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Great to see coverage
Thanks for this coverage of Sen. Sanders in Liberty Square. Without this I wouldn't have known he was there. I would have loved to see him again. Go BERNIE
Stramge
A socialist in Liberty Sq!
Stramge imdeed...
Stramge imdeed...
thimk
thimk
Bern, baby, Bern
He's going to be in Amherst tonight, I believe. This is just about the only time I regret not having a car, because I'd love to go see him.
I can sum up his speech for you
WALL ST. WALL ST. WALL ST.
actually
He talked about the importance of education and of big turnouts at elections.
P.S. Wall St. is bad, though, you're right about that.
"Wall St." is bad?
Do you even know what "wall st." is? What kind of work do you do? Your company has never used public financing? Your city/state has never issued bonds?
how is any of that relevant
Why does it matter to you what I do or how my employer, city (Boston, by the way), state (Massachusetts - unless you mean emotional, in which case I'd describe it as "deeply cranky"), have been corrupted by the corrosive influence of big money?
Do YOU benefit directly from Wall Street shenanigans? Are you one of those fabled billionaires? No wonder you're sore about Sanders. If, however, you're a bit more of an average joe, you might find that his policies hold some benefit for you.
The politics of the past few decades has insisted too much on exploiting ideological differences, which are meaningless, and which ensure that an unfair status quo continues to exist: rich getting richer, poor getting poorer. Focusing on policy above all else - as Sanders has done - is rare, and laudable on its own; it just so happens that I agree with many of those policies, so I am indeed feelin' the Bern.
Just missed him
I was right around the corner and I had no idea he was here. I would have loved to have met him. He's my leader in the clubhouse at the moment.
i hope he wins too
My wife and i are going to quit our jobs, go back to school for free, enjoy free medical care and smoke the bejeebers out of everything in sight - for medical reasons of course so thst will be free too. My only concern is that if he puts all the 1 percenters in jail,who's going to pay for all our free stuff.
But it will be all good
But it will be all good because he's going to be breaking up those big ole banks. Just try not to work too hard because your money will become his money. Plus how great will it be when weed is legal and you and your kids can get a groovy contact high at public parks.
Why not?
That's a dumb thing to be concerned about since going to jail doesn't absolve you from your taxes and corporate positions are zero-sum: if you fire your CEO in jail, you still have to hire another CEO and pay them a good salary.
Also, if you can quit your jobs, smoke wed, and go back to school without any repercussions in life while knowing that your healthcare will remain solid and that's what you want to do, then why wouldn't you? You say it like its a bad thing.
It's like battered wife syndrome. The current system has sucked so badly for so long that when someone comes along and tells you they can put in place a plan that many others have adopted and loved...you're reaction is to mock them and ridicule the very notion that your life could be full of so many improvements and choices as if what you have now is better than even the risk that it could get better.
The only way out of that thinking is to snap out of it or suicide. With Trump as the likely other option this fall, I worry half this country is considering the political equivalent of the latter.
what's wrong with that?
I'm a big Bernie Supporter. Why?
It's not because I totally believe in what he's saying.. but I look at the alternatives.. Hillary or Trump.
I've just been following politics for a very long time, and we have not moved on as a nation socially in many decades now. You can read history going back to the 1970s and you'll see that we're still debating the same issues today as we did back then. What does that say about us as a nation? We cannot move on nor continue like this. It's always three steps forward, two steps back. Always.
I've also come to the determination that what both the Democrats* and Republicans are doing today just no longer works for us. It's time for some radical change in the way we run as a country and what we provide for our citizens.
It's never been done before here, and maybe it's time to take on some vastly different ideas. It seems to work well for many European nations, why can't we try also? Whats the worst that can happen? Bankrupt us? I think the banks and all those sweet heart deals for Corporations are doing a fine job at that already. So what's the difference? not much, except the average citizen would benefit rather than big business and big banks. I'd rather have free healthcare for all, than yet another bank bailout where no one benefits except the banks.
This is why I support Bernie Sanders and why you should to. You want change, right? It's time to move forward, not backwards.
(* And yes I'm aware Bernie is running as a Democrat but his platform is very different than the rest of the party.)
Democrat, yes.
But people think he's a capital S socialist when he's really just a New Deal-er. That's A-ok in my book.
