January 24, 2016

Concord Monitor Board of Contributors endorses Bernie Sanders

The Editorial Board of the Concord Monitor endorsed Hillary Clinton:

Editorial: Clinton is Democrats’ best choice
Sunday, January 24, 2016
(Published in print: Sunday, January 24, 2016)

Only one Democratic candidate for president is truly qualified to hold the job: Hillary Clinton.

No contender’s resume can come within miles of matching Clinton’s. She’s ready to take up the nation’s top job on day one and her knowledge of domestic issues and foreign policy is encyclopedic. There is also a strong chance, should Clinton become president, that the poisonous partisanship that’s paralyzed Washington will be diminished rather than increased. Why? During her eight years as a senator from New York, she proved her ability to find common ground with Republicans, accords that allowed needed legislation to advance.

http://www.concordmonitor.com/home/20636012-95/editorial-clinton-is-democrats-best-choice


I think this is bs. I think Sanders and O'Malley are very well qualified to hold the job and Clinton is lacking in so many ways, including judgment, empathy, trustworthiness, etc.

The Concord Monitor's Board of Contributors seems to agree with me. It endorsed Sanders. citing some of those things, along with positive things about Sanders

This is an example of the people at the top, the ones with the most money and power--the plutocrats, going for fellow plutocrat Hillary Clinton, while the body of the organization favors Sanders.

Monitor Board of Contributors: Let’s deliver a blow to the wealthy and powerful

By MEL GRAYKIN

For the Monitor
Sunday, January 24, 2016
(Published in print: Sunday, January 24, 2016)

..... (I omitted several paragraphs here.)

Hard-working men and women are suffering and struggling, crippled by an economic system skewed toward the interests of the very few. Trickle-down, hasn’t. Reducing the corporate tax burden and lifting regulations has not led to universal prosperity. It has only provided prosperity for those already prosperous. Our infrastructure continues to crumble, our cities decay and the streets are filled with the homeless, many of whom are the very veterans our present leadership was so eager to send to war, so full of gratitude for their service and then so quick to abandon when they returned.

...

I don’t trust Hillary Clinton. However she may speechify about breaking up the banks and helping the struggling middle and working classes, the fact is that she is an insider, a deal-maker and her campaign has been largely financed by Wall Street and major corporate interests. I don’t believe her when she claims she isn’t beholden to them. That is simply not how the system works.

(paragraph about LOTE voting omitted here)

We have got to recover control of our government while we still can, before we sink further into oligarchy. This election has presented us with an amazing opportunity that we must seize. Bernie Sanders has come from behind, energizing voters with his message. Whether you support the idea of democratic socialism or not, the fact is that Sanders is a huge danger to the interests of the wealthy and powerful. He has taken no money from them. He is truly beholden to no one but the voters.

Sanders has run a clean campaign, emphasizing what he believes and stands for, and his record supports his credibility. He has not resorted to attacks or negative ads. He strives to be genuine and to take the moral high road whenever possible. No matter what you think of his agenda, it must be acknowledged that Sanders has more integrity than any candidate we have seen in a very long time. He deserves our vote if for no other reason than to send the message that this is the kind of candidate we want.

Our next task as voters would be to get rid of the obstructionist, posturing, hypocrites presently in office and search for candidates who would work hard to truly represent our interests, not special interests or the interests of the wealthy. True public servants who would help to rebuild our infrastructure, fully fund programs for veterans and other people legitimately and desperately in need, and restructure the tax system so that the wealthy and corporations pay their fair share.

much much more at link http://www.concordmonitor.com/home/20635629-95/monitor-board-of-contributors-lets-deliver-a-blow-to-the-wealthy-and-powerful


I hope readers read both pieces and understand that Bernie Sanders should get their votes.

January 22, 2016

I've rated it false as well.

I've posted some version of the following when I reply to something claiming Hillary can get things done and Bernie cannot.

While a Senator, Hillary had zero success working with Republicans to get bills she wrote passed, except for strictly ceremonial bills, such as re-naming a post office, remembering Harriet Tubman's birthday and remembering the anniversary of the American Revolution.

