Bernie Sanders

[HoodedMonk]

To attempt to get this discussion back on track, from what I have heard and read, I really feel that Sanders is the real deal and would make a great president. Unfortunately, this will not happen. I volunteered for a similar candidate back in 2004, Dennis Kucinich. While he held many of the same positions as Bernie does, he was scoffed at as a loon, got minimal media coverage, got limited financing and as a result, barely registered in the primaries. I feel the same would likely happen to Sanders. Our current system will simply not allow for a candidate who vows to make the sweeping changes that Sanders would, so the media (which they own) undermines or ignores the candidates like Sanders, Kucinich, Nader who do not toe the line.

Hmm this makes me consider helping sanders in my state to get registered for the primaries.

 

[cumulus.james]

To attempt to get this discussion back on track, from what I have heard and read, I really feel that Sanders is the real deal and would make a great president. Unfortunately, this will not happen. I volunteered for a similar candidate back in 2004, Dennis Kucinich. While he held many of the same positions as Bernie does, he was scoffed at as a loon, got minimal media coverage, got limited financing and as a result, barely registered in the primaries. I feel the same would likely happen to Sanders. Our current system will simply not allow for a candidate who vows to make the sweeping changes that Sanders would, so the media (which they own) undermines or ignores the candidates like Sanders, Kucinich, Nader who do not toe the line.

Hmm this makes me consider helping sanders in my state to get registered for the primaries.

You should - electing Sanders is a stepping stone to a better world and a real chance at avoiding ecological disaster, not to mention rebuilding America. Anyone who helps with his campaign has a chance of playing thier part in changing the world for the better.

 

[Sometimes]

I don't like to discuss politics, because I don't like arguments, but in this case I will say that I intend to vote for Bernie. I don't have much money but I will give a little too. Because I live outside the country, the news I get is not crowded by propoganda. From what I can tell Bernie actually is *the real deal*. Obama was a milestone, AFAICT simply because areas of the US are so racist that it should have been unthinkable. But he is from the same old people, the same old school of thought. Clinton is even more same-old same-old, again just speaking AFAICT. These guys just keep running around inside the same box.

Being president, however, does not let him solve the problems. We need a congress with something on their shoulders, too. I haven't had a congress-critter to vote for yet who is up to the caliber of Bernie himself. Even close would be good.

Oh, and Bernie won me over as soon as I heard the idea of getting a minute per transaction sum from Wall Street to pay for everyone's university education. As was said earlier in this thread, it is lack of education that is the problem. Education specifically in the development of how to think rationally about real issues facing us is essential. If we could educate the next generation to do better, that would be a real win.

I remember when I was in university (think dinonsaurs and steam engines), I took a class in which there was one guy who talked about how he was going into computers because there was so much money in it. We all looked at him like, what a waste of your life, just running after money. Now, I suspect it would be reversed, where the lone person would be the one who wanted to do what they love. We need to get back to the other way 'round.

 

[kamya]

I'm not American but if you guys elect Bernie Sanders you might actually change the world for the good. The UK is influenced by America more than it cares to accept or admit, if you guys shift to the left then we might get these right wing fuckers out of parliament.

I know the guy is 400 years old but listen to him.

You can't be happy with this Bush-Clinton-Fake black socialist merrygoround. That train is headed towards global catastrophe, for all of us.

And stop this tar sands nonsense - YOUR GOING TO DESTROY THE PROSPECTS FOR DECENT EXISTENCE.

Bernie For President - donate today, donate even if you are not in the US.

Even if he wins it isn't going to change anything. It truly doesn't matter who wins. As for Sanders, I don't think the people with power are going to let him have a fair chance. I don't really see him going anywhere in the election.

 

[HoodedMonk]

https://www.facebook.com/groups/sandersin2012/?fref=nf

 

[cumulus.james]

I'm not American but if you guys elect Bernie Sanders you might actually change the world for the good. The UK is influenced by America more than it cares to accept or admit, if you guys shift to the left then we might get these right wing fuckers out of parliament.

I know the guy is 400 years old but listen to him.

You can't be happy with this Bush-Clinton-Fake black socialist merrygoround. That train is headed towards global catastrophe, for all of us.

And stop this tar sands nonsense - YOUR GOING TO DESTROY THE PROSPECTS FOR DECENT EXISTENCE.

Bernie For President - donate today, donate even if you are not in the US.

