FUD noun
fear, uncertainty and doubt, usually evoked intentionally in order to put a competitor at a disadvantage.
"the FUD factor"
Or as I know it, fucked up useless drivel.
I've been seeing a lot of FUD about Bernie Sanders, he isn't a real Democrat, what has he ever done for the Democrats, he's no Howard Dean and on and on and on. I don't know how to break this to you but a D after your name is meaningless if your policies and voting sucks. Remember all those "good Dems" who voted for the Iraq War or Tim Geithner as Treasury Secretary and need I remind you of Ben "Cornhusker Kickback" Nelson from my state who was pretty worthless. So lets take a look at Bernie's record.
Bernie votes 98% with the Democrats.
Not good enough, so who is better? In the House no one, the closest at 97% is Fredricka Wilson, the average Dem votes with the party 93.2%. In the Senate the average is 95% of the time and there are a few Senators who barely beat Bernie out...
Rank Name Total Votes Votes With Party Rate
1 Al Franken 161 159 98.8%
2 Benjamin L. Cardin 160 158 98.8%
3 Barbara A. Mikulski 158 156 98.7%
4 Maria Cantwell 161 158 98.1%
5 Brian Schatz 161 158 98.1%
6 Elizabeth Warren 157 154 98.1%
So where did he veer off Democratic lock step? He voted against the Keystone XL Pipeline three times. He voted against arming the Syrian rebels, he voted no on exempting religious employers from the anti-discrimination laws, he voted no on the Bipartisan Student Loan Certainty Act of 2013 which would set interest as high as 10.5% on some loans, among others. You can check his voting record
here.
You can check his report card here.
He's not progressive enough?
In 1991, Sanders co-founded the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and chaired the group of mostly liberal Democrats for its first eight years.
Sanders voted against the resolutions authorizing the use of force against Iraq in 1991 and 2002, and opposed the 2003 invasion of Iraq. He voted for the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists that has been cited as the legal justification for controversial military actions since the September 11 attacks. Sanders voted for a non-binding resolution expressing support for troops at the outset of the invasion of Iraq, but gave a floor speech criticizing the partisan nature of the vote and the George W. Bush administration's actions in the run-up to the war. About the investigation of what turned out to be a leak of CIA agent Valerie Plame's identity by a State Department official, Sanders said, "The revelation that the President authorized the release of classified information in order to discredit an Iraq war critic should tell every member of Congress that the time is now for a serious investigation of how we got into the war in Iraq and why Congress can no longer act as a rubber stamp for the President."
Sanders has been a consistent critic of the Patriot Act. As a member of Congress, he voted against the original Patriot Act legislation. After its 357-to-66 passage in the House, Sanders sponsored and voted for several subsequent amendments and acts attempting to curtail its effects, and voted against each reauthorization.
In March 2006, after a series of resolutions passed in various Vermont towns calling for him to bring articles of impeachment against George W. Bush, Sanders stated it would be "impractical to talk about impeachment" with Republicans in control of the House and Senate. Still, Sanders made no secret of his opposition to the Bush Administration, which he regularly criticized for its cuts to social programs.
Sanders has been a vocal critic of Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan; in June 2003, during a question-and-answer discussion with the then-Chairman, Sanders told Greenspan that he was concerned that Greenspan was "way out of touch" and "that you see your major function in your position as the need to represent the wealthy and large corporations." Sanders said in 1998 that investment banks and commercial banks should remain separate entities. In October 2008 Greenspan admitted to Congress that his economic ideology was flawed.
In June 2005, Sanders proposed an amendment to limit provisions that allow the government to obtain individuals' library and book-buying records. The amendment passed the House by a bipartisan majority but was removed on November 4 that year in House-Senate negotiations and never became law. On November 2, 2005, Sanders voted against the Online Freedom of Speech Act, which would have exempted the Internet from the restrictions of the McCain–Feingold Bill.
So he hasn't done enough for Dems, fortunately Dems don't agree with you.
Sanders entered the race for the U.S. Senate on April 21, 2005, after Senator Jim Jeffords announced that he would not seek a fourth term. Chuck Schumer, Chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, endorsed Sanders, a critical move as it meant that no Democrat running against Sanders could expect to receive financial help from the party. Sanders was also endorsed by Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and Democratic National Committee Chairman and former Vermont Governor Howard Dean. Dean said in May 2005 that he considered Sanders an ally who "votes with the Democrats 98% of the time." Then-Senator Barack Obama also campaigned for Sanders in Vermont in March 2006. Sanders entered into an agreement with the Democratic Party, much as he had as a congressman, to be listed in their primary but to decline the nomination should he win, which he did.
Bernie's life in and out of politics is pretty much and open book, he is a straight shooter and consistent in his positions. He is a thoughtful common sense legislator. There is no excuse not to know everything about him. In Fact we need to know everything there is about each of the candidates. So remember Google is your friend. We are lucky enough to have at least two quality candidates either of which would make an excellent President.
