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5 Questions For Bernie Sanders Supporters
Authored by Derrick Broze, originally posted Op-Ed at TheAntiMedia.org,
I have five simple questions for supporters of Senator Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign. Before I get to them, I find it necessary to preface this with a plea for logic and respectful communication. I am going to be critical of Bernie, and I need you to listen, remain calm, take in the information, and answer honestly.
I ask that you refrain from calling me a shill, a Republican agent, or anything of that sort. I also ask that before you write me off as “another corporate media shill,” you take a moment to consider that I have praised Bernie when he was in the right (see here and here). I have also called him out in the areas where he needs work.
Personally, I am slightly frightened by the online interactions I have witnessed from those who #FeelTheBern. There seems to be a tendency to dismiss anyone who criticizes Bernie as either a Donald Trump supporter or simply an idiot. I can only speak for myself and say that neither of those accusations are true. This hysteria around Sanders is reminiscent of Obama’s supporters, who were quick to attack detractors pointing out that “Hope and Change” was quickly turning into more of the same.
And now on to the questions. Each of them relates to Sanders’ own comments about his potential presidency. I ask that you respond to each comment individually and think about what exactly you are looking for when you say you want to vote for a president.
If you are seeking more freedom and prosperity, ask yourself if that is what you will get by voting for any of the current candidates. If you are seeking to reclaim the moral high ground the United States may have once had, ask yourself if these policies will do just that. Please, please stand by your principles and do not allow the Corporate-State powers to pull the wool over your eyes.
Question 1. Would Bernie’s tax on Wall Street speculation work?
Bernie Sanders has said that he would tax Wall Street speculation and use the funding to pay for his “free” public college tuition program. A fact check by the Associated Press reported that “Sanders’ plan would cover tuition and fees at public universities – a $70 billion annual expense with the federal government picking up two-thirds of that tab by taxing trading in the financial markets.”
“Students would still be on the hook for room and board costs that average $9,804, according to the College Board,” the AP added.
But would this Wall Street speculation tax actually achieve the desired outcome? Donald J. Boudreaux, Professor of Economics at George Mason University, does not believe the plan can work. Boudreaux recently wrote:
“If such speculation is as economically destructive as Mr. Sanders regularly proclaims it to be, the tax on speculation should be set high enough to drastically reduce it. But if – as Mr. Sanders presumably wishes – speculation is drastically reduced, very little will remain of it to be taxed and, thus, such a tax will not generate enough revenue to pay for Mr. Sanders’s scheme of making all public colleges and universities ‘tuition-free.’”
If a speculation tax is a successful deterrent, there will likely be a decrease in speculation and therefore, very little funds to appropriate for a college tuition fund. Can Bernie’s Wall Street speculation tax work?
Question 2. Do you support an increase in payroll tax for all Americans to fund Bernie’s minimum wage and healthcare plans? Do you believe Bernie’s plans will only tax the 1%?
Bernie Sanders recently appeared on This Week with George Stephanopoulos to discuss his plans for his presidency. Stephanopoulos asked Sanders about his plans to tax the wealthiest Americans. Here is a segment of the transcript:
Stephanopoulos: But to pay for all of your programs, you’re going to have to do more than tax the top 1 percent. How far below the top 1 percent are you going to go with tax hikes?
Sanders: It is not true that we have to go much further.
Stephanopoulos: Tax hikes below the top 1 percent? No tax hikes below the top 1 percent?
Sanders: I didn’t say that. I think if you’re looking about guaranteeing paid family and medical leave, which virtually every other major country has, so that when a mom gives birth, she doesn’t have to go back to work in two weeks, or there’s an illness in a family, dad or mom can stay home with the kids. That will require a small increase in the payroll tax.
Stephanopoulos: That’s going to hit everybody.
Sanders: That would hit every — yes, it would.
Bernie Sanders was also quizzed on his plans on a recent episode of “Real Time with Bill Maher”:
“So you’re saying we can pay for all of this without raising taxes on anybody but the 1 percent?” Maher asked.
“We may have to go down a little bit lower than that — but not much lower,” Sanders replied.
Do you trust Sanders when he says the payroll tax will be “small” and that he will only raise taxes on the 1% (or a little bit lower)?
Question 3. Do you support Bernie’s comments on Edward Snowden?
Sanders has openly spoke against the NSA’s massive surveillance programs but stands with the rest of the presidential candidates in his belief that Snowden should face some type of punishment. At the first Democratic presidential debate, Bernie was asked about his position on Edward Snowden. Sanders said he believes Snowden “played a very important role in educating the American people” — but he broke the law. “I think there should be a penalty to that,” he said. “But I think that education should be taken into consideration before the sentencing.”
I know some Bernie supporters may feel these comments provide some hope for Snowden to receive a fair trial, but the truth is that Snowden could not possibly face anything resembling a fair trial in the U.S. Simply look at the prosecution (and persecution) of Chelsea Manning, Barrett Brown, Jeffrey Sterling, and John Kiriakou to see the way whistleblowers are treated in the land of the free. Snowden should be welcomed home as a hero and the masterminds of the NSA’s spying programs should be the ones facing penalties.
Question 4. Do you support Bernie’s stance on Israel and Saudi Arabia? Both of these nations are responsible for atrocious human rights violations (here and here). Saudi Arabia is also accused of funding the 9/11 attacks. Despite this, the majority of politicians — including Bernie — continue to support these nations.
