Bernie Sanders says Democrats are failing: 'The party has turned its back on the working class'

[brooklynite]

The Guardian

Senator Bernie Sanders has called on Democrats to make “a major course correction” that focuses on fighting for America’s working class and standing up to “powerful corporate interests” because the Democrats’ legislative agenda is stalled and their party faces tough prospects in this November’s elections.

The White House is likely to see his comments as a shot across the bow by the left wing of a party increasingly frustrated at how centrist Democrats have managed to scupper or delay huge chunks of Biden’s domestic policy plans.

In an interview with the Guardian, Sanders called on Joe Biden and the Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, to push to hold votes on individual bills that would be a boon to working families, citing extending the child tax credit, cutting prescription drug prices and raising the federal hourly minimum wage to $15.

Such votes would be good policy and good politics, the Vermont senator insisted, saying they would show the Democrats battling for the working class while highlighting Republican opposition to hugely popular policies.

[orwell]

1. It's not "Democrats" Bernie...

...it's Manchin and Sinema.

At least get your facts straight...

[Demsrule86]

2. Blaming the Democrats per usual Bernie...

[Hortensis]

12. :) Same as, same old for 60 years. He literally hasn't changed

his belief in all that time that Democrats were the impediment to America's joining the world socialist revolution (or more accurately century of cascades of revolutions.)

Proud to agree that's true, as far as it goes. It sure wasn't the conservatives who saved our nation from the collapse they caused and replaced desperation and privation with prosperity and equality.

"I am not now, nor have I ever been, a liberal Democrat." Bernie Sanders

[Tumbulu]

6. It's not even them, it is all the republicans united

something democrats cannot seem to do.

Circular firing squad at its best.

[Cuthbert Allgood]

13. "something democrats cannot seem to do"

Seems like you agree to some extent with Sanders.

[Tumbulu]

46. Being frustrated with some is different than blaming the democrats

for the united front the republicans use against democrats.

And then blame the democrats for.

[Hekate]

3. Of course it's all our fault, Bernie. There are no Republicans in office. Dems are the only ones...

… in government at any level. The GOPpers have all vanished. So naturally, it is the Democrats who are failing at every level.

Thank you, Bernie, for reminding me just how much you are not a trustworthy friend to us Democrats.

[GoCubsGo]

4. Oh, give me a fucking break.

The House Dems passed every goddamn thing you wanted. The Senate is 50-50, and the entire GOP is and TWO malcontent Dems are what is holding up your agenda, not the Democratic party. I am so sick of this kind of shit.

[brush]

7. Yep, he's reverting back to fighting the Democratic Party establishment.

Bernie, Bernie, Bernie, we thought after all these months of relative good behavior you'd finally gotten past all the '60s, campus radical rhetoric you've used so often in past campaigns.

Seems we were wrong.

And BTW, it's not going to persuade Manchin and Sinema to re-think their BBB stances. In fact, it may even harden their recalcitrant asses even more.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

33. Bern the establishment!!!!

[Cha]

32. No Kidding! Midterms are coming & McCarthyism

is Rearing Its Ugly Head!

Link to tweet

[George II]

38. All I can say is, "GoCubsGo"!! I agree.

[questionseverything]

5. I would love to see repubs have to vote against the expanded child tax credit

Let their constituents know repubs do not support working people trying to raise a family

Bernie is right, break bbb into small, easy to understand popular bills, even our two hold outs might come around

[The Magistrate]

8. Just Once, Sir, For Variety If Nothing Else

The man might take a shot at criticizing Republicans....

[Hekate]

11. Smelling salts would be in order, as I might faint at the shock of it. nt

[Cuthbert Allgood]

14. He criticizes Republicans.

But that probably doesn't support your narrative, so go on.

[DFW]

22. This is putting out Christmas lights on July 5th. Sound familiar? It should.

The first campaign speech of the Democratic Primary of 2024.

"I am not now, nor have I ever been, a liberal Democrat."
PS: "but no one else will listen to and quote me, so here I am again!"

[betsuni]

24. +1

[Cha]

28. lol

[Nixie]

39. Bingo!

That’s exactly right.

[Yandex]

31. Bernie, Bernie, Bernie

One of a kind. God love ya

[Hassin Bin Sober]

47. Just once. Really? You've never heard him criticize republicans?

You might get that checked out.

[sheshe2]

54. Link?

[Hassin Bin Sober]

55. .

[sheshe2]

59. Great link to your comment!

Link from the Mod Squad does not answer the question. So you have no link other than Link?

