"Socialism": I don't care what people call Bernie so long as they know where he stands on the issues

[Cheese Sandwich]

We should vote for

• Great public services, a strong social safety net, and full employment
  
  
• Defend and expand Social Security and Medicare.
  
  
• Defend Obamacare but also fight for a real single-payer health plan. Medicare For All.
  
  
• Advance the cause of civil rights and the right to vote.
  
  
• Defend safe access to abortion.
  
  
• Full equal pay for women at work.
  
  
• LGBT marriage equality.
  
  
• A living wage.
  
  
• Resist unfair trade deals like the TPP.
  
  
• Make it easier for workers to form unions.
  
  
• Help worker-owned companies.
  
  
• Tax Wall St.
  
  
• Stop NSA mass spying programs.
  
  
• Transform our energy system away from fossil fuels.
  
  
• A track record of good judgement opposing disastrous wars.
  

If people think that is socialism, fine.

If people vote on the issues Bernie will win.

[Cheese Sandwich]

1. ..

[JaneyVee]

2. People call him that because he calls himself that.

[prairierose]

4. He calls himself a Democratic Socialist....

which is not quite the same thing as a socialist. I happen to think that socialists have good ideas. However, since the 1950s, that word has been demonized in the US and most Americans have no idea what it really means.

[Cheese Sandwich]

6. Proud actual socialist here...

He may be a socialist, but he fights for policies that are right in the mainstream of the American liberal-progressive movement.

I'm happy to support it.

[G_j]

3. Most young people could care less about the socialist label

I think people are greatly exaggerating the negatives of that word today.Things change..

[Cheese Sandwich]

7. Yeah. And The GOP have taken the sting out of the word by overusing it, on Obama.

[daredtowork]

5. I have a theory

that every time people cry out for social alleviation, the Forces of Big Money assure that the results are that it is the taxes on the Little People that get raised and they deliberately throw wrenches into government programs to "show" that they don't work. So over the years they have actively "socially engineered" society to think that socialism will result in those punishments.

However, we haven't tried stuff like taxing the rich, raising the cap on Social Security, radically increasing the inheritance tax, etc. yet.

[Cheese Sandwich]

8. yes exactly so...

It's time to try those new ideas.

[backscatter712]

10. Yep, hence the GOP's huge hissy-fit on Obamacare.

The elites were terrified that the people would see an example of government intervention that actually worked, so they did their damnedest to kill or sabotage Obamacare.

[JonLP24]

13. So odd because it was originally the Republican idea on health care

I believe Nixon was probably the first to propose something similar in response to Hubert Humphrey running on Universal Health Care which he made a career of but the mandate was certainly known from the Heritage Foundation in the 80s and all through the 90s the Republicans wanted a mandate. Instead of Single Payer why not just force buyers to purchase from private insurers. I'm not sure how Obama changed his mind to not just simply adopting the mandate but also adopting the health insurance companies arguments. The odd thing was when the Republicans came out full force against the mandate, now the mandate is their favorite issue to bring up when bashing the health plan yet another odd thing was when they decided to sue Obama over something related to ACA, the issue they used to file suit was over Obama delaying the penalty kickers for another year or so.

I certainly don't fault Obama for not bringing universal or single payer because there were Joe Lieberman, Bill Nelson, etc threaten to fillibuster it so they went with the mandate because it was something they thought would be fillibuster proof but the odd thing about that is the only votes Obama could count on because of the mandate were Democrats with the Republican party leaders threaten to fillibuster anything with a mandate. WTF?

[JonLP24]

14. I'm dead serious this is a true story

AHCCS is the Arizona state run health insurance thing. Awhile back before ACA the Republican legislature cut the funding basically limiting coverage to poor adults who have children. If you didn't have children you were sorry out-of-luck. A Republican neighbor mentioned this policy, you can only have health care if you have an under 18 child as an example of government running health care & everything -- saying the government would control people & tell people how to live by forcing the issue.

At-the-point I given up hope, I already mentioned it was the Republicans before when he brought up Diebold as an example of the Free Masons & their one world order which he meant government. He also doesn't believe in voting since the Free Masons select who they want going as far to say the only one who wasn't a Free Mason was JFK. He mentioned Saddam wasn't a Free Mason, I can debate it rationally as I could but he is a Republican based on his idea of government running & controlling everything telling you how to live, suggesting the government funds shouldn't be used to help people in New Orleans because it was their fault for living where hurricanes occur, he'd also complain about the NASA budget & all that money spent on useless things in space. You could set you clock to whenever he'd have a right wing opinion but his Free Mason stuff is out there. Even suggesting the reason why Tupac was killed because of the word "Illuminati" on his Makaveli album -- I don't even know what that means but if you ever seen him in an activist or personal side he favored Democratic Socialism. His aunt is living in exile in Cuba.

[daredtowork]

15. And yet the "problem" is unwed mothers having children...nt

[backscatter712]

9. Bernie's a Democratic Socialist, and he owns it like a boss.

Trying to deny it or downplay it at this point would be a huge mistake - the tape-loops will start playing at FAUX News, and he'd get eaten alive.

So his best thing to do, for his campaign, and for we the people, is to say what he said to George Stephanopoulos: "What's wrong with that?"

[Cheese Sandwich]

11. Yep ...

And he is in good company too...

10 Surprising People Who Advocated Socialism -> http://www.democraticunderground.com/10248181

[RobertEarl]

12. Yep

What's wrong with being a socialist? The opposite of being socialist is being a corporatist. Do we want corporations to run the government? Or do we want socialists like Bernie running things?