Bernie is independent of the billionaire puppet strings and is free to take on the moneyed interests.
Here’s the reality: With the Republicans still likely to control at least the House until 2020, nothing progressive is going to get passed through Congress. Not Hillary’s $12/hour minimum wage any more than Bernie’s $15 or Obama’s $10. Not Hillary’s small improvements to Obamacare, nor Bernie’s Medicare-For-All. Not Hillary’s debt-free college, nor Bernie’s tuition-free public college.
If you’ve been watching this movie since Republicans took control of the House in 2011, the best Democrats can manage to do legislatively is stave off draconian cuts in must-pass budgets and avoid defaulting on the debt. As you recall, most of Obama’s big accomplishments — the Recovery Act, bailing out the auto industry, Dodd-Frank and Obamacare — were passed in the first year while Democrats still controlled the House and had a fragile filibuster-proof 60 votes in the Senate (we lost that in January 2010 when Scott Brown took Teddy Kennedy’s seat). Obama was also blessed with the Bush tax cuts set to expire at the end of 2012, which allowed him to negotiate a modest increase on just the top 0.6%.
There is no reason to think that a President Hillary Clinton will have any more success than President Obama working with Republicans. Even if she was able to work with some moderates in the Senate before the 2010 Tea Party surge and purge, the rabid Republican base will require hatred and obstruction of her from day one. After all, Clinton Derangement Syndrome has been around a lot longer than Obama Derangement Syndrome.
With that in mind, here’s why Bernie is actually the PRAGMATIC choice for progressives:
1) “Personnel Is Policy” (to quote Elizabeth Warren):
Bernie won’t appoint a bunch of Goldman Sachs retreads or corporate CEOs to fill his Cabinet. Instead, think middle-class/working class champions like a Joseph Stiglitz, Robert Reich or a Dean Baker. And remember, we only need 51 votes in the Senate to confirm those. A President Sanders’ Justice Dept will know that white collar criminals must be prosecuted and go to jail. No more Eric Holder’s deferred judgments, non-prosecutions and monetary settlements. No more putting the fox in charge of the hen house like Obama’s corporatist appointments to the SEC, FCC and FDA. And whatever Dodd-Frank regulations are still being delayed — like publishing CEO to median worker pay — will be enforced in a Sanders administration. Likewise under Dodd-Frank, a President Sanders already has the authority to break up the too-big-to-fail financial institutions without Congress since the mere existence of those institutions already pose a systemic risk to the U.S. economy (we’re not waiting for another crash, Hillary). With Hillary’s close ties to Wall Street and dependence on corporate/plutocrat money, her personnel appointments will likely look a lot like Obama’s and Bill’s. Same old corporate/Wall Street shills.
2) Bernie Will Veto the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and Other Corporate Power Grabs:
If we can manage to keep the TPP from getting to Obama’s desk this year, Bernie is sure to veto that corporate monstrosity for at least four years. Unlike Bernie who has been a progressive champion leading the charge against all these horrible trade deals, Hillary-come-lately is a recent (and highly suspect) convert for her presidential run and refuses to lobby against the TPP, much less pledge to veto it. You can bet if Hillary gets to the White House, she’ll reverse back to supporting the TPP as fast as you can say, “gold standard.” Remember, Obama railed against NAFTA as a candidate but is now championing its evil cousin. Call me cynical, but I’m betting that Obama plans on raking in the speaking fees after he leaves office, and the TPP corporate giveaway is the perfect parting gift for his future benefactors.
“Turns out they (Wall Street) were crooks and they destroyed our economy.” — Senator Bernie Sanders
3) Bernie Will Reframe The Debate:
If we’ve learned anything from Republicans during the past 40 years it is this: He/She who frames the debate, wins. Even when they lose elections, the regressives drag the debate further and further to crazytown, taking the center of political discourse with them. As cognitive scientist George Lakoff explains, “Thinking differently requires speaking differently.” No doubt President Sanders will use the bully pulpit and the grassroots revolution to push the Overton window back to the left, laying the groundwork to later pass bold progressive policies like Medicare-For-All, tuition-free college, $15 minimum wage, public financing of campaigns, increasing taxes on the rich, scrapping the cap and expanding Social Security, and reinstating a new Glass-Steagall. Heck, he’s already driving the script in the Democratic primary and forcing Hillary to echo more progressive positions. Unlike Obama who does some sporadic handwaving at a few of these themes, Bernie will relentlessly keep the pedal to the medal. And he won’t be afraid to call out Republicans, stinko Dems, Banksters and corporate CEOs as the obstructionists they are. Like FDR, President Sanders will welcome their hatred.
4) No Time for Incrementalism in the Face of Climate Change:
If climate scientists are correct, the window is fast closing before it’s game over for the planet. We don’t have time to mess around with Hillary’s/Obama’s “all of the above” energy strategies. If we hit 2 degrees Celsius in global warming, there won’t be an good, easy or inexpensive options. That calamity will make the mess in the Middle East look like a cake walk. For the sake of humanity and the planet, we better hope America still has some big, bold moves left in us.
5) Enough with the Endless Clinton Drama:
You’ve got to hand it to “No Drama Obama”: It’s been nice not having all the personal/professional scandals that constantly swarm around the Clintons. When you know there’s a “vast right-wing conspiracy” against you, have the good judgment not to fuel them with actual fodder by setting up a private email server in your basement to conduct State Dept business, accepting Clinton Foundation donations from corporations and countries doing business with the State Dept, or taking huge speaking fees from the Banksters and corporations right before you run for President. Arrogance leads the Clintons to make too many unforced errors. Bernie strikes me as someone who leads a rather simple and uncomplicated lifestyle. He sure doesn’t run with the Davos crowd.
6) Bernie Is More Electable in the Year of Anti-Establishment Fervor:
The polls constantly show that Bernie beats likely Republican nominees by a wider margin than Hillary. So don’t believe the corporate media when they label Bernie “unelectable.” And don’t let it become a self-fulfilling prophecy. With 95% of the country already having an opinion of Hillary, she has little chance of moving her high net unfavorable rating. People generally don’t trust her — and for good reason. Meanwhile, the more folks learn about Bernie, the more they like him. Most importantly, if self-financed Trump is the Republican nominee, he will slay Hillary with the same “bought and bossed” epithet he has used so effectively against his Republican competition. That criticism sure won’t work against Bernie.
No one honestly believes you can feather your nest with millions in speaking fees (not to mention millions more in campaign donations) and think you won’t be beholden or unduly influenced. Otherwise, why is Hillary suddenly jumping on the Bernie bandwagon to get money out of politics? Is she some unique little snowflake who can stuff her pockets with cash and not be influenced? Just look at her 2005 bankruptcy bill flip-flop, single-payer flip-flop, refusal to reinstate Glass-Steagall, and — until she recently felt the Bern — support for the TPP, Keystone XL, private prisons, and raising the retirement age. When you’re running for President, even just the appearance of a conflict of interest is bad enough.
As Upton Sinclair described the dilemma,
“It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.”
Hillary is either naive, self-deluded or corrupt to claim otherwise.
“Congress does not regulate Wall Street. Wall Street regulates Congress.” — Senator Bernie Sanders
(Here’s an earlier superb diary by greywolfe359 with this theme. I thought it was worth exploring further with a few graphics added).
