Democratic Primary Fucktussle!

[ishtat]

Watch the fundraising over the next little while. Biden and Warren are going to struggle.

The best outcome for the D's would be for both Biden and Warren to drop out (tho' I don't think they will)

Both Biden and Sanders and probably Warren would lose against Trump - too much baggage.

 

[Ramone45]

Because they want to provide people with the tools to earn a living wage and provide for themselves and their families? That's an interesting definition of "opposed to traditional American values". Also a completely, utterly wrong definition. Read a history book or two. The myth of rugged American individualism is just that - a myth. Prior to the New Deal, it was fairly common for communities to provide help where needed - when they could. If they couldn't, widespread poverty reigned. We don't want to go back there. Besides, while it's certainly a nice thing to do, no one should be expected to always have to bail out their neighbours when hard times hit.



How so? Exactly how do you believe progressives "don't trust people to care for themselves"?

Because we support affordable health care? Listen, if I need surgery, I don't want to have to do it myself! Would you?

Or because we support a living wage? That's the exact opposite of not trusting people to care for themselves; it's ensuring that they CAN do that.

Or because we oppose reproductive freedom? Oh wait, we don't; your side does.

Or because we support a safety net? The whole point of a safety net is ensuring people don't end up on the street when they hit a patch of bad luck. The cold hard truth is, for most people, there does come a point where they need help. To acknowledge that isn't "communistic" in any way.



Sure we do. What I'm all but certain you're referring to is tax policy proposals that have absolutely nothing to do with "hard earned resources".

I think they go beyond giving the people the tools. They want to actually provide a s0-called "living wage".
I think charity is good. And clearly, I understand that, although I've worked extremely hard and smart to attain my position in life, I have an obligation to help those less fortunate than I am. I just don't want to do it under the threat of the gun.
Governmental "charity" is an entitlement and encourages long term dependence. Being supported by your neighbors encourages people to become self-sufficient.
Social Security is an example of how progressives don't trust people to take care of themselves. It is the government saying "We don't trust you with your own money or your ability to plan for the future. We are going to take it from you and maybe we will give you a little bit of it back at some point if we haven't pissed it away on something else other that what it was intended for". I'll bet if I had half the money I've paid to Social Security over the course of my life, I would be in debt free retirement.
Disease care is a serious issue. Very complex. Americans lead an incredibly unhealthy lifestyle, and that has to be acknowledged as a contributing factor to this crisis. We are fat and sedentary. We utilize disease care too much. But yes, we have to work on disease care costs. I think it can be done privately in conjunction with governmental oversight.
I support reproductive freedom. We need to be more responsible and not bring children into the world whom we don't have the resources to support. I think birth control is already cheap and available. I think abortion should be rare, but available and safe.
I don't know what to say about "living wage". I do think it's absurd for anyone to think that they can support a family working at McDonalds. And I can't think of any politicians to handle this issue. Bernie and most of them haven't ever earned a paycheck.
There does need to be a safety net. It's not working now. Homelessness appears to be increasing. I think we need to educate our citizens to approach life as though there was no safety net.

 

[JackLuis]

‘Get on the Bernie train’: Sanders’ supporters celebrate New Hampshire primary win

Supporters of Bernie Sanders let loose with an ecstatic roar late Tuesday when the first of US networks called the all-important New Hampshire primary for their leftist icon.

“It feels amazing!” Ayesha Wadhawan, 26, a tutor who volunteered for the Sanders campaign in New Hampshire, gushed as friends hugged each other and slapped high-fives at a Sanders watch party in Manchester.

Enjoy it while you can, Bernie Bro's. Super Tuesday and the Billionaires cometh!

 

[YDB95]

I have an obligation to help those less fortunate than I am. I just don't want to do it under the threat of the gun.

If all people were angels, we wouldn't need any laws. (And that's a telling choice of words, too - what is it with right wingers thinking everyone else is coming after them with a gun? Projection, maybe?)

Governmental "charity" is an entitlement and encourages long term dependence.

There is no evidence of that. Most people who go on welfare have no intention of staying there.

Social Security is an example of how progressives don't trust people to take care of themselves. It is the government saying "We don't trust you with your own money or your ability to plan for the future. We are going to take it from you and maybe we will give you a little bit of it back at some point if we haven't pissed it away on something else other that what it was intended for".

You obviously don't know how widespread poverty was among the elderly before Social Security was created. Originally there was a problem to be solved - and the solution worked, which is why the Republicans can't destroy Social Security at this point, much as they would like to.

I'll bet if I had half the money I've paid to Social Security over the course of my life, I would be in debt free retirement.

It is very, very easy to say that sort of thing. For most people, it just isn't true.

