Bernie Sanders is and continues to be critical of President Obama

[cali]

No, he's not rude about it. After all, he caucuses with dems, but his politics are very different from the President's and he hasn't hidden that. He frequently speaks out against the dems and administration policy. I've heard him do it on more than one occasion in town meetings here. Trying to use Bernie to burnish President Obama's liberal credentials is dishonest.

Here are some examples:


<snip>

He bemoaned the drift of the Democratic Party. “There was a time when we had a center-right party in this country and a center-left party,” he said. “Now we have a rightwing extremist party, and a centrist party. And Democrats are proposing ideas that ten years ago no Republicans would propose.”

Sanders didn’t shy away from criticizing Barack Obama

He blamed Obama for continuing “the Bush trade policies,” saying, “Free trade has been an unmitigated disaster for American workers.” He noted that 50,000 factories have closed down here in the last decade.

And he noted “without pleasure that the President of the United States was talking about cuts in Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.” Sanders said, “FDR and Harry Truman would be rolling over in their graves

Sanders argued that such talk from the Democratic President “is not only horrible public policy, it is bad politics.” If both parties are advocating cutting these social programs, “The average person is going to say, ‘Where is the difference between the two parties?’ I don’t know who you think is going to vote for you when you say you’re going to cut Social Security and Medicare.”

<snip>

http://progressive.org/bernie_sanders.


Warren, Sanders Ready to Face Down Obama over Social Security, Medicare Cuts
https://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/10/29-5

And don't forget this:

Bernie Sanders Holds Old-School Filibuster Against Obama-GOP Tax Cut

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/bernie-sanders-holds-old-school-filibuster-against-obama-gop-tax-cut-deal/

<snip>

Senator Sanders criticized Republican economic policies of tax reductions and spending cuts, but some of his harshest criticism was pointed at President Obama for “surrendering to the Republicans.” He said debt limit deal provided the Republicans with much of their wish list because no tax revenue was included in the first round of cuts in the deficit reduction plan.

He said President Obama campaigned on preserving the current system of Social Security and that he should abide by his campaign promises. Senator Sanders said the proposal to raise the age to receive Social Security to 67 is “basically insane.”

<snip>

http://www.c-span.org/Events/Sen-Bernie-Sanders-I-VT/10737423492-1/

Bernie's "support" of President Obama is pro forma and rather tepid.

[Douglas Carpenter]

1. I hope he runs for President in 2016 - to offer an alternative to the bipartisan consensus on

economics and raise the moral flag against the politics of wealth and privilege that has dominated both parties for the past 30 to 40 years

[1StrongBlackMan]

20. I hope Bernie runs for President, for a different reason ...

It will demonstrate early that the vast majority of the electorate, including Democratic voters, are not willing to support him.

Do not me wrong, I tend to support his economic positions; but I do not believe that he has a shot in heck of winning the Democratic primary, let alone a general election.

[Douglas Carpenter]

35. Given that almost everybody agrees with Sen. Sanders on basic economic issues - even many rank and

file self-described Republicans and given that Sen. Sanders has an amazing ability to explain economics in common sense language - I don't know whether he can win the nomination or the general election - but I am sure he will do very well and make a major contribution to broadening the range of debate -- Since no 'mainstream" candidates are going to do this - and given that only a small minority of Americans apart from the rich agree with the conventional bipartisan economic consensus - it is important that we have at least one serious contender who is prepared to seriously discuss serious issues that represent the outlook of the overwhelming majority of ordinary people of both parties - If not Bernie, who will articulate the viewpoint of the vast majority?

[1StrongBlackMan]

47. Let me amend my previous post ...

in light of my agreement with what you posted

I would support a Sanders run for President, as he would serve the same role as Jesse Jackson and Rev. Al did ... They could say the most outrageous truths because no one thinks they'll get any farther than the primary.

(I don't know whether to delete my previous post ... or leave it to illustrate my evolving thoughts on Sanders. )

[daleanime]

58. Why is truth....

'outrageous'?

[1StrongBlackMan]

60. That's my point ...

but I guess I should have put the word in quotes.

[woo me with science]

61. LOL. This canard *again*?

Last edited Sun Jan 19, 2014, 11:04 PM - Edit history (3)

From one desperate Third Way talking point to the next. And now the old standby: this absurd claim that anything other than corporate policy is too "left" or "fringe" for the electorate.

This gets very, very old.

As you already know but persist in ignoring, polls consistently and repeatedly show that that the electorate is far more in agreement with Bernie Sanders on the major issues than the corporate candidates we are offered, over and over again. Across party lines, voters favor protecting SS and Medicare, they despise austerity, they want to curb the surveillance state, they want to invest in schools and infrastructure, and they want to cut military spending.

And the proof of the lie is that candidates pivot LEFTWARD every single election season to win voters. They lie and say that they will support a public option, or protect Social Security, or rein in the NSA, because they know that is what voters want to hear. But as soon as the election is over, it's back to the business of the one percent.

The Tea Party is bankrolled by big business. So is the Third Way. The Third Way was never a grass roots phenomenon. It is a deliberate infiltration of the Democratic Party, bankrolled by corporate interests.

We have a systemic problem of corporate money driving policy in both parties now. That is what happens when corporations buy elections. And ABSURD posts like the one you just made are what happens when corporations buy the media.

[1StrongBlackMan]

66. A cannard ...

And now the old standby: this absurd, stale canard that anything other than corporate policy is too "left" or "fringe" for the electorate.

which is disproven by all the "progressives" that have gotten elected by the electorate.

The Tea Party is bankrolled by big business. So is the Third Way. The Third Way was never a grass roots phenomenon. It is a deliberate infiltration of the Democratic Party, bankrolled by corporate interests.

I largely agree; but do not believe the 3rd Way to be an invasion. They have always been a part of, and a very important coalition/collaborative partner in the Democrats Big Tent.

We have a systemic problem of corporate money driving policy in both parties now. That is what happens when corporations buy elections. And ABSURD posts like the one you just made are what happens when corporations buy the media.

Funny ... we agree here but to opposite conclusions. The corporate money that we both lament allows me to make the "absurd" observation of reality; but it also, allows you to ignore that reality, and provides fuel for intra-Democratic Party food fights.

[sabrina 1]

78. Explain how corporate money 'allows' us to 'ignore reality'. What reality? We are not ignoring

reality, we are pointing it out. The Third Way, a Corporate Construct, has taken over the Dem Party, thanks to Corporate Money. To express that reality we do not need or have access to Corporate Money.

However, there are SOME Dems who decided that since Republicans receive so much Corporate Money, instead of trying to change the rules and take that money OUT of politics, they decided to do the same thing. So now we have two corporate funded parties and the Dem party has followed the Repubs all the way over to the Right each time they move another step in that direction.

And those who keep excusing and explaining and forgiving and ignoring that reality are following the money with them.

[1StrongBlackMan]

84. The reality that ...

Democratic voters, and voters in general, do not elect progressives, except in rare, isolated pockets.

[woo me with science]

90. From one desperate Third Way talking point to the next.

Last edited Sun Jan 19, 2014, 05:23 PM - Edit history (1)

Barack Obama was swept into office in a landslide in 2008 after a campaign trumpeting promises to be a champion for progressive policies and the 99 percent. He promised to protect Social Security, put on his "walking shoes" for labor, rein in the surveillance state, insist on a public option, close GITMO, hold banks accountable, increase transparency, etc., etc., etc.

We all know what happened once he got into office.

And they will try it again in 2016...because seeking votes requires it. They will pivot leftward. Hell, they are already trying to pivot leftward for the midterms. We already have the ABSURD spectacle of a President claiming he wants to focus on "income inequality" while simultaneously pushing the most predatory, secretive, 99-percent-assaulting "free trade" agreement in history.

Don't blame voters who do the best they can, given a system that has been deliberately and fundamentally corrupted to make it almost impossible for candidates not backed by dirty corporate money to compete.

[1StrongBlackMan]

98. Well

Barack Obama was swept into office in a landslide in 2008 after a campaign trumpeting lies and promises to be a champion for progressive policies and the 99 percent. He promised to protect Social Security, put on his "walking shoes" for labor, rein in the surveillance state, insist on a public option, close GITMO, hold banks accountable, increase transparency, etc., etc., etc.

In case you missed it ...

President Obama's presidency HAS accomplished much of what he campaigned on, to the extent Congress has supported him. There have been no changes to SS, he was asked not to go to Wisconsin (by Wisconsin Democrats), he is working to rein in the surveillance state, he got the ACA that, BTW, allows the states to include a public option, through Congress when it became apparent that a public option did not have the votes in Congress, he issued an executive order to close GITMO ... but Congress didn't fund the closure, Dodd-Frank, while imperfect, DOES hold banks accountable, this administration is more transparent than previous administrations ... and I can only assume that the etc., etc., etcs ... are some of the other campaign promises he either kept or Congress blocked.

[woo me with science]

99. Oh, my.

Last edited Sun Jan 19, 2014, 05:53 PM - Edit history (1)

Now *that's* desperate, dark comedy.

[1StrongBlackMan]

102. Why do you have "Science" in your screen-name ...

best you just leave it at "woo" ... it's far more accurate a descriptor.

[woo me with science]

107. Ad hominem and stale propaganda.

Last edited Sun Jan 19, 2014, 06:03 PM - Edit history (5)

You can't dispute the record of relentless corporate predation, so you go for these predictable Third Way distortions. Let's take just *one* in that post you just made that is full of them...but we could take any of them, as anyone who follows the news can attest.

You protested, "Obama didn't cut Social Security"!

...and you said it as though you have now confirmed his dedication to the 99 percent. What brazenly dishonest nonsense, particularly since he continues to defend his own proposed cuts in his own pending budget.

Yet even beyond that, your pretending that all the *bargaining* with Social Security has done no harm to the 99 percent, has served no purpose to the predatory Third Way, is perhaps the most ludicrous and insulting aspect of your comment.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1251&pid=345065

"It's always on the table, and nothing ever happens!"

What a reeking load of bullshit. The manipulative threat of cutting Social Social Security is precisely *the reason* that corporate Democrats have been able to inflict crushing austerity on Americans as effectively as they have. Without the threatened axe of Social Security cuts (which kept returning as the austerity kept escalating), they would never have been able to sell the vicious budget and social program cuts they HAVE inflicted on Americans...by justifying them as the lesser of two evils.

If you had told us a few years ago that the Barack Obama administration would be presiding over government spending that assaults the poor even more viciously than the RYAN plan, we would never have believed it. Yet that is exactly where we found ourselves, surrounded by corporate mouthpieces exhorting us to be grateful, "because he didn't cut Social Security."

The cuts are in his budget. They *will* happen when the Third Way is finished using the threat of them to justify and implement all these other, very real, assaults.

As usual, you run into the inevitable trap of Third Way messaging: disparaging liberal policies as "fringe" and unreasonable and pushed only by fringe candidates and woomongers.....while SIMULTANEOUSLY trying to reassure voters that President Obama really and truly secretly supports them in his heart.

War is Peace.
We have always been at war with Eastasia.
2 + 2 = 5.

As bvar22 so perfectly stated, "Your bullshit doesn't fly here."

