Sanders transforms into contender, still pitches revolution

[Jingthing]

Bernie Sanders never owned a business, never invented anything, never had a 9-5 job, never proposed a single bill that passed (25 years in office) and lived off welfare before he was elected to office. Bernie is much like his hero Karl Marx who succeeded at nothing. This guy wants to be President. You have got to be kidding me. You just can't make things like this up.

"Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is equal sharing of misery." Winston Churchill

Gross and shameful distortion.

[SpokaneAl]

Bernie Sanders never owned a business, never invented anything, never had a 9-5 job, never proposed a single bill that passed (25 years in office) and lived off welfare before he was elected to office. Bernie is much like his hero Karl Marx who succeeded at nothing. This guy wants to be President. You have got to be kidding me. You just can't make things like this up.

"Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is equal sharing of misery." Winston Churchill

Gross and shameful distortion.

Specifics where this is wrong?

[CMNightRider]

Bernie Sanders never owned a business, never invented anything, never had a 9-5 job, never proposed a single bill that passed (25 years in office) and lived off welfare before he was elected to office. Bernie is much like his hero Karl Marx who succeeded at nothing. This guy wants to be President. You have got to be kidding me. You just can't make things like this up.

"Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is equal sharing of misery." Winston Churchill

Gross and shameful distortion.

Gross and shameful distortion?? I don't think so. There is no American tax payer in their right mind who would entertain the thought of casting their vote for Bernie. Who on earth would want to pay higher taxes to give to those who would want something for nothing.

Bernie's nonsensical socialistic ideas appeals to navie college kids, welfare recipients, less than successful adults who pay little to no taxes, and the politically far left brain dead. However, like I mentioned in a previous post, never under estimate large groups of stupid people. How else can you explain Bernie's rise in popularity.

[lannarebirth]

Bernie Sanders never owned a business, never invented anything, never had a 9-5 job, never proposed a single bill that passed (25 years in office) and lived off welfare before he was elected to office. Bernie is much like his hero Karl Marx who succeeded at nothing. This guy wants to be President. You have got to be kidding me. You just can't make things like this up.

"Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is equal sharing of misery." Winston Churchill

Gross and shameful distortion.

Gross and shameful distortion?? I don't think so. There is no American tax payer in their right mind who would entertain the thought of casting their vote for Bernie. Who on earth would want to pay higher taxes to give to those who would want something for nothing.

Bernie's nonsensical socialistic ideas appeals to navie college kids, welfare recipients, less than successful adults who pay little to no taxes, and the politically far left brain dead. However, like I mentioned in a previous post, never under estimate large groups of stupid people. How else can you explain Bernie's rise in popularity.

I'm an American taxpayer who will be casting a vote for Bernie. I am willing to pay higher taxes if he can help bring about some of the policies he has set out. BTW, not only am I paying US taxes, I'm also paying just shy of $50k/year for my children's college and healthcare benefits. I don't mind paying for college, although its god damned steep, but I do favor grants for those who are eligible for college and can't afford it. I also believe Community College should be free and available to everyone of every age for continued learning and college prep. I absolutely believe healthcare is a citizen's right and it should be one of the first places tax dollars should be allocated.

I'm an Independent. I have voted for both Republicans and Democrats in the past. Save for Bernie, the candidates on both sides are the worst I've ever seen and I wouldn't vote for any of them.

[boomerangutang]

Bernie Sanders never owned a business, never invented anything, never had a 9-5 job, never proposed a single bill that passed (25 years in office) and lived off welfare before he was elected to office. Bernie is much like his hero Karl Marx who succeeded at nothing. This guy wants to be President. You have got to be kidding me. You just can't make things like this up.

"Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is equal sharing of misery." Winston Churchill

Gross and shameful distortion.

Gross and shameful distortion?? I don't think so. There is no American tax payer in their right mind who would entertain the thought of casting their vote for Bernie. Who on earth would want to pay higher taxes to give to those who would want something for nothing.

Bernie's nonsensical socialistic ideas appeals to navie college kids, welfare recipients, less than successful adults who pay little to no taxes, and the politically far left brain dead. However, like I mentioned in a previous post, never under estimate large groups of stupid people. How else can you explain Bernie's rise in popularity.

a few tidbits from Wiki: Sanders has been the ranking minority member on the Senate Budget Committee since January 2015, and previously served for two years as chair of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee.

Polling conducted in August 2011 by Public Policy Polling found that Sanders's approval rating was 67% making him the third-most popular senator in the country. Both the NAACP and the NHLA have given Sanders 100% voting scores during his tenure in the Senate.