But yes, we have to work on disease care costs. I think it can be done privately in conjunction with governmental oversight.

That is essentially what single payer is.

I don't know what to say about "living wage". I do think it's absurd for anyone to think that they can support a family working at McDonalds.

Perhaps. But the fact is, a 40 hour work week at minimum wage isn't even enough to support one person. If you want to discourage freeloaders and encourage working for a living, the first thing to do is to ensure that working actually will earn a living.

And I can't think of any politicians to handle this issue. Bernie and most of them haven't ever earned a paycheck.

Actually most of them have at one time or another. Donald Trump certainly has not, though.

There does need to be a safety net. It's not working now. Homelessness appears to be increasing.

That's because of decades of cuts to the safety net that have not been accompanied by any efforts to address the root causes of homelessness. A living wage would be a damn good start. Increased spending on mental health services would be a plus as well.

 

[JackLuis]

CEO who ran Goldman Sachs during financial crisis warns Bernie Sanders will ‘ruin’ economy

“The first thing you need to know about Goldman Sachs is that it’s everywhere,” the Rolling Stone’s Matt Taibbi wrote in 2009. “The world’s most powerful investment bank is a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money. In fact, the history of the recent financial crisis, which doubles as a history of the rapid decline and fall of the suddenly swindled dry American empire, reads like a Who’s Who of Goldman Sachs graduates.”

Former Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein expressed concern over the rise of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., after he won Tuesday’s New Hampshire Democratic primary.

Sanders edged out former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg Tuesday in the Granite State after racking up the most votes in last week’s Iowa caucuses.

Blankfein, who supported former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election, responded to the news by firing off his first tweet in months.

“If Dems go on to nominate Sanders, the Russians will have to reconsider who to work for to best screw up the US,” he tweeted. “Sanders is just as polarizing as Trump AND he’ll ruin our economy and doesn’t care about our military. If I’m Russian, I go with Sanders this time around.”

And so it starts!

Like Lloyd hasn't caused a few oopsies in his time.

 

[JackLuis]

Elizabeth Warren says AG William Barr must ‘resign or face impeachment’

Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Wednesday called on Attorney General William Barr to resign for “abusing official power to protect political friends” after Barr overruled career federal prosecutors to reduce the recommended prison sentence for Roger Stone, a longtime confidant to President Donald Trump.

“Donald Trump is shredding the rule of law in this country. His AG overruled career prosecutors to reduce the sentence for his buddy Roger Stone.”
—Sen. Elizabeth Warren

And she persisted!

“Congress must act immediately to rein in our lawless attorney general,” tweeted Warren, a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate. “Barr should resign or face impeachment. And Congress should use spending power to defund the AG’s authority to interfere with anything that affects Trump, his friends, or his elections.”

“Trump and Barr’s conduct has no place in our democracy,” Warren added. “To end it, Congress must act—and the American people must hold them accountable in November.”

Liz is still relevant!

 

[JackLuis]

Ann McFeatters: A Bloomberg nomination no longer seems so far-fetched

WASHINGTON — Inquiring minds want to know. Is Michael “Mike” Bloomberg for real? Could he be elected president in November?

Probably not. But anything is possible. Keep an eye on him.

Bloomberg made $60 billion inventing a computer terminal that tracks stocks. Like Donald Trump, who was a New Yorker for life until his tax law lowered his state deductions, causing him to move to Florida which has no state income tax, Bloomberg also is from New York. The two men loathe each other. And Bloomberg intends to spend $1 billion to try to defeat Trump, whether he’s the Democratic Party nominee or not.

That is the thing. The Democratic Party is so fractured between liberals and establishment types that it wants to mess this election up its own way. It does not want an “outsider” (Bloomberg was a Republican when he was the three-term mayor of New York City) coming in and “buying” the nomination.

But Bloomberg is everything Trump is not — civil, thoughtful, visionary and self-made (Trump inherited his money and filed six times for bankruptcy). He is liberal on social issues and conservative on economic issues. Many think it would be refreshing to have a tantrum-free adult as president.

Bloomberg has also led national efforts for new gun laws and against smoking and sugary soft drinks, which undoubtedly would lead Trump to dub him a national nanny.

Bloomberg boasts that as mayor he cut the number of uninsured New Yorkers by 40% and increased the graduation rate by 42%. He helped rebuild the city after 9/11.

So he's fine with cleaning up after Rudy then?

 

[JackLuis]

This CEO may be ‘biggest corporate socialist in America today’ — but not in the way you think he is

Interesting viewpoint here.

Sen. Bernie Sanders called JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon the “biggest corporate socialist in America today” in a recent ad.

He may have a point – beyond what he intended.

