portion of our membership as do new immigrants and people of color. A large portion of our current membership was originally organized by our predecessor unions the ILGWU (International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union) and ACTWU (Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers). We carry the tradition of organizing workers in traditionally low-wage industries, bringing them and their families into well-paying middle class jobs. Our members work in cafeterias, factories, distribution centers, laundries, offices, group homes, airports, and mills. We are proud of our heritage and of our current status as an evolving union fighting for the rights of ALL workers.

Statement from Bert Barao, President of New England Joint Board UNITE HERE and tailor at Macy’s Department Store.

“Today I am proud to announce that the rank and file leaders of the Executive Board of the New England Joint Board UNITE HERE have unanimously voted to endorse Bernie Sanders for President of the United States. It is a particularly proud moment for our union because he is our own Senator for the great state of Vermont. Over the years we have come to know Bernie as a relentless and unflappable fighter for workers. Bernie is the candidate who will put workers and their families first. In these times, where big banks, corporations, and the wealthy few hold enormous power over both our economy and political process, we are in desperate need of a President who will challenge the powers which have whittled down our middle class. Bernie’s pledge to fight inequality, take on the big banks, and spread opportunity to all Americans not just the few, resonates with our members.

Today we are answering Bernie’s call for a political revolution. Our 10,000 members in the six New England states and New York work hard every day to provide for their families by exercising their voice on the job. We will exercise our collective voice to ensure that our country is no longer ruled by big banks. We will stand together to fight corporate special interests and the job-killing trade deals that empower them. We will bring people together to achieve a debt-free higher education system, a healthcare system which values people instead of profits, and a strong social security system that will allow people to retire with dignity. We will work hard to elect Bernie Sanders the next President of the United States.”

January 24, 2016

UAW - Local Members Endorse Sanders asking why hasn't Union endorsed yet

Don't know if this was posted anywhere yet but I found it fascinating:

(bolding mine)

2016 Presidential Endorsement Poll Results
Posted on January 20, 2016
From January 11, 2016 through January 20, 2016, UAW Local 2322 joined local unions across the country in conducting a poll of members. The results of the poll are in: our members overwhelmingly favor that the UAW endorse VT Senator Bernie Sanders for president. Sanders received 77% of the vote, followed by 12% for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and 5% for physician and Green Party Candidate Jill Stein. Republicans Ted Cruz and Donald Trump each received 2% of the vote, with other Republican and Libertarian Party candidates receiving between 0 and 1%.

Why then, is UAW Local 2322 not endorsing Bernie Sanders right now? Decisions on endorsements are not made at the Local Union Level, but by state CAP Councils, or in the case of national elections, the International Executive Board. We were asked to poll our members to provide the information to the International Executive Board for their use in determining which candidate to endorse. We did, however, want to make sure that the UAW 2322 members who participated in our poll received word about the outcome, as it was clear to us from the response that members were very interested in engaging with the poll. Below are the results for the entire local union, and for members in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York. We also had members from California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Michigan, North Carolina, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Washington vote, but there were too few responses in those states to break out into graphs.

Graphs in link

From their About Us:

We are more than auto workers, we are:

One of the largest and most progressive unions in Western Massachusetts. We are a part of the UAW Region 9A, representing about 50,000 workers in the Northeast & Puerto Rico.

UAW Local 2322 is an amalgamated local representing some 3,000 workers primarily in Western Massachusetts at 15 workplaces. We are a diverse local, representing people from a wide range of cultural, economic, educational, and national backgrounds. Our members work in the fields of higher education, early childhood development, and health & human services.

http://uaw2322.org/2016/01/20/2016-presidential-endorsement-poll-results/

January 24, 2016

Fabulous article by Corey Robin on the Bile & Bullshit of Clinton's Campaign

Talks about the Clinton McCarthyism
Sister Souljah
David Brock and his ridiculousness
How the Dem party has moved from liberalism to policies of what once were moderate Republicans
The whole reparations brouhaha
The "savant" versus the "naïf" narrative
And more.

Fantastic - and on point

http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/1/23/1474410/--Bile-Bullshit-and-Bernie-17-Notes-on-a-Dismal-Campaign-by-Corey-Robin

January 23, 2016

Great Article: Sanders and the Theory of Change: Radical Politics for Grown-Ups

Worth a read:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jedediah-purdy/sanders-and-the-theory-of_b_9057570.html

Particularly like (bolding mine):

The movement that the campaign helps to create can develop and give voice to a program that the same people will keep working for, in and out of election cycles. In other words, this is a campaign about political ideas and programs that happens to have a person named Bernie at its head, not a campaign that mistakes its candidate for a prophet or a wizard (or the second coming of Abraham Lincoln, who gave us the now-cliché phrase about better angels, but had no delusion that words could substitute for power).

And:

These movements were sources of ideas, and also of power. Why did all those enemies and reluctant allies end up meeting Roosevelt halfway? The answer was not not his pragmatic attitude. The reason that even some who hated him had to compromise with Roosevelt or give way was the political force he could marshal. His theory of change was no more about compromise than it was about high-minded words: It was about power. Compromise was a side-effect, a tactic at most.

But the central place of power does not mean idealism had no place in the New Deal. Roosevelt explained what he was doing, and why, in language that was more Sanders than Clinton, more vision than wonkery. He famously called for a Second Bill of Rights, an economic program of security, good work, and material dignity. Going back to the Founders to ground the welfare state is, let's say, idealistic. And, while F.D.R. was willing to compromise, he was also willing to draw hard lines, calling out "economic royalists" and saying of his enemies, "They are unanimous in their hate for me -- and I welcome their hatred."