Last summer, as Israeli soldiers deliberately targeted hospitals in Operative Protective Edge, Sanders joined the rest of the U.S. Senate by unanimously voting to support Israel’s actions and supporting “the State of Israel as it defends itself against unprovoked rocket attacks from the Hamas terrorist organization.”
Mint Press News recently reported on Sanders’ Israel stance:
“Yet when it comes to more recent statements, journalists describe Sanders as difficult to pin down on foreign policy issues, including Israel. Josh Nathan-Kazis, writing in June for Forward, noted that ‘a search of the Congressional Record reveals very few statements about Israel by Sanders on the floor of the House or the Senate,’ but ‘in February 2015, Sanders was the first Senator to announce that he would skip Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to a joint session of Congress.’”
Nathan-Kazis reports that Sanders does have limited ties to AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobbying group that’s trying to drive the U.S. to war with Iran:
“In Vermont, a small group of AIPAC-linked Jewish activists do have Sanders’ ear on Israel-related matters. Yoram Samets, a Burlington businessman and a member of AIPAC’s national council, said that he has been in touch with Sanders for the past decade, but that Sanders does not sign any AIPAC-backed letters. His Vermont colleague Senator Patrick Leahy does not, either.”
Though it appears Sanders keeps his distance from Israeli radicals like Netanyahu, his silence on the matter and support of Operation Protective Edge reveals his true stance.
Sanders also recently spoke about Saudi Arabia while taping a PBS show at the University of Virginia. Sanders’ said the nation with untold amounts of blood dripping off its hands should “get their hands dirty” and take a bigger role in the war against ISIS. Why would someone interested in ending the wars demand that a nation known for blatant human rights violations “get their hands dirty” and support more war? Saudi Arabia killed dozens of civilians in a single airstrike over a wedding in Yemen last month, yet Sanders still believes they should lead the assault on the Islamic State.
Should we expect President Sanders to continue supporting these nations?
Question 5. Do you support Bernie’s plan to continue the drone program? According to documents released by a new whistleblower, during one five-month period of drone operations, nearly 90 percent of the people killed in airstrikes were not the intended targets.
Senator Bernie Sanders recently said he would continue Obama’s disastrous drone program, which has resulted in the deaths of innocent people across the Middle East. In late August, Truthdig reported that Bernie Sanders told George Stephanopoulos he would continue the program.
“I think we have to use drones very, very selectively and effectively. That has not always been the case.” Sanders said. “What you can argue is that there are times and places where drone attacks have been effective. … There are times and places where they have been absolutely countereffective and have caused more problems than they have solved. When you kill innocent people, the end result is that people in the region become anti-American who otherwise would not have been.”
Sanders is absolutely right that killing innocent people fosters anti-American sentiment around the world (this makes his push for the civilian-killing Saudi military’s involvement in the fight against ISIS all the more puzzling). In 2014, the journal Dynamics of Asymmetric Conflict released two papers discussing the use of drones by the military and found an increasing number of Americans are against the use of drones on suspected terrorists in foreign countries. One paper notes that if drones continue to receive negative publicity within the United States and abroad, they may become “politically impractical.” The second paper asks whether drones are actually increasing the power of anti-U.S. protesters by gaining sympathy with the civilian population.
According to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, the CIA carried out 27 drone strikes in Pakistan during 2013, as well as 38 in Yemen — including the now infamous attack on December 12, 2013 that killed 15 people at a wedding. TBIJ estimates there have been over 2,400 deaths since Obama took over the drones. Since official numbers are not recorded, it is difficult to know exactly how many civilians have been killed under the U.S. drone program. However, Senator Lindsey Graham has estimated that 4,700 people have been killed.
These numbers seem to line up with what the newest whistleblower has stated: “Anyone caught in the vicinity is guilty by association,” the whistleblower told The Intercept. When “a drone strike kills more than one person, there is no guarantee that those persons deserved their fate.”
The whistleblower also stated that the program uses a phone number or email address to locate targets and is very unreliable. The source told The Intercept that drone bombings are carried out based on these phone numbers or emails and might not result in the death of the intended target.
Many are quick to say that we are keeping American soldiers safe by using drone warfare, but we are learning that this war is not being fought with accurate intelligence or oversight. With all of this information readily available, how can Bernie Sanders continue to support this drone program?
* * *
These are my five questions for supporters of Senator Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign. I hope some of you made it this far and were willing to read and respond with respect and honesty. It is important to recognize that there is a growing number of Americans who no longer buy into the two-party system and do not trust anyone running within those parties. Rather than voting for a new leader every four years, these radicals focus on creating solutions built on voluntary association and mutual aid rather than government force. Remember, not everyone is an idiot, a Republican, or an apathetic sheeple. Some of us simply disagree with Bernie’s economics and solutions.
Personally, I recommend each of you begin researching agorism and seeking solutions outside of the ballot box.
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Bernie you're right, Snowden should be punished. He should be required to serve 30 days in the Oval Office listening to Oblama lama ding dong being a pansy.
Then he should be welcomed home with open arms, awarded the Medal of Freedom, and given a frickin' parade.
;-D
Sentence him to a year on the talk-show circuit.
with full pay
I am not a Sanders fan at all but I am wondering why Mr Broze did not couple at least a paragraph or two about Shrillary with this article?
http://i.imgur.com/o7udK8Q.jpg
This is what happens when a populace has been chemically neutered and programmed via mass media for the last 50 years... The sheeple are unable to use cognitive thought to rationalize and resort to guttural instinct instead of being pragmatic...
