Bernie Sanders Sayings

{In getting out the vote} Oregon has shown us another possible route: In that state, voting can be done by mail over a period of up to four weeks, and as a consequence voter turnout has risen.

NOTE: Oregon, along with Washington state and Colorado conduct all elections by mail.

Republicans are the problem and Bernie Sanders can fix it

Bernie Sanders support larger than thought before New Hampshire

The New Hampshire Primary opened a lot of eyes as well as new sources of support the Sanders campaign didn't know of or at least weren't sure of. Now they know. Okay, I realize the first primary state doesn't reflect the demographics of some of the rest of the country but it was considered a Clinton stronghold dating back to the 2008 election where Hillary Clinton beat Barack Obama.

"Sanders bested Clinton across virtually all regional and demographic boundaries in the Granite State, crushing her overall by 22 points."

As an example, in the under $50,000 income, "Sanders defeated Clinton by 33 points." She won it over Obama by 15 points in 2008. Sanders went on to a 36 point lead among voters without college degrees, and winning college-educated by 13 points. Bernie also improved his older voter appeal by beating Clinton 13 points in Berlin and a sixteen-point margin in Rochester, both older age communities.

Again, a state not representative of the rest of he country but a true test of Clinton's vulnerability.

Bernie Sanders Sayings

We must make it more convenient for people to vote. We can open the polls, as is done in other nations, over a two or three day period--including at least one weekend day--so that working Americans will have more time to vote. 

Bernie Sanders Sayings

Same day registration, allowing every American to register up until election day, would substantially increase voter turnout.

Bernie Sanders takes New Hampshire handily

Early New Hampshire results

The last I heard last night the vote count was 60% for Bernie Sanders, 39% for Hillary Clinton. If it weren't for Clinton's super delegates, Bernie would have a huge lead in this area. Here's the way it stacked up overall:

Sanders won 83 percent of millennial voters under the age of 30-
Sanders won 66 percent of voters who describe themselves as very liberal-
Sanders 72 percent of self-described independents-
Sanders won huge with voters who were looking for a candidate they saw as honest and trustworthy (91 percent)-
Voters said Sanders cares about people like them (82 percent)-

But what is even more significant is that Bernie Sanders won the women's vote, 53% to Clinton's 46%. This, apparently, Hillary did not expect.

Next victories Nevada Feb. 20, then South Carolina Feb. 27 

Bernie Sanders Sayings

Given the growth of technology through the "information highway," a Social Security card or driver's license should be all that is required for voting. 

Expert says Bernie sanders would make median income soar, create 26 million jobs

Harry Truman, Franklin Roosevelt

An economics professor from the University of Massachusetts Amherst predicts a Bernie Sanders presidency would move this country forward in such a positive way that it would solve many of the problems of the U.S. He would increase the median income more than $22,000, create 26 million new jobs while the unemployment rate would fall to 3.8%. Gerald Friedman says Sanders plan is broad-based and designed to help the middle class and needy.

Lyndon Johnson

Without the figures put in place now by Friedman, isn't this what Bernie has been saying all along? It isn't pie-in-the-sky like most republicans call it--even Hillary Clinton--but rather a proposal that will work. How many years now have we heard from the GOP that cutting taxes will boost the economy, but have only seen near disasters like Sam Brownback, Governor of Kansas, who almost brought that state to its knees? It just doesn't work.

The Sanders' campaign calls Their candidate's thinking "big," exclaiming that no one has attempted such a challenge since Presidents Roosevelt, Truman and Johnson. Those of us who joined the Bernie Sanders Revolution from the beginning believed that he could do what he said and have become more convinced by the month. But what is important is, by the looks of the latest national polls, Clinton 44%, Sanders 42%, so does the rest of the country.

Bernie Sanders Sayings

If the goal{to revitalize democracy} is to get more people to vote--and that certainly should be one of our goals--then it is high time we establish automatic voter registration for every American who is eighteen or older.

"Senate declares self clean on ethics" laughable

For the last nine years the Senate has issued no disciplinary actions against anyone in the year 2015. So much for self-governing. Every Republican in the Senate--especially Tea Partiers--should be up for displaying no ethics whatsoever in blocking every program mounted by President Obama since he took office. Is it ethical to shut down a program for ideological reasons when it would benefit the American public? I think not.

Since 2007 there were 613 allegations of wrongdoing, 90% of which were simply dismissed. By the same guys who committed the wrongdoing. Only 75 have received a preliminary investigation. Behavior in the institution that is supposed to be held in such high regard is nothing but unacceptable. We can only hope that Bernie Sanders Revolution will not only bring in the President that will lead a new progressive White House but that it will spill over and eliminate most of the GOP Senate and House.

