Follow The Money

Follow the Money
by Cindy A. Matthews

 

When things don't make sense
And the world isn't as sweet as honey
I've found the fastest way to find life's answers
Is to simply follow the money.

All Americans need basic health care
To think otherwise really isn't funny
What good reason is there to deny folks such vital help?
Three short words: Follow the money. 

Our precious planet needs tender care

In extreme heat, glaciers become runny
Can't we save flora, fauna, land, water and air?
Ha, ha! Just follow the money.

Eternal wars for non-endless oil
While the sun shines free on days when it's sunny
Why sacrifice sons and daughters for dead end fossil fuels?
You got it--follow the money.

Things can't be all that simple, or so you say
I must have the brains of a daft bunny
But to connect the dots on what's going wrong in our world
Is easy--I just follow the money.

Click here to read about this outrageous price gouging for Muscular Dystrophy medication.

I didn't know what topic to cover this week--there are so many--but a thread that seemed to tie everything together came to me in a dream. Our world isn't  all that complicated when you look at people's motivations and you realize what is driving their decision-making. Once that's exposed, everything falls into place. 

It's not a million things going wrong in our economy, it's only one--and it's a pretty basic one. A  small handful of people are hoarding all the resources and money for themselves. If we can prevent them from behaving so selfishly with our resources and redistribute their unimaginably large stashes of wealth (primarily in non-taxable offshore accounts) back into our economy, things would improve immeasurably for all of humanity. 

Yes, this is a progressive democratic socialist idea, but then this is a blog created by supporters of a progressive democratic socialist. What did you expect? We like government of the people, by the people and for the people. (And we mean people not corporations.) We want to create a welcoming, compassionate society where all are cared for and wanted just because they're our fellow human beings, and it's the right thing to do. The idea of making money off of the sick and dying like Mr. Aronin does (see article link above) is anathema to us. Our philosophy isn't, "He who dies with the most toys wins!" It's along the lines of, "He who shares the most toys with his playmates wins because everyone wins."

My fellow blogger, Dirk Droll, takes a look at a controversial recent event and spots this underlying thread. By following the money, the DNC's choice of Tom Perez makes sense, doesn't it? Progressives leaving the Democratic Party in droves makes sense, too, doesn't it? (#DemExit is trending as well as #GreenEnter). Many Americans are following their hearts and working to build a better world for all. That way everyone wins!

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The Bankster Bundle: Trump-Perez
by Dirk Droll


Back in November, I wrote the establishment had won the election. It’s nothing new, of course. The oligarchs have owned our politicians for decades and will continue to do so if we – the people – don’t start fighting back effectively. Rubber-stamping the establishment’s candidates on election day isn’t the way to fight back. Neither is losing ourselves in their dog-and-pony shows such as the current anti-Trump hysteria, which deflects us from the anti-establishment war we should be waging. Not that there aren’t terrible Trump deeds that need opposition, mind you; we just shouldn’t lose sight of the main target or let neo-liberal sell-outs place themselves at the front of our protests and marches to co-opt us.

Naturally, where the presidency was concerned, the establishment had already won the election back on July 26th when the cheating DNC installed the vastly unpopular establishment candidate Hillary Clinton as the “Democratic” nominee over the very popular people’s candidate Bernie Sanders. From that moment onward our country’s course was set for yet another establishment president (Clinton or Trump). Only a massive voter shift to the Green Party’s Jill Stein could have turned that ship around. 

But we voters apparently aren’t yet smart enough to break out of the Dem-Publican voter jail without a popular leader showing us the way. It’s time  we grew some brains — for example to build a third party for Bernie Sanders (or his close associates) to pull in millions of awakened voters who used to be part of the “Democratic” base but now know that the “Democratic” party has abandoned them. On the down-ballot ticket, we could still have accomplished a great deal in November by, for example, using the Berniecrats List for informed voting, a list I recommended repeatedly. It didn’t happen. 

Bloggers like Cindy and me, we spend our nightly hours trying to inform our fellow Americans, to share knowledge the corporate mainstream media denies us. Yet, so many people who could subscribe to our blogs and recommend them to their friends just don’t. Imagine if more people did, creating a chain reaction which would make all of us so much better informed... But I digress.

