Bernie Sanders seeks to push DNC Platform further Left

[Donkees]

Sanders has a relatively unique position in this election cycle. With about 45 percent of the pledged delegates from state primaries and caucuses behind him, Sanders has the ability to file “minority reports,” an official disagreement with the positions held by the majority of delegates at the convention.

Sanders is also pushing for the party to distance itself from the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) that many believe would undermine democracy. While Clinton’s campaign has voiced opposition to the TPP as well, Sanders claims that representatives from Clinton’s campaign are worried about embarrassing President Barack Obama, who spearheaded the TPP.

“Well, I don’t want to embarrass the president either. He’s a friend,” Sanders said. “But in a democratic society, people can have disagreements.”

Lastly, Sanders is hoping to make climate change a hardline issue for the party. He claims that the drafting committee “did not do a good job” of addressing it in the provisions. He plans to revive amendments that would ban hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, and aim to reduce carbon emissions by levying a tax on them. He called the carbon tax “essential if we’re going to transform our energy system.”

Sanders acknowledged that the platform drafting committee had made some headway by calling for an expansion of Social Security, strengthening the country’s infrastructure through investment, abolishing capital punishment, breaking up a number of banks, and closing various corporate tax loopholes.

“I think we will succeed in having the most progressive Democratic platform in history, but what is more important is making sure that platform becomes implemented,” he said.

https://www.rt.com/usa/348803-sanders-nags-dnc-progressive/

[RoccoR5955]

1. He needs to push it ALL THE WAY Left

to the point where we want to get rid of the scourge of Capitalism!

[Jennylynn]

2. Get 'em Bernie!

[Pharaoh]

3. I Love this man!

Will follow him wherever he is going!

[eridani]

4. Bernie Sanders: Democrats Need to Wake Up

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/06/29/opinion/campaign-stops/bernie-sanders-democrats-need-to-wake-up.html

We need to fundamentally reject our “free trade” policies and move to fair trade. Americans should not have to compete against workers in low-wage countries who earn pennies an hour. We must defeat the Trans-Pacific Partnership. We must help poor countries develop sustainable economic models.

We need to end the international scandal in which large corporations and the wealthy avoid paying trillions of dollars in taxes to their national governments.

We need to create tens of millions of jobs worldwide by combating global climate change and by transforming the world’s energy system away from fossil fuels.

We need international efforts to cut military spending around the globe and address the causes of war: poverty, hatred, hopelessness and ignorance.

The notion that Donald Trump could benefit from the same forces that gave the Leave proponents a majority in Britain should sound an alarm for the Democratic Party in the United States. Millions of American voters, like the Leave supporters, are understandably angry and frustrated by the economic forces that are destroying the middle class.

In this pivotal moment, the Democratic Party and a new Democratic president need to make clear that we stand with those who are struggling and who have been left behind. We must create national and global economies that work for all, not just a handful of billionaires.

[Segami]

5. kick