On September 24, 2008, Sanders posted an open letter to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson decrying the initial bank bailout proposal; it drew more than 8,000 citizen cosigners in 24 hours.

Boomer's note: It's beyond ironic that Bernie haters keep harping on the word 'socialism.' How many billions of federal dollars were shoveled to Wall Street and large corporations & banks to bail them out? Was is the 700 billion which Paulson wanted? The Goldman Sachs execs who were put in charge (by Bush Jr.) of averting WS's meltdown even gave billions to banks which didn't even want handouts! That's worse than anything socialism has been accused of. It's US senators putting very rich men in charge of gifting very rich men (themselves included) billions of dollars for doing business badly. The banks who got billions at near zero % from the feds, were able to loan that money out (6 or 7 times) and charge high % from regular consumers. In effect, the Feds were giving near free money to banks, to enable banks to make profits off the backs of US consumers and small businesses. Elitist-coddling policies like that run prices up for everyone. But who in Washington cares about high prices for the little people? Highest medical and pharma costs in the world? Republicans don't care - the proof is: they don't even mention it on the campaign trail.

Responsible people like Bernie and myself, would not be in favor of massive welfare and bail-outs for multi-billionaire US corporations who don't do business well. If a business fails, the workers and management don't all die. They form new companies which (hopefully) do business better. Trump, Cruz and Republicans don't understand that. They think every time there's a problem with a business, they must go and get loans to prop it up. The bigger the business about the fail, the bigger the loans. Borrow, borrow, borrow, that's the Republican mantra. Bernie, on the other hand, believes in personal and corporate responsibility. That will be one of the issues of the campaign. Watch for it.

Edited February 4, 2016 by boomerangutang

[lannarebirth]

Bernie Sanders never owned a business, never invented anything, never had a 9-5 job, never proposed a single bill that passed (25 years in office) and lived off welfare before he was elected to office. Bernie is much like his hero Karl Marx who succeeded at nothing. This guy wants to be President. You have got to be kidding me. You just can't make things like this up.

"Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is equal sharing of misery." Winston Churchill

Gross and shameful distortion.

Gross and shameful distortion?? I don't think so. There is no American tax payer in their right mind who would entertain the thought of casting their vote for Bernie. Who on earth would want to pay higher taxes to give to those who would want something for nothing.

Bernie's nonsensical socialistic ideas appeals to navie college kids, welfare recipients, less than successful adults who pay little to no taxes, and the politically far left brain dead. However, like I mentioned in a previous post, never under estimate large groups of stupid people. How else can you explain Bernie's rise in popularity.

a few tidbits from Wiki: Sanders has been the ranking minority member on the Senate Budget Committee since January 2015, and previously served for two years as chair of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee.

Polling conducted in August 2011 by Public Policy Polling found that Sanders's approval rating was 67% making him the third-most popular senator in the country. Both the NAACP and the NHLA have given Sanders 100% voting scores during his tenure in the Senate.

On September 24, 2008, Sanders posted an open letter to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson decrying the initial bank bailout proposal; it drew more than 8,000 citizen cosigners in 24 hours.

Boomer's note: It's beyond ironic that Bernie haters keep harping on the word 'socialism.' How many billions of federal dollars were shoveled to Wall Street and large corporations & banks to bail them out? Was is 100 billion? ....more? The Goldman Sachs execs who were put in charge (by Bush Jr.) of averting WS's meltdown even gave billions to banks which didn't even want handouts! That's socialism if anything is.

Responsible people like Bernie and myself, would not be in favor of massive welfare and bail-outs for multi-billionaire US corporations who don't do business well. If a business fails, the workers and management don't all die. They form new companies which (hopefully) do business better. Trump, Cruz and Republicans don't understand that. They think every time there's a problem with a business, they must go and get loans to prop it up. The bigger the business about the fail, the bigger the loans. Borrow, borrow, borrow, that's the Republican mantra. Bernie, on the other hand, believes in personal and corporate responsibility. That will be one of the issues of the campaign. Watch for it.

Everyone talking about freebies but no one sees the end game. People making $15/hr aren't eligible for food stamps, not eligible in most cases for Medicaid.Might actually have to pay taxes. People making $7.50/hr now, working at Walmart are eligible for both and don't pay any income taxes. The US government is subsidizing Walmart to the tune of BILLIONS/Yr because their workers don't make a living wage. Why should the taxpayers foot the bill for THAT?

http://www.businessinsider.com/alice-walton-richest-woman-2016-1

Edited February 4, 2016 by lannarebirth

[Ulysses G.]