PS. I loved that show as a kid. Thanks for the memories.

[progressoid]

65. There is one in the article linked above.

he said. “They are issues that are enormously popular, and on every one of them, the Republicans are in opposition."

[sheshe2]

51. Oh Snap!

[progressoid]

66. Didn't read the article did you Sir.

he said. “They are issues that are enormously popular, and on every one of them, the Republicans are in opposition.

[crickets]

9. Sad to see a clickbait headline like this from the Guardian.

Neither the word "fail" nor "failure" appears anywhere in the article, certainly not as a comment made by Sanders. This article also injects more opinion and projection into the story than it should.

Obviously certain bills must be held back until the votes are there (BBB, Voting Rights) but I don't entirely disagree with his push to see smaller individual bills put up for vote. Make Republicans vote against those bills and own those votes that go against their constituents' interests.

[Emile]

17. +1

[comradebillyboy]

23. Can't Senator Sanders craft some bills and round up support

for his proposals. He's been in congress for quite a long time now and one would hope the Senator knows how to get his legislation to the floor for a vote. The Senator makes it seem easy.

[sheshe2]

56. Great point!

[leftstreet]

29. +1 Props for using "scupper" though

[betsuni]

44. He has described the Democratic Party as a failure before for the same reason, so not a stretch.

"The current model and the current strategy of the Democratic Party is an absolute failure." (2017)

"The business model, if you like, of the Democratic Party for the last fifteen years or so has been a failure." (2018)

[crickets]

49. Fair points, but it's not 2017. It's not 2018.

I'm sure Sanders will say plenty that people don't like (myself included) in 2022, and maybe even use the word failure, but he didn't say it in this article. It's a bad headline.

[betsuni]

52. It wasn't in quotes, not claimed that he said this exact word in this particular interview.

But he does think that, it's clear. His message is that the Democratic Party ignores the working class because it's a party of "coastal elites" beholden to the "donor class"/corporations/Wall Street/oligarchs/billionaires and because they're corrupt have the same economic policies as Republicans.

He has been saying the same thing for decades, but has been a champion for the Biden administration, which was great. Now this interview, last month ("The Democratic Party must once again become the party that stands up for the working class of this country" ), guess going back to original message. Democrats turning their back on, ignoring and failing the working class.

[uponit7771]

70. Not its not, BS said "the Democratic Party has turned its back on the working class" that's not

... factual or fair.

[Mad_Machine76]

10. #nothelping

Focus your ire on all 50 Republicans + 2 Democratic Republicans. Everybody else in on board with ya, Bern!

[betsuni]

15. "the Republican Party is winning more and more support from working people ... because in too many

ways the Democratic Party has turned its back on the working class."

Republican voters are overwhelmingly white and financially better off than Democratic voters, the actual working class. At least he didn't say "elites" and "establishment" and "status quo" and "beholden."

I still don't know what "take on" means.

"Democrats are going to have to clear the air and say to the drug companies -- and say it loudly -- we're talking about the needs of the working class -- and use the expression 'working class.'"

So, the advice is to hold votes even if you don't have the votes to pass things, speak to corporations very loudly (maybe this is what take on means), repeat "working class" a lot.

[myohmy2]

18. criticizing...

...the pukes is hopelessly futile so where can he apply criticism most effectively for change?

"...centrist Democrats have managed to scupper or delay huge chunks of Biden’s domestic policy plans."

...we all knew when they separated the BBB from the Infrastructure what was coming...are we suppose to be happy?

...are we supposed lick our wounds and go back to keeping our powder dry?...have what's left of the middle-class totally disappear?...wait another 50 years?

...Bernie speaks the truth...

...if you don't want to hear it, that's your problem...

...

[iemanja]

40. Interesting how you avoid the main point in the OP

and instead focus on things most of us agree on.

Do you agree that Democrats have abandoned the "working class"? How do you imagine that's possible when the majority of the working class comprised of women and people of color continue to support Democrats? The only part of the working class that doesn't support the Dem Party is the white Trump voter, who values white supremacy and hatred for liberals above all else. Yet Sanders continues to cling to a 20th century notion of who those people are and insists on ignoring what they themselves have to say about their political beliefs.

[myohmy2]

58. okay...

...we'll see what happens come November...

...