"5 Questions For [any] Supporters"
1. What the fuck is wrong with you?
2. Are you fucking stupid?
3. You eyeballin' me, boy?
4. I'll rip those eyes out and skull-fuck you!
5. what part of "they work for the same boss' don't you fucking understand, you idiotic, sell-out, pig-fucking clunk?
Dems: "Bern" is another "hope and change" plant that will turn into another Nazi Satan in less than 12 months before your eyes...sound familiar...ass-eyes?
Repubs: Trump and Bush are warmed "left" overs, who rail at the same "cultural" issues (shiny objects) to win you over, then pay no attention to even a dialogue forum for your issues...then, turn into another Nazi Satan in less than 12 months before your eyes...sound familiar...ass-eyes?
Just 2 questions for the anointed Bernie Sanders...
Do you support the strict Israeli laws banning any human beings other than Jews to become citizens in Israel? If not, do you support the rights of all other nations to dictate WHO is eligible to become citizens of their own sovereign states?
Just curious.
The tribe is special
.... and Bernie is of the tribe.
I am a true believer in Bernie and a supporter. I believe he will finish off this country for good that which Obama, and past presidents Bush et al started.
Five questions for Bernie supporters:
1) Who do you think is gonna have to pay for all of the stuff Bernie wants to give away?
2) Who do you think is gonna have to pay for all of the stuff Bernie wants to give away?
3) Who do you think is gonna have to pay for all of the stuff Bernie wants to give away?
4) Who do you think is gonna have to pay for all of the stuff Bernie wants to give away?
5) Who do you think is gonna have to pay for all of the stuff Bernie wants to give away?
PS
It is best America can hope for.
Finally a voice of reason in this manaical world.
Is he related to the Colonel?
He might not bailout the banks and WS cronies as well as Trump will when the next crisis hits.
I'm worried about that
Bernie reminds me of Democratic Party Presidential nominee George McGovern, who ran against Nixon.
After leaving politics, George McGovern finally realized his dream of owning a bed and breakfast with a conference center. He went bankrupt, and stated that he never realized while a politician that the policies he was prescribing were so harmful to Businesses.
I love the Colonel's meal deals. You get deep fried breaded chicken, mashed whipped gmo spuds and grey colored gravy, a biscuit made with triple bleached gmo flour and a choclate chip cookie. Just put the gravy on the box it comes in and eat that, it will be 80% less bad for you.
KFC is some nasty crap. I do remember long time ago when Kentucky Fried Chicken food tasted like food.
I made the mistake of stopping by a KFC about 4 years ago. 2 bites and it went in the garbage. Thinking it was just one bad experience, I went to another KFC while on a road trip. Even while starving I could not eat what they sold me. It is just that nasty.
I will never again step inside a KFC again. ...and I actually avoid fast food in general, but KFC is at the very bottom of that list.
This was an article about Sanders.
Why didn't you comment on hurricane Patricia with your comment?
Maybe he's a Hillary supporter (?). A waste of energy either way, the Author is still in the Matrix.
Politics is the distraction. Politics is Theater. Trump/Sanders 2016!
Trump/Sanders 2016!
Naw... "The Donald & The Duck (Doc)" 2016!! Let 'em know we can still take a joke.
I live in a solid Republican area... yet one family proudly waves the Democrat flag... Hard core Dems for sure... the Bernie flag is currently on display....I'll say it again, Hillary is not liked by DEMOCRATS!...they'll vote for her, but good luck getting the middle ground voters in her camp...with Joe out, 52% of DEMS still don't want Hillary...That's a disaster.
That will
If you love freedom, fearing Bernie is not being paranoid. It is your sphincter simply getting ready for Bernie's deepening the anal probe the plantation owners already have inside you.
This isn't to suggest that any of the establishment useful idiots will pound your anus any less.
My suspicion is that Bernie would just be a lot more honest about what he's going to do before he jackhammers some unwilling anus.
Indeed. It will be "Fair Share Rape".
Ask a socialist why socialism doesn't depend on coersion and prepair yourself for an entertaining conversation.
"Ask a socialist why socialism doesn't depend on coersion and prepair yourself for an entertaining conversation."
Applies to a lock of "philosophies"...
"Ask a Christian why Christianity doesn't depend on coercion and prepare yourself for an entertaining conversation."
Conservatism has no need for "Coercion"?
It takes a LOT LESS "Coercion" to implement Socialism than it does to implement Conservatism.
Conservatism requires the many to be "coerced" into allowing the few to enrich themselves at the expense of the many...do-able, but difficult to maintain.
Socialism requires the many to be "coerced" into believing in a free lunch...very easy task.
@El V.
You were right. That WAS entertaining.
THe most dangerous religion is government Larken Rose breaks it down here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6uVV2Dcqt0
RIPS
You Americans are so gullible. No, you won't accept communism outright, but we'll keep feeding you small doses of Socialism until you will finally wake up and find that you already have communism. We won't have to fight you, we will so weaken your economy until you fall like overripe fruit into our hands. - Khrushchev
Perhaps if he talked to contrarians, other than his imaginary Atlantean friends, Bernie might have another perspective.
You have no fucking clue what coercion is, do you? Illiterate liberal dipshit...
Liberals think coersion is promising to give everone that votes for them an EBT card.
I know what "coercion" is; Heaven/Hell, The Bible, Gods Watching, "Would Jesus do that?".
If you think "Conservatism" and "Christianity" don't need coercion to survive, then you're the "Illiterate dipshit".