I sure agree with Bernie that workers need to make a LIVING WAGE. $15 dollars per hour is the bare minimum for an adult these days.

Edited February 4, 2016 by Ulysses G.

[lannarebirth]

Bernie's not going away anytime soon.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/02/02/in-24-hours-after-iowa-caucuses-sanders-donors-pony-up-3-million-aides-say/

Hillary's going to have to turn more negative on him and hopefully that will be enough to release him from his pledge against going negative. Actually he doesn't have to go negative. Just talking about what everyone already knows but the media never says should suffice.

[boomerangutang]

Everyone talking about freebies but no one sees the end game. People making $15/hr aren't eligible for food stamps, not eligible in most cases for Medicaid. Might actually have to pay taxes. People making $7.50/hr now, working at Walmart are eligible for both and don't pay any income taxes. The US government is subsidizing Walmart to the tune of BILLIONS/Yr because their workers don't make a living wage. Why should the taxpayers foot the bill for THAT?

http://www.businessinsider.com/alice-walton-richest-woman-2016-1

Americans of all social strata are getting handouts. It's just the rich get bigger hand-outs per person, than the poor. I'm against hand-outs for any, but the most needy.

There are also tens of millions of Americans who cheat the system to get hand-outs. Again, not just the poor, but also the very rich.

[lannarebirth]

I sure agree with Bernie that workers need to make a LIVING WAGE. $15 dollars per hour is the bare minimum for an adult these days.

So this guy Rubio you're so enamored of. He supports that also? Universal Healthcare? Campaign Finance Reform? What? Seems a bit of an empty suit to me but I haven't investigated him. What's so good about Rubio?

[Ulysses G.]

I am not a one issue voter - not sure what his stance is. I am more concerned about national security. John Kaschic is for the $15 minimum wage too and I like him, but he is not going to win.

Edited February 4, 2016 by Ulysses G.

[lannarebirth]

I am not a one issue voter - not sure what his stance is. I am more concerned about national security. John Kaschic is for the $15 minimum wage too and I like him, but he is not going to win.

National Security? The last time America was invaded was during the War of 1812. I don't watch TV and haven't seen anything worrisome on the internet. Is some country about to declare war on the US?

[Publicus]

Bernie Sanders and his campaign are good for the United States in their issues of focus and emphasis.

Bernie's agenda needs to be put on America's priority agenda.

Big money and big corporations funding politics and influencing government more towards them and them only go in the complete wrong direction.

Bernie as a candidate brings a needed counterweight against the trend. He has a lot of public support of the things he says. It's just not difficult to share his views on just about everything he says in respect of socio-economics.

New problems begin however when we start adding up the tabs. It is HR Clinton's job to reconcile the contradictions, which is what she's attempting to do. So far so good.

[lannarebirth]

Bernie Sanders and his campaign are good for the United States in their issues of focus and emphasis. Bernie's agenda needs to be put on America's priority agenda. Big money and big corporations funding politics and influencing government more towards them and them only go in the complete wrong direction. Bernie as a candidate brings a needed counterweight against the trend. He has a lot of public support of the things he says. It's just not difficult to share his views on just about everything he says in respect of socio-economics. New problems begin however when we start adding up the tabs. It is HR Clinton's job to reconcile the contradictions, which is what she's attempting to do. So far so good.

I'd like someone to reconcile these contradictions for me:

"I think every single American should be outraged," Clinton said of Flint during a Democratic debate in mid-January. "We've had a city in the United States of America where the population, which is poor in many ways and majority African-American, has been drinking and bathing in lead-contaminated water. And the governor of that state (Rick Snyder - R) acted as though he didn't really care."

http://www.businessinsider.com/hillary-clinton-calls-for-clean-water-2016-2

The factor that makes the cattle futures scandal relevant is that Hillary Clinton received her trading advice from Tyson Food’s outside counsel. Tyson was a major agricultural producer in Arkansas and had numerous issues that Attorney General and later Governor Bill Clinton could affect.

One such issue involved enforcement of environmental regulations affecting Tyson’s chicken-processing plants.

http://www.businessinsider.com/clinton-futures-scandal-still-relevant-today-2016-2

Edited February 4, 2016 by Scott
Edited for Fair Use

[lannarebirth]

I am not a one issue voter - not sure what his stance is. I am more concerned about national security. John Kaschic is for the $15 minimum wage too and I like him, but he is not going to win.

