Sanders Joins the House Sit-In
Bernie Sanders briefly joined House Democrats for their sit-in Wednesday demanding legislative action on gun control.
The presidential candidate, who has yet to concede to Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary, took to the House floor late Wednesday afternoon, joining a handful of senators who walked across the Capitol to express their solidarity with the protest.
Sanders waved as his House colleagues met him with strong applause, and he left shortly after
Clinton didn’t attend the protest, though she met with House Democrats earlier on Wednesday.
Sanders Sits Down For An Interview With C-SPAN
Bernie Sanders acknowledged Wednesday that he will likely not be the Democratic nominee for president, as aides privately conceded that his future in the race remains in flux.
When asked in an interview with C-SPAN’s Steve Scully if he would be speaking at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia this July, Sanders paused before answering.
“Well, you know it’s hard to say, it doesn’t appear that I’m gonna be the nominee, so I’m not gonna be determining the scope of the convention,” admitted the Vermont senator, two weeks after former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was projected to be the Democratic Party’s presumptive nominee.
It’s the closest Sanders has come to conceding the prolonged Democratic primary race to his opponent.
Sanders is slated to give a speech Thursday in New York to address “where we go from here,” which aides said will not include a concession but will address the kinds of policies Sanders will push the party to enact.
“I expect he will focus on policy — from income and wealth inequality to climate change — and how he hopes the Democratic Party platform will be the most progressive ever,” said spokesman Michael Briggs.
“Democrats Eat Their Young”
Supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) plan to challenge the nomination of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo as the state’s delegate chair for next month’s Democratic National Convention after not being allowed to challenge it at a party meeting.
According to Politico, the dispute erupted at a meeting of the Democratic State Committee, and footage posted online shows attendees shouting as party secretary Mike Reich closed nominations, preventing a vote on whether Cuomo should be the chair.
Reich then announced that Cuomo had been named chair, prompting loud booing from the audience.
“Did you hear? There were like 15 motions here,” said Nomiki Konst, a delegate supporting Sanders who approached Reich and spoke using a microphone at the front of the meeting hall.
“I don’t know who you are,” Reich responded. “You haven’t been given the floor.”
Konst’s microphone was then cut as the meeting continued. Konst is seen asking supporters to raise their hands if they had a motion. Seconds later, Reich can be heard shouting, “You’re out of order” at her. She is then seen approaching a man who allegedly ordered the microphone to be turned off and asking why it happened. He refuses to answer her question and instead looks past her.
“Democrats eat their young,” Konst says in frustration after speaking with other officials later on.
Sanders To Campaign For Kingson In Syracuse
Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders will return to Syracuse on Friday to rally voters for Eric Kingson in the 24th Congressional District primary.
Sanders will appear at the Oncenter Convention Center ballroom for a public rally, the Kingson and the Sanders campaign confirmed Wednesday night.
Doors to the rally will open at 4 p.m. Friday. RSVPs are encouraged through the Sanders campaign website.
Sanders will be making a two-day swing through New York state that includes a visit Thursday to New York City where he will deliver a speech titled, “Where we go from here.”
Kingson, a progressive Democrat in a three-person primary for the Syracuse-area seat in Congress, had previously been endorsed by Sanders.
“It would have been enough if he had given me a statement of support,” Kingson said in an interview Wednesday night after learning of the Sanders visit. “The reality is I’m very grateful and I’m excited. I think it will be quite significant for my campaign and the underlying values that we share.”
Kingson, 70, of Manlius, is a Syracuse University professor and nationally known expert on Social Security. He is co-founder of the national group Social Security Works, and founded a group of more than 300 national and state organizations that want to strengthen and expand Social Security.
Sanders: Strengthen Social Security (my emphasis)
PRESS RELEASE
WASHINGTON – Sen. Bernie Sanders on Wednesday renewed his call for increasing Social Security benefits, improving how annual cost-of-living adjustments are calculated and strengthening the retirement program by making top wage earners pay their fair share.
“It is time to expand Social Security, not cut it,” Sanders said in response to a new report by the trustees who oversee the program. “Millions of seniors, disabled veterans and people with disabilities are falling further and further behind on $10,000 or $11,000 a year Social Security,” he added.
The annual report said beneficiaries can expect a small 0.2 percent increase in monthly payments next year unlike this year when there was no cost-of-living increase. The trustees’ annual report also projected that the Social Security trust fund has sufficient reserves to pay all benefits through 2034.
Legislation Sanders introduced in the U.S. Senate would expand Social Security benefits and extend the life of the program for 58 years. Sanders’ bill would lift the cap on taxable Social Security income and asking the very wealthy to pay more.
Sanders’ proposal calls for making the wealthiest Americans who make more than $250,000 a year pay the same share of their income into the retirement system as everyone else. Current law now caps the amount of income subject to payroll taxes at $118,500.
Under Sanders’ plan, a senior making less than $16,000 a year would see income go up by more than $1,300 a year.
The measure also would increase cost-of-living adjustments. This year, for only the third time in four decades, seniors on Social Security did not receive a cost-of-living increase. Sanders’ legislation would increase COLAs by more accurately measuring the spending patterns of seniors. Under current law, the consumer price index used to calculate annual benefit adjustments does not accurately reflect how inflation in health care costs and prescription drug prices impact seniors.
The proposal to lift the cap would raise taxes only on the wealthiest 1.5 percent of Americans.
According to the most recent estimates from the Social Security Administration, Sanders’ plan would extend the solvency of Social Security until the year 2074.
President Barack Obama, in a recent speech, said that Social Security benefits should be expanded by asking the wealthiest Americans to pay their fair share.
“It’s time we finally made Social Security more generous and increased its benefits so that today’s retirees and future generations get the dignified retirement that they’ve earned,” Obama said in Elkhart, Indiana. “And we can start paying for it by asking the wealthiest Americans to contribute a little bit more.”
Sanders To Address The NALEO Conference
Bernie Sanders is expected to address the largest annual gathering of Latino policy makers in Washington, D.C., according to the event’s coordinators, who have criticized presumptive presidential nominees, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, for skipping it.
A statement about Sanders’ appearance released by the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO), a nonpartisan group, said that more than 1,000 Latino elected and appointed officials and national leaders from across the country are expected to attend the three-day conference that begins Thursday and ends Saturday.
A NALEO said Sanders is schedule to speak at 8:30 Thursday morning.
Earlier this week, the group’s officials took Sanders’ Democratic rival, Clinton, and Trump to task for not committing to attending the conference – a rarity, they pointed out, for presidential candidates during an election year.
NALEO’s executive director, Arturo Vargas, said in a statement that a no-show by the presumptive presidential nominees was tantamount to a “slap in the face to the (Latino) community.”
Crossposted from The Progressive Wing
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