I know what "coercion" is; Jannah (Heaven)/Jahannam (Hell), The Quran, Allah's Watching, "Would Muhammad do that?".
If you think "Liberalism" and "Islam" don't need coercion to survive, then you're the "Illiterate dipshit".
Don't called them liberal. The word is derived from liberty and these people promote anything but that.
The real meaning of word means basically to be left the fuck alone by government and business.
These people are statists of various flavours.
They have misappropriated the label "liberal", because that is what they do - change the language.
Liberal is an absolutely awesome word - do not yield it to these conniving pricks.
So Conservatism is the reason Bill & Hillary enriched themselves and are worth $100 million? Chelsea's Conservatism essays are the reason MSNBC paid her $600,000 for part time work?
So Conservatism is the reason President Obama is already worth $9 million? After he has been out of office for 8 years he will be much closer to Bill & Hillary's number.
So Conservatism is the reason that John Kerry keeps his yacht in Conneticut?
So Conservatism is the reason that Bernie Madoff raised funds for Hillary Clinton?
So Conservatism is the reason that Michelle was enriched $320,000 per year by a hospital for part time work.
Yes.
Submitted without comment...
https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xtp1/v/t1.0-9/12027633_10206229761596026_6050851887008047710_n.jpg?oh=8d5961051e8e0ff541a0ca5c2ae33880&oe=56858BBD
Your point is good.
But, you are confusing conservatism with theft for some of the slow readers.
So many re definitions, so little time to pay them proper attention.
I had that "suspicion" too..until Bernie said "We" are "Tired of Hillarys' emails".
Fuck you Bernie..."We" are "tired" of a lot of fucking shit...shit like one set of laws (that are never enforced) for the Clintons/Bushs of the world and another set of laws for "WE" (that are harshly enforced).
If any of "We" set up a private server to conduct Official Government business involving State Secrets, OUR FUCKING "WE" ASSES WOULD ALREADY TO BE IN PRISON!
You 100% lost me Bernie...willing to support you to keep the Clintons out of power...but your public ass kissing and dismissal of her ILLEGAL ACTIONS, shows me you are no different than she is...
Yet another one falls for yet another "Dean scream".
You're not sick of hearing about its emails? Its Benghazi? You want it to go on and on, in a never-ending loop forever? Good! Because that's the plan! Hope you enjoy your political theater.
I want the law applied to Hillary as it would be applied to me.... my ass, at best, would be out on bail awaiting trial.
The law is never applied equally FireBrander. Law got tossed out the window a long long time ago. Actually you or I would be in jail without bail and labeled traitor for sending out secret and top secret emails.
I know I worked in the field for several years. I just cannot believe how stupid the American people have become. Now people support an outright criminal and will actually vote for her an we wonder why the USA is the laughing stock around the world. We want to impose our form of government around the world and call their politicians criminals, corrupted, and we should overthrow them. WTF most of these politicians need to look in the mirror. Yet looking at the current bunch of candidates A or candidates B most are criminals with Hillary leading the pack. At least Trump is stirring things up but even he was and is onboard with insider deals and the access money buys to government. But at least some are nto outright criminals like Hillary.
Bernie is doing nothing more then pandering to voters greed. He is actually a communist. Greed will be the undoing of the USA as more and more people get on the government tit. There will come a time when the government will stt taking away hand outs. You gotta just facepalm when a bunch of rich folks talk bad about the rich. Nothing will change except the working stiffs getting an even bigger ass reaming. The Free Shit Army has already won.
I just cannot believe how stupid the American people have become.
Look around you and see who the American people are these days. When I look at my neighborhood, half of the people on my street don't speak english. If you don't speak the language, how to you know what's going on in the country you live in? This is the true reason that politicians are pro-immigration and pro-amnesty>>They create a huge voting bloc of people who do not understand what is really going on.
can we banish comrade Obama to Russia?
Funny because he is too much of a socialist for them to accept nowadays
Much like Lee Harvey Oswald , he would find some things unacceptable in Utopia.
They don't like fags in Russia.
Bernie wants to punish Snowden, but not Hillary.
Got it.
Beter yet: Sanders should spend time in the gulag his ancestors made. His people sought refuge in the USA aFter ruining the lands they came from.He is a Talmudist, and clearly dislikes the Constituton which saved his family.
Israel is more to his liking. He should go there. Stay there .
Tax on speculation is not to abolish speculation (as if anyone could keep the insane gamblers away from the table with other people's money in the first fucking place), but a "sin tax" like cigs and OH.
Saying you are going to do anything to the evil 1%, or pay for anything, by doing something to the payroll tax, is simply non-sensical.
The rentier class doesn't pay the payroll tax, because they don't receive their income through payroll, they receive rents, dividends and interests from the assets they own.
Perhaps that's why so many so many on the left complain that the payroll tax is regressive, exept when one of their own is using to sell some snake oil.
Until the moral and intellectual bankruptcy of the populace is addressed, all stripes of the political class will free to peddle their lies to the idiocrisy.
This is a really important point. One that bothers me daily. It's like increased sales tax or parking tickets or water bills. It is a tax on the poor and middle class.
I personally think a tax on speculation makes sense. A little would go a long way... and it wouldn't have to be much.. and it wouldn't deter the speculators either. If there is money to be made, they will speculate. Period.