[W_HAMILTON]

19. Oh, shut the hell up.

[mcar]

21. What's Bernie doing about it?

[Progressive Jones]

61. Exactly. Is he working on any moderate GOP Sens? I know they're rare, but they exist. nt

[msongs]

25. let's have an F-35 in every garage bt

[Cha]

26. The Biden BOOM! Who's Paying Attention?!

Link to tweet

[Celerity]

27. in the entire article, he never uses the word failing, only time it appears is the clickbait title

[iemanja]

41. The Democratic Party has "turned its back"

on the working class, and by that he means the white working class, who happen to support Trump.

Quote: “It is no great secret that the Republican party is winning more and more support from working people,” Sanders said. “It’s not because the Republican party has anything to say to them. It’s because in too many ways the Democratic party has turned its back on the working class.”

Why is it that Sanders can't understand that the working class includes the women and people of color who support Democrats? Why does he continue to use racially bound tropes without awareness of what he's saying?
Does he really believe only white Trump voters work? What the hell does he think the rest of us do, particularly voters of color who hold the majority of low-income jobs in this country? And why would you defend such rhetoric?

[betsuni]

42. He says that Republicans are gaining support because the Democratic Party has "turned its back on

the working class." It has failed the working class.

He's used the word failure before, this is nothing new.

"The current model and the current strategy of the Democratic Party is an absolute failure. The Democratic Party needs fundamental change. What it needs is to open its doors to working people, and young people, and older people who are prepared to fight for social and economic justice. The Democratic Party must understand which side it is on. And that cannot be the side of Wall Street, or the fossil fuel industry, or the drug companies." (2017 at the People's Summit).

"The business model, if you like, of the Democratic Party for the last fifteen years or so has been a failure." (2018)

[pnwmom]

45. Worse, because "turned its back" sounds deliberate. Why doesn't he go after the R's

who are uniformly fighting everything Biden tries to do?

[progressoid]

68. He did.

From the linked article.

he said. “They are issues that are enormously popular, and on every one of them, the Republicans are in opposition.

[pnwmom]

69. Acknowledging R opposition isn't the same as claiming Biden's turned his back on them. nt

[progressoid]

74. Does he say Biden turned his back on them?

[uponit7771]

71. BS did say, "the Democratic Party has turned its back on the working class" that's not factual ...

... or fair.

That's text book bashing

[Cha]

30. McCarthy Is Already Planning To Strip Committee Assignments From Schiff, Swalwell & Omar

Link to tweet

[FakeNoose]

34. Belated holiday greetings to Bernie Sanders

Hey Bernie - if you want to criticize our Party, you have to JOIN or Party first, OK?

[progressoid]

67. Ha, that's funny.

If he joined the party, people absolutely lose their shit.

[LiberalFighter]

35. This is why I have a problem with Sanders.

And why I did not vote for him in the primary.

Getting tired of his rants.

[Cha]

57. What is he Thinking?!

Most Dems in the HOUSE have Voted FOR Biden's Helping America and her People.. Even most of the Progs.. I guess there were a few who didn't.

But Most Dems have PJB's BACK!

Meanwhile McCarthyism is Rearing It's Ugly Head for the Midterms..

Link to tweet

[liberaltrucker]

36. Must ....... not ....... comment

[48656c6c6f20]

37. The Independent Senator from Vermont

Reminds everyone that he dislikes the Democratic Party. This is news?

[Gidney N Cloyd]

43. That's helpful right now.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

48. Take it up with the so called centrists throwing a monkey wrench in gears of the agenda.

[Torchlight]

73. I hope Sanders takes it up with them too!

[TheFarseer]

50. I think he's right on one thing

They should bring each issue up for an individual vote. They always package all these things that are not necessary related and then there’s always something that one too many Senators doesn’t like so they vote against the whole package and in that way, nothing ever gets passed.

[onenote]

53. Can't do that with reconciliation.

They actually know the rules.

[myohmy2]

60. lies?

...Bernie

"He said millions of Americans were concerned with such “painful realities” as “low wages, dead-end jobs, debt, homelessness, lack of healthcare”. In that statement, he said, many working-class Americans have grown disaffected with the political system because “nothing changes” for them “or, if it does, it’s usually for the worse”."

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jan/10/bernie-sanders-democrats-failing-working-class-interview

...sounds like truth to me...

[48656c6c6f20]

62. Couldn't Biden give the Independent Senator from Vermont

An ambassadorship to Tristan da Cunha or something?

[bigtree]

63. No quote of Sanders saying 'Dems are failing' Guess he didn't say that.

...this is basically flamebait with the false, salacious title.

[uponit7771]

72. He did say, "the Democratic Party has turned its back on the working class" ... that's not factual .

... or fair and its 100% text book bashing.

I wish he wouldn't do that