[1StrongBlackMan]

110. You whine about Ad hominem ...

while launching Ad hominem.

You prove your point by linking to yourself.

You whine about stale propaganda while repeating stale talking points.

Science? Naa ... woo.

[woo me with science]

111. Where did I call you a name?

Last edited Sun Jan 19, 2014, 05:52 PM - Edit history (1)

I associated your posts with Third Way policies, goals, and manipulations, which is wholly accurate and amply demonstrated by your own prolific posting here. Third Way has a meaning, not to mention a website. It is shorthand for a very specific set of political goals: namely, liberal positions on non-economic social issues, but general agreement with corporate Republicans on issues related to economics, war, and the police state. You can go to the website to see for yourself.

What you just tried here was an attempt at another predictable, manipulative Third Way maneuver: trying to mislabel the use of accurate descriptors for policy positions as "ad hominem" so as to discredit and discourage their use.

It's a typical tactic of authoritarians; Orwell even wrote about it. To prevent people from accurately describing what you are doing, you make the words unavailable. If you can't take them away, you pretend that they are epithets and protest their use. I have written about this before re: Third Way whining about the word "authoritarian" and the descriptor, "Third Way":

The purpose of the "Ad Hominem!" cry when accurate political descriptors are used.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=3171893

I believe there was also a recent huffy post complaining about use of the word "corporatist." Predictable as hell.

Okay, I'm really going now. But nice try.





http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=4358126

[1StrongBlackMan]

116. Okay.n/t

[Enthusiast]

149. +1 a great big bunch!

[sabrina 1]

140. wmws is correct and in case you haven't noticed, the ThirdWay corporate garbage that has

dragged this party, NOT THE VOTERS to the right, is on its last legs as far the game of 'appeal to the Left for the elections' then go right back to BUSINESS when you fool them into keeping you in power. It is stale now, rotting on the vine, the tactics that fooled people for so long. Too bad, and I so regret my own participation in it, we didn't wake up a long time ago.

As for your claim that that this is not a 'progressive country', excuse me and no offense, that is BS. Seen the polls recently on SS? Now there's a 'right wing progressive' policy for you Anyone who touches it is going to regret it on both sides, amazing isn't it, Republicans love their SS too. Medicare, another 'right wing conservative' program seen any polling on that?

Public Schools, another 'conservative, right wing program' :eyes'

Seen the polls on Congress, both sides of the aisle lately, and WHY they are so disastrously low?

Because all polls on the issues show that a majority of the American people WANT progressive policies. But the political parties make sure they don't get them.

How about NJ, when we Progressives were screaming that Christie could be beaten, that his handling of Sandy had already begun to anger people, (we kept hearing 'he's unbeatable because of Sandy', what lies they tell.

So, not the voters, but the Dem Party in NJ, 61 Dems helped get Christie elected, the DNC did nothing for the Progressive Candidate, all this leaving Dems in a BLUE STATE to wonder if the Progressive COULD win. Because they were lied to, they were told 'she can't win'.

And look what the voters got. If only we had two parties, at least one of which represented the people who want Progressive policies.

So, now we have another election coming up. Voters are no longer going to fall for the pretense that because someone has a D after their name, they are progressive.

[Enthusiast]

148. Brilliant post.

And perfectly accurate.

[dreamnightwind]

134. +1

Well done.

[Enthusiast]

150. Great post!

[Enthusiast]

151. That is desperate, dark comedy. +1!

[Enthusiast]

153. This gets to the crux of the issue.

Obama was elected because he was perceived as being very liberal and possibly even a socialist, as the Republicans often allege.

The old claim that the nation won't vote for a liberal is stuck in the GOP talking points of the days of the Dukakis campaign. Things have changed since then, BIG TIME.

The nation knows what right wing rule looks like and they do not like it.

[bvar22]

95. They aren't allowed to.

This is NOT a Conservative Nation.
In every major survey, the American Voters overwhelmingly agree with Populist Issues,
especially with respect to Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and all the old Liberal FDR/LBJ Safety Net programs, HIGH taxes on the RICH, outsourcing American Jobs (Free Trade) and many, many others.

But the Major Political parties make gawd dammed sure that any such candidate running on Populist (Liberal) Issues does NOT make it through a Democratic Primary!

The Arkansas Democratic Primary was a heart breaking eye opener for the Grass Roots and Organized LABOR. We were given a Look Behind the Curtain,
and it wasn't very pretty.

[font size=3]We did EVERYTHING right in Arkansas in 2010.
We did EXACTLY what the White House asked us to do to "give the President Progressives in Congress that would work with him."[/font]

We organized and supported Lt Governor Bill Halter, the Pro-LABOR/ Pro-Health Care challenger to DINO Obstructionist Blanche Lincoln.
Halter was:

* Polling BETTER against the Republicans in the General,

*was popular in Arkansas in his OWN right,

*had an Up & Running Political machine,

* had a track record of winning elections (Lt. Governor)

*Had the full backing of Organized LABOR and The Grass Roots activists

*was handing Blanche her Anti-LABOR ass in The Primary until the White House stepped in

Guess what happened.
Our BIGGEST enemy to bringing "change" to The Senate was NOT The "Obstructionist" Republicans.
NO!
Our BIGGEST obstruction to bringing "change" to The Senate was The Obama White House!

The White House stepped in at the last minute to save Blanche's failing primary campaign with an Oval Office Endorsement of The Witch that Wrecked the Obama Agenda,
and Bill Clinton was dispatched on a Campaign Tour for Blanche around the state bashing Organized LABOR and "Liberals" at every opportunity.

White House steps in to rescue Lincoln’s Primary Campaign in Arkansas

"So what did the Democratic Party establishment do when a Senator who allegedly impedes their agenda faced a primary challenger who would be more supportive of that agenda? They engaged in full-scale efforts to support Blanche Lincoln.

* Bill Clinton traveled to Arkansas to urge loyal Democrats to vote for her, bashing liberal groups for good measure.

*Obama recorded an ad for Lincoln which, among other things, were used to tell African-American primary voters that they should vote for her because she works for their interests.

*The entire Party infrastructure lent its support and resources to Lincoln — a Senator who supposedly prevents Democrats from doing all sorts of Wonderful, Progressive Things which they so wish they could do but just don’t have the votes for.

<snip>

What happened in this race also gives the lie to the insufferable excuse we’ve been hearing for the last 18 months from countless Obama defenders: namely, if the Senate doesn’t have 60 votes to pass good legislation, it’s not Obama’s fault because he has no leverage over these conservative Senators. It was always obvious what an absurd joke that claim was; the very idea of The Impotent, Helpless President, presiding over a vast government and party apparatus, was laughable. But now, in light of Arkansas, nobody should ever be willing to utter that again with a straight face.

Back when Lincoln was threatening to filibuster health care if it included a public option, the White House could obviously have said to her: if you don’t support a public option, not only will we not support your re-election bid, but we’ll support a primary challenger against you. Obama’s support for Lincoln did not merely help; it was arguably decisive, as The Washington Post documented today:"

<much more>

http://www.salon.com/2010/06/10/lincoln_6/

When the supporters of Pro-LABOR Lt Gov Bill Halter asked the White House WHY they had chosen to throw their full support behind Lincoln at the last minute, rescuing her failing campaign, the answer was ridicule and insults to Organized LABOR and the Grass Roots.

Ed Schultz sums up my feeling perfectly in the following clip.
http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/heather/ed-schultz-if-it-wasnt-labor-barack-obama-

After the Arkansas Democratic Primary, many Grass Roots Activists working for a better government concluded that the current Democratic Party Leadership preferred to GIVE this Senate Seat to a Big Business Republican rather than taking the risk that a Pro-LABOR Democrat might win it.
This was greatly reinforced by the Insults & Ridicule to LABOR from the White House after their Primary "victory" over Organized LABOR & the Grass Roots in the Arkansas Democratic Primary.

Of course, EVERYBODY predicted, Lincoln lost badly in the General Election, giving that Senate Seat to The Republicans.
So what did the White House gain by Stomping Down Labor and the Grass Roots?
We don't know.
The White House has never responded to our questions with an explanation, only insults and more ridicule.

A Fire Breathing, Charmastic Populist running on a platform of Economic Fairness for REgular Working Americans (a la Huey Long) can WIN ANYWHERE!

President Obama ran as such an Economic Populist in 2008,
and WON overwhelmingly.
(He just didn't DO all that Economic Populism once elected).

You bullshit don't fly here.

[1StrongBlackMan]

100. Who stopped them ...

from running and winning Democratic primaries, if their popular support is as you claim?

[bvar22]

106. I see you didn't read the above post.

I'm not surprised.

I'm also not surprised that you are willfully BLIND to the impact of BIG MONEY on elections.
The part that makes me REALLY angry is that the conservative Democratic Party establishment (The White House too) used OUR own donations to steam roll a Pro-LABOR Pro-Healthcare Democrat in the Arkansas Democratic Primary in SUPPORT of Anti-Working Class Blanche Lincoln.

Maybe some of the noobs here are naive enough to buy your BS,
but most of us aren't.

[dreamnightwind]

135. That's all you can say to that?

Well, maybe it is, which actually says a lot. Yet you persist. Sad.

[1StrongBlackMan]

137. Yep ...

that's all I have to say to that.

[woo me with science]

103. Thank you.

We are infiltrated by wolves.

No more.

[questionseverything]

109. maybe we can't win because we do not count our votes

http://www.bradblog.com/?p=7875

Hawkins couldn't explain it either. Though there had been a problem in Monroe on Election Night, when optically-scanned absentee and provisional ballots were mistakenly combined with the ES&S iVotronic touch-screen votes twice, that issue was discovered and corrected fairly quickly. And, in any case, there were not nearly enough such paper ballots cast to explain thousands of extra votes on May 19th in the GOP Senate primary, for example, or Republican candidate Coleman shown as receiving 306 votes the day after the election, but ending up with just 1 vote, county-wide, after the results were double-checked.

"I cannot explain the difference from 306 to 1," Hawkins conceded. "Sounds strange. But in the last 8 or so years, I've noticed stranger things happening. You'd definitely have to research that with the county's people."

By the time we spoke with Hawkins, we had already spoken to the county's election officials. They were neither aware of the inexplicable numbers, nor had any explanation for them.

"You need talk to the Election Commission. I just use the numbers that they give me," Monroe's friendly County Clerk Janet E. Tweedle told us. In Monroe, she says, the Clerk is largely just the recorder of final results. "The Election Commission brings my office the numbers, and we record, but our Election Commission and Election Coordinator handles our elections."

She also noted that "ES&S actually programs our machines" after the folks at the Election Commission prepare the ballots and send the information to the private voting machine company which services most of the state of Arkansas --- as well as most of the U.S. as the nation's largest election vendor.

As the state has had notorious disasters with ES&S over the years (a small sampling of which were summarized in our "Super-ish Tuesday" Backgrounder article, and otherwise chronicled over the years on these pages), we asked if she'd heard of any problems with the systems on election night that might have led to the strange numbers first published.

