@BernieSanders News Roundup 1/8-1/10/2016 | Blog#42

Here is a collection of clips and links from the best of Bernie Sanders news, January 8-10.

Why Bernie Sanders Doesn’t Want Your Vote

On the road with a man so angry he scares Democrats, too.

Bernie Sanders cannot understand why anyone is interested in Bernie Sanders. Sure, he has learned to toss a paragraph of biography into his presidential campaign speeches, but he gives that section less passion than any other. He mumbles something about growing up with an immigrant father in a tenement with three and a half rooms. When asked privately what this “half room” is, Sanders looks as if he’s never considered it. “Probably the foyer,” he says. “It had a kitchen, a living room, a bedroom, and foyer. They threw in a bathroom as well, but I didn’t count it. You know, my memory of my bathroom is that one time a fish actually came up through a toilet.” He pauses. “We did not cook it.”

And the selfies—Sanders does not enjoy the selfies. “If I had my options I’d prefer to shake hands,” he says. Wading through a selfie barrage at a Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Plymouth, N.H., he allows the local radio DJ to put a knit cap with reindeer antlers on him. “I was a little afraid it would tussle your hair,” the DJ jokes. Sanders’s hair is famously disheveled. But Sanders has no interest in fashion banter. “This is a real New England hat,” says Sanders. “We worry less about looks and more about keeping warm.” Later, visiting his campaign office in Salem, N.H., he agrees to sign a few “Bernie” T-shirts for volunteers. “This is one of the skills as president I will clearly need: writing your name on T-shirts,” he says. “Who would believe that a grown-up person is debasing T-shirts all over America?”

Bernie Sanders is more an idea than a person. An idea does not need to comb its hair. An idea can get away with skipping the task that occupies so much of most politicians’ time—phoning the rich to ask for money—by instead writing fundraising letters, which contain words that make people with money anxious, like “oligarchy.” An idea can give speeches filled with so many statistics and numbers that they’re really just white papers with hand gestures. Bernie Sanders is not a leader so much as a messenger. And his message can fit on a Post-it note: The rich are screwing you.

Read the rest of this article on Bloomberg.com


 


Hillary Clinton Made More in 12 Speeches to Big Banks Than Most of Us Earn in a Lifetime

Jan. 8 2016

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders this week assailed rivalHillary Clinton for taking large speaking fees from the financial industry since leaving the State Department.

According to public disclosures, by giving just 12 speeches to Wall Street banks, private equity firms, and other financial corporations, Clinton made $2,935,000 from 2013 to 2015

Read the rest of this article on TheIntercept.com


 

Bernie Sanders makes the case for banking at post offices

By Steve Benen, The Rachel Maddow Show

Bernie Sanders delivered a big speech in New York today on Wall Street and the economy – arguably his signature issue – and we’ll have more on his remarks on tonight’s show. But there was one topic the Vermont senator raised that’s worth singling out. From the transcript:

“[We] need to give Americans affordable banking options. The reality is that, unbelievably, millions of low-income Americans live in communities where there are no normal banking services. Today, if you live in a low-income community and you need to cash a check or get a loan to pay for a car repair or a medical emergency, where do you go?
“You go to a payday lender who could charge an interest rate of over 300 percent and trap you into a vicious cycle of debt. That is unacceptable.
“We need to stop payday lenders from ripping off millions of Americans. Post offices exist in almost every community in our country. One important way to provide decent banking opportunities for low income communities is to allow the U.S. Postal Service to engage in basic banking services, and that’s what I will fight for.”
To be sure, as Sanders supporters know, this isn’t exactly a new part of his policy platform. But it’s a really interesting idea that’s worth broader consideration.

There is, not surprisingly, a concerted push in the opposite direction. Rand Paul, for example, argued as recently as November that he’d consider doing away with the Postal Service altogether, even though the Constitution explicitly lists this as a governmental benefit (Art. 1, Sec. 8).

Read the rest of this article on MSNBC.com


 

 

Massive Online Backlash After Planned Parenthood Endorses Hillary Clinton

In a historic move yesterday, Planned Parenthood endorsed Hillary Clinton for President – its first endorsement in a presidential primary in the nonprofit’s 100-year existence.

Clinton supporters were thrilled; however, they appear to be in the minority if you look at comments on social media. After visiting the Planned Parenthood Action page and reading the comments about the endorsement, I found the people who were weighing in on the endorsement were expressing their disappointment, and the overwhelming majority of these folks were Bernie Sanders supporters.

Several commenters said they’re pulling donations from Planned Parenthood and giving them to Bernie Sanders because universal healthcare (which he is promoting) would remove the need for PP’s services.

One commenter on Rock The Slut Vote’s Facebook page wrote:

“Bank phones clogged all night with people cancelling donations. I’m not kidding. This was an absurd mistake on their part. Took me 47 minutes to get my bank to cancel my monthly donation and the tired rep said “yes..pp? You and half the world..”

Many are posting a Breitbart.com article pointing out that the daughter of PP’s president, Lily Adams is Hillary Clinton’s Iowa communications director. (Breitbart is a conservative site but the information about Lily Adams is true.)

Read the rest of this article on SamuelWarde.com


 

Black Voters DROP Hillary Clinton to Support Bernie Sanders & MLK’s Legacy


Post by Robert Reich on jobs and the economy.

The U.S. continues to add lousy jobs at a fast clip. Today’s report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed employers added 292,000 jobs in December, but theaverage hourly earnings from these jobs remained flat. Leading the pack was temp work, or jobs involving driving, health care, and construction. And the average workweek was only 34.5 hours. The underemployment rate – including part-time workers who’d prefer a full-time position and people who want to work but have given up looking — held at almost 10 percent of all working-age Americans.

We’ve got in the habit of looking only at the number of jobs created, rather than what they pay or how secure they are. So today’s jobs report will be touted as showing “big gains.” But that’s untrue. Today’s report shows that low pay and growing job insecurity continue to undermine the American workforce – generating growing economic stresses for most, along with deepening frustration and anger. Which largely explains why our politics has grown so bitter. Trump and Cruz are channeling the frustration and anger toward immigrants, Muslims, Mexicans, African-Americans, the poor, unionized workers, the government, and liberals. Bernie is trying to channel it where it belongs – toward the oligarchs and plutocrats that are corrupting our democracy and taking most of the economic gains for themselves.

See the original post on Professor Reich’ Facebook page


What Would a Ben & Jerry’s Bernie Sanders Ice Cream Taste Like?

Do you know what Democratic Socialism tastes like? Do you want to find out?

In an MSNBC interview, Ben & Jerry’s co-founder, Ben Cohen, said there are no plans for an ice cream flavor in honor of fellow Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, but he had clearly given it some thought.

“When you open up the pint, there’s this big disk of chocolate on the top, covering the entire top, and below it is just plain mint ice cream,” Cohen said. “And the disk of chocolate represents the 90% of the wealth that has gone to the top 10% over the last ten years.

Read the rest on TheForward.com


 

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