Category: Bernie Sanders
Travis Gettys 16 Dec 2014 at 13:40 ET
SOURCE: Raw Story
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) plans a legislative push for the breakup of Wall Street’s largest banks and lifting the cap on contributions to Social Security.
“If Congress cannot regulate Wall Street, there is just one alternative,†said Sanders in a speech Saturday. “It is time to break these too-big-to-fail banks up so that they can never again destroy the jobs, homes, and life savings of the American people.â€
Sanders, who has signaled he may run for president in 2016 to offer a true progressive alternative, said he would introduce legislation at the start of next congressional session to break up the largest investment banks.
“If a financial institution is too big to fail, it is too big to exist,†he said.
He made the remarks during a debate on a controversial spending bill that contains provisions written by Citigroup lobbyists to weaken Dodd-Frank oversight of banking.
“If Wall Street lobbyists can literally write a provision into law that will allow too-big-to-fail banks to make the same risky bets that nearly destroyed our economy just a few years ago, it should be obvious to all that their incredible economic and political power is a huge danger to our economy and our way of life,†Sanders said.
Sanders also said he would introduce legislation intended to strengthen Social Security to lift a growing number of American seniors above the poverty level.
“The best way to expand Social Security is to ask the wealthiest people in our country to pay more into the system by scrapping the cap on income that is subject to the Social Security payroll tax,†he said.
Sanders said current rules allow a billionaire to pay the same amount into Social Security as a person who earns $117,000 a year.
“This is regressive, this is unfair, this is absurd,†the senator said. “If we lifted this cap and applied the Social Security payroll tax to income above $250,000 — not $117,000, but $250,000 a year, we could not only extend the solvency of Social Security for decades to come, which is what we want to do, but we could also provide the resources necessary to expand Social Security benefits. That is exactly what we should be doing, and that in fact is what the American people want us to do.â€
A poll conducted in August found that 90 percent of Democratic voters supported lifting the cap, the senator said, along with 73 percent of independent voters and 73 percent of Republican voters.
“Sadly, despite this overwhelming support for expanding Social Security, the CEOs at the Business Roundtable — the organization representing the largest corporations in America — came out with a plan last year which does exactly what the American people do not want to do,†Sanders said. “The American people want to expand Social Security and the Business Roundtable came out with a plan that would increase the Social Security retirement age from 67 to 70 and severely cut the COLA of senior citizens and disabled veterans.â€
Watch his speech before the U.S. Senate posted online by Bernie Sanders:
by A. Shaw
“According to the Monmouth Polling Institute, when asked to name who they would like to see as the next Democrat nominee for president, nearly half (48%) of Democrats and Democratic le aning voters volunteer Hillary Clinton. No other candidate registers in double digits. Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren is named by 6%, independent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders is named by 2%, and Vice President Joe Biden is named by 2%,” PoliticusUSA reports Dec. 16.
CLINTON
No doubt, Hillary Clinton is very happy with Monmouth results.
People say if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.
The almost 50-point Clinton lead in the poll shows it isn’t broken.
So, there’s no way Clinton is going to fix it.
The Democratic Party (“DP”) has reactionary ( at est. 30%), liberal (65%), and centrist sectors (5%). The reactionaries in the DP are Clinton’s most loyal supporters.
At the moment, Clinton doesn’t publicly identify with any of three sectors. This ideological non-identification is the “it” referred to above.
She doesn’t say anything nice about reactionaries because it will irritate liberals. And vice versa. She doesn’t say anything nice about centrists, because it may confuse both reactionaries and liberals.
Clinton now is more cunning than she was in 2008 when Obama outflanked her on the left during race for the nomination.
SANDERS
Bernie Sanders repeatedly says very nice things about liberals who with an est. 65% constitute the mass of the DP.
Clinton’s strategy of non-identity so far has kept the liberals from flocking to Sanders or Elizabeth Warren.
Warren says she’s not going to run. But she will instantly change her mind if Sanders shrinks Clinton’s big lead.