With his Dimon ad, Sanders is referring specifically to the bailouts JPMorgan and other banks took from the government during the 2008 financial crisis. But accepting government bailouts and corporate welfare is not the only way I believe American companies behave like closet socialists despite their professed love of free markets.

In public, CEOs like Dimon attack socialist planning while defending free markets.

But inside JPMorgan and most other big corporations, market competition is subordinated to planning. These big companies often contain dozens of business units and sometimes thousands. Instead of letting these units compete among themselves, CEOs typically direct a strategic planning process to ensure they cooperate to achieve the best outcomes for the corporation as a whole.

This is just how a socialist economy is intended to operate. The government would conduct economy-wide planning and set goals for each industry and enterprise, aiming to achieve the best outcome for society as a whole.

 

[Ramone45]

If all people were angels, we wouldn't need any laws. (And that's a telling choice of words, too - what is it with right wingers thinking everyone else is coming after them with a gun? Projection, maybe?)


There is no evidence of that. Most people who go on welfare have no intention of staying there.


You obviously don't know how widespread poverty was among the elderly before Social Security was created. Originally there was a problem to be solved - and the solution worked, which is why the Republicans can't destroy Social Security at this point, much as they would like to.



It is very, very easy to say that sort of thing. For most people, it just isn't true.



That is essentially what single payer is.


Perhaps. But the fact is, a 40 hour work week at minimum wage isn't even enough to support one person. If you want to discourage freeloaders and encourage working for a living, the first thing to do is to ensure that working actually will earn a living.



Actually most of them have at one time or another. Donald Trump certainly has not, though.



That's because of decades of cuts to the safety net that have not been accompanied by any efforts to address the root causes of homelessness. A living wage would be a damn good start. Increased spending on mental health services would be a plus as well.

Nice talking with you. Very thought provoking. Good wishes to you personally.

 

[Ziggins]

The Democratic Party is now sharply divided by social class.

Middle class and up go on and on about voting for the nominee, whoever that is. Poor are more likely to say Bernie or fuck it, we might as well keep Trump.

 

[JackLuis]

Amy Klobuchar feeds trolls with pro-life ‘big tent’ talk

Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) on Tuesday said that the Democratic Party should be a “big tent” for people of different beliefs, including those who oppose abortion rights.

Klobuchar, who is running as a centrist candidate and alternative to Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), said while she is “pro-choice”…she doesn’t think the party should shut out Democrats who disagree.

“There are pro-life Democrats, and they are part of our party, and I think we need to build a big tent,” she said.

“I think we need to bring people in instead of shutting them out.”

 

[Ramone45]

Amy Klobuchar feeds trolls with pro-life ‘big tent’ talk

What's wrong with that? Is she wrong?

 

[YDB95]

What's wrong with that? Is she wrong?

I don't know what JackLuis was referring to about "feeding the trolls", but Sen. Klobuchar is doing a good job here of throwing a wrench in the works on the mainstream media's tendency to paint the Democrats as intolerant of dissent within their ranks. (For my part, I have no problem with anti-choices joining our party as long as they understand they're outvoted on that issue.)

 

[JackLuis]

I don't know what JackLuis was referring to about "feeding the trolls", but Sen. Klobuchar is doing a good job here of throwing a wrench in the works on the mainstream media's tendency to paint the Democrats as intolerant of dissent within their ranks. (For my part, I have no problem with anti-choices joining our party as long as they understand they're outvoted on that issue.)

I was just pointing out that there are differences in Dem's. The "Troll Feeding" line was the authors, not mine.

This primary is just getting started. By Super Tuesday it will be in full on Dem eat Dem!

 

[JackLuis]

WATCH: Elizabeth Warren wallops Mike Bloomberg as the gloves come off in 2020 Democratic primary

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) blasted former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg as the distinctions between a smaller field of 2020 candidates sharpen.

The Massachusetts senator was interviewed on MSNBC’s “The Last Word” by host Lawrence O’Donnell.

O’Donnell asked Warren about comments by Bloomberg that suggested the end of housing redlining — the illegal practice of racial discrimination by banks — was responsible for the Great Recession.

The host played the recently unearthed clip of Bloomberg’s comments and asked Warren to respond.

“What the mayor is really saying is that this crisis could have been averted if the banks had just been able to discriminate against black and brown people more,” Warren said.

No gloves for Liz!

 

[JackLuis]

The Price of a Bloomberg Nomination Is Too Damn High

In the wake of Donald Trump’s 2016 victory, Democrats made a concerted effort to fortify their party’s pro-democracy and anti-corruption bona fides. Their opening salvo in the 2018 midterm campaign was the “Better Deal Agenda,” a suite of policies aimed at combating concentrated corporate power and the “armies of lobbyists” that had given big money a “stranglehold on Washington.” The first bill Nancy Pelosi’s majority passed upon taking the House was a package of voting-rights expansions and campaign-finance reforms designed to ensure that our “government works for the public interest, the people’s interest, not the special interest.” And throughout the Trump era, Democrats have hammered the president for helping the superrich translate their economic power into the political variety.

