March 31, 2016

John Nichols:This Bernie Sanders fellow draws quite a crowd

Things are hopping at Onalaska Omni Center in Onalaska, Wisconsin. This @BernieSanders fellow draws quite a crowd.
https://twitter.com/NicholsUprising



https://twitter.com/search?q=wisconsin%20for%20bernie&src=typd


https://twitter.com/kylieatwood

March 30, 2016

Bernie Sanders is this year's biggest story

(snip)
The New York Times' Yamiche Alcindor wrote, "Covering Mr. Sanders is at times like watching a man almost surprised by his success and eager to make it last." In my experience, his supporters feel the same -- a sort of "Can you believe this is happening?" mix of elation and shock.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/29/us/politics/bernie-sanders-campaign.html?_r=0

These are the voters who were perennially accustomed to holding their noses and voting for the least-worst option and then spending the rest of their time railing against the corrupt center-right system. I should know, I'm one of them.

They/we/I never expected to see a presidential candidate championing universal single payer health care -- let alone, gasp, that candidate have a shot at winning. I suspect that candidate didn't see it coming, either.

(snip)
And his campaign is, I think rightly, pushing superdelegates to retract their anti-democratic support for Hillary Clinton and instead side with the voters in their states. But whatever happens, when November comes and goes, Sanders' campaign won't be over.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/29/opinions/bernie-sanders-big-story-2016-opinion-kohn/index.html

March 30, 2016

Bernie Sanders campaigns in Appleton

The line of people waiting outside the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center stretched for blocks through downtown Appleton as Bernie Sanders supporters waited for the Democratic candidate for president to speak Tuesday morning.

The theater was filled to capacity and an overflow crowd waited outside as Sanders discussed his stance on issues ranging from voter ID laws, to the criminal justice system, to how the minimum wage should be $15 an hour.

"We think we have the momentum, we think we're going to take that momentum here into Wisconsin and we think we have a good chance to win here," Sanders said.

(snip)
"He has not been afraid to put himself out there and he defends us with all that he has, others don't" said Alyssa Borchardt, and Appleton resident and Muslim convert. "I haven't been attacked, but I have friends who've been attacked."

http://www.nbc26.com/news/bernie-sanders-campaigns-in-appleton

March 29, 2016

Bernie Sanders to campaign in Pittsburgh Thursday

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders will make his first Pennsylvania campaign stop in Pittsburgh on Thursday with a rally at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center at Exhibit Hall C in the Cultural District.

Sanders will speak at 10 a.m.. The event is open to the public; the doors will open at 7:30 a.m., and organizers strongly suggest that supporters RSVP at the campaign website.

The Sanders presidential campaign set up its first Pittsburgh office on East Carson Street on the South Side last week. Rival Democrat Hillary Clinton set up her first Pennsylvania office in Pittsburgh last week as well; it is on North Highland Avenue in East Liberty.

Sanders heads to the Keystone State fresh off three impressive caucus victories Saturday in Alaska, Washington and Hawaii. In a press call Monday, Sanders' campaign officials said he had the momentum to topple Clinton in pledged delegates by June. His campaign officials also stressed that he can win the support of unpledged “superdelegates” to get the Democratic presidential nomination.

http://triblive.com/news/allegheny/10222815-74/delegates-campaign-pledged

March 29, 2016

Sen. Sanders Statement on Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders on Tuesday issued the following statement after a 4-4 split decision by the Supreme Court left in place a lower court ruling allowing unions representing government employees to collect fees from workers who choose not to join:

“Today’s split decision underscores the need to confirm a Supreme Court nominee who will protect the constitutional rights of American workers to collectively bargain for fair wages and safe working conditions.

“The extreme right wing is just one conservative Supreme Court justice away from dismantling the rights of public sector unions to organize and collectively bargain on behalf of all of the workers they are legally bound to represent. We cannot allow that to happen.

“From Wisconsin to California, the extreme right wing has been waging a war to dismantle unions all over this country. That is a war they cannot be allowed to win.

“Working people in this country need a seat at the bargaining table to fight for higher wages, decent health care, a secure retirement and a safe working environment. Public sector unions are that voice. And if I am elected president, I’m not going to let the Supreme Court take away that voice.

“While Republican governors like Scott Walker and the Koch brothers may not like it, we are going to make it easier, not harder, for American workers to form a union. We need to expand, not eliminate, the collective bargaining rights of all Americans. When unions are strong, the middle class is strong.”


https://berniesanders.com/press-release/friedrichs-v-california/

March 29, 2016

Bernie Sanders joins Dem lawmakers pushing feds to help lower cost of prostate cancer drugs

A group of lawmakers is calling on the National Institutes of Health and Department of Health and Human Services to step in and reduce the cost of Medivation Inc’s and Astellas Pharma Inc’s prostate cancer drug Xtandi.