With the establishment winning our elections, the question arises if there are parts of the establishment rising above others. It's a question also instrumental in understanding the trends of change in our economy where traditional capitalism has moved on not only to crony capitalism (which buys up our government and uses it as a cash cow) but also casino capitalism. Rather than profiting from the building and running of productive industries, the biggest capitalists – who are top investment bankers – merely shift investments around, gamble with them on the stock markets, and manipulate commodity markets. The result is it sucks ever more prosperity and wealth out of every aspect of people’s lives until life itself becomes unaffordable to more and more of us. (There is a short article which illuminates one of the many dirty tricks they use. It’s a good entry into the subject to help open people’s eyes: Parasite Capitalism: The Economic Model of the 21st Century.)

So, in the economy banksters have risen to the top. The point I wish to make in

this article is  the same is true in our politics. Trump, the “swamp drainer,” has not only appointed so many billionaires that their combined net worth exceeds that of the bottom two-thirds of Americans, but he has literally stuffed cabinet positions and other appointments with banksters, especially from the one of the most criminal of investment banks, Goldman Sachs, whose Wikipedia entry looks like an FBI rap sheet.

Trump is clearly a close friend of the big banks or their straw man or even their puppet. That’s bad enough. But what about the alleged opposition, the “Democratic” Party? Well, we just had a new DNC chair elected for the “Democratic” Party—not democratically elected by the party’s base, of course— don’t ever expect democracy from the “Democratic” party or the GOP—the little known Tom Perez. 

What do we know about Perez and the banks? Personally, I haven’t been following his career, but there are some red flags. For example, ex-president Obama threw his weight around to shoe him into the contest when it looked that the Sanders-friendly Keith Ellison would get the position in spite of the fact  our oligarchy prefers Clinton-friendly, establishment operatives like Perez for the last three decades. That, if you recall Obama’s relationship with the big banks, is a clear link to the banksters. 

Remember how Obama adopted and continued George W. Bush’s bailout of the big banks (rather than bailing out the people) after they tanked the world’s economy? And how he used our (the people’s!) hard-earned tax dollars to do so? So  many of us lost our homes, jobs, pensions, and careers and he did next to nothing for us--and that wasn’t all! Unlike in prior bubble bursts, none of the culprits went to jail. Obama’s administration saw to that. Indictments were not even attempted. 

Obama, who had received massive campaign contributions from the banksters in 2008 as the banking crisis was brewing, and who – just like Trump – made many bankster appointments, and who gave Goldman Sachs a $20 billion tax dollar gift (a handsome return on their 2008 campaign investment of $994,795 wouldn’t you say?), was a straw man of the big banks in the Oval Office just like Trump is now. The banksters are holding the new administration and the DNC’s chairmanship in their hands. Winners across the board. And we, the people, have once again lost across the board.

Oh, and if you think that the link I just described is weak, a brief internet search quickly reveals more links of Tom Perez to the banks. He has an established record of not taking on the banks, both at the Department of Justice and the Department of Labor. An article in The Intercept goes over Perez’ record and concludes: “Both Perez and Ellison support pro-labor policies. But Ellison shows that he also wants to oppose concentrated financial power. Perez represents the finance-friendly status quo that has relegated Democrats to minority status.”
 
 I hope you will keep the fire in you burning to fight our corrupt establishment, and that you will share information like this with your friends and family and anyone else you have political conversations with. Let them know what is happening behind the scenes. This blog, and mine, are regular sources for information and analysis which can keep us all informed and shape our strategy for pushback as well as a vision for a better world. I urge you to revisit (better, yet subscribe or follow by email) and refer your friends and family as well.

Bio: Dirk Droll blogs for a better world on his own Beanstock’s World and other sites.

***

The Cynical Optimist -- Lee Camp Live!

wobbly words and photos by C. A. Matthews

If you ever get a chance to see comedian Lee Camp perform in person, I highly recommend you take it and go. Raise money by selling your comic book collection or recycle metal car bumpers thrown away because their owners couldn't get the Trump stickers off them, but do anything you have to in order to get there. Better yet, go to Lee's web site, LeeCamp.net, and vote for Lee to come to your city and perform for you and your friends. (This is the direct link: LeeCamp.net/schedule. )Be sure to tell a few dozen of your friends to vote for your city as well. (If you can't think of a particular city to vote for, vote for Toledo. We'll be eternally grateful if you do.)

