“It should come as no great surprise that a Democratic Party which has abandoned working class people would find that the working class has abandoned them,” Sanders said.
“First, it was the white working class, and now it is Latino and Black workers as well. While the Democratic leadership defends the status quo, the American people are angry and want change. And they’re right.”
“Will the big money interests and well-paid consultants who control the Democratic Party learn any real lessons from this disastrous campaign?” Sanders asked.
“Will they understand the pain and political alienation that tens of millions of Americans are experiencing? Do they have any ideas as to how we can take on the increasingly powerful Oligarchy which has so much economic and political power? Probably not.”
I would vote for Bernie in a heartbeat.
He seems to always be on the right side of history, he understands the root causes of our national crises, and he has solutions.
Problem: Two-party system, voter apathy.
Solution: Ranked choice voting, remove electoral college (popular vote interstate compact).
Problem: Bought elections.
Solution: Repeal Citizens United.
Problem: Federal deficit spending.
Solution: Reform government contracts with private corpos so we’re not getting gouged. Repurpose military budget. Tax the rich.
Problem: Ignorant and misinformed voting population.
Solution: More school funding, pay teachers more.
Problem: All surplus value is siphoned away from the working class.
Solution: Tax incentives for employee-owned companies. More support for unions.
Problem: Consumer price gouging.
Solution: Break up monopolies, punish anti-competitive behavior.
Problem: Irresponsible banking.
Solution: Un-repeal Glass-Steagall.
Problem: Expensive healthcare.
Solution: Universal healthcare. Don’t even try to tell me we can’t afford it.
None of that stuff is going to happen, unfortunately, not while the Rs control everything. And it’s not official but it looks like they’re going to win the house too. So they’re going to run buckshot on this country with no one to stop them. They’ll control all 3 branches.
None of it happened while Ds had any modicum of control either. Bernie represents what the democratic party should be, not what it is and has been. They pivoted hard to the status quo and we are footing the bill.
I honestly feel like this must be how partys flip. The Democrats are the Republicans of the seventies, the new conservative party.
Now, I’ll be the first to admit that the Republican party hasn’t exactly moved left, and is the biggest hole in my theory. Who knows maybe this populism will pave a path forward for them.
The Republican party has moved left in rhetoric. The promise to fix everything and put America first. Create all the jobs. The best economy!
The will not do it. But that is irrelevant.
Uh, Bernie was blocked by the democrats, not the republicans.
Hey I just wanted to say that this is a great post. It really shows how little Hilary, Biden, and now Harris brought to the table
It’s crazy how the DNC only wants to appeal to moderates, and Republicans cross the aisle, after witnessing how Trump performs
yeah but how can we get any of those solutions when fascists keep getting elected?
I think ranked choice voting and the popular vote interstate compact can happen at the state level. Just needs more local campaigning.
Then people would feel more empowered to vote for who they really want. I think that would be a big push towards nominating an actual progressive candidate.
Repeal Taft-Hartley and pass the PRO Act while we’re at it
I don’t think I agree with you about deficit spending because actually it’s not clear that some degree of a deficit is bad. The country does print its own money, so what you have written down in a spreadsheet might look scary but actually be less so.
In other words, what’s true for a business or for an individual is often not true for a country that has its own mint.
Considering multiple blue states just voted against RCV, and the majority of the country voted to put even more ultra-conservative SCOTUS judges on the court, I’m not sure he is on the right side of history.
History is being written right now, soon to be dictated by Donald Trump, and recorded through the lens of Donald Trump. What will the fascist schoolbooks written by the Texas board of education say to remember the people who stood up against Trump?