Bernie Sanders 2016?

Take a look at this YouTube video if you have the time (it's around an hour long).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsWf0TuM6AA

Bernie has quite the gathering and I, for one, am hoping that he beats out Hillary on being the leading candidate in the 2016 election. There's so many people out there living in poverty and having to work very long hours just to support themselves. I hear about families with one child where both parents are working more than 60 hours a week to support themselves and their one child.

He thinks that the republicans are extremist. I don't think that this "trickle down effect" is working at all and I never believed that it would work. Let's just have a recollection of what the 7 deadly sins are.

They are as follows- Pride, Lust, Sloth, Wrath, Gluttony, Greed, and Envy.

The first two bolded sins are sins that are most often expressed by the top 1% and the top 1/10 of a percent. They want it all. They are the billionaire class. If we have a better wealth distribution, life would be so much better for all of us.

We live in the wealthiest country in the world (USA), but no one actually gets to experience that. We have the largest wealth inequality of any developed country. "The issue of wealth and income inequality is the great moral issue of our time, it is the great economic issue of our time, and it is the great political issue of our time." -Bernie Sanders, check the link.

There is something very wrong when the top 1/10th of 1% owns as much as the bottom 90%. I'm voting for Bernie if he gets on the ballot.

I'd love to hear your thoughts and predictions on this campaign. Hopefully some of you can catch this thread before it gets on page 3 (which seems to be every 15 minutes on this website).

 

Yes, he's a Communist, and of course Communism appeals to the "have-nots" of the World. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out his appeal to a certain segment of society. The bigger question is, beyond his cult of personality, will he make a competent President...I would have to say no. Vermont, his home State, is among the top 5 States in the U.S. among inequality between the "haves" and the "have-nots." Despite all of the liberal policies implemented in Vermont, it has done little to lessen the divide. I think he's by and large long on rhetoric and short on policy.

Maybe in the magical land of money growing on trees, Bernie Sanders communist utopia might work...

My question is, how are we going to pay for all of the programs he wants to implement, from free college educations to free healthcare. After he's done robbing the rich, what then?

If I ran for office and promised free gasoline to everyone while I was in office, I supposed I'd get a few votes. How I go about paying for this free gasoline is another matter, short of stealing it I mean..and if I steal it...well I'm no better than a common thief now am I.

This is basically Bernie Sanders' platform...he's a thief who proposes to steal what he does not own and give it away as some form of social justice. The "have-nots" deserve their fair share even if it means stealing it away from the "haves." He is using the rationality that the "haves" are greedy and sinful...they deserve to have what they own stolen from them. It's Marxism. I don't want a Communist running the show here...if you like communism, I understand Cuba has wonderful beaches.

 

He is the first campaigner for presidency that I know of that has openly stated that he is a socialist. I do see what you are saying though about him being a communist but I don't completely agree with you in that sentiment. If you take a look at the wealth inequality, the top 1% own more money than the lower 99% (IIRC). Minimum wage is barely something that we can live on. I feel bad for the people who do not have a family to depend on and who do not have a high school diploma/GED or even a degree. It's not easy working for $7.50/hr and only having a part-time job because your employer does not pay benefits.

There's plenty of countries in the world that are better to live in than the USA. His ideas are not absurdities. If you are one of the wealthy people who will be targeted by Bernie then I completely understand where you are coming from; but, like he says, you can't have it all.

Greed is a serious problem here in the US and, like I said in my OP, the trickle down effect didn't work for W and I don't believe that it will work for the next republican either. Heaven forbid if Jeb gets elected. He's made some profoundly disturbing statements so far and I do not believe that he has what it takes to be a decent president, let alone a decent candidate. The problem is that every time that Jeb says something disturbing, he always follows it up by saying "that was taken out of context" (known as "cherry picking", and of course that's always a good way to say that someone was wrong and painting him in a bad light).

I don't think that the republicans have ever done this nation any good; at least not in my lifetime. In fact, they've done quite the opposite. It's tyranny and oligarchy that they propose. If their campaign is completely funded by the billionaire class then of course they're going to be political puppets. Bush was a horrible president in comparison to Obama. I've never seen a president better than Obama, and, even though he had his humane flaws, Clinton was also a good president.