[woo me with science]

113. Counting votes means nothing if both candidates are corporate-bought.

I am all for increasing transparency in voting. It will be essential. But it will mean *nothing* without ALSO removing corporate money from our elections and reforming the system to allow non-corporate voices accessibility and a level playing field.

It doesn't matter what the voting tallies are if both candidates are hell-bent on implementing the same corporate agenda.

[questionseverything]

115. halter lost that primary,he was a non corporate voice

or as close as we get....

Lincoln vote totals multiply as other votes disappear, we could only document it in Monroe, a small county but what if larger counties also had "moving numbers" and Lincoln primary win was not an accurate accounting?

don't you see how 50 years of rigged corporate wins gives the appearance of the country moving "right"? which in turn gives us more corporate candidates?

//////////////////

as far as .....if both candidates are hell-bent on implementing the same corporate agenda. .... I agree totally this seems to be where we are with rare exceptions but I think it is important to remember how we got here

[woo me with science]

117. I agree with you that the voting needs reform, too.

The whole bloody government needs reform.

[sabrina 1]

163. Because they are given no choice. See Buono in NJ, deserted by her own party

which endorsed the Republican, telling the voters 'she has no chance of winning'. When progressives objected, demanded that the party support her rather than the Republican, they were told how 'naive' they were, that 'Christie was so great on Sandy he was unbeatable' which was a LIE since there was already so much anger about the Christie administration's handling of Sandy that any Dem who actually WANTED to support their own candidate would have been beating the drums on. Instead the party refused to finance the Progressive and 61 Dems in NJ ENDORSED the Republican. Seems to me that the NJ Dems didn't want the progressive and made sure she wasn't going to win. NOT the voters. Hopefully the voters have learned a lesson now and will look at the Candidates next time instead of listening to propaganda.

Please, just stop trying to push that talking point here. Are you aware that this is what right wingers have always done, to say that the country doesn't want progressive policies and that we have been proving them wrong for more than a decade? Why is this appearing on Democratic forums now? Is it that you actually believe it? If so, you can relax, pssst, it isn't true!

[Enthusiast]

147. Thank you, sabrina 1!

Thank you for sharing an accurate portrayal of reality.

[woo me with science]

79. "The corporate money that we both lament..."

"The corporate money that we both lament..."
"do not believe the Third Way to be an invasion."

Oh my word, STOP. I'm gonna spit milk, I swear.

"...that we both lament..." Seriously, that's priceless, given your full-time efforts on this board.

Okay...let me catch my breath here. What you claim to "think" about the Third Way has no bearing on reality: The Third Way was never a populist movement. It is a Koch-bankrolled, planned, and deliberate infiltration of the Democratic Party. That's simply a fact.

When the DLC connections to the Koch Bros. became well known, they just rebranded the infiltration
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=4165556

When you hear "Third Way", think INVESTMENT BANKERS
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024127432

GOP Donors and K Street Fuel Third Way’s Advice for the Democratic Party
http://www.democraticunderground.com/101680116

The Rightwing Koch Brothers fund the DLC
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x498414


Same companies behind the GOP are behind the DLC
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1481121

[1StrongBlackMan]

86. "3rd-Way" ...

thought/ideology has always existed (albeit, un-named) within the Democratic Party.

[bvar22]

108. But it hasn't completely controlled the Party until 1992.

NOW... It does.

Study: "Trade" Deal Would Mean a Pay Cut for 90% of U.S. Workers
http://citizen.typepad.com/eyesontrade/2013/09/the-verdict-is-in-the-trans-pacific-partnership-tpp-a-sweeping-free-trade-deal-under-negotiation-with-11-pacific-rim-coun.html

65 percent of working families are living from paycheck to paycheck
http://billmoyers.com/2014/01/10/why-conservatives-old-divide-and-conquer-strategy-%E2%80%94-setting-working-class-against-the-poor-%E2%80%94-is-backfiring/


Billionaire wealth doubles since financial crisis
http://www.upi.com/blog/2013/11/12/Billionaire-wealth-doubles-since-financial-crisis/5011384268135/?spt=hts&or=12


95 percent of the economy’s gains have gone to the top 1 percent
http://billmoyers.com/2014/01/10/why-conservatives-old-divide-and-conquer-strategy-%E2%80%94-setting-working-class-against-the-poor-%E2%80%94-is-backfiring/


The Top .01 Percent Reach New Heights
http://www.demos.org/blog/9/13/13/top-01-percent-reach-new-heights

US Wealthy Have Biggest Piece of Pie Ever Recorded
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/09/11-6

Rates of unemployment for families earning less than $20,000 - have topped 21 percent
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_JOBS_GAP_RICH_AND_POOR?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-09-16-08-11-23


Gallop: 20.4% of Americans now “going hungry”.
http://inplainsight.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/09/12/20460846-1-in-5-americans-struggling-to-put-food-on-the-table?lite

New Rule (Passed by Congress and signed by President Obama) signals Kiss of Death for Pensions
http://www.cnbc.com/id/100694955

Obama Appoints Bain Capital Consultant Jeff Ziets to Top Post
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023662209

Obama selects former Monsanto lobbyist to be his TPP chief agriculture negotiator
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023662210

The Totally Unfair And Bitterly Uneven 'Recovery,' In 12 Charts – HuffPo
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023662029

Larry Summers Gets 'Full-Throated Defense' From Obama In Capitol Hill Meeting
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014553343#post1

Wall Street will get away with massive wave of criminality of 2008 - Statute of Limitations
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022516719
Income gap widest ever: 95 Percent of Recovery Income Gains Have Gone to the Top 1 Percent
http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2013/09/10/one_percent_recovery_95_percent_of_gains_have_gone_to_the_top_one_percent.html


Older Workers:.Set Back by Recession, and Shut Out of Rebound
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/27/booming/for-laid-off-older-workers-age-bias-is-pervasive.html?smid=tw-share&_r=3&

THIS ^ does NOT happen by accident.
It is the result of carefully planned and implemented Economic Policy.
It requires careful preparation, marketing, buying the right politicians, message control, courts packed with Conservative Corporate Rights Judges, and the marginalization and suppression of any opposition.


[font color=firebrick][center]"There are forces within the Democratic Party who want us to sound like kinder, gentler Republicans.
I want a party that will STAND UP for Working Americans."
---Paul Wellstone [/font][/center] [center] [/font]
[font size=1]photo by bvar22
Shortly before Sen Wellstone was killed[/center][/font]


You will know them by their [font size=3]WORKS.[/font]

[Dragonfli]

112. The billionaire purchased austerity propaganda policy mill '3rd Way' is a product

The thought/ideology has indeed always existed and is the core of regressive conservative thought, "feed the rich/ starve the poor trickle down" economic theory is in all honesty as old as you claim: the thing is, it is regressive Republican Ideology, and those that subscribe to it are Republicans that either enter our party to infiltrate, or are simply clueless as to what they are.

A good example of those clueless to the fact that they are Republicans because they like to call themselves Democrats would be "Reagan 'Democrats'" - just as a good example of one that knows they are there to infiltrate would be Joe Lieberman.

[chieffeathers]

89. at least he's more honest that sec. Gates

I saw Gates on the Charlie Rose show. I was so surprised. He sounded like an old hen gossiping over de fense.

Sanders for President!

[DonCoquixote]

142. "This gets very, very old. "

"As you already know but persist in ignoring, polls consistently and repeatedly show that that the electorate is far more in agreement with Bernie Sanders on the major issues than the corporate candidates we are offered, over and over again."

The key thing is, will people who register these results at the polls actually VOTE that way at the polls,. and the fact that anyone to the left of Hill and Obama gets chewed up says otherwise. We are seeing a bit of light with the Deblasios, but to quote poll stats that do not reflect how people WILL ACTUALLY VOTE won;t help. I know we would all like to beleive that if we just showed people a fact, they would agree with us, but the fact is there are lot of other factors, namely the fact that most people are fearful, and kept in a state of fear.

The truth is, we can turn this around, but we need to start at the local level, and work our way up with momentum. We need to have a bunch of successful liberal governors, like the ones in California and Kentucky, so that when we ask "who will we run in the next election" we have some solid plans over than "Let's float whoever did not win the last one." The reason for this is simple, once we show that no, doing liberal policies doe not turn places into the 9th level of Hell, then we will tempt more and more people into straying off the path laid for them.

But polls saying that more people agree? That nice, but it does not reflect what people will actually DO. We need to build momentum locally, then state, then congress, so that the weak people, who are the majority, will feel they can coast on a current.

[Enthusiast]

146. Thank you, woo me with science!

Thank you for telling it exactly as it is.

[Enthusiast]

145. Me too!

[ProSense]

2. No,

Bernie's "support" of President Obama is pro forma and rather tepid.

...it isn't actually.

Sanders is a member of the Democratic caucus, and has to deal with reality.

He supports progress, and agrees with the President on "many, many issues."

Senator Bernie Sanders: “How many people will die if the Affordable Care Act is repealed?”
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023835481

A Health Care Success Story

Sen. Bernie Sanders on Wednesday brought together leaders of community health centers from across Vermont where three new centers opening in January are part of a dramatic expansion of affordable primary care. A Sanders provision in the Affordable Care Act authorized $11 billion to build, expand, and operate community health centers throughout the United States. “This is a huge step forward,” said Sanders, chairman of a Senate subcommittee that oversees primary health care.

Sanders was joined at the news conference by representatives of the Battenkill Valley Health Center in Arlington, Vt., the Five Town Health Alliance in Bristol, Vt., and the Gifford Medical Center in Randolph, Vt. The Bennington, Addison and Orange county centers will become the newest in the state thanks to $2.4 million in federal funding released last month.

The eight current Federally Qualified Health Centers already provide primary and dental care along with mental health counseling and low-cost prescription drugs to more than 130,000 patients.

The three new centers will bring the total number of Vermonters served to about 163,000, more than one in four people in the state and one of the highest participation rates in the country. In addition, about 25,000 Vermonters now receive dental care at community health centers, a number which will also rise.

http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/recent-business/a-health-care-success-story

Senator Sanders: Welfare for Walmart?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024354098

There are time when that reality has nothing to do with what the President supports.

Senate passes SNAP cuts on a bipartisan 66-27 vote.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022987698

Roll call
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=113&session=1&vote=00145

[cali]

8. trying to force a sqare peg into a round hole is just what you do.

My links are to clear criticism by Sanders of the President. Your links do not demonstrate enthusiastic support of Obama on the part of Sanders.

Honestly, the kind of denial you practice, the bending of facts to fit your agenda, is just fabulous- in the truest sense of that word.

[ProSense]

13. Did President Obama force Senator Sanders to vote to cut food stamps?

"Your links do not demonstrate enthusiastic support of Obama on the part of Sanders."

It indicates support, and that apparently you don't like that.

[Wilms]

18. A number of Third-Way posters are trying to capture progressive sentiment.

Warren's rise and the utter lack of support for Hillary (outside of the teen-idolatry) have the Third Way consternating.

And soon they won't even have Crisp Crispy to threaten us.

OMG! Vote for Hillary, or else!

[cali]

22. yep. and they can't bear any criticism of the object of their adoration.

