Socialist Senator Sanders Writes Opinion Piece in Wallstreet Journal

[GeminiProgressive]

We need more Democratic Socialists in congress apparently...

http://www.sanders.senate.gov/news/record.cfm?id=285027

Costa Rica on Sunday will become the first country where citizens have the opportunity to vote for or against a trade agreement. Despite being heavily outspent by the moneyed interests, despite opposition from the Costa Rican government and the U.S. ambassador, despite an extremely hostile media, the latest polls show momentum building for the opposition to the Central American Free Trade Agreement. The Wall Street Journal editorial page, the voice for the wealthy and powerful in the United States, twice this week took on Senator Bernie Sanders in a column and editorial about the Costa Rica referendum. The Journal also published the senator’s response.
While I strongly disagree with The Wall Street Journal editorial page's right-wing ideology, I'll give you points for persistence. Year after year, despite all of the evidence, you continue to be a cheerleader for the unfettered free-trade policies that, while benefiting multinational corporations, have caused so much economic pain for working families here in the U.S. and our trading partners abroad.

Ms. O'Grady is telling the people of Costa Rica how wonderful passage of the Central American Free Trade Agreement will be for them. The Journal said the exact same thing to the people of Mexico during the 1993 debate over the North American Free Trade Agreement. And what happened with the passage of Nafta? In Mexico, the agricultural sector has been decimated by cheap exports from American agribusiness. Poverty has increased, the middle class has declined and people are literally dying in the desert trying to flee Mexico for the U.S.

Working families in Mexico suffer, the rich have gotten richer and we now have the obscenity of the wealthiest person in the world, Mexican Carlos Slim Helu, coming from a country in which millions of families struggle to feed their children. This may be the kind of economic development championed by you, but not by me. We can have trade policies that can do better, that must do better.

[PDJane]

1. Thank you, Senator Saunders.

They did this kind of intimidation during the Iraq war fiasco at the UN too.

[DeepModem Mom]

2. K&R

[cali]

3. Good old Bernie.

He can always be counted on to stand up for working people. And that's why, even here in the Northeast Kingdom, people vote for him overwhelmingly.

[Pachamama]

4. Why does someone who speaks the truth of the impact on the majority of people have to be labeled a

"Socialist"? :shrug:

I guess we all know the answer....Because he has to be labeled as something to be feared, because the reality is that if the people realize the truth behind these so-called "Free-trade agreements" like CAFTA, then that is dangerous to those making the benefits and becoming wealthy on the backs and suffering of the masses of lower and middle class.

So they call Senator Bernie Sanders a Socialist....they might as well call him any name, but it doesn't change the truth....

Clearly, the people of Costa Rica see the truth....now if only Americans would wake up too... :eyes:

[Bjorn Against]

5. Bernie is a self-proclaimed socialist...

It is not just us labeling him that, he proclaims himself to be a socialist and he is proud of it.

The word socialism has been through so much abuse, but when you look at what socialism actually is it is a very good system. We need to take our language back, and I applaud Sanders for embracing the term socialist.

[cascadiance]

6. Well he is a socialist, and should be proud to be elected as such!

... which he usually acknowledges!

But I do understand how people try to draw a big circle around that fact without trying to show the context of it other than being used as a subtle epithet.

If people understood what distinguished socialism from what's happened with communism in the past, I don't think it would be such an epithet that Rush wants it to be and has made it out to be to his crowd.

[eridani]

12. That he doesn't run as a candidate of any organized Socialist party--

--tells you everything you need to know about the organizational state of socialism in this country today.

[Nimrod2005]

7. Most excellent...........nt

[ProSense]

8. Bernie Sanders is wonderful

and smart. More people, even among Democrats, needed to follow his lead in 2004.

[Gabi Hayes]

9. The future is fast being thrust upon us...take your pick:

Socialism

or

(Corporate) Fascism

the way things are changing, there won't be any room in between

[leftist_not_liberal]

10. For women's perspectives on CAFTA,

tune in to FIRE -- Feminist International Radio Endeavour (Radio Internacional Feminista), at: www.radiofeminista.net.

FIRE has been doing extensive coverage in Spanish and English, including audio interviews and programs, news articles/features and photos of the ongoing struggle.

FIRE is produced by women from Latin America and the Caribbean, and presents women's perspectives on all issues.


Margaret Thompson, Producer
FIRE -- Feminist International Radio Endeavour
www.radiofeminista.net

and
Associate Professor, Mass Communications & Journalism
Director, MA in International & Intercultural Communication
University of Denver

Dear Friends:

You know about the interest of the next sunday, october 7th. In this time several social organizations, includes Voces Nuestras and FECON and others, they gathered to broadcast through the internet: LA SEÑAL DEL CORAZON (The Heart Signal). This is a news effort that will carry you reports from different places of Costa Rica with journalist that will cover the development of the referendum from five to 22 hours (Costa Rica time) of the sunday. Will be participating too: analyst an a big technical and comunicational equipment that is prepared to carry the details of this historical success for Costa Rica and the entire world.


LA SEÑAL DEL CORAZON, you can hear to this since Now in the next websites:

www.radiodignidad.org
www.radioestacion.org
www.radiociudadana.org
www.concostarica.com


Find it to in the this mirrors:
www.radiomundoreal.fm

The referendum in its day will be rebroadcasted too by the Latin American Association of radio education, ALER in www.aler.org from 10:30 hour of Cos Rica.

To connect directly to the internet radios, do it in:

Radio Estación (http://www.radioestacion.org/envivo.m3u )
Radio Ciudadana ( http://69.72.168.66:8012/listen.pls)
Radio Dignidad (http://201.198.22.166:8010/listen.pls)
Radio Mundo Real ( http://ct1.fast-serv.com:8094/listen.pls )

- the above complements of the United States Social Forum Mailing list
http://www.ussf2007.org

[deutsey]

11. He regularly writes for In These Times...I'm glad to see he's getting

the message out to "WSJ" crowd too.