No of course not, not a one issue voter. Though I did see he had some nice things to say about Israel, so you got that going for you. What are his feelings about America?

[chuckd]

a few tidbits from Wiki: Sanders has been the ranking minority member on the Senate Budget Committee since January 2015, and previously served for two years as chair of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee.

Polling conducted in August 2011 by Public Policy Polling found that Sanders's approval rating was 67% making him the third-most popular senator in the country. Both the NAACP and the NHLA have given Sanders 100% voting scores during his tenure in the Senate.

On September 24, 2008, Sanders posted an open letter to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson decrying the initial bank bailout proposal; it drew more than 8,000 citizen cosigners in 24 hours.

Boomer's note: It's beyond ironic that Bernie haters keep harping on the word 'socialism.' How many billions of federal dollars were shoveled to Wall Street and large corporations & banks to bail them out? Was is the 700 billion which Paulson wanted? The Goldman Sachs execs who were put in charge (by Bush Jr.) of averting WS's meltdown even gave billions to banks which didn't even want handouts! That's worse than anything socialism has been accused of. It's US senators putting very rich men in charge of gifting very rich men (themselves included) billions of dollars for doing business badly. The banks who got billions at near zero % from the feds, were able to loan that money out (6 or 7 times) and charge high % from regular consumers. In effect, the Feds were giving near free money to banks, to enable banks to make profits off the backs of US consumers and small businesses. Elitist-coddling policies like that run prices up for everyone. But who in Washington cares about high prices for the little people? Highest medical and pharma costs in the world? Republicans don't care - the proof is: they don't even mention it on the campaign trail.

Responsible people like Bernie and myself, would not be in favor of massive welfare and bail-outs for multi-billionaire US corporations who don't do business well. If a business fails, the workers and management don't all die. They form new companies which (hopefully) do business better. Trump, Cruz and Republicans don't understand that. They think every time there's a problem with a business, they must go and get loans to prop it up. The bigger the business about the fail, the bigger the loans. Borrow, borrow, borrow, that's the Republican mantra. Bernie, on the other hand, believes in personal and corporate responsibility. That will be one of the issues of the campaign. Watch for it.

"Boomer's note: It's beyond ironic that Bernie haters keep harping on the word 'socialism.' How many billions of federal dollars were shoveled to Wall Street and large corporations & banks to bail them out? Was is the 700 billion which Paulson wanted?"

...Answer...

On December 19, 2014 the U.S. Treasury sold its remaining holdings of Ally Financial, essentially ending the program. TARP revenue has totaled $441.7 billion on $426.4 billion invested.

...Moral of the story...

A profit of $15.3 Billion. If only the US Postal Service could do as well.

[lannarebirth]

a few tidbits from Wiki: Sanders has been the ranking minority member on the Senate Budget Committee since January 2015, and previously served for two years as chair of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee.

Polling conducted in August 2011 by Public Policy Polling found that Sanders's approval rating was 67% making him the third-most popular senator in the country. Both the NAACP and the NHLA have given Sanders 100% voting scores during his tenure in the Senate.

On September 24, 2008, Sanders posted an open letter to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson decrying the initial bank bailout proposal; it drew more than 8,000 citizen cosigners in 24 hours.

Boomer's note: It's beyond ironic that Bernie haters keep harping on the word 'socialism.' How many billions of federal dollars were shoveled to Wall Street and large corporations & banks to bail them out? Was is the 700 billion which Paulson wanted? The Goldman Sachs execs who were put in charge (by Bush Jr.) of averting WS's meltdown even gave billions to banks which didn't even want handouts! That's worse than anything socialism has been accused of. It's US senators putting very rich men in charge of gifting very rich men (themselves included) billions of dollars for doing business badly. The banks who got billions at near zero % from the feds, were able to loan that money out (6 or 7 times) and charge high % from regular consumers. In effect, the Feds were giving near free money to banks, to enable banks to make profits off the backs of US consumers and small businesses. Elitist-coddling policies like that run prices up for everyone. But who in Washington cares about high prices for the little people? Highest medical and pharma costs in the world? Republicans don't care - the proof is: they don't even mention it on the campaign trail.

Responsible people like Bernie and myself, would not be in favor of massive welfare and bail-outs for multi-billionaire US corporations who don't do business well. If a business fails, the workers and management don't all die. They form new companies which (hopefully) do business better. Trump, Cruz and Republicans don't understand that. They think every time there's a problem with a business, they must go and get loans to prop it up. The bigger the business about the fail, the bigger the loans. Borrow, borrow, borrow, that's the Republican mantra. Bernie, on the other hand, believes in personal and corporate responsibility. That will be one of the issues of the campaign. Watch for it.