Even if he wins it isn't going to change anything. It truly doesn't matter who wins. As for Sanders, I don't think the people with power are going to let him have a fair chance. I don't really see him going anywhere in the election.

The people with the power are the people. Western politics has done a hell of a job of making people forget that (hence in both Britain and the US voter turnout is low). Our right wing elites got in with a third of the vote - 2/3 of the people did not choose this rotten government.

Even if Sanders struggles to do all the things he says he will do some things which is a stepping stone to change. Investing in infrastructure to create jobs is sound economics and the policys he speaks of are alligned with what happened in the 30's with the new deal.

"The American Dream" piqued in the 50's, at this time it still was the case that if you worked hard you could make a decent life for yourself. In the 70s when the neo-liberal project got under way is when things began to decline across the west. Gun violence and racial tension aside every problem America has is mirrored here in the UK - why because we (for some reason) tend to follow the US.

That's why it's important to me to hope that Sanders gets in, the Keynesian economics he talks of is the very opposite of the "austerity" the British people are suffering. The economist Steve Keen is happy that this stupid party got in in the UK, he points out that austerity does not work and that this gov can't now blame the previous administration because they were the previous administration. If the US shows us a different path then in 5 years we might be able to get these fuckers out and begin to rebuild Britain.

Come on my US friends - show us the way, you can do it. "Greatest country on earth" - ******* proove it.

 

[VanillaCreme]

Even if he wins it isn't going to change anything. It truly doesn't matter who wins. As for Sanders, I don't think the people with power are going to let him have a fair chance. I don't really see him going anywhere in the election.

Yeah, exactly. People can support whomever they wish, but I don't want to bother when it's all a setup anyway.

 

[TheRealCallie]

The people with the power are the people. Western politics has done a hell of a job of making people forget that (hence in both Britain and the US voter turnout is low). Our right wing elites got in with a third of the vote - 2/3 of the people did not choose this rotten government.

I'll say it again. THE PEOPLE do NOT choose the president....the ELECTORAL COLLEGE does.
So how exactly do the people have the power? lol

 

[BeyondShy]

I'll say it again. THE PEOPLE do NOT choose the president....the ELECTORAL COLLEGE does.
So how exactly do the people have the power? lol

Callie, this is the reason why I hate political threads. You said it two times how the president is elected but either that didn't matter to him or he just ignored it. Who knows?

And this guy is not even an American and he's telling us who to vote for. That's why I am actually laughing at him because it's ridiculous to even take that seriously. I don't know what country he is from but maybe when it is time for their elections I can see who the candidates are and I can tell him who to vote for. You know, just returning the favor.

 

[cumulus.james]

You lot make me hurt myself.

 

[there is no hope]

Har har har, nitpick derail.

Calling Sanders a socialist is a stretch (despite his own press). It's more like "vote for me and we'll be more like Canada", which is a better rallying cry than "**** the 47%". I'd rather throw a vote to him than Hillary anyway, it would leave a less queasy feeling in my stomach.

 

[HoodedMonk]

You lot make me hurt myself.

Is it legal for a Brit to donate to Bernie Sander's campaign?

 

[LonelySutton]

I'm not American but if you guys elect Bernie Sanders you might actually change the world for the good. The UK is influenced by America more than it cares to accept or admit,

Please don't give any money to a candidate. That is just a waste of money. If you have a good idea you will get elected. As is evidenced by the fact that everyone said Hillary was going to win in 2008 but ideas won the day and all the corporate money followed after public view started going Obama's way. I don't know any democrat that is supporting Hillary unless they expect to profit off her in some way. Corporate money follows the likely winner.

I would vote for either Bernie or Donald Trump. All I know is we have to elect SOMEONE who will shake things up. I want to send a shot across everyone's bow including foreign interests that the people in the US are angry... and not going to take it anymore... and you can take a crazy president or you can take a full on revolution.

Do you know that Jeb Bush said yesterday that employees need to "work longer hours" - yeh he said that. In general I refuse to vote for anyone named "Jeb"-- just my policy.

I agree I would like to put the final nail in the coffin of some of the US's more conservative interests. I am a former republican but even I hate them and wish I could just round them up and put them in Texas and then kick texas out. I have a friend in the south and her facebook page is all about supporting the confederate flag. I don't get it... doesn't she understand that this is a symbol of people who were traitors? If you really feel the confederate flag should be posted than you are a traitor.

