Welcome back to the Bernie News Roundup. Visit the group page for past editions.
Kicking things off Salon examines Luis Gutierrez's shameful statement against Sanders, himself a child of immigrants.
“I don’t know if he likes immigrants”: The budding smear campaign against Bernie Sanders
Bernie Sanders is trying to run a presidential campaign with a laser-like focus on the structural inequality of the American economy and the direct means through which that can be changed. It’s difficult to get him off-message, away from railing about the MILLIONAYUHS AND BILLIONAYUHS
He is a senator from Vermont, a lily-white state with very few of the racial minorities who make up the base of new national Democratic coalition. As such he may have a “blind spot” about issues of great importance to many African-Americans, like police abuse and mass incarceration, or Hispanics, like the plight of undocumented immigrants and the way immigration policies tear families apart.
The “blind spot” is one of messaging, however. There is nothing in Bernie Sanders’ record to indicate that he does not care about these issues — quite the opposite, in fact.
More Below the orange cloud of smoke that Luis Guitierrez is blowing.
Reasonable criticisms of Sanders’ pitch have the potential to detour themselves, however, into smear territory. Consider the following comments from Illinois Rep. Luis Gutierrez, a Democratic point man on immigration issues:
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“I don’t know if he likes immigrants, because he doesn’t seem to talk about immigrants. But sooner or later he’ll tell us. I hope he likes immigrants. I haven’t heard him say anything. He’s been kind of quiet and silent. So I hope that when he sees this program he sees that there’s a lot of people waiting to hear from him,” said Gutierrez, a member of the House Judiciary Committee who advocates on behalf of comprehensive immigration reform.
“I don’t know if he likes immigrants.” What we have right here is a smear. Sanders voted for comprehensive immigration reform in 2013. He’s voted for the DREAM Act. He was a strong supporter of President Obama’s executive actions on immigration and has been plenty vocal about his desire for pathway to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants. The positions are there, and Rep. Gutierrez, as a member of Congress who serves as a lead on these issues, should have enough evidence to determine that Bernie Sanders “likes immigrants.”
I don't want to quote too much but this could not be left out. Please go read the entire piece.
During her nascent campaign, Hillary Clinton has been strong on issues of criminal justice reform, immigration reform, and voting rights, but has thus far avoided central questions about her economic platform and what strategies she would pursue to bring about a more just distribution of wealth. It would be a real shame if she continued to avoid these questions, because they’re difficult, and relied instead on her loyalists to spread a whisper campaign about how Bernie Sanders does not “like” immigrants or African-Americans
The Washington Post talks about how Bernies priorities are America's priorities:
Bernie Sanders says Americans back his agenda — and he’s mostly right
At a breakfast in Washington on Thursday, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) dismissed any perception that he's radically outside the American mainstream. Referring to his core campaign positions, he said: "It is not a radical agenda. In virtually every instance, what I'm saying is supported by a significant majority of the American people."
That's a claim worth double-checking. We pulled the key components of his announcement speech and looked at the most recent polling on each to see just how much support Sanders's proposals had. It doesn't take very long before we get mired in the ways polling can fail to capture the nuance of the issue but, spoiler alert: Sanders was generally right.
This 'conservative libertarian' is embracing Sanders' college ideas:
I recently caught a Bernie Sanders' interview where he proposed providing free college education to any American that wanted it, funded by a small fee on stock market transactions. Those that know me might think I'd be opposed to this idea based on my libertarian-leaning and fiscally conservative nature. However, my own life experience and my observations of others have me siding with Senator Sanders on this one.
I grew up in what would probably be described as a lower middle class family. We had food, shelter and clothes, but not much more. I went to high school with kids from all income bracket levels. Most of my friends in the lower income bracket got jobs after high school and most from wealthier families went to college. Of course there were exceptions, but that was the most common outcome. At 19, I joined the military.
I saw first hand how the military took young adults, mostly from lower income families like mine, and provided them with a job, training and opportunities for education, advancement, mentorship and personal and professional development. I would argue that the military is one of the most respected organizations in our country because it invests in its young people early and often. Why can't we invest in all our young adults in the same manner?
