Obama just tried to undercut Sanders...how big of a bus do we need?

THRUSH: I mean, when you watch this, what do you — do you see any elements of what you were able to accomplish in what Sanders is doing?

OBAMA: Well, there’s no doubt that Bernie has tapped into a running thread in Democratic politics that says: Why are we still constrained by the terms of the debate that were set by Ronald Reagan 30 years ago? You know, why is it that we should be scared to challenge conventional wisdom and talk bluntly about inequality and, you know, be full-throated in our progressivism? And, you know, that has an appeal and I understand that.

I think that what Hillary presents is a recognition that translating values into governance and delivering the goods is ultimately the job of politics, making a real-life difference to people in their day-to-day lives. I don’t want to exaggerate those differences, though, because Hillary is really idealistic and progressive. You’d have to be to be in, you know, the position she’s in now, having fought all the battles she’s fought and, you know, taken so many, you know, slings and arrows from the other side. And Bernie, you know, is somebody who was a senator and served on the Veterans’ Committee and got bills done. And so the—

THRUSH: But it sounds like you’re not buying the — you’re not buying the sort of, the easy popular dichotomy people are talking about, where he’s an analog for you and she is herself?

OBAMA: No. No.

On big dreams: JFK: "Let's go to the moon!". Sanders: "free college free health care!"

JFK: "Ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country."

Sanders: "Ask what you can get from your country!"

If Bernie was really honest and told the truth (he's not)

He would say:

(1) The post-war manufacturing boom was a unique period in American history when other countries were devastated by war while the US had its massive manufacturing capability intact. Hence there was very little global competition from countries like Japan/Korea/Germany etc. The post-war reconstruction fueled a lot of demand for American goods. This is not coming back.

(2) Jobs are increasingly being threatened by automation. Your blue collar worker isn't going to be able to compete in a world where robots can do whatever you were doing much cheaply and reliably. Amazon has robots that can move stuff around much quicker than people can find and retrieve them in the warehouses. Even jobs that seemed secure (truck drivers, legal services) are increasingly threatened by automation/software.

I was at Newark airport recently. Lots of tables with ipads to order your food and pay for your food. Now instead of having lots of waitresses to take your orders you just need people to bring your food to you and turn over the tables. Maybe you can say some people will always want the restaurant experience and will leave if they do not speak to a live human. From what I can tell there were very few empty seats.



(3) With widespread use of technology and networking (which are great scale multipliers), there's going to be a lot of disruption in many industries (in addition to those mentioned in #2). The advent of cloud computing (like Amazon's AWS) has disrupted the need for companies to build up a huge IT infrastructure (which supports lots and lots of programmers, database administrators, network administrators, etc). Airbnb is giving hotels a serious run for their money. Uber is putting taxi companies out of business. Online accounting software reducing the need for personal/small business accountants. Could MOOC (online courses) threaten community college instructors?

People who benefit are those who have the skillset and creativity to come up with something very valuable in terms of intellectual property e.g. Facebook, Google, Uber, Airbnb, etc. Unfortunately these companies employ very very few people relative to the most valuable companies in the past (like the car manufacturers) hence the gains accrue to the very few people who have the necessary skillset (or are lucky enough to join the company early).


So yeah you can promise single payer and free college (which he hasn't been honest about the cost) and breaking up the banks but that doesn't change the fact that these very powerful forces will ensure that the middle class as we know it from halcyon days is not coming back.

So why isn't Bernie being honest about why the middle class isn't coming back? (Oh, before you ask, Clinton isn't the one promising unicorns and rainbows.)

I have a plan to solve world hunger and world poverty

It won't cost you a dime though (just "somebody else&quot .

What is Bernie Sander's plan? Doesn't he care about world hunger and world poverty?

What's the difference between Sander's health care plan and a unicorn? The unicorn can fly.

Seriously, how do you promise no deductibles, no co-payments, no premiums, no controls on procedures/drugs AND promise a $5k reduction per household?

The per capita health care spend in the US is $10k. That means somebody actually has to pay for this.

Bernie flipped from "state-" to "federal-administered" health care plan. So Clinton was right ...

So it does seem that her criticism of his health care plan in the last debates was spot on.

Glad that Sanders has been learning from Clinton during these debates

Waiting for the admission that Clinton was right from the Sanders supporters ...


https://berniesanders.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Medicare-for-All.pdf

Bernie’s plan would create a federally administered single-payer health care
program. Universal single-payer health care means comprehensive coverage for all
Americans. Bernie’s plan will cover the entire continuum of health care, from
inpatient to outpatient care; preventive to emergency care; primary care to
specialty care, including long-term and palliative care; vision, hearing and oral health
care; mental health and substance abuse services; as well as prescription
medications, medical equipment, supplies, diagnostics and treatments. Patients will
be able to choose a health care provider without worrying about whether that
provider is in-network and will be able to get the care they need without having to
read any fine print or trying to figure out how they can afford the out-of-pocket
costs.

The real reason why we don't have single payer is because nobody wants to pay for it

(1) Why didn't Vermont try to fund it?
(2) Why are the young invincibles participating in the ACA exchanges below expectations? By design, their role was to subsidize the sick and elderly but apparently they decided they would rather not.
(3) Why are the unions complaining about the Cadillac tax, so much so that it's getting postponed?

If even the bluest liberal blocs would rather not pay for someone else's health care, why makes you think a much more divided America would want to do so?

Hillary used her bully pulpit to solve a problem in Flint, Michigan.

Did not say "not my problem, ask the Governor". Wow, 2 hours!

Really hope that Bernie tries out his bully pulpit on getting single payer funded in Vermont.

Please sir, may I have "30 seconds"?

LOL

yes!!!! How he is going to pay for everything????

I want to know too