Bernie Sanders in almost tie with Hillary Clinton in national polls

We're not talking about Iowa where the caucus ended in a tie, or New Hampshire where Bernie has a double-digit lead over Clinton. We're talking about the national polls showing Sanders now within two points of Hillary at 44 to 42. If you recall, Clinton held a 31 point lead just last December. This is a clear indication that Bernie Sanders message is finally being heard and accepted by the American public.

As if this wasn't enough, a new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll for the general election in November finds Sanders leading Donald Trump in Iowa by a huge landslide margin of 51 percent to 38 percent, and in New Hampshire Mr. Sanders leads Trump by an even larger landslide margin of 56 percent to 37 percent. If Trump is to be the GOP nominee, who of course would be ludicrous, Bernie Sanders is the man to beat him.

Our Democratic Socialist has come a long way but he has stayed his course with a consistency that resonates throughout the country and it looks like the revolution is right around the corner now.

Bernie Sanders a champion of the veterans

Bernie Sanders is on his way to White House

If Hillary Clinton's Hispanic support slips...then what?

MSNBC reports that Latinos may be softening on their support for Hillary Clinton. One immigrant activist, Marisa Franco, said, “I think she really personifies that candidate whose talking points are dictated by polls and not by taking a firm position on your values.”

In the caucus following the New Hampshire primary, Nevada, leaders of the most powerful union in the state decided they would not endorse any candidate; the union "...a collective of bartenders, housemaids and cooks, is a massive political machine with more than half its membership of Hispanic origin."

With Martin O'Malley out of the race, the Latino support will now be split between Clinton and Bernie Sanders. In Nevada the Hispanic population is 26.5%, but in New Hampshire it is only 2.8%. Bernie leads Hillary 57% to 34% in New Hampshire, Clinton holding an almost 20-point lead in Nevada.

David Gergen made an interesting statement on the CNN Monday night coverage of the Iowa caucuses. He indicated that Hillary Clinton might take many of the southern states but he felt it was possible that Bernie Sanders could take California, The Latino population there is 37.6% but Sanders main group, the millennials, is 77.6%. That would be a huge victory. 

Bernie Sanders wins no matter the results

Sanders speaking at Iowa Caucus

By the time you read this today we will know who the winner is in the Iowa Caucuses, But Bernie Sanders has already won with his leap from a single-digit figure when he started the race, to 49.6% in the Iowa caucus, the last I checked last night. Hillary Clinton at 49.8%. Based on the outstanding votes to be counted in Polk and Linn Counties, both heavily liberal, I'm going to bed feeling that the Bern has done it.

Iowans, please check before you caucus

For you Iowans not ready for Hillary

If you're not quite ready for Hillary

Before you Iowans caucus, look at this

Just make the comparisons

Bernie Sanders Sayings

What do we do to revitalize democracy? How can we bring tens of millions of Americans back into the political process? Revitalizing the electoral process is, in some ways, a simple matter.

NEXT: Getting out the vote

U.S. responsible for 82% of all gun deaths in 23 high income nations

The Pew Research Center said in October of 2015 that gun homicides declined in the '90s hitting a plateau between 2009 and 2014 of 11,000 to 12,000 a year. Suicides with guns, on the other hand, increased. But a new study by the National Institute of Health found that...

"While the United States has failed to significantly reduce its annual rate of gun deaths, other high income countries have been making steadier progress, resulting in a wider gap between the U.S. and its international peers when it comes to fatal shootings."

PubMed under the NIH said:

CONCLUSIONS:
The United States has an enormous firearm problem compared with other high-income countries, with higher rates of homicide and firearm-related suicide. Compared with 2003 estimates, the US firearm death rate remains unchanged while firearm death rates in other countries decreased. Thus, the already high relative rates of firearm homicide, firearm suicide, and unintentional firearm death in the United States compared with other high-income countries increasebetween 2003 and 2010.

Researchers David Hemenway and Erin Grinshteyn found that "...firearm homicide rates were 25 times higher in the U.S. than in other high-income countries." That is compared to 2003 when it was 19.5 times more than comparable countries. As the number of guns on the street goes up, so do the deaths by firearm violence.

The American public must continue to stand up to the gun lobby and put organizations like the National Rifle Assn. (NRA) out of business.

Bernie Sanders Sayings

Republican at the podium

Make no mistake about it: the wealthy and their political representatives are working hard to keep people away from the voting booths. They have vigorously opposed legislation that would make it easier for people to vote. They have corrupted campaign financing, so that citizens have lost faith in the political process. They have turned negative campaigning into a high art, with the result that huge numbers of voters demonstrate their disgust with gutter politics by refusing to vote on election day. They have begun the process of dismantling social programs so that citizens increasingly feel that government cannot and will not do anything to meet their needs.

