Bernie Sanders New Years Message

[NorthCarolina]

I want to take this opportunity to wish you and yours a very happy new year. I also want to express my gratitude to you for the political support that you have given to me, and for all of your efforts in trying to move our country and the world in the direction of peace, justice and environmental sanity.

As we survey our country at the end of 2013 I don't have to tell you that the problems facing us are monumental, that the Congress is dysfunctional and that more and more people (especially the young) are, understandably, giving up on the political process. The people are hurting. They look to Washington for help. Nothing is happening.

* The middle class continues to decline with median family income some $5,000 less than it was in 1999.

*More Americans, 46.5 million, are now living in poverty than at any time in our nation's history. Child poverty, at 21.8 percent, is the highest of any major country.

*Real unemployment is not 7 percent. If one includes those who have given up looking for work and those who want full-time work but are employed part-time, real unemployment is 13.2 percent -- and youth unemployment is much higher than that.

*Most of the new jobs that are being created are part-time work at low wages, but the minimum wage remains at the starvation level of $7.25 per hour.

*Millions of college students are leaving school deeply in debt, while many others have given up on their dream of a higher education because of the cost.

*Meanwhile, as tens of millions of Americans struggle to survive economically, the wealthiest people are doing phenomenally well and corporate profits are at an all-time high. In fact, wealth and income inequality today is greater than at any time since just before the Great Depression. One family, the Walton family with its Wal-Mart fortune, now owns more wealth than the bottom 40 percent of Americans. In recent years, 95 percent of all new income has gone to the top 1 percent.

*The scientific community has been very clear: Global warming is real, it is already causing massive problems and, if we don't significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the planet we leave to our kids and grandchildren will be less and less habitable.

Clearly, if we are going to save the middle class and protect our planet, we need to change the political dynamics of the nation. We can no longer allow the billionaires and their think tanks or the corporate media to set the agenda. We need to educate, organize and mobilize the working families of our country to stand up for their rights. We need to make government work for all the people, not just the 1 percent.

Before we talk about 2014, let me ask you a favor. Do you know of friends, family or co-workers who might be interested in receiving our email newsletters and updates? If you do, please forward this email and encourage them to sign-up for occasional updates. They can sign-up for our emails by clicking here.

When Congress reconvenes for the 2014 session, here are a few of the issues that I will be focusing on.

Link to remainder of message: http://www.opednews.com/articles/Bernie-Sanders-New-Years-M-by-Bernie-Sanders-Bernie-Sanders_Bernie-Sanders_Economic_Finance-131229-465.html

I love this guy...hope he runs in 2016.

[Laelth]

1. k&r for Bernie Sanders. n/t

-Laelth

[AdHocSolver]

2. The war by the 1 percent against the 99 percent continues.

The Democrats had better start attaching the poor state of the real economy to the Republican policies in order to attract some votes of independents and moderate Republicans.

Pointing to a rising stock market as forerunner of an improving economy assumes a significant naivete among the population. The stock market does little to benefit a large majority of the 99 percent.

That the stock market doing well helps "create jobs" is the basis of "trickle down" economics. It is propaganda.

The opposite is more accurate to understand the actions of the large corporations. The stock price of a corporation more often goes up when jobs are eliminated or sent to low wage countries such as China.

The stock market goes up when a lot of people buy stocks (big demand bids up the price) and the stock market drops after a lot of stock shares are sold (big supply relative to demand). The game is rigged in favor of the biggest shareholders.

Other economic statistics are manipulated as well. For example, as Senator Sanders points out in the OP, U.S. unemployment is much higher than the "official" figures suggest. The same is true for the rate of inflation.

If Democrats want to win, they better develop a credible populist political message. Just campaigning as Tweedledum versus Tweedledee is not going to bring out the voters.

[Rectangle]

3. Sanders/Warren 2016!! eom