Friday, March 4, 2016

10 reasons for Nebraskans to caucus for Bernie Sanders

Via Daily Nebraskan live stream
Source. And a bonus: not mentioned below is the fact that Sanders (as he emphatically stated in Lincoln yesterday before Bold Nebraska's Jane Kleeb joined him on stage at the Lied Center) has been against the Keystone XL pipeline "since day one."
  1. Bernie Sanders is the only presidential candidate with the foresight to vote against the 2003 Iraq war.
  2. Bernie Sanders is the only presidential candidate with the courage to vote against the Patriot Act that legalized massive government spying when it was proposed shortly after 9/11
  3. Bernie Sanders is the only major party presidential who doesn’t get big money from billionaires and corporations — he raised $3 million in four days from and 99.4% of these donations were less than $250.
  4. Bernie Sanders is the only presidential candidate who thinks the problem of big money in politics is so serious that we should amend the Constitution to stop corporations and billionaires from buying elections.
  5. Bernie Sanders is the only major party candidate who supports making tuition at public college and universities free.
  6. Bernie Sanders is the only major party presidential candidate opposed to every job-killing free trade measure, from the North American Free Trade Agreement to the Trans-Pacific Trade Partnership.
  7. Bernie Sanders is the only major party presidential candidate with a plan to prevent future taxpayer bailouts to Wall Street banks that are “Too Big To Fail” — “Too Big To Fail” is too big to exist.
  8. Bernie Sanders is the only major party presidential candidate who believes that access to health care is a right no matter how much money you have.
  9. Bernie Sanders is the only major party presidential candidate who has never run a negative ad against an opponent.
  10. Bernie Sanders is the only major party presidential candidate with bi-partisan appeal; he has a track record of winning significant support among Democratic, Republican, and Independent voters.
Here's H.A. Goodman's list, published in the Huffington Post. He had more to say in addition to his list, so click the link.

1. The Iraq War. Sanders was on the right side of history. Bernie Sanders voted against the Iraq War, using the same intelligence reports as Clinton and Bush. He also foreshadowed the dire consequences of Iraq. In contrast, Hillary Clinton voted for Iraq and now calls her vote a "mistake."
In 2005, Senator Clinton even said the "insurgency is failing" after a visit to Iraq.
I want President Bernie Sanders, who was recently given the Congressional Award by the VFW and stated on CNN that "I'll be damned" if he sends more Americans back to the Middle East as president.
Mass shootings are happening under President Obama, so gun violence can only be solved by Congress, not the president. However, Senators can't send troops abroad unilaterally, but a president can bomb anywhere and deploy troops at will, without Congressional approval. The AUMF gives the president a certain time period to engage in war and send troops anywhere, without Congressional approval.
Regardless of her neoconservative outlook on war and foreign policy, certain "Facebook Liberals" who hate Bush but love Hillary also forget that Clinton and Bush aren't very different in terms of foreign policy.
As Jacob Heilbrunn writes in The New York Times, "It's easy to imagine Mrs. Clinton's making room for the neocons in her administration."
President Obama just sent Americans to Syria, and might even send more American soldiers in the near future. There's no doubt President Hillary Clinton would send more Americans to the Middle East.
I'm not certain we need a president who jokes, "We came, we saw, he died," and then helps usher a devastating civil war in Libya with her decision to oust a dictator.
You can hear Secretary of State Clinton utter the words in this CBS News segment.
2. The Keystone XL Pipeline. Bernie Sanders has always been against Keystone XL. Keystone XL may threaten water acquirers that irrigate much of the U.S. We know President Sanders will continue President Obama's vetoes of Keystone XL. Clinton was once inclined to support Keystone. She has now evolved, along with a number of other issues. I simply do not trust President Clinton to veto Keystone legislation.
3. Euphemisms. Bernie Sanders never uses euphemisms. I trust Bernie because he speaks clearly; English is a means to communicate, not shield from criticism. Clinton, on the other hand, lives by euphemism and I explain why Orwell would vote for Bernie Sanders in a recent YouTube segment. From a "witch hunt" to wiping a server used out of "convenience" with a "cloth," too many words are used to hide the truth.
4. One candidate is the Charles Darwin of politics. The other is Bernie Sanders. Clinton always evolves; usually following Bernie's lead on issues. I wouldn't sign a contract with an "evolving" clause, nor would I want a president who continually evolves based upon reasons unknown to the average voter.
5. Presidential powers. On war and foreign policy, I want a Democrat, not a Republican. I explain this viewpoint in a recent article. Sanders is the Democrat on foreign policy, while Clinton is another Republican in 2016.
6. The TPP. Sanders has always been against the TPP. Clinton supported it 45 times, but now says she's against it. As POLITIFACT states, "It's up to voters to decide how they feel about her changed stance on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, but we rate Clinton's reversal as a Full Flop."
7. Clinton's 3:00 a.m. ad and Racism. Bernie Sanders has a comprehensive racial justice platform. Clinton's 3:00 a.m. ad in 2008 had a "racist sub-message" according to one Harvard sociologist.
8. I want a Democrat in the White House. I don't want a moderate Republican on Wall Street, or a neocon pertaining to war.
9. The DNC needs to end its fear of being too progressive. I'll only vote for Sanders because progressive politics are mainstream. This isn't 1972 and Nixon is no longer with us, unless you equate Clinton to Richard Nixon.
10. Bernie Sanders is a "once in a lifetime candidate." Clinton represents establishment politics. If you're not voting for Sanders in 2016, don't ever again complain about Wall Street, perpetual wars, or money in politics.

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