Remember 1968, RFK said he wasn’t going to run. But as soon as McCarthy shrunk LBJ’s big lead, RFK jumped into the race.
If Sanders can’t shrink Clinton’s big lead, Warrern most likely will stay out of the race.
To shrink Clinton’s big lead, Sanders has to distinguish himself from Clinton’s Wall Street, neo-liberal, and laissez faire economics.
Sanders also has to clearly distinguish himself from Pres. Obama who has developed a habit of capitulation to reactionaries in the DP and GOP on budgetary and other fiscal matters
Republican Nightmares Come True As Bernie Sanders Gets A Big Promotion In The Senate    Â
Source: PoliticusUSA
Friday, December, 12th, 2014
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) will be a major thorn in Mitch McConnell’s side after it was announced that he has been promoted to the position of ranking member on the Senate Budget Committee.
The promotion is big for Sen. Sanders, and it also means that he is going to have a high profile seat from which to launch his 2016 challenge to Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination.
In a statement, Sanders made it clear that he is going to be battling the Koch billionaires, Wall Street, and bringing attention to the growing problem of income inequality, “I want to thank Sen. Reid and the Democratic caucus for the opportunity to serve as the ranking member on the Senate Budget Committee. At a time when the middle class is disappearing and the gap between the rich and everybody else is growing wider, we need a budget which reflects the needs of working families and not Wall Street and the top 1 percent. I look forward to working with Democrats and Republicans on the committee to craft a budget that is fair to all Americans, not just the powerful special interests.â€
Sanders has already announced that he will be voting against the government funding bill that the Senate is currently debating, but from his leadership position on the Budget Committee, the Vermont Independent will have the power to give a voice to the 99% of Americans who aren’t wealthy enough to buy access to our political leaders with campaign contributions.
The fact that Sen. Sanders has been promoted to such an important position is another sign of the growing power of liberals within the Senate Democratic caucus. Bernie Sanders will now be in a position to be a major pain in the neck to the Koch brothers and the Republicans that they fund.
Democrats may have lost their Senate majority, but the promotion of Bernie Sanders is another sign that the left is gearing up for a fight.
http://progresoweekly.us/dozens-staffers-just-walked-congress-powerful-picture-shows/
3:40 PM – 11 Dec 2014 The office of Sen. Bernie Sanders locked its doors and marched out of the Capitol with their hands in the air — accompanied by hundreds of other staffers – in protest against the impunity furnished killer cops and murderous grand juries and murderous district attorneys. A. Shaw
Source: PoliticusUSA
I am going to vote against it for a number of reasons. I think Senator Warren listed one of the reasons. Look, Wall Street’s greed and illegal behavior drove us into the worst recession since the Great Depression impacting millions and millions of people. The idea that we deregulate again is. We allow these guys to make risky investments with taxpayer supported money is absolutely insane. It just speaks to the power of Wall Street.
But that’s not all that’s in this bill. This bill will cut pensions. Pensions that were guaranteed for a whole lot of working people at a time when so many people in the middle class are struggling…This bill puts much too much into the military and not enough into our crumbling infrastructure, or making it easier for young people to go to college or pay their debts. There is a lot in this bill that I think does not work for the middle class and should be opposed.
I think most people in this country are profoundly disgusted with the Citizens United Supreme Court decision and the ability of billionaires to buy elections the idea that we would pass legislation. I don’t know if it came for Democrats, Republicans, or both….At the end of the day, the idea that we give even more political influence to the wealthiest people in this country to buy elections. I don’t know who in America thinks that that’s a good idea.
Bernie Sanders is correct. No Democrat or Independent that cares about the middle class should support this bill. Between the gift to Wall Street and the continued rollback of campaign finance laws, this is a bad piece of legislation.
Some Democrats will support this bill, and the White House has signaled that the president will sign it. It is not a devastatingly bad piece of legislation, but it is not good either.