[ProSense]

26. President Signs Veterans COLA Bill

President Signs Veterans COLA Bill

WASHINGTON, Nov. 21 – President Barack Obama today signed legislation by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) to provide annual cost-of-living adjustments in benefits for veterans with service-connected disabilities and for their survivors.

The legislation, for the first time in years, ends a Department of Veterans Affairs practice of rounding down benefits.

“I applaud the president for signing into law the measure that addresses one of the major concerns brought to my attention by veterans service organizations,” said Sanders, who chairs the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.

“This law will prevent the VA from rounding down disability compensation and certain survivor benefit cost-of-living adjustments,” Sanders added. “These seemingly small amounts of money add up over time and will contribute to the financial stability of millions of veterans and their survivors.”

The Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2013 ties annual cost-of-living increases for veterans to the same Bureau of Labor Statistics consumer price index that is used to annually adjust Social Security benefits. For the coming year, the measure would increase compensation benefits by 1.5 percent on Dec. 1 for almost 4 million veterans and survivors.

“Providing adequate financial compensation to our veterans and their families is our responsibility as a nation. We owe them an enormous debt of gratitude for their service and sacrifices,” said Sanders.

http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/president-signs-veterans-cola-bill_

"yep. and they can't bear any criticism of the object of their adoration."

Can you stand to hear praise of the President from Senator Sanders?

[Wilms]

32. Show me Sander's praise for drones.

For spying on our friends and fellow citizens. For letting the banksters walk. For letting GWB, et. al., off.

Got any links for that?

[1StrongBlackMan]

41. I don't recall ...

Sanders introducing legislation calling for the banning of the drone program, nor has he come out against the budding plans for the Vermont National Guard installation morphing into a drone command center.

[ProSense]

42. Are you a fan of Counterpunch?

"Show me Sander's praise for drones...Got any links for that? "

From a DU favorite, Counter puke:

<...>

Major General Michael Dubie, head of the Vermont National Guard, has expressed the hope that the Vermont Guard might be morphed into a center for unmanned drone aircraft. Sanders, not unlike President Obama, thinks drones are cool.

Sanders is the darling of the American-Israeli Public Affairs Committee and the right-wing Likud government of Israel. He has done everything within his power to keep the myth of Islamic terrorism alive. He never questions the U.S. government’s unconditional support of Israeli acts of genocide and ethnic cleansing against the Palestinians. It is as though these are nonevents.

Last, but by no means least, is the U.S. government-owned Sandia National Laboratories. For over two years Sanders and former University of Vermont President Daniel Fogel have been encouraging Sandia to open a satellite laboratory in Vermont. Sandia, whose historical origins can be traced back to the Manhattan Project in World War II, designs, builds, and tests weapons of mass destruction. The Vermont laboratory envisaged by Sanders would not be involved with nuclear weapons but rather would be engaged in projects related to energy efficiency, renewable energy, and electric grids. Sandia, interestingly enough, is operated under contract by Lockheed Martin, the largest defense contractor in the world. Lockheed Martin produces F-35s and drones. General Dubie, who has close ties to Lockheed Martin, recently received an honorary doctorate from UVM. No one at UVM seems to care whether or not the University gets in bed with a manufacturer of atomic bombs.

Bernie Sanders loves to rail against Corporate America, Wall Street, and the super-rich, but has nothing to show for it. He’s done little to constrain their power and influence. But everybody on the Left loves Bernie.

http://www.counterpunch.org/2011/09/30/the-myth-of-bernie-sanders/

See, no one is above being viciously attacked from the left.

[1StrongBlackMan]

49. Yeah ...

"But what about all the rest of the stuff he wants President Obama to do?" (... but hasn't introduced/gotten passed legislation for President Obama to sign.)

[Wilms]

52. Pretty specious. You call that support?

Here's a blue link for your files.

With regard to the use of drones and other methods employed by the Central Intelligence Agency, I am not convinced that Mr. Brennan is adequately sensitive to the important balancing act required to make protecting our civil liberties an integral part of ensuring our national security.”

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022474587

[ProSense]

63. That's opposition to Brennan.

Another DU favorite, Ted Rall:

But no one —not even Vermont’s token “socialist” Bernie Sanders — has called for an investigation into a drone war that ridiculously remains “classified,” a secret to everyone but the dead, the maimed and their survivors. Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky, ’16 prez prospect)’s filibuster merely demanded whether Obama planned to drone any U.S. citizens on U.S. soil. (Since he has already droned U.S. citizens on foreign soil, we know the answer to that.)

http://hernandotoday.com/he/list/hernando-columns/investigating-the-investigators-b82492798z1

That link was found on Senator Sanders' site: http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/newswatch/051713

[ProSense]

158. You, know what's a "shock"?

Your comment.

"You're game has been completely exposed for years now. You should write a memo detailing the growing ineffectiveness of this tack, and develop a more effective method. There's a promotion and bonus in it for you. "

You've been here since 2012, and I think the fact that you're making stupid comments as if someone appointed you DU Post Investigator is suspect.

On top of that, it's utterly hilarious.

[dennis4868]

3. Bernie Sanders politics are not different than Obama's

it's just that Obama cannot just do whatever he wants to...he has an obstructionist congress to deal with and can't always get everything he wants (which is 95% of the time the same thing Sanders wants).

If Sanders was president you think he would get everything he wanted...no, he would have to compromise and then another Bernie Sanders type would knock him for not having the same policies as he has.

You see, Bernie Sanders gets to sit on the sidelines and critic the president, let everyone know what he wants policy wise but then never has to get anything through congress like Obama does.

[L0oniX]

7. LOL

[Kolesar]

10. Rustle up the tsarina and the skate punk and have a big ol' laugh fest...eom

[Enthusiast]

155. LOL X 2

[Kolesar]

9. That's a fair point...eom

[cali]

11. Lol. long before Obama became President, he was corporate friendly in a way that Sanders

doesn't practice, despises and excoriates at every opportunity.

Yes, his politics are very different. how anyone can say with a straight face that they aren't, is quite amazing. Bernie is a self-avowed Socialist for pity's sake- something the President repudiates. And really? you think that's the role of members of Congress- to sit on the sidelines?

just yikes.

[Kolesar]

17. Is there a complete sentence in there somewhere, cali? eom

[Drunken Irishman]

88. LOL!!!

How many times has Sanders voted against a WH backed bill, Cali? Huh? Sanders probably has supported Obama more than 90% of the time when it came to major legislation - like the ACA, Wall Street reform and the stimulus.

Sanders owes the WH NOTHING as an independent. He didn't need to support half Obama's agenda and could have flanked himself to the left by refusing to support those bills because they didn't do enough. But he didn't.

It's funny, you sit and trash and trash Obama for his weak approach to everything and I've never seen you critical of Sanders when he inevitably votes for something you've raked Obama over the coals for backing. It's absolutely absurd.

Like Obama, Sanders is pragmatic. He realizes it's always best to leave with something than constantly go home with nothing. They may not agree 100% - but Sanders and Obama are a lot closer than you think.

[JaneyVee]

114. Long before Obama became Prez he was campaigning for Bernie Sanders.

[woo me with science]

15. Why do you make me keep posting this?

You guys never give up, do you?

The record shows aggressive, proactive pursuit of a corporate agenda.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=3152360


The record does not show the President trying to enact a more liberal agenda and being obstructed. It shows him working aggressively and proactively, over and over again, to install corporatists into his administration and to enact a corporate agenda.

Corporate and bank-cozy appointments, over and over again, including major appointments like:

A serial defender of corrupt bankers for the SEC; the architect of "Kill Lists" and supporter of torture, drone wars, and telecom immunity for the CIA; and a Monsanto VP who has lied and been involved in extremely disturbing claims regarding food safety for the FDA. An Attorney General who has not prosecuted a single large bank but wages war against medical marijuana users and *for* strip searches and warrantless surveillance of Americans. Tim Geithner. And now Penny Pritzker.

Bailouts and settlements for corrupt banks (with personal pressure from Obama to attorneys general to approve them),
Refusal by Obama's DOJ to prosecute even huge, egregious examples of bank fraud (i.e, HSBC)
signing NDAA to allow indefinite detention,
"Kill lists" and claiming of the right to assassinate even American citizens without trial
Expansion of wars into several new countries
A renewed public advocacy for the concept of preemptive war
Drone campaigns in multiple countries with whom we are not at war
Proliferation of military drones in our skies
Federal targeting of Occupy for surveillance and militarized response to peaceful protesters
Fighting all the way to the Supreme Court for warrantless surveillance
Fighting all the way to the Supreme Court for strip searches for any arrestee
Supporting and signing Internet-censoring and privacy-violating measures like ACTA
Support for corporate groping and naked scanning of Americans seeking to travel
A new, massive spy center for warrantless access to Americans' phone calls, emails, and internet use
Support of legal immunity for telecoms/warrantless wiretapping
Support of legislation to legalize massive surveillance of Americans
Militarized police departments, through federal grants
Marijuana users and medical marijuana clinics under assault,
Skyrocketing of the budget for prisons.
Failing to veto a bipartisan vote in Congress to gut more financial regulations.
Passionate speeches and press conferences promoting austerity for Americans
Bush tax cuts extended for billionaires, them much of it made permanent
Support for the payroll tax holiday, tying SS to the general fund
Support for the vicious chained CPI cut in Social Security and benefits for the disabled
Social security, Medicare, and Medicaid offered up as bargaining chips in budget negotiations, with No mention of cutting corporate welfare or the military budget
Advocacy of multiple new free trade agreements, including The Trans-Pacific, otherwise known as "NAFTA on steroids."
Support of drilling, pipelines, and selling off portions of the Gulf of Mexico
Corporate education policy including high stakes corporate testing and closures of public schools
Entrenchment of exorbitant for-profit health insurance companies into healthcare, through mandate
Legal assault on union rights of hundreds of thousands of federal workers
New policies of targeting children and first responders in drone campaigns,
New policies of awarding medals for remote drone attacks,
Appointment of private prison executive to head the US Marshal's office
Massive escalation of federal contracts for private prisons under US Marshall's Office

Chilling Legal Memo From Obama DOJ Justifies Assassination of US Citizens
http://www.democraticunderground.com/101654954

Obama seeks longer PATRIOT Act extension than Republicans (December 2013)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x380450

When it comes to civil liberties, apparently Democrats are just as bad as Republicans.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022101960

NSA's Massive New Spy Center to Track Your Emails, Internet Activity, and Phone Calls
http://www.democraticunderground.com/101620852

Obama Quietly Signs Abusive Spy Bill He Once Vowed to Eliminate
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022104861

Obama repeals Magna Carta, asserting powers our forefathers denied to Kings
http://www.democraticunderground.com/101655620

Obama's Memo on Killing Americans Twists 'Imminent Threat' Like Bush
http://www.democraticunderground.com/101654919

Obama no better than Bush when it comes to security vs. civil liberties.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022355307

Obama Admin Seeks Permission TO LIE In Response To FOI Requests - Even To The COURTS
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x2185303

NDAA on trial: Obama Administration fights ban on indefinite detention of Americans
http://www.democraticunderground.com/101748688