But the party may let a megabillionaire openly purchase its 2020 nomination anyway.

Michael Bloomberg is not a monster. By the standards set by other megabillionaires, he’s probably closer to a saint. While his fellow plutocrats have concentrated their political investments on accelerating the upward redistribution of wealth, Bloomberg has supplied ample resources to combating gun violence, checking Donald Trump’s power, and averting catastrophic climate change. His work on the latter issue has been especially valuable. If he would like to continue making recompense for the uglier aspects of his record by bankrolling the resistance to authoritarian ethno-nationalism in the U.S., Democrats should let him purchase their indulgences. But they must keep their party’s soul out of his price range.

 

[JackLuis]

Nevada caucus official: My state’s caucus plans are ‘horrendous’

On CNN Saturday, anchor Victor Blackwell got Nevada Caucuses site leader Seth Morrison to concede that the caucus system — even with its expanded early voting — was broken beyond repair and needs to be abolished.

“I strongly encourage early voting, because at least it’s on a piece of paper,” said Morrison. “They’ve done ranked choice voting in a few states. The software exists, the process exists.”

“Early voting in Nevada starts in a couple of hours,” said Blackwell. “There are people who would go and rank their choices on a ballot, hand it over to the party, and have no idea next week who they actually voted for?”

No wonder Dem's are in Disarray!

 

[KeithD]

It's sort of self-defeating for the Democrats to start the primary season off with the weird state primaries--two strange caucus arrangements and two pretty much all-white states. Damage is done unfairly before they even get to more straightforward and representative Super Tuesday primaries. But it's what it is.

 

[JackLuis]

When is the Convention? It's still a long way off, by the campaign trail.

 

[JackLuis]

If the Democrats nominate Mike Bloomberg, we’re facing four more years of Trump

As I’ve argued many times before, Trump’s base of support is baked in. He can’t build on it, because most Americans think he’s a pig. But it’s also not likely to shrink, since the fact that he’s a pig is what his voters like about him. So Trump’s not going to waste a whole lot of time and effort trying to persuade anyone to vote for him in 2020. Instead, the key is to convince voters who don’t like him not to vote at all.

 

[JackLuis]

Latinx Group Mijente’s First-Ever Presidential Endorsement: Bernie Sanders

“Sen. Bernie Sanders has a long history of progressive stances and consistently remains on the side of working people.”

Progressive Latinx group Mijente on Tuesday announced its first ever presidential endorsement, for Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, just days before Nevadans caucus in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary on Saturday.

“Something that’s very appealing to people is his consistency and the concept of palabra,” Mijente’s director and cofounder Marisa Franco told Politico. “And what that means in our community is giving people your ‘word.'”

Bernie does what he says, unlike some people!

 

[KeithD]

Latinx Group Mijente’s First-Ever Presidential Endorsement: Bernie Sanders



Bernie does what he says, unlike some people!

Well, he consistently says what he says. He hasn't actually done much of anything yet.

 

[JackLuis]

Is Mike Bloomberg Ready For His Close-Up?

The Democratic party is about to take a hard look at Mayor Mike.

Only in a campaign season in which most of the country is desperate to replace the incumbent president could a cranky, short, old, Jewish billionaire with limited retail campaigning skills and serious baggage among African Americans, women and young voters realistically hope to become a competitive candidate for the Democratic nomination.

And yet, here we are.

We shall see tonight how well Mike is accepted by 'real Democrats".

 

[KeithD]

There for a minute I thought your were referencing Bernie Sanders. But he's just a millionaire.

 

[JackLuis]

Hillary Clinton denies she could be Bloomberg's running mate: 'Oh no!'

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday reportedly shut down rumors that she might consider serving as Michael Bloomberg’s running mate if he were to win the Democratic presidential nomination.

"Oh no! I'm just waiting and watching as this plays out. I will support whoever the nominee is,” she told the moderator while in Puerto Rico for a Clinton Global Initiative event.

Last week, the 2016 Democratic nominee played down the idea that she could be a vice presidential pick, telling Ellen DeGeneres on her show, "Well, that's not going to happen, but no.”

HILLARY CLINTON SAYS HER JOINING DEMOCRATIC TICKET AS VP NOMINEE IS 'NOT GOING TO HAPPEN'

In the interview last Thursday she clarified, “I never say never because I do believe in serving my country -- but it's not going to happen,” citing when former President Obama asked her to be his secretary of state after their hard-fought primary race in 2008.

Rumour or tickling?