Pundits, politicians, establishment folk. They can't imagine what's going on. Like the clueless billionaire in Davos who expressed bewilderment that people are unhappy. He just couldn't wrap his head around the notion that people could be so dissatisfied. I guess the trains are running on time in his world.
With Inequality Rising, Billionaire Steve Schwarzman Expresses Surprise That American Voters Are UnhappyDAVOS, Switzerland -- As income inequality and healthcare costs rise in the United States and as an economic slowdown may be on the horizon, one of the world’s richest men expressed surprise that U.S. voters seem so angry in advance of the 2016 presidential election. Speaking at a gathering of corporate and government leaders in Switzerland, Blackstone CEO Steve Schwarzman told Bloomberg Television that he is bewildered about why Americans seem so discontented.
“I find the whole thing astonishing and what’s remarkable is the amount of anger whether it’s on the Republican side or the Democratic side,” the Wall Street mogul said at the World Economic Forum in Davos. “Bernie Sanders, to me, is almost more stunning than some of what’s going on in the Republican side. How is that happening, why is that happening?”
On the eve of the conference, the nonprofit group Oxfam released a report showing that the richest 62 people on the planet now own more wealth than half the world’s population. In the United States, recent data from Pew Research shows the average American’s median household worth has stagnated, as the median household worth of upper-class Americans increased 7 percent. Schwarzman, though, expressed surprise that people are enraged.
“What is the vein that is being tapped into across parties, that has made people so unhappy?” he said, telling Bloomberg’s anchor, Erik Schatzker, “That is something you should spend some time on.”
David Sirota
Why is it happening? Why is everyone so upset? People are sick of being lied to, exploited and scammed every time they turn around. It's as simple as that.
Obama misses the point. Bernie Sanders is more than a 'bright, shiny object'If Bernie Sanders’ campaign has proven anything, it is that there are millions of citizens who are engaged, invested and closely scrutinizing the policy positions of all of the candidates in the electoral field. If Sanders can bring new voters to the polls with his message of authenticity and empowerment – as he seems to be doing – that’s a testament to the power of his words rather than their shiny quality.
If Obama wants to understand why droves of young, impassioned voters are flocking to Bernie Sanders, he need only look to the senator’s firm position on inequality. Or his refusal to court big money donors. Or his positions on single-payer healthcare and college tuition. All of these things resonate with many of the 99%. That is why the scowling old senator is able to draw crowds and threaten Hillary Clinton.
Sanders is authentic. And bright and shiny or not, that in itself is seductive.
The establishment are desperate for Bernie to just go away. But he isn't and neither are his supporters.
A lot of people are enamored of the Democratic party. I used to get that, but not so much any more. They turned their backs on us. The party needs deep reform just like the rest of the country.
Rich Democrats Don’t Care About Income Inequality Any More Than Rich Republicans“The American elite overwhelmingly dominates both campaign finance and political lobbying, and American policymakers themselves come overwhelmingly from elite circles,” two of the professors involved in the study wrote in Slate. And what do these findings mean for politics and the likelihood of legislation to tackle income inequality in America? “[The results] suggest that the policy response to rising economic inequality lags so far behind the preferences of ordinary Americans for the simple reason that the elites who make policy—regardless of political party—just don’t care much about equality.”
When the Democrats went chasing after the Big Money, they lost their souls. They fed into the oligarchy. They left their constituents, the peasants, to live lives of decadent luxury, to dine with princes and kings. He with the biggest checkbook rules.
We peasants are sick of this shit. The oligarchy, the 1%, the hideously rich don’t care about us. They don't care about us at all. We're just the marks in their giant con game.
They worship money, not democracy or freedom or any of the other high-minded principles they invoke when they want our money or our votes.
They only care about money.Despite being dogged with questions about her ties to Wall Street, Hillary Clinton will take a detour from the campaign trail in Iowa to do a finance industry fundraiser on Wednesday.
Clinton will appear in Philadelphia at a “gala” fundraiser hosted by executives at Franklin Square Capital Partners, a $17 billion investment fund. Rocker Bon Jovi will reportedly play an acoustic set for “friends” who pledge $1,000 and hosts who bundle up to $27,000. (Giancarlo Stefanoni, a Clinton campaign staffer, confirmed that as of Tuesday afternoon, the event is still on.)
The Philadelphia Inquirer notes that “Franklin Square employs Ivy League-educated money managers and salespeople with experience at big Wall Street firms — plus four personal trainers and a dietitian to keep staff happy and productive amid the gym, yoga and nap rooms, Sol LeWitt art installations, and fancy cafeteria.”
Clinton was then scheduled to head to New York City on Thursday, where she was to speak at a lunchtime “Conversations With Hillary” fundraiser, now set for next month. This one is co-hosted by Matt Mallow, a senior managing director and general counsel at BlackRock, the world’s largest asset management firm. As we’ve reported before, having a conversation with Hillary is not cheap.
Hillary Clinton Doing Finance Industry Fundraiser Just Before IowaThe Populist Revolution: Bernie and BeyondWhat Sanders is proposing, by contrast, is a real financial revolution, a fundamental change in the system itself. His proposals include eliminating Too Big to Fail by breaking up the biggest banks; protecting consumer deposits by reinstating the Glass-Steagall Act (separating investment from depository banking); reviving postal banks as safe depository alternatives; and reforming the Federal Reserve, enlisting it in the service of the people.