Obama administration complicit with private prison industry: President Obama's IncarcerNation
http://www.nationofchange.org/president-obama-s-incarcernation-1335274655

Obama, Democrats Push to Make Bush Spying Laws Permanent
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022084702

NDAA, signed by Obama, is a direct attack against legitimate protest and dissent
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022064803

NSA Whistleblower: All Americans under constant surveillance, all info. stored, no matter the post
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002193487; http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021935289

Bipartisan Congress Disgracefully Approves the FISA Warrantless Spying Bill for Five More Years
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022087323

While Public & Media Focused on 2nd Amendment, 5th Amendment Quietly Dismantled
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022390581

How the Obama administration justifies extrajudicial killing of Americans,
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022318187

Judge Says Under Law Executive Branch Can Commit Acts That Sure Do Seem Unconstitutional
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022122464

Obama Justice Dept. says wiretap lawsuit should not proceed
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014337039

NDAA Lawsuit- Hedges v. Obama, The Last Thin Line of Defense
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022357078

Federal authorities step up efforts to license surveillance drones for law enforcement
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022383596

Big Banks and FBI worked together vs Occupy
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022095056]

FBI Investigated 'Occupy' As Possible 'Domestic Terrorism' Threat, Internal Documents Show
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022061578

FBI Documents Reveal Secret Nationwide Occupy Monitoring (Updated the OP)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022057064

Public Buses Across Country Quietly Adding Microphones to Record Passenger Conversations
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021965291

Street artist behind satirical NYPD 'Drone' posters arrested
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021920967

The Obama DOJ urged the Supreme Court's endorsement of strip searches.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002521527

Obama Administration Fights to Allow Warrantless GPS Tracking
http://sync.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1074474

Anonymous to FBI: hey, dudes, maybe you could take a break from...investigating activists....
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022145621

Half a billion dollars for drones to spy on Americans
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021876414

From Bradley Manning to Aaron Swartz -- The Government's Inhumane Persecution of Brave Truth Tellers
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022276941

The sight of Army helicopters and the sound of gunfire...on Houston's south side
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022276742

Kiriakou and Stuxnet: the danger of the still-escalating Obama whistleblower war
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022275570

Can the DEA Hide a Surveillance Camera on Your Property?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022237059

Social Media and the Stasi
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021888029

Homeland Security Wants to More Than Double Its Predator Drone Fleet Inside the US, Despite Safety/Privacy Invasions
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014312823

CIA Behind Bizarre Censorship Incident At Alleged 9/11 Plotters’ Gitmo Trial
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022280285

“I Am Wearing My Conviction As A Badge Of Honor.”
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022275128

Meet the Contractors Turning America's Police Into a Paramilitary Force
http://www.democraticunderground.com/12525281

How Secrecy Corrodes Democracy
http://election.democraticunderground.com/101655009

Obama Quietly Issues Ruling Saying It's Legal For The FBI To Break The Law
http://election.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7545687

US Pulls Plug on Iran Cable News (Press TV)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014394770

DHS Watchdog OKs 'Suspicionless' Seizure of Electronic Devices Along Border
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022339091

[ProSense]

19. "Why do you make me keep posting this?"

<...>

What follows is a PARTIAL list of Obama’s accomplishments so far. Unlike many such lists, there is a link to a citation supporting every single one.

<...>

Wall Street Reforms and Consumer Protection

Ordered 65 executives who took bailout money to cut their own pay until they paid back all bailout money. http://huff.to/eAi9Qq

He pushed through and got passed Dodd-Frank, one of the largest and most comprehensive Wall Street reforms since the Great Depression. http://bit.ly/hWCPg0 http://bit.ly/geHpcD

Dodd-Frank also included the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau http://1.usa.gov/j5onG

He made it so that banks could no longer use YOUR money to invest in high-risk financial instruments that work against their own customers’ interests. http://bit.ly/fnTayj

He supported the concept of allowing stockholders to vote on executive compensation. http://bit.ly/fnTayj

He wholly endorsed and supported the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act of 2009 that would close offshore tax avoidance loopholes. http://bit.ly/esOdfB http://bit.ly/eG4DPM

He made a deal with Swiss banks that permits the US government to gain access to the records of criminals and tax evaders. http://bit.ly/htfDgw

He established a Consumer Protection Financial Bureau designed to protect consumers from financial sector excesses. http://bit.ly/fnTayj

He oversaw and then signed the most sweeping food safety legislation since the Great Depression. http://thedc.com/gxkCtP

Civil Rights and Anti-Discrimination

He advocated for and signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which made it a federal crime to assault anyone based on his or her sexual orientation or gender identity. http://bit.ly/gsMSJ7

He pushed through, signed and demanded the Pentagon enact a repeal of the discriminatory “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy that forced soldiers to lie to fight for their country, and put our troops at risk by disqualifying many qualified soldiers from helping. http://bit.ly/fdahuH http://bit.ly/mZV4Pz

He appointed Kareem Dale as the first ever Special Assistant to the President for Disability Policy. http://1.usa.gov/fi5IY0

Helped Congress pass and signed the Civil Rights History Act. http://bit.ly/th0JC8

He extended benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees. http://1.usa.gov/g2RLCj

He’s appointed more openly gay officials than anyone in history. http://bit.ly/g1lA7D

He issued a Presidential Memorandum reaffirming the rights of gay couples to make medical decisions for each other. http://1.usa.gov/aUueGT

He established a White House Council on Women and Girls http://1.usa.gov/rFfqMM

He signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, restoring basic protections against pay discrimination for women and other workers. This was after the GOP blocked the bill in 2007. Only 5 Republican Senators voted for the bill. http://bit.ly/fT3Cxg

Wrote and signed an Executive Order establishing a White House Council on Women and Girls to ensure that all Cabinet and Cabinet-level agencies evaluate the effect of their policies and programs on women and families. http://bit.ly/e1puTk

He expanded funding for the Violence Against Women Act. http://1.usa.gov/dSbI0x

Under his watch, National Labor Relations Board has issued final rules that require all employers to prominently post employees’ rights where all employees or prospective employees can see it, including websites and intranets, beginning November 2011. http://1.usa.gov/qu2EhQ

- more -

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/02/15/a-long-list-of-president-obamas-accomplishments-with-citations/

Ally Bank To Pay $98 Million For Charging Higher Interest To Non-White Borrowers
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024208931

U.S. orders mortgage servicer Ocwen to help borrowers with $2 billion

By Emily Stephenson

(Reuters) - U.S. officials on Thursday ordered the largest nonbank mortgage servicer to provide $2 billion in help to underwater borrowers to resolve allegations of misconduct that led to thousands of people losing their homes.

Ocwen Financial Corp must reduce loan balances for struggling homeowners and refund $125 million to foreclosed borrowers under an agreement with the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and officials from 49 states and the District of Columbia.

Ocwen failed to account for borrowers' payments, gave false reasons for denying loan modifications and robo-signed legal documents, the consumer bureau said.

In many cases, after Ocwen began servicing loans, it did not respect trial modifications that had already been agreed to by the lenders, consumer bureau Director Richard Cordray said.

- more -

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/19/us-financial-regulation-ocwen-idUSBRE9BI0ZT20131219

Elizabeth Warren:

<...>

When I worked to set up the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, I pushed hard for steps that would increase transparency in the marketplace. The crisis began one lousy mortgage at a time, and there is a lot we must do to make sure there are never again so many lousy mortgages .

CFPB made some important steps in the right direction, and I think we’re a lot safer than we were .

There is no question that Dodd-Frank was a strong bill—the strongest in three generations. I didn’t have a chance to vote for it because I wasn’t yet in the Senate, but if I could have, I would have voted for it twice.

Even so, the law is not perfect. And so it’s important to ask: Where are we now, five years after the crisis hit and three years after Dodd-Frank?

<...>

Powerful interests will fight to hang on to every benefit and subsidy they now enjoy. Even after exploiting consumers, larding their books with excessive risk, and making bad bets that brought down the economy and forced taxpayer bailouts, the big Wall Street banks are not chastened .

They have fought to delay and hamstring the implementation of financial reform, and they will continue to fight every inch of the way .

That’s the battlefield. That’s what we’re up against. But David beat Goliath with the establishment of CFPB and, just a few months ago, with the confirmation of Rich Cordray .

David beat Goliath with the passage of Dodd-Frank. We did that together – Americans for Financial Reform, the Roosevelt Institute, and so many of you in this room. I am confident David can beat Goliath on Too Big to Fail. We just have to pick up the slingshot again .

Thank you .

http://www.warren.senate.gov/files/documents/AFR%20Roosevelt%20Institute%20Speech%202013-11-12.pdf

Elizabeth Warren: Cordray Vote ‘A Historic Day For Working Families’

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) took to Twitter on Tuesday in praise of the Senate's vote to advance Richard Cordray's nomination to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, calling it a "historic day for working families."

Elizabeth Warren ✔ @elizabethforma

I couldn't be more pleased that Rich Cordray will finally get the vote that he deserves. This is a historic day for working families!
1:11 PM - 16 Jul 2013

47 Retweets 26 favorites

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/elizabeth-warren-cordray-vote-historic-day-for-working

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau gets busy
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023372682

SEC Will Require Companies To Report CEO-To-Worker Pay Ratios
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023694931

Regulators Finalize Stricter Volcker Rule - Reuters/HuffPo
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024158305

NLRB to Prosecute Wal-Mart For Violating Workers’ Rights (updated)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024053560

[woo me with science]

39. BWAH HA HA HA HA HA HA

*Nothing* compares to ProSense commercials. They expose the utter absurdity of the propaganda machine better than anything else on these boards.

That was *exactly* like those commercials that brag about the patented "Energizer Bits" in the kibble, without mentioning that the MAIN INGREDIENT, in every single major policy area, is Monsanto ground meal by-product straight from the cat food commission.

TPP, ACTA, austerity, NSA spying, war on journalism, drone wars, indefinite detention, bailouts, "Promise Zones," corporate education, pipelines, deregulation, privatization, Heritage Foundation mandates....

Poor Lily Ledbetter. Five years later, she is *still* being dragged out to compensate for the entire vicious agenda of corporate predation.

[ProSense]

46. LOL!

"I love ProSense commercials. They expose the utter lying propaganda better than anything else on these boards."

Funny, "expose the utter lying propaganda," I was thinking the same thing: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024356791#post15

[Enthusiast]

156. + a shit load......nt

[cali]

27. don't confuse them with the record.

[ProSense]

29. LOL!

[1StrongBlackMan]

51. Impressive list of blue links ...

perhaps you can provide a link to Bernie sponsored legislation to counter any of them.

[woo me with science]

54. Apparently googling is difficult for you? nt

[1StrongBlackMan]

57. No ...

I'm pretty good with the google ... it's just my searches keep coming up with speeches and OpEd pieces; but NO legislation. I thought you might wish to help out.

[woo me with science]

64. Either you are abysmally bad at googling,

or your posts here are abysmally dishonest.

Shame on you. Really.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023359801

[ProSense]

72. LOL "propaganda commercial"

or "abysmally dishonest"?

[1StrongBlackMan]

136. How is that the least bit responsive to this?

I asked you to provide a link to any legislation that Sanders has sponsored to address your grievances ... and you link to yourself?