"Boomer's note: It's beyond ironic that Bernie haters keep harping on the word 'socialism.' How many billions of federal dollars were shoveled to Wall Street and large corporations & banks to bail them out? Was is the 700 billion which Paulson wanted?"

...Answer...

On December 19, 2014 the U.S. Treasury sold its remaining holdings of Ally Financial, essentially ending the program. TARP revenue has totaled $441.7 billion on $426.4 billion invested.

...Moral of the story...

A profit of $15.3 Billion. If only the US Postal Service could do as well.

A more accurate accounting:

https://projects.propublica.org/bailout/

[JDGRUEN]

All of this rubbish talk about corporations being the financial spark that drives the political engine might be interested to know labor unions really provide that spark.

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Top Organization Contributors

Totals on this page reflect donations from employees of the organization, its PAC and in some cases its own treasury. These totals include all campaign contributions to federal candidates, parties, political action committees (including super PACs), federal 527 organizations, and Carey committees. The totals do not include contributions to 501© organizations, whose political spending has increased markedly in recent cycles. Unlike other political organizations, they are not required to disclose the corporate and individual donors that make their spending possible. Only contributions to Democrats and Republicans or liberal and conservative outside groups are included in calculating the percentages the donor has given to either party.

https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/list.php

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To give you a head's up, six of the top ten are labor unions and they give 100% to Democrats and liberal causes.

Open the link if you dare.

Edit in:

Goldman Sachs ranks 15th with donations of $54,453,925 split 52-48 in favor of Democrats.

Service Employees International Union ranks 1st with donations of $224,273,550 split 99-1 in favor of Democrats.

This data is for all election cycles.

Unions represent the American worker so of course they will donate to the Democrats. Hardly likely to donate money to the Republicans who detest the thought that workers can unite and speak out and have some leverage in the game.

It highlights that Democrats are selling out the American people and aligning themselves with Wall Street. This is a real concern for the electorate. Republicans play one side of the fence, Democrats are trying to play both sides of the fence, Bernie has a bulldozer and is looking to drive right through the fence and demolish it.

'Feel the Bern' Comrades.

Have you been living in an outback cave for the past 30 years?

Labor unions represent the desires and wishes of the labor union leaders.

Why do you think so many states now have Right to work laws in place?

Try to catch up with the US if you insist on posting about it.

'right to work laws' are you serious? 'Right to be an indentured slave' is more accurate. Republicans have been VERY successful in ensuring Unions are removed from wage negotiations ensuring that workers are unrepresented and open to exploitation by Corporate America. What America needs is to catch up it is falling behind the rest of the developed World rapidly.

Another example of Right Wing gobbledygook that no one is buying anymore.

It is a real credit to The Bern how he is challenging this neocon gibberish. The more people who learn how neocons like you are feeding them tripe and they reject it and get on board.

'Right to Work Laws' what a sham. Absolutely laughable.

The most successful state in America Economically is the state of Texas. Texas is a right to work state and is among the lowest in union participation even considering the states large population...

Edited February 4, 2016 by JDGRUEN

[KMartinHandyman]

Texas and no state tax as well.

[lannarebirth]

And now for something completely different:

http://time.com/4206268/bernie-sanders-rabbi-1999-movie/

[CMNightRider]

After reading many of the posts supporting Bernie, I am convinced it's time to take warning labels off of everything and let stupidity work itself out of the gene pool.

[Berkshire]

After reading many of the posts supporting Bernie, I am convinced it's time to take warning labels off of everything and let stupidity work itself out of the gene pool.

If you did that, you're mostly going to eliminate Trump and Cruz supporters.

[Jingthing]

The most successful state in America Economically is the state of Texas. Texas is a right to work state and is among the lowest in union participation even considering the states large population...

Depend on how you define success.

Doesn't Texas have the highest percentage of people with no health insurance and also the most executions?

[boomerangutang]

After reading many of the posts supporting Bernie, I am convinced it's time to take warning labels off of everything and let stupidity work itself out of the gene pool.

Ladders, mattresses and aspirin bottles have warning labels, but guns and N-bombs don't. The US is an odd place. Incidentally, it costs $50 million/year to do safety checks on N-bombs. How 'bout destroy the bombs and give the $50 million to me. I've got a design for smog-cleaning apparatus for cities, which uses no electricity (only passive solar). $50 million would fund about 250,000 units. Cleaner air anyone?