But beyond that... a couple of years back I am a federal employee, the republicans decided they were going to shut the government down... that meant -- NO paycheck for me. None. And, because I was "essential" I had to go into work... -- work for free. One or two more weeks and I would marched up to the capital and started the second American revolution. And now they are at it again. Threatening to do it every time they don't get their way... geeze

Mostly though, I feel like people have to get smart and start electing better congressional candidates -- that is the real problem.

 

[HoodedMonk]

I'm not American but if you guys elect Bernie Sanders you might actually change the world for the good. The UK is influenced by America more than it cares to accept or admit,

Please don't give any money to a candidate. That is just a waste of money.

Giving money to Bernie is not a waste of money. He only accepts money from regular citizens, and worker's unions. Not corporations.

As a consequence he only has 15 million to Hilary's 48 million at the moment. Hilary accepts money from corporations and billionare Super PACs. The corporations that back her want to help her raise 1 billion.

If anything, Bernie desperatly needs our donations, however small they may be.

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/bernie-sanders-fec-filing-raises-15-million-119689.html

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http://www.fec.gov/ans/answers_general.shtml#Can_nonUS_citizens_contribute

Sorry James. You can't donate.

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[VanillaCreme]

Giving money to Bernie is not a waste of money. He only accepts money from regular citizens, and worker's unions. Not corporations.

It's all a waste. He only accepts money from hardworking people and not corporations that have a million times more to spend? Good job, dude. I wouldn't waste any time on him, much less money that I don't even have.

 

[HoodedMonk]

Giving money to Bernie is not a waste of money. He only accepts money from regular citizens, and worker's unions. Not corporations.

It's all a waste. He only accepts money from hardworking people and not corporations that have a million times more to spend? Good job, dude. I wouldn't waste any time on him, much less money that I don't even have.

I think you are missing the point. He only accepts donations from people because he doesn't want corporate interests involved in his campaign. He only wants to answer to the will of the people.

If you will note, there are a lot of wallstreet interests in Hilary's campaign. Now, Wallstreet's corrupt lending practices caused The Great Recession of 2008. Bernie wants to jail them. Why would he accept their donations?

 

[VanillaCreme]

Giving money to Bernie is not a waste of money. He only accepts money from regular citizens, and worker's unions. Not corporations.

It's all a waste. He only accepts money from hardworking people and not corporations that have a million times more to spend? Good job, dude. I wouldn't waste any time on him, much less money that I don't even have.

I think you are missing the point. He only accepts donations from people because he doesn't want corporate interests involved in his campaign. He only wants to answer to the will of the people.

No, I get the point. Believe me, I don't like Hillary Pantsuit Clinton either. She's a waste of molecular energy too. But like I said, it's all a waste. I don't care if any of them think they're goody two-shoes by accepting funds from cleaner donating parties. That doesn't make him any better than the next one. It doesn't matter where his funds come from. He's still a politician.

 

[there is no hope]

I'm surprised tho that people are making this GRRR GET OUT OF MY MURICAN POLITICS argument. Seven years ago, most of the world was rooting for the Barackalypse, for pretty good reasons... and isn't it an American tradition to have a loud-mouthed opinion about how the rest of the world ought to operate anyway, occasionally sending trained ninjas to overthrow governments we don't like? I don't see anything wrong with telling a Briton or European that their governments suck ass, because they do suck and the European Union is a crappy, un-democratic regime; so what's the big deal, people in the rest of the world should criticize America and there is a lot to criticize.

 

[LonelySutton]

Geeze I think I am going to back off Sanders now. Union union union... not always in the interests of the people. But I suppose better than defense law firms. I just think your money wouldn't be very much. Go out and volunteer...

 

[SofiasMami]

You lot make me hurt myself.

Is it legal for a Brit to donate to Bernie Sander's campaign?

Of course it is. There are rich foreign oil barons that already funnel money to US presidential candidates.

I like Bernie Sanders, it seems like he's the only one who's talked about bringing Wall Street banksters to justice. The same banksters who are donating lavishly to other campaigns to make sure a different candidate who won't chase them down wins.

I decided to stop voting in presidential elections after Al Gore won the most votes then GW Bush was selected by the US Supreme Court. I wound up voting for President Obama though. I also vote in all my state and local elections.


Edit to add: As for discouraging people to donate $$ to campaigns they believe in - that is just plain foolish. A candidate for national office in the US who doesn't have campaign funds won't win, plain and simple. Many of President Barack Obama's donations were from regular people who donated $100 or less.

-Teresa