Woo you be you.

[woo me with science]

141. Responsive to what? You haven't made a point.

There is no point in your post. You demanded that I post Bernie's resume for you. That's all. You gave me an assignment. The propaganda brigade likes to give out assignments. Perhaps it would help if you made a coherent argument explaining the point you are trying to make, that prompted this assignment.

For example, do you hope to prove with the resume that Bernie is a faux liberal? I am sure DU and all of Bernie's constituents (and anyone else who *has* mastered the google) are waiting with bated breath for the damning evidence of that.

Or are you merely trying to prove that he is not as liberal as Obama? Yes, I typed that with a straight face, and I am very proud of myself for making it through.

But wait. You demanded something very specific. You demanded that I show how Bernie has tried to *STOP* Obama's corporate assaults. So it appears you have changed your entire premise and now acknowledge that Obama's corporate administration has been assaulting us....In which case, are you arguing against Bernie on behalf of some mystery politician even MORE liberal than Bernie? What do you hope to prove, by demanding that I post Bernie's record, which you just can't seem to find online?

It's all very incoherent and mysterious. In fact...

Maybe....just maybe...you were simply trying to give me something to do.

After all,

The purpose of the propaganda is not to convince anyone of anything
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023359801

Their purpose is to thoroughly hijack, pollute and therefore eliminate public spaces where real discussion and organization can occur. Occupy is disbanded with clubs and pepper spray. Dissent and organization online are disrupted with surveillance and propaganda.

It is no accident that propaganda brigades post new threads on discussion boards far out of proportion to their presence in the community, and that they nearly *always* demand the last word in any interchange.

The goal is to disrupt the important public space for liberal thought, discussion, and organization that these boards offer, and to keep the participants busy instead batting off the corporate lies and talking points.

[1StrongBlackMan]

154. No ...

I requested that you provide a link to Sanders' legislative history addressing the long list of grievances you hold this administration responsible. I know for the perpetually outraged, histrionics are your stock in trade, so requests you cannot fill are termed "DEMANDS" and made light of as assignment giving.

You claim Sander to be the populist savior, yet he, a seating Senator, has no legislative record of fighting (PRESIDENT) Obama's "corporate assaults" ... only speeches and OpEd pieces.

[Number23]

127. BAM!

There it is!

[1StrongBlackMan]

139. Shhhh ...

lest you draw fire.

Really ... I support a lot of Sanders' economic ideology ... but I have major problems with "back-bench sniping".

[840high]

82. Keep reminding us.

[treestar]

24. Exactly

Warren, Sanders, whoever, just making them President does not solve everything. There's no evidence they could do better - in fact, evidence for Sanders is that he would get nothing done. He might say a lot of good things. That's all he could do without compromises. Our government requires compromise, that's the point, that no one person has all the power.

[dennis4868]

50. Many here on DU don't get that.

[1StrongBlackMan]

33. How about this phrasing ...

Bernie Sanders politics are not different than Obama's ... it's just that Obama cannot just GIVE A SPEECH OR WRITE AN OpEd PIECE AND CALL IT A DAY, WHICH IS ABOUT ALL SANDERS' CRITICISMS OF PRESIDENT OBAMA AMOUNT TO ...

Funny ... how everyone "Yupping" Sanders' critiques of President Obama can't seem to notice the complete lack of Sanders sponsored legislation that has landed on President Obama's desk.

Anyone that believes that President Obama does not want the same end as Sanders is just being flat-out dishonest.

[stupidicus]

76. yep, that's exactly why BHO proposed chained-cpi

and Bernie opposes it. I'd bet Bernie even approves of the spying BHO's NSA is likely doing on him and the rest of congress.

BHO playing the fox for the lefty henhouse is just genius the rest of us simply can't match or understand. That's why he's making a fed case outta inequality in the wake of the chained-cpi proposal.

It only computes to those drunk on hope and all too willing to except the unexpected and unpalatable changes.

Maybe he's just "evolving" and shedding his "austerity" skin, no?

[woo me with science]

83. The austerity skin of the Third Way corporate lizard

is shedded briefly every two to four years...just in time for election season.

"It comes from a very ancient democracy, you see..."

"You mean, it comes from a world of lizards?"

"No," said Ford, who by this time was a little more rational and coherent than he had been, having finally had the coffee forced down him, "nothing so simple. Nothing anything like to straightforward. On its world, the people are people. The leaders are lizards. The people hate the lizards and the lizards rule the people."

"Odd," said Arthur, "I thought you said it was a democracy."

"I did," said Ford. "It is."

"So," said Arthur, hoping he wasn't sounding ridiculously obtuse, "why don't the people get rid of the lizards?"

"It honestly doesn't occur to them," said Ford. "They've all got the vote, so they all pretty much assume that the government they've voted in more or less approximates to the government they want."

"You mean they actually vote for the lizards?"

"Oh yes," said Ford with a shrug, "of course."

"But," said Arthur, going for the big one again, "why?"

"Because if they didn't vote for a lizard," said Ford, "the wrong lizard might get in."

From So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish, by Douglas Adams

[stupidicus]

161. LOL

that sums it up nicely woo

I think people are increasingly becoming aware of the good cop/bad cop situation that we are afflicted with, and that the fear of rightwingnuttery is losing the persuasion force it once had.

I also think that those like Warren and a few others are providing the sharp contrast between what has been and what could be, and will serve as a catalyst for the eventual changes those like us want. The country as a whole is moving leftward ideologically speaking, and the little rightwing Dutchboys aren't gonna be able to fill all the cracks and holes in the dike forever.

It's doubtful that we'll ever see an Aegean Stables moment where all the turds are washed away, but...

[ProSense]

4. This is good:

Obama Takes Oath for 2nd Term

President Barack Obama on Monday took the oath of office for his second term before a crowd of hundreds of thousands massed along The Washington Mall. Sen. Bernie Sanders said Obama’s second inaugural was “eloquent in its simplicity and inspiring in its basic theme that we’re all in this together.

“On the day our nation was marking the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr., our first African American president invoked our country’s long history of advancing civil rights, as he put it, from Seneca Falls to Selma to Stonewall, Sanders added.

“As we rebuild our economy and as we bring an end to a decade of wars, the president laid out a strong vision for how we must protect our planet and renew our commitment to securing fundamental rights for all Americans.

“As the president brings forth his budget and legislative priorities, I look forward to working with him to create the millions of jobs that our workers need, to provide health care for all Americans and to protect the social safety net for seniors, veterans, children and the poor.”

http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=4A98D786-0BCD-47F9-B3F1-28A2371F4F57\

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022236245

[cali]

12. bzzzt. yet another fail. but I am delighted to watch your, er, antics. Most amusing.

[cali]

14. enthsiastic support like this:

He blamed Obama for continuing “the Bush trade policies,” saying, “Free trade has been an unmitigated disaster for American workers.” He noted that 50,000 factories have closed down here in the last decade.

[ProSense]

34. Obama makes

He blamed Obama for continuing “the Bush trade policies,” saying, “Free trade has been an unmitigated disaster for American workers.” He noted that 50,000 factories have closed down here in the last decade

...history:

WTO Upholds Obama’s Tire Industry Relief Decision

The World Trade Organization’s (WTO’s) Appellate Body yesterday upheld President Obama’s decision based on U.S. trade law to provide relief for American tire industry workers against surging imports from China of passenger and light truck tires.

In September 2009, Obama became the first president to enforce U.S. trade law when he imposed tariffs to protect domestic workers against a surge in tire imports from China. The original complaint came from the United Steelworkers (USW), and Obama’s decision led to a rebound in the tire industry.

http://blog.aflcio.org/2011/09/06/wto-upholds-obamas-tire-industry-relief-decision/

Obama Admin Wins Trade Complaint Against China At WTO

by TomP

Good timing for the speech today in Ohio.

GENEVA/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Washington won a major victory in an election-year dispute against China on Monday when a WTO ruling found China had discriminated against U.S. bank card suppliers in favor of a state-owned enterprise that enjoys an illegal monopoly.

The decision by a World Trade Organization dispute panel said Beijing was breaking WTO rules by requiring all yuan-denominated payment cards issued in China to work with the network belonging to China UnionPay (CUP), as well as requiring every merchant and ATM to accept CUP's cards.

<...>

White House spokesman Jay Carney called the ruling a "win" that showed "our determination to go after China's efforts to distort global trade rules".

"That is precisely why 3.5 years into the president's first term we have doubled the rate of WTO cases against China, versus the prior administration," he told reporters aboard Air Force One.

cnbc

This means a few more jobs:

US Trade Representative (USTR) Ron Kirk said the victory in the World Trade Organization dispute would allow US companies to compete on a level playing field with China's own company, China Union Pay, which has dominated the EPS market.

"The WTO panel agrees that China's pervasive and discriminatory measures deny a level playing field to American service providers, which are world leaders in this sector," Kirk said.

"This decision will help US companies and increase American jobs as a more efficient credit and debit payment system in China enables consumers to buy more goods, including quality, made-in-America products," he said.

According to industry estimates, the United States will gain 6,000 jobs related to electronic payment services, the Obama administration said.

- more -

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/07/16/1110564/-Obama-Admin-Wins-Trade-Complaint-Against-China-At-WTO

[L0oniX]

5. K & R

[Kolesar]

6. "Trying to use Bernie to burnish President Obama's liberal credentials is dishonest. "

I was not aware that that was a problem.

[treestar]

25. Trying to use him to divide Democrats

it what is going on here.

[Kolesar]

36. The original poster does this for stimulation

& his type is all over the internet.
Moving right along!

[JoePhilly]

16. You should have asked him to primary Obama back in 2011.

[cali]

21. Why? All I'm doing is setting the record straight. Yes, Bernie supports the President

over republicans, but he's hardly a cheerleader for most of the President's polices.

[JoePhilly]

23. Then he must be part of the problem.

[cali]

28. no, the president's pro corporate policies are the problem- not bernie's opposition to them

[ProSense]

31. Did President Obama

force Senator Sanders to vote to cut food stamps?

Senate passes SNAP cuts on a bipartisan 66-27 vote.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022987698

Roll call
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=113&session=1&vote=00145

[JoePhilly]

43. If he voted for President Obama, Bernie is part of the problem.

Or ... was Bernie just being "pragmatic" when he voted for Obama?

[1StrongBlackMan]

55. Oops ...

that's gonna leave a mark ... but'll probably go unanswered.

[JoePhilly]

62. Pragmatism washes off of Bernie. nt

[stevenleser]

53. You are missing Joe's point. I love Bernie and he phrases things better than anyone on income

inequality.

But at the end of the day, he supports the President on just about everything with his vote in the senate. The biggest thing any senator or congressperson can do in terms of support or opposition is their vote.

Sanders has been pretty unequivocal in his support of the President with his vote and that supports a very specific conclusion.

Sanders has a belief system that at times may seem to be at odds with the President, but when it comes down to his vote, he is expressing support for the President at least in terms of what he thinks is achievable at that time.

[JoePhilly]

59. Exactly ... its easy to be ideological, right up until you have to

vote.