In the letter signed by Democratic U.S. presidential candidate Bernie Sanders and Reps. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) and Peter Welch (D-Vt.), the lawmakers urged NIH to hold a public hearing to consider overriding the patent on Xtandi to make the drug available at a lower price.

The medication has an average wholesale price in the United States of more than $129,000 but is sold in Japan and Sweden for $39,000 and in Canada for $30,000, according to the lawmakers’ letter, addressed to HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell and NIH Director Francis Collins.

(snip)
Also signing the letter were Sens. Al Franken (D-Minn.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), as well as Reps. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) and Mark Pocan (D-Wis.).

http://www.rawstory.com/2016/03/bernie-sanders-joins-dem-lawmakers-pushing-feds-to-help-lower-cost-of-prostate-cancer-drugs/

March 27, 2016

Bernie Sanders Needs Less than 57 Percent of the Remaining Vote to Win

For a long time now, CNN and other mainstream media sources have misled voters about the results in the Democratic primary. They’ve often combined pledged delegate totals for each candidate, which are tied to voting results, with super delegate totals, which have nothing to do with voting and are subject to change at any time. While most super delegates currently support Hillary Clinton, they almost certainly will end up backing whoever wins the pledged delegate race (if they don’t, they will be brazenly flouting democracy in a way that could quite possibly destroy the Democratic party), so including them when reporting election results makes Clinton’s lead seem much larger than it actually is. The networks occasionally note that there are two different types of delegates, but they rarely explain that the superdelegate totals don’t really matter and more often than not display delegate counts across the bottom of their broadcasts which, by erroneously suggesting a huge Clinton advantage, may discourage people from turning out to vote.

In case that practice isn’t bad enough, CNN decided to move its delegate math from misleading to downright false during Saturday’s Alaska and Washington caucuses. “Sanders would need 75% of remaining pledged delegates to win the nomination,” a rotating banner at the bottom of the screen declared, a statement that was egregiously wrong.

According to CNN’s own numbers (note how their headline graphics show the misleading combined delegate totals without explanation), Clinton had 1229 pledged delegates and Sanders had 934 before the caucuses took place. CNN estimates a total of 4053 pledged delegates, so a candidate would need 2027 (just over half) to win the nomination. Going into Saturday’s caucuses, Sanders therefore needed 1093 (2027 – 934) of the remaining 1890 (4053 – (1229 + 934)) pledged delegates, or just under 58 percent of those still on the table.

I decided to tweet this fact at CNN. They did not correct their banner. One of their pro-Clinton commentators, Bakari Sellers, then proceeded to echo their inaccurate number. When someone on Twitter pointed him to my tweet, Sellers responded by claiming that he was actually referring to a total that included superdelegates. Yet in addition to the fact that he had explicitly said “pledged delegates” on air, the number that included outstanding superdelegates – which still would have been misleadingly high – would only have been 68 percent (the only way to get 75 percent would have been to include superdelegates in Sanders’ target delegate total while excluding them from his possible delegate count, an approach which is obviously incorrect). I gave Sellers this information. He did not respond.


http://34justice.com/2016/03/27/bernie-sanders-needs-less-than-57-percent-of-the-remaining-vote-to-win/


Thank you Thom Hartmann
https://twitter.com/Thom_Hartmann/status/714067940941963265

March 27, 2016

Sen. Sanders interview with Jake Tapper

March 27, 2016

Sen. Sanders on Meet the Press, ABC This Week, and CNN State of the Union

BernieSanders talks with @jonkarl about his wins in Alaska, Hawaii, and Washington, today on #ThisWeek.
https://twitter.com/ThisWeekABC/status/714058900618608640

March 27, 2016

Photos: NYers #FeelTheBern At Opening Of Bernie Sanders' Brooklyn Campaign Office

Just over three weeks before the April 19th presidential primary, Brooklyn welcomed back its hometown candidate this morning, with over 300 Bernie Sanders supporters gathering to celebrate the opening of his campaign’s Gowanus office. A few months ago, it seemed like an impossibility that the Brooklyn-born Sanders would still be running a campaign strong enough to keep New York State competitive. While the most recent poll [pdf] has Bernie lagging behind his opponent Hillary Clinton (though that might change after today's caucuses), for supporters, the fight for the state is just beginning.

“As the only City Councilman supporting Bernie Sanders, I’m proud to be here today,” Councilman Rafael Espinal told the crowd. “I’m here today because Bernie Sanders stands up for my people. I represent East New York and Bushwick, some of the poorest neighborhoods in the state of New York and when Bernie speaks, he speaks for us, for the people that live here.”

http://gothamist.com/2016/03/26/photos_new_yorkers_feelthebern_at_o.php#photo-9


Brooklyn is feel in the Bern
https://twitter.com/kartpath


https://twitter.com/pluralpolitx