[sgtsabai]

Texas is a success? You been hitting the Jose' Quervo a bit hard? I lived in Texas (unfortunately) for the beginning years of my life and the last 11 mind boggling years before escaping the mad house of rednecks, racists, and just plain dumb asses. Right to work, oh yea, right to work for less and as a slave of the employer. The right to be fired at will with no protection. It was the unions that forced Dupont in Orange to take better care of their employees than the other companies at the other refiners. They freely admitted it. None of you that worked for a living would have ever made as much as you did if it had not been for unions. And now a bit of information (not from a right wingnut rag) for those that still believe Bernie's plans will cost more than the plutocrats plans or the Republican health care plan "don't get sick, if you do die and die quick". Damn right it will cost the rich more, it should.

http://dollarsandsense.org/archives/2015/1115friedman.html

http://www.dollarsandsense.org/archives/2016/0116friedman.html

[sgtsabai]

Damn boomerangutang, I missed the last part about your smog free plan. And I've got a bridge from Los Angeles to Bangkok that some of those that believe the right wing lies should certainly be interested in, and it's cheap too.

[Jingthing]

Sanders needs a "come to Jesus" moment?

No, it's not what you think!

Sanders from a liberal Jewish perspective:

Why Bernie Sanders Needs a Come-to-Jesus Moment

...


But Sanders’s biggest problem lies in the essence of his message. When he talks about “political revolution,” he means rebuilding the New Deal coalition by winning back the white working class. He’d craft a broad alliance around issues of economic fairness. He basically wants to roll back the Reagan revolution and pick up where Franklin Roosevelt left off. Crucially, issues that have become Democratic touchstones — issues of culture and identity, of gender, race and lifestyle — become secondary.

http://forward.com/opinion/332832/why-bernie-sanders-needs-a-come-to-jesus-moment/?attribution=home-hero-item-text-1

Honestly, I might be starting to feel the Bern.

Edited February 4, 2016 by Jingthing

[Johpa]

Bernie's nonsensical socialistic ideas appeals to navie college kids, welfare recipients, less than successful adults who pay little to no taxes, and the politically far left brain dead. However, like I mentioned in a previous post, never under estimate large groups of stupid people. How else can you explain Bernie's rise in popularity.

I am two generations removed from college, have never been on welfare, ran a successful business, have always paid taxes, and yes my politics veer towards the true left yet I would guess my brain is quite alive and that I am as well educated and probably better read than you and the majority of members if TV. I find people who still believe in the clearly failed concept of free-market capitalism to be the stupid ones. At least Alan Greenspan had the courage to admit he was wrong.

Bernie's rise in popularity is easy to explain as he talks about the fallacies of neo-liberal economics and people begin to understand. I mean it is not that hard to understand that the current system allows criminal behavior in finance to go unpunished. With the help of the film "The Big Short", which is nominated for the Academy Awards best picture, his message is provided some additional momentum. And you still don't understand how his popularity has risen? Or is it that you just don't like his message because you wish to identify with the folks at the top part of the 1%. Such wanna be people remind me of the taxi drivers who worried about estate taxes. Your right, never underestimate large groups of stupid people, especially when they are wealthy and politically powerful and willing to act as financial parasites to their own society to the point of killing the host.

[sgtsabai]

Jingthing a very good and I think accurate article about what Bernie needs to improve on. One can well understand the black and other minority community's concerns. Little to nothing was done by Obama to help them up, because little to nothing was done by Obama to help anybody up but the Wall Street criminals and banksters. Bernie is right, he wants to go back to the New Deal and start to undo all the damage done by and since the Regan regime, but he has to learn to present it in terms that his plans benefit not only the white people but people of all races, and he doesn't have much time. Finding the right "ambassadors" will be extremely important, as just one can "screw the pooch". As people learn more about him, if lame stream media will let them, he will attract more and more voters. A very delicate situation is explaining how the Clinton's really screwed over the black community without angering, but it needs to be done. I wish my old friend Mickey Leland was still alive, I think he would have been great on Bernie's side, and frankly I can't imagine the man that succeeded Barbara Jordan in Congress being fooled by Hillary.

[Jingthing]

Obama has done more for GLBT civil rights issue that all previous presidents combined. So the GLBT demographic is heavily for HRC but will have no problem switching to Bernie either. The issue between HRC and Bernie is electability in the general election. HRC still looks better that way.

Edited February 4, 2016 by Jingthing