I'd just hate to see another republican win office in 2016. This country is going to really need help if that happens.

Listen, socialism is bound to happen. Communism, if you want to call it that, is bound to happen. Marxism is popular among the working class, even though it has a bad connotation associated with it. The republicans are the ones who painted Marxism and Communism in a bad light. The democrats are left trying to pick up the pieces and rid these dogmas from the minds of people who trust the republicans with doing no research at all.

This country is a lot smarter than it used to be, and I wouldn't be surprised if the democrats continue to win office; let's just hope that Nate Silver has something good to say about the democrats in his predictions.

Who are you going to vote for?

 

I don't know yet. I am leaning towards Scott Walker at the moment, not that I'm gung-ho about his candidacy. Nothing jumps out at me as a stellar performer at this point. I'll have to wait until the debates.

 

That's completely absurd. I'm trying to research him right now and, for one, he's boring the crap out of me and, for two, he's not mentioning at all how he turned the $3.5 billion dollar deficit in Wisconsin to a surplus. The unemployment rate, as he mentions, was at 8% when he was elected and during his term it was reduced to 4%. Good job Scott Walker, now tell us how you did it.

He says "[I noticed that this whole political campaigning was mostly about talk and barely about taking action. Once I was elected in, all I did was fix things."

I'm going to have to do more research on him but I'm assuming that the reason that unemployment went down is because he turned the deficit into a surplus by taking money from the middle class which forced them to take the jobs that they didn't want, therefor causing unemployment to fall 4%.

I'm all about feeling the Bern right now, but maybe I've just got so passionate about Bernie that I'm overlooking the rest of the politicians.

I've already donated to Bernie by this point. I want him to win.

BTW, here is the link to what I am watching about Scott Walker.

He's speaking to a handful of very obviously rich people. He also mentions taking on unions at around 10:00. He's also pro-life, which is extremist in the opinion of Bernie Sanders. He ALSO mentions how he and his family received a lot of death threats.

 

LOL. Another mis-educated right winger. He claims to be a democratic socialist as practiced in some of those Nordic nations who blend capitalism with some socialistic principles like we do here, with social security, unemployment, medicare.

Communism is something entirely different. SO your knee jerk just kicked yourself in your own ass. LOL

You are one of those people who vote against their on economic self interests and are clueless that you are doing it. All that the right side boys have to say to you is the word communism, and the thinking process crashes.


Capitalism can operate in at least two ways. It can serve as an economic model that allows most of a nation to thrive, or it can serve to send most of the income to the top, and only a few of the lower class can thrive. Sanders wants it to work like it did post ww2, and allow the greatest number of people to thrive by their work. The rich still get rich under the post ww2 capitalism. They just do not get it all. For that is an oligarchy, or plutocracy, or corporate state, take your pick, and not a republic.

 

The amount of numbers coming out to hear him speak proves there is something going on in America. We are seeing a repeat of what elected FDR, for these times are not that much different from those times, except we have some social safety nets that those hard times of the 30s created. If not for these safety nets in place, even if they are insufficient, someone like Sanders would have already been elected.

Of course the problem is, even if sanders were to be elected, his grassroots movement over the next several election cycles would have to clean house in congress, for most of congress are corporate owned, and bankster owned.

And the biggest problem sanders would have, is that too many working white americans have been brainwashed by right wing ideology, so they would keep voting in the party who does not actually represent them. The only way sanders could get this nation back on track is to get many of the dems replaced in congress with real economic progressives, relegate the GOP to the minority, and for the grassroots to stay with him as they did FDR.

But change is coming, from the progressives, for we no longer have a job creation engine that will get us out of this mess. We have to get the engine back, that has been offshored, and the neoliberal conservatives out of power, under the porch, where they can cause no harm. As well as the neoliberal, corporate owned democrats, like Clinton out of the way. It's even a taller order than what FDR faced.

Bernie has my vote. But even if he gets beat, America will move towards what he is speaking about, for we really cannot sustain what the neoliberal dems and repubs have done to America. And at least Bernie finally made this an issue, which has not been talked about, but the cat is out of the bag. And you cannot put it back in.

 

Sanders will be branded a communist if he gets the nomination and the US voters still have a stigma about that. Sanders could never win a general election.

