Sanders is more than a rebel

[eridani]

http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/presidential-campaign/264665-sanders-is-more-than-a-rebel

Clearly, Sanders was the opposite of a smoldering, “ideologically pur[e]” radical who could not “get things done.”

As Greg Guma, Vermont writer and activist, says of the candidate's pragmatic streak— “He became what we call up here a ‘Vermont Exceptionalist.’”

Elected to the federal House of Representatives in 1990, Sanders passed more amendments than any other lawmaker serving with him: reducing the cost of college, expanding free health care, holding the IRS accountable, cracking down on child labor, increasing winter heating funding for America’s poor, and fighting against corporate welfare.

Elected to the U.S. Senate in 2005 (and endorsed by Barack Obama, Sens. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), and Howard Dean), Sanders succeeded in “forging a compromise” to get the first-ever audit of the Federal Reserve, a “cause that Republican congressman Ron Paul had been pursuing for decades.”

With the Affordable Care Act on the high-wire, and millions of Americans lacking health insurance, Senator Sanders leveraged his influence to secure enough funding for 10 million Americans to receive free health care through Community Health Centers. Now, even conservatives are requesting funding for Sanders' program.

Sanders also worked with Republican John McCain (Ariz.) to overhaul the Veterans Administration; in an interview with National Journal, McCain praised Sanders’ work on the bill, saying, “I found him to be hon­or­able and good as his word.” Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) said that, “Frankly, without him, I don’t think we would have got­ten it done… It was a great test­a­ment to his skill as a le­gis­lat­or.”

Bernie Sanders is a politician in the best sense: someone with a blood-deep commitment to justice for his constituents, coupled with the ability to make that vision— for a democratic, just America— as real as the poverty and hunger gripping our nation today.

He has even been called a “stealth politician” because “people think he’s just this guy who has super-liberal” tendencies, but, in actuality, he is “a brutally successful political knife-fighter.”

[Art_from_Ark]

1. Bernie's the real deal

I'll happily cast a vote for him on Super Tuesday.

[JDPriestly]

2. K&R.

[Nyan]

3. Yes there's a difference between having an ideology and being an ideologue

I'd say Ron Paul is the latter.
Bernie has been way more effective as a legislator, being principled and yet at the same time, pragmatic.

[Ed Suspicious]

8. Bernie - Principled Pragmatist

[Uncle Joe]

4. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, eridani.

[tecelote]

5. K&R!

[SmittynMo]

6. It's quite clear,

based on this post and many, many others, that Bernie would make a fantastic president. My vote is with him 100%.

So can someone please tell me why all of the media, is doing such an injustice to all of us by ignoring him with their inability to report any of this? The injustice is totally intentional, aimed at keeping the public uninformed.

[WillyT]

7. HUGE K & R !!! - THANK YOU !!!

[azmom]

9. Kick