Would it even matter if he was a capital-S Socialist?
I think it would be delightfully ironic if capital-S Socialism lost all it's former stigma because of how often Republicans have been labeling every Democrat to the right of Nixon as the world's biggest Marxist.
Not to me it wouldn't.
But, unfortunately, the history of this country prevents it from not thinking of socialist/m as a dirty word. It's synonymous with a lot of things that, in reality, are antithetical to what it's all about. But the naysayers don't really care to read up on it, anyway.
And...
people like to talk about how "right" the Republican party has moved...If you recall not too long ago, Bill Clinton said "the era of big government is over" now enter Obama, and potentially Sanders?
Also, you can't compare European continues to the US. Denmark has a population of 5.6 million. Sweden has a population of 9.5 million. US? 315 million. What works in Europe will not work in the US...
Bernie is far more radical than people think:
1963-64: He joined the Young People’s Socialist League, the youth wing of the Socialist Party USA. Sanders also organized for a communist front, the United Packinghouse Workers Union, which at the time was infiltrated by hardened Communist agents and under investigation by the House Committee on Un-American Activities.
1981: As Burlington’s new mayor, Sanders announced he didn’t believe in private charities and favored disbanding them, explaining government should be responsible for all social welfare and charity.
http://www.investors.com/politics/editorials/bernie-sanders-democratic-s...
Socialism is not "government taking a larger role" in running the economy. Socialism is the government controlling the economy. Bernie's vision would never work. At a time when a majority of Americans believe "big government" is one of more important issues we face OR the record low approval rating of Congress, why would anyone think more government would solve problems? Bigger larger, more encompassing Federal Government is the problem, not the answer.
The private sector and a free market economy will always be more efficient and cost effective than Government. Ex: The Federal government could hardly establish the Obamacare website, it was a utter failure! Versus Amazon.com, you can buy any product you want and have it shipped to you in 24 hours. A market economy is one in which whoever makes a decision is the one who pays for that decision. It forces people to be sure that what they want to do is really worth what it is going to cost.
Bernie is certainly not the change I want...
No, it's not
Socialism is perfectly capable of having private markets in it. You might be on about a specific type of socialism, but please don't parrot Stalinism like it's the only model of socialism.
Might you take a look into Libertarian Socialism, for example.
So ...
Considering that Bernie is still to the right of Eisenhower ...
Also considering that Socialist Denmark is the best place on earth for business with several other socialist democracies close behind, I'd think you'd be putting together a business plan to get a head start on an improved economy!
1,2,3
1-grow a sense of humor people
2- personally i like the guy but if you think there is gridlock now, vote for Bernie and it will be the beltway at rush hour in a sudden ice storm
3- Europe's a lovely place to visit. Move there and tell me how wonderful it is to live and work in. There's a reason people aren't lining up to get into denmark and it ain't the weather.
Oh Really?
There once was a woman from the trailer park
Where life was so bad she thought it's even better in Denmark.
But then went astray, picking up a Boston accent on the way
When she found that even Meffah is better than Denmah.
Or some such.
limericks are an art
And you are no artist.
The gridlock in the
The gridlock in the legislature could not get any worse than it already is. Hopefully enough people finally get sick of the Republicans refusing to do their jobs and vote a Democratic majority back into the senate. If people like Ted Cruz and Mitch McConnell follow through with their vows to block any SCOTUS nominee, there is a good chance of that happening.
YES!
All the Dems want is to compromise, get sensible legislation passed, and get along with everyone. If only the GOP wasn't so evil and obstructionist, great folks like Harry Reid could get things done.
Please. Thanks to the 24hr news cycle, twitter, etc, compromise is out of the question for both parties, as it looks like weakness and can be exploited in reelection campaigns. Considering 99.99% of pols are more concerned with keeping their jobs vs. doing what is right, nothing gets done.
2 words...Term limits.
You mean the happy Denmark?
The happy Denmark that has a higher standard of living that we do?
Living and working in Europe
You really need to see this movie.
You'd put Eisenhower further left than this?
http://www.politicalcompass.org/uselection2016
I'm skeptical.
Socialist Denmark
It works because everyone's working and paying into the system, and living off the system unless you REALLY need it (i.e. you were born with no legs and half a brain) makes you an instant social outcast. Oh, and having a homogeneous, highly educated population helps as well.