She could not even get her two unconstitutional flag desecration bills passed and Republicans themselves have initiated that kind of bill again and again. Since her Senate days, she has been gratuitously disrespectful to Republicans, calling them the enemy of which she is most proud and acting a certain way during the Benghazi hearings. (For that matter, she could not even get Billarycare through a Democratic Congress when her husband was head of the Democratic Party.)

Contradistinctively, Bernie and McCain worked on a veterans' bill that passed. The Brookings Institute made a case study in working across the aisle. http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/07/how-bernie-sanders-fought-for-our-veterans-119708 He also got an amendment to the ACA he wrote passed, providing $11 billion in health care to those who would not otherwise have received it.

See also, http://www.nationaljournal.com/s/71225/bernie-sanders-is-loud-stubborn-socialist-republicans-like-him-anyway

January 20, 2016

ASTOUNDING

how little I am hearing this morning about the letter of the Inspector General.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/hillary-clinton-emails-contained-info-above-top-secret-ig-n499886

Instead, the talking heads have been babbling about polls!! Can you spell "corrupt media?"

January 19, 2016

Both Clintons are wrong. The CFMA was highly instrumental in near economic collapse

of several nations in 2008. Gramm, Leach, Blilely, aka repeal of Glass Steagall, also played a role. Both were lobbied for by the Clinton White House so that Clinton could later claim a so-called "veto proof majority." Bill refuses to take responsibility, which usually works for him.

Sanders voted against Gramm, Leach Bliley. When he voted for the CFMA in the House, the language that caused the problems in the economy was not in the bill. That language was added later, in a Senate compromise. Ultimate, the bill was wrapped into several appropriations bills, totaling 11,000 pages and rammed through.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/12778045

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1277&pid=9158

Democratic members of Congress later described a period in late September through early October during which they were excluded from negotiations over reconciling the three committee versions of H.R. 4541, followed by involvement in reaching an acceptable compromise that left some Republicans unhappy with the final version of the bill and some Democrats upset over the "process", particularly the involvement of Sen. Gramm and House Republican leadership in the negotiations.[58] Despite indications no agreement would be reached, on October 19, 2000, the White House announced its "strong support" for the version of H.R. 4541 scheduled to reach the House Floor that day.[59] The House approved H.R. 4541 in a 377-4 vote.[60]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodity_Futures_Modernization_Act_of_2000 (The entire wiki is instructive.)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-blumenthal/how-congress-rushed-a-bil_b_181926.html (2009 article)

January 15, 2016

While a Senator, she had zero success working with Republicans to get bills she wrote passed,

except for strictly ceremonial bills, such as re-naming a post office, remembering Harriet Tubman's birthday and remembering the anniversary of the American Revolution. She could not even get her two unconstitutional flag desecration bills passed.Since then, she has been gratuitously disrespectful to Republicans, calling them the enemy of which she is most proud and acting a certain way during the Benghazi hearings. (For that matter, she could not even get Billarycare through a Democratic Congress when her husband was head of the Democratic Party.)

Contradistinctively, Bernie and McCain worked on a veterans' bill that passed. The Brookings Institute made a case study in working across the aisle. http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/07/how-bernie-sanders-fought-for-our-veterans-119708 See also, http://www.nationaljournal.com/s/71225/bernie-sanders-is-loud-stubborn-socialist-republicans-like-him-anyway

Your turn: you tell me what evidence you have that Hillary can get things done with Republicans better than Bernie can.

January 8, 2016

It's been a while since my last Host/Group Appreciation Thread.

Once again, I thank the outstanding hosts of this group, living and dead, active, AWOL and otherwise occupied.

1 Autumn (head host and doing a great job)
2 Puglover (doing a great job)
3 smokey nj (doing a great job)
4 woo me with science (AwayWithout Leave and greatly missed)
5 hootinholler (doing a great job)
6 wakemeupwhenitsover (doing a great job)
7 Jackpine Radical (mourned greatly)
8 QC (doing a great job)
9 marym625 (doing a great job administering Jackpineradicals.org)
10 Prism (doing a great job)

You do an outstanding job and I/we really appreciate it.

Thanks too, to my fellow supporters of Bernie Sanders. Keep volunteering for Bernie, keep donating through OS's actblue link, here or at Jackpineradical.org and keep standing up for yourselves and for each other.

I love you.