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Bernie Sanders is spot on with his proposal, although I do disagree on one point. Wall Street shouldn't be the only ones investing in our young adults. All of us should invest! Charge me an extra 25 cents at Starbucks or when I eat a Big Mac. This doesn't go against my fiscally conservative belief system because I don't view helping young adults as wasteful spending. It's an investment that benefits us all. My own experience has taught me that if you invest in young people early, you will be rewarded long term with productive members of society
Sanders not only wants you to be able to work. He wants you to be
required to have a vacation as well:
The Vermont Senator and Democratic presidential candidate has introduced a bill to require all employers with 15 or more workers to offer two weeks of paid vacation to employees who have worked there for a year or more.
Even part-time workers who work an average of 24 hours a week would be eligible under the legislation.
"This is already done in almost every other major country on earth," said Sanders in remarks on the Senate floor Thursday. "If families are overworked and if husbands and wives do not even have the time to spend together with their kids...at least for two weeks a year, people can come together under a relaxed environment and enjoy the family."
Bernie Sanders Raised $6 Million From Small Donors in 6 weeks.
Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, an independent senator from Vermont, said Thursday his campaign has raised $6 million dollars in small donations since entering the race on April 30.
"I think we have gotten over 150,000 individual donations" at an average take of "$40 a piece," Sanders said in an interview on PBS' Charlie Rose. He expects the total haul to reach $10 million by the end of June. Candidates are not required to file official financial disclosure forms until July 15.
Sanders has doubled his donor base and war chest after jumping out to a quick start in the first four days of the campaign, in which his campaign netted $3 million from 75,000 supporters.
Bill Moyers helps more people realize that
Actually, Bernie Sanders Isn’t a Crackpot:
Congressman John K. Delaney, what the hell are you talking about?
In a recent Washington Post op-ed piece, headlined, “The last thing America needs? A left-wing version of the Tea Party,” the Democratic congressman from Maryland scolds progressives and expresses his worry “about where some of the loudest voices in the room could take the Democratic Party.”
He writes, “Rejecting a trade agreement with Asia, expanding entitlement programs that crowd out other priorities and a desire to relitigate the financial crisis are becoming dominant positions among Democrats. Although these subjects may make for good partisan talking points, they do not provide the building blocks for a positive and bold agenda to create jobs and improve the lives of Americans.”
Rep. Delaney even implies that a freewheeling, open discussion of “these subjects” could lead to the election of a Republican president.
Good grief, John. A trade agreement that favors multinational corporations over working people? Cutting “entitlement programs” such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, worker’s compensation? Letting Wall Street off the hook for crashing the economy and costing millions of Americans their jobs and homes? These are Republican policies, bought and paid for by plutocrats. If Democrats simply mimic them, there would be no need to bother with voting for a Republican president
The Hill on why
Bernies is exciting the youth:
One of my major observations about the 2016 presidential campaign is that students and young people generally are becoming increasingly engaged politically and bringing their hopes and dreams for themselves and for America to the center of the national political arena through direct action and communication and organizing through the global explosion of social media.
This is great news for America, and no presidential candidate has done more to inspire this outpouring of excitement from young people than the oldest presidential candidate, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).
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Sanders excites students and young people not only because he brilliantly calls for a free public college education. He excites students and young people because he is a candidate of values, principles and ideas, which is what politics should be about. I call to your attention the wonderful website studentsforberniesanders.com, to follow the diversity of issues that these engaged young patriotic Americans believe in and work for.
Sanders offers what young people — and most Americans — want in political leaders. He offers authenticity and ideas; a politics of conviction and values that soars above the petty cash of political propaganda and political spin.
5 Things Bernie Sanders Has Said or Done That Should Have Been Political Suicide, But Weren't
So how is it possible that Sanders has been getting such extraordinary responses? Why, oh why, does Bernie fly? Simply put: everyone is sick of politics as usual. Everyone knows things have gone off the rails. People know that the rich have been using their influence and access to rig the game in their favor. Sanders is the only candidate who does not represent more of the same. On a deep level, people know the only solution is to elect people who aren't beholden to big money; to elect people who will fight for the poor and the middle-class's piece of the pie. If that's called socialism, then so be it. Everyone knows it's time to get the money out of politics. Everyone is sick of plastic, insincere, politician smiles and hairdos. Sanders doesn't waste time on it, and it's obvious he'd rather be serving his constituency - and it's obvious he's sincere. Everyone is sick of listening to politicians pander, to know that they're being pandered to, and to find themselves forced to choose between the lesser of two panderers - while having no real faith that their choice means anything.