The president did get everything he wanted. He is the clear winner, because the government is funded for most of the year with the exception of Homeland Security. The Republicans probably aren’t going to do much of anything on his immigration executive orders.
Compared to recent history, this is an improvement, but it is an improvement from horrible to merely bad. Republicans have managed to set the bar so low that avoiding an economic collapse is considered a victory.
While the political leadership celebrates, in the real world, average Americans continue to suffer.
 PoliticusUSA published this article under the headline Bernie Sanders Stands Up To Wall Street And The Kochs While Ripping Cromnibus Bill
Source:THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR
That’s right, Hillary Clinton is the top 2016 president of choice for millionaires, according to a new survey from CNBC – and that’s not good news for the former Secretary of State’s likely presidential campaign.
Ms. Clinton is the top pick among 31 percent of millionaires, followed by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush with 18 percent, and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie at 14 percent.
Among Democrats, Clinton’s lead is colossal. She had 72 percent of Democratic millionaires, and a sizable 23 percent of independent millionaires. Clinton even had the support of about 5 percent of Republican millionaires.
The survey polled 500 people with investable assets of $1 million or more, which represents the top 8 percent of American households.
Respondents got to choose among nine potential candidates in the survey: Clinton; Bush; Christie; Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren; Vice President Joe Biden; Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas; Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont; Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, and Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin.
If anything, the poll is bad news for Clinton. Though they have deep pockets and outsized influence, having the support of millionaires isn’t necessarily an affiliation she wants.
As CNN noted, “Since she last ran for president, the Democratic Party has become more populist and in order to win in 2016, many political experts see her needing to reconnect with middle and working class voters.”
And thanks to the financial crisis, Americans have also become more mistrusting of Wall Street, and by extension, the wealthy, so “having the backing of a majority of millionaires may not be a badge of honor in 2016,” as CNN put it.
Results from the poll could also bolster claims that Clinton is too establishment, too close to Wall Street, and not populist enough on economic issues. Already, opponents have tried to tar her with the nickname “High-flying Hillary,” for her travel costs, which combined with Bill Clinton’s, will likely top $1 million this year. And she was blasted on her recent book tour for saying she and President Clinton were “dead broke” upon leaving the White House 13 years ago, a comment for which she paid dearly. Following those comments, the Republican National Committee launched a website called poorhillaryclinton.com.
Though the Clintons are no Romneys, they will be careful not to make the same mistakes and be tarred by their opponents for being wealthy and “out of touch,” as Romney was in 2012.
In other words, watch for more appearances by the Clintons at soup kitchens or urban renewal programs and more comments about Clinton’s middle-class upbringing.
One more reason the poll results may not be good news for Clinton: Before the 2008 election, most millionaires supported Sen. John McCain according to CNBC. Before the 2012 election, most millionaires supported former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Apparently, millionaires don’t predict elections very well.
The poll did reveal some surprises.
Both Sens. Sanders and Warren, who have built reputations as populist crusaders against income inequality, garnered a respectable share of votes, earning the support of 11 and 8 percent of millionaires, respectively.
The poll also revealed just how different millionaires are from the rest of Americans.
For starters, they are far more politically active and politically influential. As CNBC noted, some 93 percent of the millionaires voted in the 2014 midterm elections – compared to a national turnout rate of just 36 percent. A quarter of millionaires also donated to a candidate in this election cycle.
Their priorities are also very different from the rest of America. While most Americans choose jobs and the economy as their top issue, the millionaires surveyed by CNBC said corporate tax reform should be the top priority of the new Congress.
Among multimillionaires (those individuals with investable assets of $5 million or more), corporate tax reform is far and away the top priority.
If Clinton wants to remain a strong contender for 2016, she’ll need to perform the tightrope act of continuing to quietly accept the support (and greenbacks) of her wealthy backers, while publicly distancing herself from wealth and Wall Street.
MLTodayConnect with Us
- CPUSA National
- People’s World
- An error has occurred, which probably means the feed is down. Try again later.
- Political Affairs