Its easy ... right up until you have to decide to either ...

a) Do nothing (which is what the GOP really wants)

or

b) Be pragmatic and get something done.

Bernie Sanders knows this. Some on DU don't.

[1StrongBlackMan]

67. I really would like to think ...

they do understand this, since they do exactly that, every day in their real world lives.

[JoePhilly]

69. While I did not include that in my post ...

... I did think it.

Its even easier to be ideologically pure from behind one's keyboard.

[1StrongBlackMan]

73. Actually ...

I would say that is the ONLY way to be ideologically pure (from behind a keyword) ... and be considered sane. And even then, one's ideological purity, decreases with every post responding to other's questioning their purity ... or sanity.

[ProSense]

68. Or run for President.

How many times have people posted Obama prior support for marriage equality, single payer and his opposition to one issue or another?

The purpose of the Democratic caucus is to push for the strongest policies, and then work to pass the policy that comes close to meeting that ideal.

If you post that Obama supports increasing the minimum wage, it will be attacked as weak and not going far enough. Yet the bill to increase the minimum wage is sponsored by Senator Sanders.

I have no problem with Democrats working to strengthen administration policy. The President's job is not to throw out pie-in-the-sky policies that will never pass.

Look at the budget. By the time it came up for debate, people were using the President's numbers to attack it.

The Senate budget fell short of the amount proposed by the President.

[JoePhilly]

70. yup. nt

[ProSense]

74. Notice the OP

refuses to answer this question: Did President Obama force Senator Sanders to vote to cut food stamps?

Senate passes SNAP cuts on a bipartisan 66-27 vote.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022987698

Roll call
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=113&session=1&vote=00145

[JoePhilly]

75. That's a great example ...

One thing we learn on DU is that one's votes matter!!!

Until they don't.

[11 Bravo]

122. Precisely! Any anonymous internet schmuck can piss and moan about what they perceive ...

to be a lack of ideological fervor or purity; but those who actually enter the arena, win an election, and then have to govern, have a grasp on the reality of what said governance entails.

[Rex]

30. Nothing wrong with that! I like critical thinkers.

Look, the devil is in the details but I don't agree with the overall position of the president ..."

"... on that issue."

http://thevictoryreport.org/freedom-sanders-reforms/

Despite some here trying to dictate the flow of information, yes Bernie disagrees with the POTUS.

[geek tragedy]

37. He is critical where appropriate and supportive where appropriate.

He's both simultaneously quite a bit.

It seems rather childish to cherry pick criticisms vs support for specific arguments and then try to crudely pigeonhole him as a pro or anti -Obama figure.

[SunsetDreams]

40. Interesting...

didn't see your post until after I posted.

[SunsetDreams]

38. So..sometimes he is critical where waranted...and sometimes he is supportive where it is warranted

Why are we debating over that?

[geek tragedy]

44. Heh. Great minds think alike.

Reason for this thread is that certain intra-partisan teams want to claim Bernie Sanders as a teammate.

[Rex]

45. IKR!? Oh no the guy can think for himself and has critical thinking skills!

I think some around here HATE that fact and live in a binary world.

[underthematrix]

48. Sen. Sanders has been both supportive and critical of President Obama and this seems fines to me.

However, what I always have a problem with are politicians who seem to think that trade policies, the NSA, healthcare are all either or propositions. Sen. Sanders seems to present his arguments in black and white even though he may know that policy construction and implementation is much more complicated. I often wonder if he presents his positions that way because he believes (and I definitely agree) most people lack the capacity to think in gray.

Would I vote for Bernie Sanders for President. Probably not. I think Presidents have to have NERVES OF STEEL If Sen. Sanders became President, he would learn quickly what all presidents learn. Their decisions are usually a choice between worse and worser. This is what President said to Brian Williams during an interview that occurred early in his first term.

[stupidicus]

56. it obviously makes por sense to claim otherwise

since he has staked out largely the same ground on the same issues the rest of us racist BHO-haters have.

[ProSense]

77. "us racist BHO-haters"

You admit that?

[Fumesucker]

80. All who disagree with Obama on policy are haters who do so on racist grounds

How could it be otherwise?

[ProSense]

81. Really? You believe that? n/t

[Fumesucker]

105. Evidently there are some here who believe six impossible things before breakfast

We need to get with the program.

[stupidicus]

160. as designated by the BHO cult members

obviously

that much was likely obvious to just about everyone here, which is why I'm less than surprised by you asking such a question

[BumRushDaShow]

65. Derp.

[on point]

71. Bernie continues to represent the best interests of the american people, Obama doesn't always

Bernie continues to look out for the Amerkican people always. Unfortunately OBama has turned out to be a major disappointment and only seems to look out for americans only if it aligns iht corporate interests. Obama talks a good game, but his actions are DLC third way betrayal of american people. At this stage, I think Bernie scres a 100, Obama, maybe 50%.

I'll take Bernie anyday over Obama

[840high]

85. Big Bernie fan here.

[woo me with science]

87. +10000 No corporate Trojan horse there.

Last edited Sun Jan 19, 2014, 03:37 PM - Edit history (4)

Bernie's record is long and consistent on behalf of the people.

It is an outrageous statement on how corrupt our politics have become with corporate money, that we have to be so careful to watch out for Trojan horse candidates who LIE to our faces.

But...that's where we are.

[ProSense]

92. Hey

here's a post calling out "corporate shills": http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024357604

Warning, it's not attacking Democrats.

[woo me with science]

94. I don't click on your blind links, ProSense.

If you want to make an argument, you should make it here.

It's certainly predictable and illustrative that you felt a need to respond to this *particular* post, though, given the nature of your full-time activities here...


.

[ProSense]

96. LOL!

[woo me with science]

91. K&R

[hughee99]

93. I never would have pegged Sanders as a racist.

Oh well, you learn something new every day.

[MineralMan]

97. Changed my Mind. Creating an OP.

[Coyotl]

101. Bernie Sanders is and continues to be representative of his constituency.

Needless to say, I like his constituency.
I'd like to change a whole lot of other constituencies though.
Want better Congress critters, start by working on the constituents.

[woo me with science]

118. Nonsense that constituencies need to change.

Last edited Sun Jan 19, 2014, 07:11 PM - Edit history (1)

The incessant repetition by the propaganda brigade of what you just wrote *still* does not make it true.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=4357158

As you already know but persist in ignoring, polls consistently and repeatedly show that that the electorate is far more in agreement with Bernie Sanders on the major issues than the corporate candidates we are offered, over and over again. Across party lines, voters favor protecting SS and Medicare, they despise austerity, they want to curb the surveillance state, they want to invest in schools and infrastructure, and they want to cut military spending.

And the proof of the lie is that candidates pivot LEFTWARD every single election season to win voters. They lie and say that they will support a public option, or protect Social Security, or rein in the NSA, because they know that is what voters want to hear. But as soon as the election is over, it's back to the business of the one percent.

The Tea Party is bankrolled by big business. So is the Third Way. The Third Way was never a grass roots phenomenon. It is a deliberate infiltration of the Democratic Party, bankrolled by corporate interests.

We have a systemic problem of corporate money driving policy in both parties now. That is what happens when corporations buy elections. And ABSURD posts like the one you just made are what happens when corporations buy the media.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=4357824

Barack Obama was swept into office in a landslide in 2008 after a campaign trumpeting promises to be a champion for progressive policies and the 99 percent. He promised to protect Social Security, put on his "walking shoes" for labor, rein in the surveillance state, insist on a public option, close GITMO, hold banks accountable, increase transparency, etc., etc., etc.

We all know what happened once he got into office.

And they will try it again in 2016...because seeking votes requires it. They will pivot leftward. Hell, they are already trying to pivot leftward for the midterms. We already have the ABSURD spectacle of a President claiming he wants to focus on "income inequality" while simultaneously pushing the most predatory, secretive, 99-percent-assaulting "free trade" agreement in history.

Don't blame voters who do the best they can, given a system that has been deliberately and fundamentally corrupted to make it almost impossible for candidates not backed by dirty corporate money to compete.

[ProSense]

120. Yes,

"Barack Obama was swept into office in a landslide in 2008 after a campaign trumpeting promises to be a champion for progressive policies and the 99 percent...We all know what happened once he got into office."

...we do. He did a lot, and then "swept into office" again.

“Barack Obama is the first president in more than five decades to win at least 51 percent of the national popular vote twice, according to a revised vote count in New York eight weeks after the Nov. 6 election,” Bloomberg writes, adding, “The president nationally won 65.9 million votes -- or 51.1 percent -- against Republican challenger Mitt Romney, who took 60.9 million votes and 47.2 percent of the total cast, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Obama is the first president to achieve the 51 percent mark in two elections since Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower, who did it in 1952 and 1956, and the first Democrat to do so since Franklin D. Roosevelt, who won four consecutive White House races. Roosevelt received 53.4 percent of the vote -- his lowest -- in his last race in 1944.”

http://firstread.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/04/16348268-obama-agenda-first-since-ike-to-win-51-back-to-back

Bottom line: Obamacare really is for the 99%
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023441345

<...>

What follows is a PARTIAL list of Obama’s accomplishments so far. Unlike many such lists, there is a link to a citation supporting every single one.

<...>

Wall Street Reforms and Consumer Protection

Ordered 65 executives who took bailout money to cut their own pay until they paid back all bailout money. http://huff.to/eAi9Qq

He pushed through and got passed Dodd-Frank, one of the largest and most comprehensive Wall Street reforms since the Great Depression. http://bit.ly/hWCPg0 http://bit.ly/geHpcD

Dodd-Frank also included the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau http://1.usa.gov/j5onG

He made it so that banks could no longer use YOUR money to invest in high-risk financial instruments that work against their own customers’ interests. http://bit.ly/fnTayj

He supported the concept of allowing stockholders to vote on executive compensation. http://bit.ly/fnTayj

He wholly endorsed and supported the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act of 2009 that would close offshore tax avoidance loopholes. http://bit.ly/esOdfB http://bit.ly/eG4DPM

He made a deal with Swiss banks that permits the US government to gain access to the records of criminals and tax evaders. http://bit.ly/htfDgw

He established a Consumer Protection Financial Bureau designed to protect consumers from financial sector excesses. http://bit.ly/fnTayj

He oversaw and then signed the most sweeping food safety legislation since the Great Depression. http://thedc.com/gxkCtP

Civil Rights and Anti-Discrimination

He advocated for and signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which made it a federal crime to assault anyone based on his or her sexual orientation or gender identity. http://bit.ly/gsMSJ7

He pushed through, signed and demanded the Pentagon enact a repeal of the discriminatory “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy that forced soldiers to lie to fight for their country, and put our troops at risk by disqualifying many qualified soldiers from helping. http://bit.ly/fdahuH http://bit.ly/mZV4Pz

He appointed Kareem Dale as the first ever Special Assistant to the President for Disability Policy. http://1.usa.gov/fi5IY0

Helped Congress pass and signed the Civil Rights History Act. http://bit.ly/th0JC8

He extended benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees. http://1.usa.gov/g2RLCj

He’s appointed more openly gay officials than anyone in history. http://bit.ly/g1lA7D

He issued a Presidential Memorandum reaffirming the rights of gay couples to make medical decisions for each other. http://1.usa.gov/aUueGT

He established a White House Council on Women and Girls http://1.usa.gov/rFfqMM

He signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, restoring basic protections against pay discrimination for women and other workers. This was after the GOP blocked the bill in 2007. Only 5 Republican Senators voted for the bill. http://bit.ly/fT3Cxg

Wrote and signed an Executive Order establishing a White House Council on Women and Girls to ensure that all Cabinet and Cabinet-level agencies evaluate the effect of their policies and programs on women and families. http://bit.ly/e1puTk

He expanded funding for the Violence Against Women Act. http://1.usa.gov/dSbI0x

Under his watch, National Labor Relations Board has issued final rules that require all employers to prominently post employees’ rights where all employees or prospective employees can see it, including websites and intranets, beginning November 2011. http://1.usa.gov/qu2EhQ

- more -

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/02/15/a-long-list-of-president-obamas-accomplishments-with-citations/

Ally Bank To Pay $98 Million For Charging Higher Interest To Non-White Borrowers
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024208931

U.S. orders mortgage servicer Ocwen to help borrowers with $2 billion

By Emily Stephenson

(Reuters) - U.S. officials on Thursday ordered the largest nonbank mortgage servicer to provide $2 billion in help to underwater borrowers to resolve allegations of misconduct that led to thousands of people losing their homes.