All government interventions are detrimental the economy. At best they simply do what the market would, but with less efficiency. At worst they harm the capital structure and its embedded price signals by destroying the rational resource allocation that arises from decentralized market calculation. It simply astonishes me that statists like you really believe that you, or some group, could possibly contain more or more-accurate knowledge than the vast array of individual actors coordinating exchanges based on their own individual relative values through supply and demand... and the much larger array of implicit information contained in the relative price structure...
Or like when Reagan and the Dems in congress at the time jacked up FICA while granting the 1%ers a tax windfall.
I'll give "The Bern" credit for stating up front that he is a tax and spender, with respect to payroll taxes; any other politico would've claimed to find a solution where working people didn't pay too.
It's very simple; ever since the time of Bismark the economies that have done the best have been MIXED economies, with some of the economy handled by private enterprise and some of the economy in public hands. What has happened over the last 35 years is that the balance between public and private has shifted to the extreme in favor of the private, and the net result has been a greatly diminished standard of living for most people. The remedy is simple, it is now time to take a larger part of the economy and bring it under the domain of the public sector.
In much the same way that we are all better off for having both the post office AND UPS and FedEx, we will be similarly better off if we have more public options for serving basic human needs.
No, what has happened is the distinction between private and public has been blurred. When you have industries writing a lot of the laws and regulations that govern their behavior, and regulators that come from that industry and then go back to that industry when their time is done, plus the wholesale ownership of congress, private vs public ceases to lose a lot of its meaning. JP Morgan can afford to follow a lot of the fucked up regulations. It can also afford to not follow them. A small startup bank can likely do neither.
"No, what has happened is the distinction between private and public has been blurred."
You've made an excellent point, may I ask what remedy you might suggest to fix this issue? If I were to make one change to our current system, it would be that once a person has chosen to go on the public sector track, they stay on the public sector track for life; no more of this jumping back and forth between public and private, and enriching themselves with every bounce. Part of this would also entail ensuring that those working in the public sector take no money of any kind from the private sector ever, not even so much as a garage sale because we have to get extremely serious about corruption and the horrifying impact it is having on our society.
I'd love to hear what remedies, if any, you may have in mind?
Rope and lamp posts on K Street in DC for starters. None of this changes until either the US collapses or blood is spilled. The players in our system are far too entrenched. Once you come to that realization, the next question is how to limit power, because without significant power, this kind of machine is not possible. Sound money not under anybody's control is another good start there. Just remember, your congress critters don't give a damned about what you want beyond manipulating it to get reelected on the funds provided by those lobbyists in K Street.
I think Constitution Avenue would be better than K street.
That's a great start El V but I would add a few to that:
1) After the lampposts are filled, no more career politicians. Congress may meet max once every 6 mo's unless the homeland is being invaded by a foreign army.
2) All federal gov't employees pay + benefits capped at the Median National avg household income.
3) Federal govt banned from deficit spending unless the homeland is being invaded by a foreign army.
4) Any gov't employee (fed, state, or local) caught breaking any law related to their office or function(I.E. not speeding, jaywalking, etc) faces mandatory minimum sentance of execution within one week of guilty verdict.
We can't do this, you say? No one would want to work for the government except honest, altruistic individuals who are not in it to line their own pockets!
GOOD FUCKING RIDDANCE!
5) eliminate tenure at colleges, government unions and lifetime government jobs (pensions)
Why make the stupid exception for #3? Did you learn nothing from the Continental and Whisky Rebellion?
I have a whiskey rebellion most Monday mornings.
The rest I missed.
Feel free to elucidate your point, there old timer.
The point is that there are zero excuses for deficit spending (but plenty of really good reasons for saving).
Ive always liked you. Thinkin like an ancap. Strike the root nigguh
The root of the problem is that there is no equilibrium state for government as a system. Ford makes automobiles, Starbucks makes coffee, and government makes more government.
Before our federal government began to intrude deeply into the economy, the biggest societal risks we ran were managing externalities (think pollution, strip mining) and enforcing contract law.
The good intentions that drove government deeply into the workings of commerce were soon exploited by the captains of commerce. The one-way street the people thought they were building with government oversight turned out to run in both directions, resulting in the accumulation of tremendous influence by the few most wealthy. The result, if you care to study it enough, clearly has created a situation that is far worse than the one we had before we opened this Pandora's box. There is a reason why lobbying has produced by far the highest return on investment of all corporate functions in large corporations for decades now.
We now have a situation where the societal risks we are running intrude into every sector of our society. The agencies created to oversee our various industries and activities are themselves the creators of much of this risk, at the behest of the few who are served at the cost of the many without the power to oppose the current structure.
Until enough of the people stop conflating government with society, and begin to realize that there are viable alternatives to coercion in contemplating desired change, the current system will continue to grow and the skies of America will continue to darken. Curse the darkness, or light a candle.
I think if you look at the arguments on all sides over the articles of confederation, you'll see that these inner workings of commerce were at the forefront of their thinking at the time.
Poor bastards had no idea how badly the concept of "the company" as incipient for the eventual corporation would fuck up the deal though.
I retract my previous jab.
Hope the ear heals.
Pointy as ever.
"stop conflating government with society, and begin to realize that there are viable alternatives to coercion in contemplating desired change "
This statement is very much worth repeating. +1
People have been grossly deluded into believing that a system of economic spoils is actually a functional civiliation.
Economic activity in an of itself is no indication of civic health or quality of societal regime..
http://www.propertarianism.com
"Rope and lamp posts"
+1. It's the only way.
People who only know how to steal for a living will never cease stealing.
People who only know how to lie for a living will never cease lying.
-Etc...