 

That is exactly what I'm afraid of. I hope he gets on the ballot, and I hope that the low IQ people of this nation don't just choose democrat or republican based on appearance, age, or anything stupid. I do believe that we are a lot smarter collectively now with the internet, but I can't help but think that people aren't going to vote for him just because he's old or whatever.

I can only hope that he wins. He's got a great plan. I wouldn't call it communism although I do admit that it is one step closer to it.

 

Regardless, he has no chance of winning the Presidency. It is fantasy to think he can...he's just like any other 3rd party squeaky wheel who will fade into the sunset as an also-ran.

He's a Jewish Bolshevik...he's unelectable.

Before I get accused of being anti-semetic..this is the exact term Michael Savage used to describe him...Michael himself is Jewish and Conservative....and he's hit the nail on the head. This sort of rhetoric does not play well in the United States to a broad audience...he wants to turn America into a Kibbutz basically.

 

I dunno. I doubt he could win the nomination, but if he did, I think he would have a good shot at the Presidency. I never thought that someone who admired and wrote about a racist preacher and was friends with an actual domestic terrorist could win the nomination either, but he did and one re-election handily. So it's possible.

 

Do white lives matter?

 

Can you at least elaborate on this? I think that, judging by how his appearances literally sell out in a matter of days (maybe even less, as I cannot attend one of his events that was literally just posted because it has already reached max attendees), that he has a very good chance at winning.

- - - Updated - - -

Is this a joke? I don't know what you're trying to say here. White lives matter and I don't think that people think about that as often as they should.

 

Look at the sheer numbers of people he brings out to a crowd. He has also made more money in the first day of his presidential campaign than any other candidate and, must I even say, he did it WITHOUT the help of corporations. Something incredible is happening in this country right now, and I think that Bernie is to thank for it.

It's no longer just a "thank you thank you"; now it's a plan. Bernie is not a "thank you thank you" type of guy, and from the research that I did in to Scott Walker (who literally hasn't said anything about anything except that he's going to fix it), he's speaking to the largest crowds that I have ever seen for a politician. He's got his grassroots movement and he is not taking any money or any bribery from the corporations. He is giving them a big middle finger, along with the rest of the country.

 

Did you see what the #BlackLivesMatter crowd did to Bernie and Martin O'Malley at the Nutroots convention? That might be what is being referred to here. The #BlackLivesMatter raised holy hell when Gov. O'Malley said "All Lives Matter" They booed both he and Bernie off the stage.

 

That's just ridiculous. All lives matter.

 

I will contribute right now to the Bernie/Faucahontas ticket. Maybe the old white crazy guy and the old white indian lady can get the nomination over the old white boring lady.

They won't be quite the friends of Goldman Sachs, the big banks and Wall Street that Hillary is and Obama was, but maybe all those out of work college kids and out of work union thugs and out of work black kids can fund their campaign with a part of their welfare/unemployment/food stamp checks....if they get off the couch that is.

 

Berniementum is indeed building. We still have well over a year for him knock her (Hillary) around and keep the huge crowds coming in, and, she's got some serious GOP-style baggage to 'splain.

 

Thank you for contributing to Bernie, as I have already done. I'm very wrapped up in his ideology. I just don't want to be upset that the corporations and billionaires win again if Bernie doesn't make it on the ballot and I'm very afraid for the middle class by this point.

Note that I'm contributing to #feeltheBern IN SPITE of my future income. Working as a Data Scientist literally lands me 8 phone interviews a week, countless calls by recruiters, countless emails for job opportunities across the country, and at least one face to face interview every two weeks. I have multiple jobs pending at the moment, regardless of only being in the field for a year and a half; and these jobs are going to pay me a decent wage. I can only imagine the demand that people may have for me another 6 years down the road and, if Bernie gets elected, I will be a target. But nonetheless, this country needs another FDR/Reagan and I think that Bernie will fulfill that role.

The problem is that people are so entwined with their technology today that I don't think that they're going to want to lay cement and swing a hammer if they can just sit back and get a raise for having more babies, get two weeks paid vacation, 8 weeks maternity/paternity leave, PTO and paid sick leave, etc. when they can just enjoy their video games and collect money on all of these things (including unemployment and social security).

