2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumAIDS activists blast Bernie's campaign for "using and abusing" them in the publicity
for a meeting they had, which the Bernie campaign falsely portrayed as a meeting to discuss CA's drug pricing ballot initiative, ahead of the CA primary.
They were already upset with him for canceling a meeting to discuss their concerns, and then having to be pushed to reschedule. But when the meeting finally happened things only got worse.
The campaign put out a press release lying about the AIDS activists support of a CA drug pricing initiative that Bernie has endorsed and implying that this was a focus of the meeting. One of the leaders said he felt used and abused by the Sanders campaign. They havent endorsed the initiative -- they actually have serious concerns about it -- and Bernie knows that.
The activists are worried that it is a badly written law that may have the unintended consequence of preventing the state from buying critical AIDS drugs.
http://americablog.com/2016/05/aids-activists-blast-sanders-lying-meeting.html
Sanders had agreed to the meeting a while ago, then abruptly canceled; incurring the wrath of AIDS activists after refusing to reschedule. The criticism apparently grew to be too much and Sanders was forced to relent and hold the meeting.
Heres the text of what Peter Staley wrote:
Its a complicated issue that John Weir gets into in detail here. But what isnt complicated is that a group of Americas top HIV activists sat down with Bernie Sanders and told him unequivocally that they opposed this initiative. Sanders turned around and lied about them, and their alleged support for this initiative, ostensibly to endear himself to key organizations in California that can help him in the upcoming primary race in that state.
SNIP
Its bad enough that Sanders blew off the AIDS community last month, and that up until a month or so ago Sanders didnt even mention AIDS on the rather-short-on-substance LGBT page on his campaign site (the page was only beef upped after I publicly complained about its paucity). But for Sanders to take a community thats already ticked at him, that hes already dissed, and then use his meeting with them to curry favor with key political allies in a primary state is the height of the very Machiavellian politics that Sanders claims to eschew.
John Weirs public Facebook post:
https://www.facebook.com/john.weir.7796420/posts/10154884037947519
They were already upset with him for canceling a meeting to discuss their concerns, and then having to be pushed to reschedule. But when the meeting finally happened things only got worse.
The campaign put out a press release lying about the AIDS activists support of a CA drug pricing initiative that Bernie has endorsed and implying that this was a focus of the meeting. One of the leaders said he felt used and abused by the Sanders campaign. They havent endorsed the initiative and Bernie knows that.
The activists are worried that it is a badly written law that may have the unintended consequence of preventing the state from buying critical AIDS drugs.
Perogie
(687 posts)XemaSab
(60,212 posts)It's true! I read it here on DU!
Would you rather have a racist, sexist homophobe or someone who loves all the people of the earth so much that she let all of them--Chinese, Nigerians, Saudis, and Russians alike--have access to her email for years?
She's a humanitarian!
Perogie
(687 posts)pnwmom
(108,925 posts)the purpose of the meeting and their position on a key bill that could impact critical care for AIDS patients, in order to benefit his campaign.
pnwmom
(108,925 posts)http://www.washingtonblade.com/2016/05/12/clinton-meets-with-hivaids-activists/
According to the statement from HIV/AIDS activists, delegates in the meeting also raised concerns about pharmaceutical prices and global access to medicine, including problems that result from trade deals and intellectual property law.
The activists requested that Clinton commit to stop the Trans-Pacific Partnership and similar trade agreements in addition to stopping U.S. pressure on India to change the patent laws, which they say allow it to produce generic medications. In response, Clinton reaffirmed her opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership particularly on the grounds of its intellectual property provisions regarding pharmaceuticals, according to the statement. Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign, praised Clinton in a statement for taking part in the meeting, saying it demonstrates her commitment to fighting HIV/AIDS.
It is essential that our next president be an outspoken champion for ending the HIV and AIDS epidemic, Griffin said. Secretary Clintons meeting today with advocates underscores her commitment to do everything she can to help people living with and affected by HIV, and to work with us to end the epidemic and the continued stigma around HIV.