Prisons only force society to perpetually pay for further instigations of violence and oppression, expropriations of productivity, resources, etc..
Here's a start: far as I know, public employees are allowed to unionize by virtue of an executive order. Kennedy, I think.
So, rescind that fucker.
Right, Kennedy is was the culprit. Not even that old commie FDR would allow government unions.
Huh? The post office loses $20B annually. We are better off with that?
Last I checked, only the "public" economy can freely engage in price-fixing. Wages, health care, fuel, food . . .where exactly is does the "public" economy not have its fingers in price fixing? Which happens to be illegal in all forms in the "private" economy.
The concept of "public" economy and "private" economy is moronic. That's like saying there is "public" laws of physics and "private" laws of physics. The "public" economy, in all its forms, is a perversion of reality.
Take a look at why the post office is losing so much money. It's because they are being squeezed with their pension funding.... implemented to sink the PO by the GOP in 2006.
Also, the post office is a quasi public institution, inherently dependent on the US gov. That's the point. It is not a profit making venture. Neither is Amtrak. Neither are our highways or our water pumps (in most places, thank goodness).
The government does not create or make anything (except chaos). Rather, the government is a leech on the private sector for its subsistence and growth. In other words, they have an unlimited source of funds: people who actually create and produce things. Everything government has is derivative of the private sector, and when the leech gets too big, everything devolves into tyranny and disfunction.
Vote Trump . He has his own money to run .
You forgot the quotes on "his own money".
I don't and won't vote and I couldn't give a shit about dems or repubs or any religions. But I would worry about trusting any president whose initials are BS. As they used to say about Margaret Thatcher, her initials are MT and so are her promises. Come to think of it BO's not much better.
+1 all we have left is turd sandwich v giant douche
If any of the candidates are part of the current political establishment, THEY ARE THE PROBLEM! Bernie fits that bill to a T. Sorry for the bad T-bill pun, but much like our politicians, they're essentiall worthless in the long run.
Bernie supporters are aggressive and will probably use force to get him elected. True abou t Barry; his supporters were almost beating people up at the pirmary voting places. Terrible.
Bernie doesn't have a Black Panthers analogue to post at polling places.
Just because YOU have not seen it in action does not mean it doesn't exist.
I'm willing to bet that ACORN or something derived or modelled upon it is lying in wait to be activated.
The Labor Unions are still to be reckoned with and they are quite staunchly aligned with the Democrats.
Sanders is purportedly an especially 'organized labor friendly' kind of politician.
It is still a little early to expect reports of blatant push-polling and vote rigging..
Not a big fan either way... but let's see some support for that one. I don't recall any "almost beating up" That's a pretty lame statement. Did someone shout at somebody? Come on... you can do better than that...
Corzine / Kodos 2016.
Don't blame me. I voted for Camacho.
When sanders says that he is a democratic socialist, I believe him. I think he probably believes a lot of his own BS.
Voting lends undeserved legitimacy to the system.
Bernie never wanted to be president. Every primary race has a Bernie, a populist to drag the conversation one way or another, whip the 47%ers into a frenzy over gobs of free shit to be paid for by somebody else.
When he gave Hillary a pass on Benghazi and her FBI investigation, he conceded the race. I think he will formally concede while within spitting distance of Hillary in the polls. He won't concede out of a lack of support and enthusiasm. He will concede because he has no intention of being a chief exec.
Bernie says audit the Fed https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=869POIyGm2E
Bernie sticks it to Bernanke https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCWXrMCGJT4
Bernie talks about Moar moar moar https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsDYAtKlsT4
Bernie caucuses with the same Democrats doing these things. Bernie does want a FED because he would just do the same thing with the Federal Goverment. Show me where Bernie says the Federal Governemnt should balance it books. Just once...and I will vote for him
As a Bernie supporter, these are great questions. His stance on Israel is particularly troublesome. I see him trying to equivocate more these days as well.
I know no one on here will agree with my economics stances. I really do think he'll be best on dismantling the police state and the American empire. Rand would be good at this too. Fuck the rest of them.
Holy camoly, that's some major delusional crap you just put out there.
Bernie is the police state and the American empire. Yes, he voted against one war... but voted for the others. Just do a little research before pledging your support to yet another sociopath.
How did Obummer turn out for ya?
Who is your candidate?
Edit: He also voted against the first Iraq War, so two he voted against. I know y'all don't like his tax plans, but do you like what he says about Wall Street, the Fed, and money in politics?
I know y'all don't like his tax plans, but do you like what he says about Wall Street, the Fed, and money in politics?
As you are, or should be aware by now, what any politician says is seldom ever what he/she does - Sanders notwithstanding. So let's not fall under his or any other candidates magical incantations/spell - OK?
No elected official will ever save you.
The fact that Sanders has any support whatsoever should tell everyone how far this country has fallen.
If you were locked in a room with no food or water, and you had to choose between Sanders or Hillary before you were let out, what would your choice be?
I know I don't have a good answer, and I think that my head would explode if I actually had to make that choice.
I'll starve myself. Thanks.
For a moment I thought you wrote if I was locked in a room with the two of them and I had to choose, I'm rather sure there would only be one person left breathing to leave the room.
Standard Disclaimer: A two-fer!
We admire your persistence in continuing to write in Goldwater's corpse each year.
Greece elected a left wing savior and what happened? He betrayed his supporters and sold out to the banksters.The British Labor Party just elected a left wing leader, a pacifist, and what happened? The politicians and the press quickly and thoroughly neutralized him. His policies will never get enacted...chances are zero.
