He self-identifies as a socialist.
what alternative behavior would you, less Macho Man, have preferred from Bernie?
He self-identifies as a socialist.
It's not a new expense for Americans though. At least in theory, it's just paying your insurance premium to the government instead of to your employer plan. We have to see the details to see whether it creates a deficit or not.
socialism is above all the common ownership of the means of production, rather than by capitalists.
Bernie probably should call himself a democratic socialist because he does not now, nor ever, call for the takeover of private enterprise.
Democratic socialism is another phrase for "government of the people, by the people, for the people (shall not perish from the earth)" but such government has perished in the USA as BigCorp and 1% now control govt for themselves, to extract wealth from The People.
Then what is communism?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communism
... and there's probably a lot diversity in the definitions. None them describe Bernie's career or campaign planks.
Bernie Sanders vows to strike down absurd federal marijuana money laws
“Do you believe that it is the purview of the federal government to legislate the criminalization of marijuana?” Walker asked.
“What the federal government can do is say to the state of Colorado that if you choose to vote to legalize marijuana, we will allow you to do that without restrictions,” said Sanders.
“As I understand it,” he said, “in Colorado, people who run marijuana shops can’t put their money in banks, for example.
That’s a violation of federal law.
So I think there are things that the federal government can do that would make it easier for states that want to go in that direction to be able to do so.”
http://www.rawstory.com/2015/09/bern...e+Raw+Story%29
An Evangelical responds to Sanders' speech at Liberty U
He was convicting the Christian leaders and the religious leaders in that university, and calling us out for being complicit in the abandonment of those who suffer, the least of these, and siding with the powerful and rich, the masters of this world.
And he was convicting us and calling us out, and we scorned him, and we stared him down; and, with sour faces, we thought, "Who is this wacko, and why do all these people seem to follow him, seem to like him – this wild-haired Jew, crying out from the wilderness of the political left, in his hoarse voice?"
When I heard Bernie speaking in that way, when I saw that guy on stage at Liberty University, I saw John the Baptist...crying out to the religious leaders, the Pharisees of his day, calling them corrupt and complicit with those who have all the power and all the money and all the wealth, and abandoning the people that God loves, that God cares about...
As I heard Bernie Sanders crying out to the religious leaders at Liberty University, in his hoarse voice, with his wild hair – this Jew – and he proclaimed justice over us, he called us to account, for being complicit with those who are wealthy and those who are powerful, and for abandoning the poor, the least of these, who Jesus said he had come to bring good news to.
And in that moment something occurred to me.
As I saw Bernie Sanders up there, as I watched him, I realized Bernie Sanders for president is good news for the poor.
Bernie Sanders for president is Good News for the poor.
Bernie Sanders is gospel for the poor.
And Jesus said "I have come to bring gospel" – good news – "to the poor."
And lightning hit my heart at that moment.
And I realized that we are evangelical Christians.
We believe the Bible.
We believe in Jesus.
We absolutely shun those who would attempt to find nuance and twisted and tortured interpretations of scripture that they would use to master all other broader interpretations, to find some kind of big message that they want to flout.
We absolutely scorn such things, and yet somehow we commit to the mental gymnastics necessary that allows us to abandon the least of these, to abandon the poor, to abandon the immigrants, to abandon those who are in prison.
I listened to Bernie Sanders as he said he wanted to welcome the immigrants and give them dignity, as he said he wanted to care for the sick children and mothers and fathers who do not have health care, as he said he wanted to decrease the amount of human beings who are corralled like cattle in the prisons, as he said he wanted to do justice for those who have nothing and live homeless.
And I remembered the words of Jesus who warned his disciples that there will be judgement, and on that day he will look to his friends, and he will say "Blessed are you for you cared for me, for I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you cared for me, I was hungry and you fed me, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was in prison and you came to visit me, I was homeless and you gave me shelter."
And his disciples said, "When did we do any of those things for you?" And he said, "If you have done it for the least of these, you have done it for me."
Those words echoed in my heart as I listened to that crazy, hoarse-voiced, wild-haired Jew standing in front of the religous leaders of the Evangelical Movement, calling us to account, as a Jew once did before, telling us that he intends to care for the least of these, to clothe the naked, to shelter the homeless, to care for the sick, to set the prisoners free.
I wouldn't be much of a Christian if I didn't stand on the side of gospel for the poor, because, the last time I checked, that's where my master Jesus stood, and I'll stand with Him.
And, for now, that means I stand with Bernie Sanders.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/0...U?detail=email
ing Bible Humping Christians!
I like Bernie for the same reason I like Trump. He's so far outside of the box he's in another ing area code.
Elections are sometimes won on 10-second sound bite. The bullying by BlackLivesMatter destroyed his campaign.
Many Non-Blacks will not be able to get over that. Especially during the PC war raging
some are sincere squirrels, are not ideologically destroyed, nor rejected civil society, and find a nut
Is that the definition now?
Then I'm a socialist.
And the "people" can vote out anyone they choose every 2, 4 or 6 years. I agree this government is not for the people, but it is the government the people keep choosing.
If you have the "by", does it make the "for" untenable?
Are people too stupid to know what's good for them?
The real fight begins on the first democratic debate.
Welcome!
False. the oligarchy finds, grooms, presents, funds the candidates.
People "believe" the myth that their votes "counts", that they are not disenfranchised, but they get policies and programs that help them, only ones that protect, enrich, enable the oligarchy.
certainly, red state low-info (stupid, ignorant), low-wage, low-education Repug/tea bagger voters repeatedly vote against their own financial interests while voting for some social issue bull dishonestly pushed in their faces as campaign issues.
THATS RIGHT!
SOOOOO. If we had enough blue; for instance, a democratic president AND congress - everything would be fixed? We ought to try that.
I'm in a purple state (Pa). Doesn't seem to be working in my financial interest very well. I do fine, but the state works for the state; self-strengthening, self perpetuating. Taxes higher, teachers paid more, but education isn't any better. Kids learn how much we push them to learn/teach them at home in either place (lived in Texas until '05).
Your rants would work better Boutons if you'd go ahead and embrace the truth YOU KNOW is there: The Republicans and Democrats are in this together. They BOTH play to their crowds to keep them in power/which they divide nationally about evenly. Creates stability for those at the top, while fomenting constant friction for everyone else.
Like TX, PA is blue in the cities and red elsewhere.
Like JimmyRicky's $5B ed cut, PA cut school budget by $1B, how are teachers getting paid more? And PA just passed, like JimmyRicky, or is passing, a property tax cut. PA is currently much more red in MISgovernance, than blue.
School age population is down; not as many to educate. Much of the cuts were aimed at University support (wife is a prof. at a state school); tuition is up at university. Property taxes & local income taxes have gone up to compensate for less coming from the state at the school level. Starting teacher salary in the district I live in is $62,000/yr.
There are currently 2 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 2 guests)