Bernie sanders looking good in Iowa

In the latest Quinnipiac poll released yesterday, Bernie Sanders leads Hillary Clinton by 4 points, 49% to 45%. By demographics Bernie trounces her with men, trails slightly with women, way ahead on the age group 18-24, trails slightly on 45 to 64 year-olds and is way behind in the 65+ age group. An earlier Quinnipiac survey this month...

Clinton and Sanders are not far apart among women. Sanders has a net favorability of plus-81 with women; Clinton's is +69. Among men? Sanders is +88 and Clinton is +29 — a massive gap.

Should Bernie bring more women over to his side, he would have two major groups along with the young. Not sure he'll ever get the older folks 65+ and I believe it has something to do with Sanders Democratic Socialism; they remember Joe McCarthy and his fight against Communism and just seem to mistakenly put the two together. Another factor is that Sanders's support is far heavier among the third of poll respondents who've never been to a caucus before.

But The Washington Post cautions there are red flags. One, in 2008 fewer men voted and traditionally young people don't vote. I say, with the enthusiasm Bernie is getting from men in Iowa, and the fireworks this Presidential election has created, they will go to the caucuses on Feb. 1. And that goes double for the younger vote.

Oh, by the way, The Huff Post combination of several national polls had Bernie Sanders at 35.8% against Hillary Clinton's 51.0% as of January 24. Bernie's up from 33.3% and Hillary's down from 54.8% since January 1. Pretty significant for less than a full month.

FLASH: Does Microsoft have a "Hillary" ulterior motive with Iowa caucus software

The Bernie Sanders camp is suspicious of the offer by Microsoft for the "free" software that will tabulate Iowa caucus results. MSNBC reports "The Sanders campaign has built their own reporting system to check the results from the official Microsoft-backed app." Sanders aides noted that Microsoft employees have donated several hundred thousand dollars to Hillary Clinton over the years.

I did some research on my own to check on thesr donations and came up with the following April 2015 statements from the The Washington Free Beacon:

"Few corporate entities have managed to entwine themselves in the Clinton financial empire more thoroughly than Microsoft, a 20th century technology company that presumably feels great affinity toward a couple of 20th century politicians trying to recapture past glory.

"The feeling is apparently mutual. Hillary used Microsoft software, for example, to operate her now-deleted private email server.

"Microsoft has been supporting the Clintons years. When Hillary Clinton ran for president in 2008, Microsoft was one of her top campaign contributors: the company’s employees and political action committees donated $184,119.

"Microsoft is a regular sponsor of the Clinton Global Initiative, and has donated between $1 million and $5 million to the Clinton Foundation. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which also sponsors CGI events, has donated more than $25 million to the foundation."

Coincidence, perhaps, but the ties that bind have a funny way of ending up tipping the scales in a favored direction. 

Bernie Sanders Sayings

The greater the belief that participation in the political process doesn't really make a difference, the likely it is that people will give up hope that we can ever attain a just society and a decent standard of living.

Would you vote for Hillary Clinton if Bernie Sanders isn't nominated?

Sanders Warren ticket

One voter said Clinton is “bought and paid for,” another said he wouldn't vote for Clinton unless Elizabeth Warren was on the ticket. Yet one more said the "dream" ticket would be Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. Those are three viewpoints that do indicate a definite preference, but don't demonstrate a voting population that would stay home from the polls without Bernie. And they shouldn't. All you need to confirm this is to look at who leads the GOP ticket. Donald Trump.

If you want that maniac in office, or for that matter, any of his fellow candidates, especially Ted Cruz, then stay home on November 8. Most agree that "...a low-energy, low-turnout election in November would be disastrous for Democrats," according to the Washington Times. Jeff Weaver, Sanders campaign manager, feels his candidate is the one to wake up new progressive candidates and bring them out in November.

RootsAction.org says, “The head of one of the two big political parties in the United States is trying to manipulate the presidential election process by limiting direct debate and tilting the national party apparatus in favor of one candidate. This is unacceptable,” A Democratic county chairman in Iowa, Jason Frerichs agrees. Debbie Wasserman Schultz was co-chair of Hillary's campaign in 2008. There’s no doubt she’s putting her fingers on the scale, limiting the number of sanctioned debates,” Mr. Frerichs said.

And now Michael Bloomberg says he might run if Hillary Clinton isn't nominated. Looking at Bernie Sanders momentum and his recent surge in the polls, don't think the Bern will worry, although Bloomberg could take away some votes.