My Dad is a staunch Republican and believer in the trickle down effect. I tried pretty hard to explain to him how corrupt the political system is by this point and how the trickle down effect doesn't always work. As Bernie says "YOU CAN'T HAVE IT ALL", and that's exactly what the top 1% wants. 99% of all income generated in this country is going to the top 1%, and that's pretty disturbing. Go Bernie.

One thing that I think that this country does need though is to use less cement for the infrastructure and move towards programmable solar panel roadways at least in the cities. He wants to face this climate change challenge and lead the charge in clean energy and I think that solar panel roadways are a great way to get that energy... not to mention how crazy festivals would be if the floor we are standing on suddenly turns into a rainbow. lollll

 

Thing is, if we keep screwing the vast majority of Americans while a select few benefit, socialism will only become more popular. It is actually the same policies that allow the CEO's and extremely wealthy to take all of the new income that are making socialist policies more popular. In fact, at some point the American people will demand we go the other way. Maybe not in 2016, but it's not far off. You can claim Sanders is extreme, but we've been going extreme in the other direction for 30+ years now. How do we get things right for the lower 95% without moving in opposite direction? We don't. Socialism is only going to get more popular in America.

 

Bernie is a socialist AND a believer in the "global warming/Climate Change" hoax too? Well, I for one really, really want someone who is serious about creating an economic system that will force us to live like 1959 Soviets or 16th century peasants. Three hots and a cot are all anyone really "needs". So GO BERNIE!!!!!

 

Rubbish, and I am sure that took lots of brain power to post that. LOL.

He is a socialist in the same manner as FDR was. So, please, refuse your unemployment when you lose your job, and your social security, and your medicare. For you do not like socialistic programs. And the next time the too big to fail banks crash and need your money so they can make their millions in bonuses, do not complain, when the GOP and the corporate on dems bail them out and you pay for it.. Sanders would not do that, but he is a socialist. LOL

Chances are, if you are successful today, and have not lost your job to a communist, the socialist FDR is who you should be thanking. If your ancestors used the GI Bill post ww2,, thank FDR. The truth is, there is not one damn thing you can thank a conservative republican for. Too bad people are not learned enough to understand it. But the GOP depends upon people like that. If not for the ignorant, the GOP would have died before Reagan was elected. And saved americans from having their jobs sent to communists so the rich could get richer.

 

You can't be serious. If you're voting Republican in the next election then you are literally throwing your vote away. All of the people I know, save a few, are rational (for one), intelligent (for two), aware of climate change (for three, which is very obviously real), and work for less than $15/hr, save a few. The average earning of everyone that I like to associate with is $11.20/hr. That is excluding my college graduate B.S.E. Electrical Engineering friend of course who would make it seem like they're earning more when they really aren't.

Only one of those friends lives on his own, but it's in a very cheap apartment in a bad neighborhood and he gets assistance from the government when he needs it. Everyone else depends on family.

To make a long story short, your post is not even moot, it's just plain ignorant.

We have technology so that's just not going to happen. What a $15 minimum wage WILL DO though is give A LOT of people the independence that this country was founded on. On top of that, we will have our technology AND be able to afford the bills. Your vision of the future is entirely delusional.

If you vote republican, you're probably voting against your best interest... even if you are in the top 1%. Do some research. Wise up.

 

Even our poorest citizens live like kings compared to the poor in many places in the world.

"Americans" like Bernie Sanders are ungrateful and entitled pieces of (*)(*)(*)(*), in my opinion.

 

I have a database of over 14million political contributions and just chose a random state to sample. I chose Michigan. Out of 366,000 contributions I have on record for Michigan, 56717 explicitly contributed to Democrats and 37219 explicitly contributed to Republicans. That's a difference of 19498 contributions. $29,078,597 was contributed to the Democratic Party of those 56,717 contributions, while $59,892,465 was contributed to the Republican party.

Do you see the problem here? Republicans are only able to get elected because they receive more money. By now, the times have changed and everyone that I know by this point who hasn't voted at all up to this point is going to vote for a Democrat in 2016.

I knew that the math would upset me here, but the rich just want more and rely on the ignorance of people like DOconTEX to make it happen.