Sanders outperforms Clinton in general-election matchups

The NBC/WSJ/Marist polls also show that Sanders outperforms Clinton in hypothetical general-election matchups in these two presidential battleground states - something other surveys have found, too.

In Iowa:

Clinton leads Trump by eight points among registered voters (48 percent to 40 percent), but Sanders is ahead of him by 13 (51 percent to 38 percent);
Cruz tops Clinton by four points (47 percent to 43 percent), but Sanders beats him by five (47 percent to 42 percent);
And up Rubio is up by five points over Clinton (47 percent to 42 percent), while he's tied with Sanders (44 percent to 44 percent).

In New Hampshire:

Clinton is ahead of Trump by just one point (45 percent to 44 percent), but Sanders tops him by 19 points (56 percent to 37 percent);
Cruz beats Clinton by four points (48 percent to 44 percent), but Sanders leads him by another 19 points (55 percent to 36 percent);
And Rubio bests Clinton by 12 points (52 percent to 40 percent), while Sanders leads him by nine points (50 percent to 41 percent).

The primary reason why Sanders tests better in these general-election matchups is due to his stronger performance with independent voters.

Thursday, December 10, 2015

Expanding on his ambitious plan to combat climate change, Sen. Bernie Sanders introduced the Climate Protection and Justice Act today to establish a price on carbon pollution. The legislation would cut total emissions 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050, fund historic investments in energy efficiency and sustainable energy technologies, return billions of dollars to working families and protect the most vulnerable communities.

“What the scientists tell us is that we have a relatively short window of opportunity to bring about the fundamental changes that we need in our global energy system to transform our energy system,” Sanders said on the Senate floor today. “It is absolutely vital that we do what many economists tell us we must and that is put a price on carbon. It is the simplest and most direct way to make the kind of cuts in carbon pollution that we have got to make if we are going to successfully transition away from fossil fuel to energy efficiency and sustainable energy.”

Sanders’ legislation would return billions of dollars to working families to ensure that the fossil fuels industry doesn’t pass on unfair rate hikes. Eighty percent of revenue would be transferred from big polluters to the middle class.

The legislation creates a Climate Justice Resiliency Council, which will distribute $20 billion a year in block grants to areas disproportionately affected by climate change. The bill also sets aside $3 billion each year for energy efficiency investments for towns, cities and low-income families. Other aspects of the bill include: protections for the manufacturing sector from unfair international competition; roughly $1 billion in annual investments to reduce costs for the agricultural sector while also reducing pollution; and reforms to dramatically increase energy efficiency and improve resiliency of the electrical grid.