You know what makes it easier
You know what makes it easier to develop a highly educated population? Free tuition for public colleges and universities.
Louisiana (yes, all of all
Louisiana (yes, all of all places for all of you whom love hating on the south) has had free public high ed tuition for a few decades.
Here's how it's worked out:
http://dailysignal.com/2016/02/22/this-state-offered-free-college-educat...
Great for large public universities. Not so great for smaller schools or containing costs to taxpayers.
There's no magic formula for making high ed fulfill the trifecta of good, cheap, and accessible. Even in Europe 'free' education has highly selective admissions standards for higher ed with a greater focus on vocational training (MIKE ROWE IS RIGHT!) for those which don't test into universities .
Louisiana, you say?
You mean the Louisiana where the free-tuition fund is running out of money thanks to the budget stylings of Bobby Jindal?
In any case, I suspect my Brooklyn landsman Bernie is harkening back to the days when the City University of New York offered free enrollment to all New York City residents, at least until the city basically collapsed and CUNY was taken over by SUNY.
Bobby Jindal isn't governor
Bobby Jindal isn't governor anymore. The current Democrat in that office is holding university funding hostage to fund some of his pet programs in a big budget battle.
Ah good old CUNY..... that school was as much fun as building little forts out of loose rubble on Longfellow Ave in the Bronx during the 1980s.
Nah
You're obviously too dumb to be accepted by any school.
Oh wow he seems so personable
Oh wow he seems so personable... Not.
Speaking of personable
Try being a liberal, Mexican, Chinese, woman, or the Pope and getting a response from your party's leading candidate.
leading?
momentum? maybe. leading? fuck no
Completely superficial much?
Oh, wait - your screen name already said that.
Seriously, though - go up and say hello! He'll shake your hand and talk to you. The guy is very personable.
Because being personable is so important
Yes, being personable and having charisma certainly can get the votes, but I've met a lot of salesmen with those traits that I wouldn't let near any government position. Being personable is a nice-to-have, but pretty far down the priority list.
Example: Buddy (RIP)
Says the non-personable person
Well, in addition to being personable, he's got ethics (which not one single other candidate has) and intelligence and he cares about the American people. He's standing very much alone. But you go right ahead and vote for Gasbag Trump or Christian Taliban Cruz.
Not a Sanders fan...
But I 100% agree, he's the only ethical person in the race other than maybe Kasich.
"Other than maybe Kasich"
You mean other than maybe the only guy who can run as the anti-Trump and actually win the general election? That Kasich?
I am now pretty concerned about what might unfold over the next few months. There is rapidly increasing uncertainty about the political system, and we should all remember well how that plays out (remember how fun it was not knowing whether federal offices would be open tomorrow, or whether the United States would default on its debts (!)?).
The elections going down to a convention battle might strike some as democracy at its finest (and I, in some respects, feel that way), but everyone should understand that this kind of political uncertainty is not going to do anything good for the economy (nor for the millions and millions of people who haven't even gotten back to where they were in 2007, let alone those at the bottom who still aren't getting anywhere).
Further, I think that it is entirely possible that the Republican party could tear itself to pieces (e.g., split into the old "Rockefeller Republican" brand and the Tea-Party-Evangelical-Talk Radio set) leaving a Democratic party that turns harder to the left as the result of being the only party capable of winning elections at the national level. I don't think that is a beneficial outcome because, among other things, it leads to one party rule which is almost never good (at least until the Democrats subsequently split up - whereupon we might get a better set up with more than 2 parties, none being dominant, leading to a situation where it is necessary to build parliamentary style coalitions and thereby, gasp, compromise again).
Yeah
that guy.
Hey, I actually kinda like the guy
Kind of a big leap there, lbb. Nothing I said was directed to Bernie. It was simply a comment on people placing a candidate's personality high on a list above other traits I consider more important, like policy, etc. But please, go ahead and blast me for something I didn't say. Happens all the time here.
Sure, it's great that someone is the type of person you'd love to have a beer with, but let's put things into perspective, like what do they actually want to do and how do they want to do it.
The thing I like about Bern is that you know exactly what you're getting, there's no bullshit. You may not agree with everything he says (do you ever with anybody?), but he's no fake. This is in contrast to HRC who is the definition of fraud, IMHO.