The leftist utopias of South America are the most important warning tales: Be careful what you wish for...people's paradise? Hardly...think Zimbabwe.
A family member who had someone research our family tree once told me I was descended from John Adams. No idea if it is true but maybe so, because I seem to be a genetic libertarian. Basically, I like freedom and loathe tyranny. I do not want to take away people's guns or drugs and I do not want them to force me to pay for wars, bank bailouts and a police state while putting god's name on my increasingly worthless money.
America's problem is not a left wing-right wing affair, though. It is all about government corruption. The two main parties have united against the people and are working very hard to keep the people from uniting against them. Divide-and-rule is the name of their game. Sadly, it is working all too well.
There is one two-headed deep state and a whole lot of sheeple still caught up in the red team blue team meme; some folks simply can't understand that politics is multi-dimensional and any attempt to reduce it to a 1D axis for measurement will be a pale projection of the true shape of public opinion. The only people who benefit from this false characterization of the political landscape are the media, lobbyists, and their puppet show.
No one who quotes faux news sites like "Mint Press News" can be taken seriously.
Seriously?
How many times have you seen this on other news sites around the world?
No one who quotes faux news sites like "ZeroHedge" can be taken seriously.
You want to hear it straight from the mouth of Dan Rather or Brian Williams, eh?
Fucking simpleton.
Why waste your time on challenging Bernie supporters? He has no chance vs the Clinton machine(msm). Why don't you turn your efforts to questioning Trump and Hillery fans? Plenty of questions there.
Exactly. Why doesn't anyone ask Bernie "How would you convince a Republican House to enact your briliant tax plan?"
"I would have my wife bake some scrumptious halva and deliver it to the floor with a note requesting that they pretty please let my Marxist ideas out of committee."
I support him only to harass hildabeast. But I know we are completely fucked no matter.
+1 the maggots won. the usa is going down the toilet no matter what.
No, the federal government is going down the toilet, but that is where it belongs. Hildabeast will accelerate the process. The USA can't recover into the fedgov has been flushed.
Good job here by Derek Broze. I like his style. And I'm glad to see he doesn't just blindly follow the Bernie herd.
This motherfucker Senator likely has early onset dementia, and it will be full blown dementia when he gets into office in 2016. Add two four year terms to his atrophied brain and make sure to include the requisite hair loss. Frankly, this motherfucker would be pretty well comatose in the second term if not completely dead IMHO.
Vote for the African American amongst the candidates.
it onset when he was in his 30's
If any member of the voting community is smart enough to click on the "like" button on Farcebook then we sure as hell don't need politicians. Why is it that those self-serving, useless fat fucks shouldn't feel a bit of the competition from technology that every other job in the world is feeling? There is nothing stopping politicians and bankers from being replaced by "there's an app for that." You could argue that wall street is already just a bunch of algos but Jamie, Lloyd and their cronies just haven't yet realized that they're redundant.
maybe Bernie also want to pay everyone sick time when they retire at 45-55 years of age like government workers...police, teacher, fireman, etc
Casting a ballot is futile when the choices are pre-chosen and any outcome of the (s)election is a continuation along the path of centralisation and top-down control.
Withdrawl from the system as much as is possible is the best tactic.
Sanders, Trump, Clinton, Carson, Bush etc. = no difference in the long run to me.
EDIT: And don't forget - ALL are frontmen only. Strings are attached.
even if the usa gubbermint was full of wise, concerned, caring people working together they couldn't save the usa from becoming a total piece of crap. needless to say it isn't. once upon a time a working person if they worked hard and were careful with their money could get ahead. now it is useless and hopeless. i wish i could move to iceland or russia sometimes.
America could be saved but it would take someone who does not give a shit about what the MSM and the leftists in the other branches of government think about them. Essentially need a 'trust buster'
If you go,Iceland is the place, you would not like Russia - unless you are wealthy.
I appreciate your questions that were very thought out. However I do not believe many of Bernies followers are smart enough to understand your questions.
So I would add a list that were much simpler.
a bit insulting dont you think? Some of us can actually read and write you arogant cunt.
"Some of us can actually read and write you arogant [sic] cunt."
Barely.
There is nothing barely about it. If you could remove your dads cock from your mouth long enough to debate these issues properly, I am certain I could quite quickly make you look like a total fool and or a greedy 1%er wannabe.
sadly, you are way too busy fondly your children's genitals.
you appear to be an idiot with an infatuation with men/boys
"If you could remove your dads [sic] cock from your mouth..."
"sadly [sic], you are way too busy fondly [sic] your children's genitals."
Another victim of government schools.
"...a greedy 1%er wannabe."
I'm merely a top five percenter, but perfectly content. Unlike you my angry little man, I don't believe that happiness or success is achieved by taking them away from others.
Anybody who considers socialism an option is simply a moron. I'm sorry to be blunt, but giving more power and control to a government who has continued to erode the personal liberties of its citizens is beyond insane. I'm sure your intentions for "social justice" are good natured, but advocating force to achieve those goals can never be an option. That's why Bernie supporters are really just "uneducated dreamers". Sorry.
A society that doesnt look after its old, infirm, poor and veterans is not a society worth holding onto. Sorry that youre so selfish and short sighted. Sorry that you aspire so badly to being a 1%er that youre happy to shoot yourself and your children in the head. Sorry that you and countless other morons dont see the hypocrisy in acceoting bail outs for the auto builders and banks an AIG as being socialist. But thats ok, right? It was done to preserve capitalism.