Bernie's different. No matter how much our opponents try to deny it, it is obvious to everyone. That's why they flock to hear him by the thousands - even in Alabama.
Overflow crowd in Birmingham, 7,000 inside, anther 2,000 outside in the cold. Bernie addressed them first.Yes, Bernie is different. And every honest person knows it. (h/t to occupystephanie for the following)
In 2015, Senator Sanders was awarded the rarely given Paul Wellstone Congressional Award as a friend of labor by the United Steelworkers in Minnesota.
Sanders got a standing ovation on April 14 from the crowded roomful of Steelworkers, in town for their union’s own Legislative/Political/Rapid Response conference as well as Good Jobs Green Jobs. Gerard praised Sanders as a down-the-line defender of unions and workers, while presenting him with USW’s rarely given Paul Wellstone Memorial Award for political activism. The award is named for the late, fantastically pro-worker Minnesota DFL senator.
“He (Wellstone) was elected, literally, from the back of the bus and was one of the strongest voices in the Senate against trade agreements that traded away our jobs,” Gerard declared. “No one in the Senate more reflects the values of Paul Wellstone than Bernie Sanders. He’s not afraid to launch a real filibuster for the values of working people.”
For his part, Sanders warned the Rapid Response delegates that while his father, a penniless immigrant, achieved the American dream for his two sons, “for our kids and grandkids, it’s out the door.” Making America work for workers is Sanders’ platform.
So, while Bernie is a U.S. Senator and a politician for 40 years, his activism, his refusal of dark money and his stellar commitment to the poor and working class sets him apart from the crowd. No one can deny it. No one honest, at least.
Remember all the people saying he couldn’t compete with SuperPACs or billionaires’ donations? Guess those folks were wrong, eh?
Bernie is not all about the money, but guess who is. The little guys finally have a champion in the big leagues.Remember when Bernie identified climate change as our greatest enemy? That was the moment when America saw with clarity our next president.
Bolstering Bernie's environmental credentials is the backing he has won of Bill McKibben, perhaps our most credible voice on climate change.
Bernie’s new climate plan is the kind of deep, powerful plan we really need. I hope that you’ll sign on to support it. ~ Bill McKibben Bill McKibben being arrested in front of the White House where he has led and participated in numerous Climate Change protests Bernie refuses to meltby Bill McKibben
You could see it last night in the Democratic town hall. Before they let, you know, sensible people ask questions, there was CNN moderator Chris Cuomo. Cuomo, of course, wanted to know if Bernie Sanders was going to "bring back the era of big government." This is exactly the kind of frame that pundits have been trying to put on American politics for about as long as I can remember, which is at least back to the Carter era.
This question is supposed to be a kind of kryptonite that causes Democratic politicians to sweat and turn pallid and immediately explain that no, they're for efficient government or some such. It's the kind of question that turned Bill Clinton into a triangulating centrist who cut welfare to the bone and elevated corporate power with a series of disastrous trade agreements. Everyone in Washington knows that "big government" is always bad.
But Bernie wasted no time in saying that he was going to bring back the era when government helped care for people. He thinks government should help people go to college and pay for their medical care, which is what big government does in every other industrialized country in the world. He even -- in an ad released earlier in the day -- dared to advocate that people who have spent their lives working might deserve the chance to relax and be grandparents at the end of the day.
This kind of stuff makes the keepers of our political order crazy. In the last few days, we've seen folks such as Paul Krugman in the New York Times and Paul Starr in Politico patiently explain that Bernie is too far to the left to be president. It's like they're dumping water on the Wicked Witch of the West and waiting for her to shriek, "I'm melting!" But actually, he's just shrugging it off, like a duck. As Cuomo tried to get him to confess to his socialism, his team just tweeted out a list of "socialist" accomplishments: Social Security, the minimum wage, Medicare, the 40-hour workweek.
x'Socialist' programs from FDR and LBJ: ✅ Social Security ✅ Minimum Wage ✅ Medicare and Medicaid ✅ 40-hour work week #DemTownHall
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) January 26, 2016Hillary is not about change. She’s about the Status Quo. The one that made her filthy rich. She is pro-war and anti-single payer. She doesn’t want to have the ‘contentious debates’ we should be having. We want those contentious debates! We don’t want Big Insurance and Big Pharma and all the other Bigs determining the fate of humanity. We want to do the hard work of change. We want to put the Bigs in their place.
We want a leader who wants the same things. Bring on the contentious debates! Bring ‘em on! "This country has socialism for the rich, rugged individualism for the poor." ~ Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.We need to pay better attention to our visionaries.
And we need to quit wasting money on the rich. We need top-to-bottom reform. Who doesn’t get that by now?Caucus for, vote for and support Bernie Sanders in every way you can. He’s on our side.
x YouTube Video They didn’t know we were seeds.The American people are finally standing up for themselves. Hallelujah!
x YouTube Video “When millions of people stand up and fight, they win.” ~ Bernie Sanders