Ocwen Financial Corp must reduce loan balances for struggling homeowners and refund $125 million to foreclosed borrowers under an agreement with the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and officials from 49 states and the District of Columbia.

Ocwen failed to account for borrowers' payments, gave false reasons for denying loan modifications and robo-signed legal documents, the consumer bureau said.

In many cases, after Ocwen began servicing loans, it did not respect trial modifications that had already been agreed to by the lenders, consumer bureau Director Richard Cordray said.

- more -

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/19/us-financial-regulation-ocwen-idUSBRE9BI0ZT20131219

Elizabeth Warren:

<...>

When I worked to set up the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, I pushed hard for steps that would increase transparency in the marketplace. The crisis began one lousy mortgage at a time, and there is a lot we must do to make sure there are never again so many lousy mortgages .

CFPB made some important steps in the right direction, and I think we’re a lot safer than we were .

There is no question that Dodd-Frank was a strong bill—the strongest in three generations. I didn’t have a chance to vote for it because I wasn’t yet in the Senate, but if I could have, I would have voted for it twice.

Even so, the law is not perfect. And so it’s important to ask: Where are we now, five years after the crisis hit and three years after Dodd-Frank?

<...>

Powerful interests will fight to hang on to every benefit and subsidy they now enjoy. Even after exploiting consumers, larding their books with excessive risk, and making bad bets that brought down the economy and forced taxpayer bailouts, the big Wall Street banks are not chastened .

They have fought to delay and hamstring the implementation of financial reform, and they will continue to fight every inch of the way .

That’s the battlefield. That’s what we’re up against. But David beat Goliath with the establishment of CFPB and, just a few months ago, with the confirmation of Rich Cordray .

David beat Goliath with the passage of Dodd-Frank. We did that together – Americans for Financial Reform, the Roosevelt Institute, and so many of you in this room. I am confident David can beat Goliath on Too Big to Fail. We just have to pick up the slingshot again .

Thank you .

http://www.warren.senate.gov/files/documents/AFR%20Roosevelt%20Institute%20Speech%202013-11-12.pdf

Elizabeth Warren: Cordray Vote ‘A Historic Day For Working Families’

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) took to Twitter on Tuesday in praise of the Senate's vote to advance Richard Cordray's nomination to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, calling it a "historic day for working families."

Elizabeth Warren ✔ @elizabethforma

I couldn't be more pleased that Rich Cordray will finally get the vote that he deserves. This is a historic day for working families!
1:11 PM - 16 Jul 2013

47 Retweets 26 favorites

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/elizabeth-warren-cordray-vote-historic-day-for-working

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau gets busy
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023372682

SEC Will Require Companies To Report CEO-To-Worker Pay Ratios
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023694931

Regulators Finalize Stricter Volcker Rule - Reuters/HuffPo
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024158305

NLRB to Prosecute Wal-Mart For Violating Workers’ Rights (updated)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024053560

[woo me with science]

129. Sorry, this ProSense commercial has already been evaluated

and found to be chock full of filler, irrelevancies, and distortion. When you take the product out of the box, you still find corporate predation as the MAIN INGREDIENT in every single policy area.

Just a spoonful of Lily Ledbetter STILL can't make TPP, ACTA, austerity, NSA spying, war on journalism, drone wars, indefinite detention, bailouts, "Promise Zones," corporate education, pipelines, deregulation, privatization, Heritage Foundation mandates.... go down.

We now return to our regularly scheduled program.

[ProSense]

130. You do

"Just a spoonful of Lily Ledbetter STILL can't make TPP, ACTA, austerity, NSA spying, war on journalism, drone wars, indefinite detention, bailouts, "Promise Zones," corporate education, pipelines, deregulation, privatization, Heritage Foundation mandates.... go down. "

...realize that's nonsense, don't you?

Elizabeth Warren on financial regulations: "There is no question that Dodd-Frank was a strong bill—the strongest in three generations."

Do you think she's full of shit? Do you think that's "propaganda"?

[woo me with science]

131. You mean the Dodd-Frank he later endorsed gutting.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/101472644

Financial regulations gutted in new bill

It's hard to believe that Democrats, who brought you the Dodd-Frank financial regulation act and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, are solidly backing a bill that would weaken or obliterate many regulations designed to safeguard investors.

The bill, HR3606, sailed through the House Thursday with 222 Republicans and 168 Democrats voting for it. Only 23 members, all Democrats, voted against it. President Obama has endorsed the bill. The Senate is fast-tracking its own version, which could come to the floor Monday night.

Under the guise of creating jobs, the House bill would make it easier for companies to raise money from the public without fulfilling some - or in certain cases virtually all - of the obligations designed to protect investors in public companies. However, there is no requirement or guarantee that companies would use any of the money to hire a single person.



Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/03/11/BUPU1NIGVF.DTL&type=business

Please spare the appeals to Elizabeth Warren. Not everyone subscribes to a cult of personality, although it is adorable that all the personality cultists seem to think so.

First, you try to take the focus off the point I made, which is that in every single major policy area, your minutiae are misleading or meaningless; the OVERALL direction of policy has been corporate. And then when you attempt to save yourself from that ugly fact by diverting to a specific issue, you obfuscate. You were not going to mention this bill or President Obama's position on it, because it contradicts the point you are trying to sell.

President Obama has announced, FIVE YEARS INTO HIS PRESIDENCY, that he intends to focus on income inequality. Yet he is simultaneously trying to push through perhaps the most secretive, predatory trade deal in history that will gut salaries for over 90 percent of Americans. And he refuses to remove Social Security cuts from his own budget.

Midterm elections are coming up. We can expect to hear lots of pretty progressive rhetoric and perhaps see some actual termporary feints to the left to try to convince voters that the party has, at long last, heard their voices. After five years of predation, we are to believe that the REAL Third Way has finally arrived. But look at the TPP. Look at the budget. Look at the NSA. Look at the gap between rich and poor. The con game doesn't fly anymore.

Commercials by their very nature attempt to sell, not to discuss honestly. That is why it is seldom useful to argue with them.

[ProSense]

132. No,

"You mean the Dodd-Frank he later endorsed gutting."

...this Dodd-Frank:

Regulators Finalize Stricter Volcker Rule - Reuters/HuffPo
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024158305

Your comment seems to imply acceptance of Warren's characterization, but you had to find something to try to distance Obama from his own law. LOL!

"Please spare the appeals to Elizabeth Warren. Not everyone subscribes to a cult of personality, although it is adorable that all the personality cultists seem to think so. "

Are you saying support for or agreeing with Warren indicates a "cult of personality."

BTW, I love your Sanders 2016 "commercial."

[Coyotl]

123. No. True.

Not nonsense, just true. Don't bite my head off if you don't like Obama. I'm saying I like Bernie, and wish every district had his constituency. Don't blame me for Minn. sending Bachmann to Congress.

[woo me with science]

124. "if you don't like Obama."

That wasn't the argument, and you know it, but your reframing is predictable.

You ignore how Obama got elected. It was NOT by promising the agenda he has imposed on us. In fact, it was by promising much of what Bernie Sanders stands for now.

[Coyotl]

125. Why are you calling nonsense on me then? I ignored nothing.

You can't make an argument against me by saying you oppose what I failed to state, FCS!
I ignored the hour of sunset in Suriname too, and a gazillion other things.

I just said I like Bernie. Lighten up on me and take the fight mood to others.

[woo me with science]

126. You repeated a blatant falsehood and Third Way talking point,

which is that the American electorate does not embrace liberal policies or liberal politicians. That constituencies need to change before a liberal politician could possibly be viable.

In fact, recent history - both polls AND voter behavior - shows exactly the *opposite.*

It is important that this Third Way talking point be demolished, because it is one of the ways the Third Way justifies sabotaging liberal politicians and keeping serious discussion of policies that might actually HELP the 99 percent out of the mainstream.

It needs to be called out and shown for the rubbish it is, wherever it is attempted.

[indepat]

104. I would hope Senator Sanders would not be critical of President Obama unless promoting/

advancing a right-wing agenda, ideology, or policy.

[great white snark]

119. Your divisive propaganda was once again thoroughly debunked by ProSense and others.

I think it will be difficult to find any Obama haters with credibility...that's why I understand your need to fabricate friction. I disagree with your tactics but I do understand them.

[woo me with science]

121. LOL.

You watch too many commercials.

[Number23]

128. That subthread between Prosense, JoePhilly and 1SBM pretty much demolished this OP

Calm, reasonable and full of crystal clear facts. They did an amazing job.

[Douglas Carpenter]

159. you don't understand politics and how things work in the real world. But then again a comforting

fairy tale does provide more anesthesia than confronting reality - So, perhaps living in make-believe is just as well

[colsohlibgal]

133. You'll Never Turn The Apologists

Just as with many republicans with Dubya. I think Dubya could have been on tape robbing a bank and his minions would have found a way to rationalize it. Ditto with the Obamabots.

[Kolesar]

138. That was contentless...eom

[Enthusiast]

144. Recommended X 1000!

And kicked a bunch.

[madrchsod]

152. well someone has to...

bernie is the only one stepping up to the plate

[Progressive dog]

157. Joe Manchin, Joe Liberman, and many Democrats

give pro forma tepid support to President Obama.
I want to see Bernie run for the Democratic nomination in 2016. I agree with most of his positions. If he becomes the Democratic candidate, I will enthusiastically support him.
Bernie is not one of the political children who thinks his election allows him to dictate government policy. He is willing to compromise and accomplish something rather than nothing. He understands how our government is supposed to work.
I don't see how attacking our Democratic president because he also tries to make government work helps make our country better. Bernie doesn't seem to either.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

162. In a democracy, it is the peoples' responsibility to hold public servants accountable.

Bernie is doing just that.