A society that allows the old and infirm (or their families) to care for themselves and doesn't bother making millions of veterans in the first place would be vastly preferable, don't you think?
Teach a man to fish, rather than bankrupting the fishing industry with free loaves and fishes.
Azathoth/Shub-Niggurath
Pazuzu/Humbaba
What difference does it make? Select my write-in candidates.
If Sanders is so great then why didn't he try to fix everything while in congree all those years and wait until he is 112 years old to run for Prez? He did very little.
Obama was the #1 socialist by voting record in congress and he's a diasaster, while sanders was #4. Former Ted Kennedy was #2 and Biden was the #3 socialist. So the two most sociaist guys in the country have been running things for the last 8 years and it has totally sucked. Sanders is the JV team socialist trying to be varsity but they all suck and are all statists.
Brussels provocation. White socialist sprewing a two term role using a Kenyan nigger. They need a white guy for closing American Union.
Bernie and all of his whiny ass/free shit lunatic followers should load up on a barge and head to Sweden.
Where everything is "free" and everyone loves one another. You need not work unless you feel like it etc... He refers to Sweden constantly so why not just move there Bernie?
I am sure they would love having you in utopia with them.
Of course that won't happen, he rather stay here and try and fuck things up even worse than they already are.
~ P.S. Bad news for the Bernie faithful...The DNC will not have him as their pick.... it's the cackling cunt all the way!
The author does not GET IT! Bernie is the 'Vote NO to Hillary' candidate. Bernie has no chance if he gets the Democrat nomination -- so every Republican should support Bernie - in the Primaries only - in order to stop the Hillary Express. Many Democrats do not want Hillary either! And there is no other choice for them - except Bernie! The more money and effort Hillary uses up in the Primaries the less she will have in the general election.
If your vote actually could elect a President, they wouldn't let you vote.
The Bernie Sanders supporters I've seen aren't capable of abstract thought.
"Personally, I am slightly frightened by the online interactions I have witnessed from those who #FeelTheBern. There seems to be a tendency to dismiss anyone who criticizes Bernie as either a Donald Trump supporter or simply an idiot."
Reading anything on Yahoo or any other bullshit internet "news" site comment sections, as well as the articles, is the biggest waste of fucking time. It's populated by a bunch of idiotic posers who all have an agenda. It's all so predictable. Want to have a good laugh or cry? Read the comments section on any article about that cunt Hillary Clinton. We live in the land of mainstream media zombies.
Americans fall in love with candidates and no amount of common sense can open their eyes.
As far as I know, every candidate wants to bomb millions back to the stone age. Them makes them, and us if we don't object, mass murderers.
One more time: If our masters believed for a minute Bernie Sanders had any real chance of becoming POTUS or would change anything if he did, he would be either dead or sitting in jail with little hope of ever coming out again. Irwin Schiff died in prison for far less.
Bernie's a sideshow designed to avoid the appearance of a coronation for Hillary. That's it.
Gov't has morphed into a mega-monster that can't be controlled much less by one man - it has become unbelieveably corrupt and has perfected only one thing - stealing the wealth of the few remaining workers and borrowing money that cannot possibly be repaid. If you must vote, vote for all challengers, send the incumbents BACK HOME every two years, maybe they'll eventually get the message....
I prefer it when both parties are the same.
I am very indecisive and hate making decisions.
Things have been very easy for the last decade, Bernie Sanders is going to really complicate things.
The problem is that Bernie supporters believe that freedom and prosperity comes from a government cheque.
The problem is that Bernie supporters believe that freedom and prosperity comes from a government cheque.
You will find leftists are the most intolerant people on the earth.
Aside from being the most selfish, lazy, greedy little pricks since Mao and Stalin, they march to the 'Psychos R Us' mantra.
Surely if leftists grant even greater power to the state they can finally "get it right"!
I mean, look at all their wonderful success stories ;-)
i like bernie because he is as close to a humphrey democrat since humphrey. if you are a real democrat you should vote and campaign for this guy because he has actually trying to lead the democrats down their traditional role as the foil to oligarchy. i won't vote for him, but i like him.
1. the best investment the usa .gov ever made in the american people was the gi bill post ww2. that money made the usa the best trained workforce in teh world. it was an investment in people and therefore the nation. it still works today. it makes sense to bill the markets somehow to pay for this since they are the ultimate benefactors. rich people used to start education systems. i don't see a buffet university or a gates college coming soon.
using the tax as speculation control is a sideshow.
2. regardless of whatever arguement anyone can come up with for being against universal healthcare there are a multitude of successful systems out there to choose from since all the first world countries have a universal healthcare system and many emerging countries also have systems, also. all of their outcomes are much better than the usa in terms of morbidity/mortality per dollar spent. that is the only significant metric.
paying for it through the medicaid/care extraction from your paycheck and the medicare/medicaid system is a very convenient platform. iot is also very efficient.
3. even snowden agrees with bernie.
4. his stance on israel is troublesome but he is not an aipac slut so maybe some education may enlighten him
5. his stance is sensible. if we are at war then the judicious use of drones is ok.
i have always found any discussion about reducing the brutality of war to be the most surreal conversation one can have in a very serious tone.
"1. the best investment the usa .gov ever made in the american people was the gi bill post ww2. that money made the usa the best trained workforce in teh world."
Doesn"t matter now that the production has been shipped out. ameriKan's seem to like their new part time no skill required yobs.