Most progressives know Lee from his TV show Redacted Tonight and his podcast, Moment of Clarity. If you've never experienced his humor before, you are in for a treat. Lee and company's weekly compendium of news and views is hysterically funny and extremely informative. In other words, you can laugh and cry at the same time and feel great afterward in spite of the fact an idiotic, Cheeto-faced, tiny-handed Twitterer currently resides in the White House (when not in Florida).

We saw Lee perform in Cleveland, and his opening act was a fantastic young comedian named Krish Mohan. I have to say I really relate to Krish's experiences as an immigrant on a playground at age eight. I was an immigrant of sorts myself at that age, having moved to the North from the South, complete with Southern accent, cross-eyes and lisp. (At least I didn't have the beard.) Kids can be so cruel at times. 

 

Lee took command of the stage after Krish and didn't let up on the hilarity for over an hour. Nothing is sacred. Things might sound bleak, yet Lee is a self-professed "cynical optimist." He points out the insanity in our world in order to to help us all become just a bit more sane. After going through an intensely personal pat down by T.S.A. security at the airport, Lee wonders why they can't at least trade emails. Also, why don't politicians discuss "hamster wheels"?  And what really was in that Elmer's glue in art class we as kids enjoyed consuming? Does eating paste and our manipulative corporate media explain the dumbing down of Americans?

 Progressives need to share Lee's insights with others to help them remain awake and aware of what is going on in our country and on our planet. We need more commentators like Lee and company to keep us all on our toes, so be sure to like and subscribe to Redacted Tonight at You Tube and vote for him to come and perform in your city at LeeCamp.net/schedule. 

To quote Lee: Keep fighting! 

Think Bigger (Draft Bernie)

Think Bigger 
(The People Don't Know Their True Power)
by Cindy A. Matthews

Often when we're afraid, we think "small." We don't stretch our horizons and challenge the powers-that-be. We crawl into our comfortable niches and pull our blankets over our heads and hope and pray everything scary will simply go away by itself.

Alas, the universe doesn't work that way.

Those who are card-carrying members of the Political Revolution know by this point in the game now isn't the time for half-hearted, timid action. As the popular saying says, "Go big or go home." It's time to resist. It's time to let our elected officials know we don't agree with the status quo. 

In more colloquial parlance, "It's time to vote the bums out." 

Even more exciting, more Americans are awake and aware than ever before. They're watching what's happening in the world, and they're educating themselves on the issues. They're more cynical about swallowing the propaganda whole from the establishment. In time, we might actually see the true majority of our electorate--Independents--take power as they rightfully should.

What will these new Independents look like? Our contributors this week take a look at the Draft Bernie movement and think it's time... Time for a Progressive Independent Party. It's time for a People's Party. The corporate establishment party (with its two "flavors"--French Vanilla and Old-Fashioned Vanilla) has got to go, and we can hasten its demise

It's time to show them on Capitol Hill and in the state house We the People are in control. The people don't know their true power, but in time they will. We've got to think big--no, it's more than that. We've got to think bigger. And believe in ourselves that we can make the impossible possible

Do the impossible today. Show up and give a shout about things that matter to you and your fellow human beings struggling to get by. Don't sit on your backside and pull your blanket over your head again. Get out there and make your voice heard to the powers-that-be. Let us feel your power. Be true to yourself. Think bigger. Believe.

The Future Is With The Progressive Independent Party/Draft Bernie for a People's Party

by Hector Danson

The future is with the Progressive Independent Party and Draft Bernie for a People's Party. It's not with the old parties that have failed to get anything done for progressives.

The Green Party has managed to go backwards since Nader. I'm not bashing their goals. I'm saying the environment probably doesn't have another sixteen years. People have had a long time to look at the Green Party. I think many have failed to identify with it. It's perceived to be an environmentalist party populated with protesters and students. That perception isn't entirely true, but that's how it looks. Just go out and ask people why they don't vote Green. They'll screw up their faces and go, "Errghh, it's just not for me." Is anyone surprised by this? It's perceived to be an environmentalist party. Pew Research found the climate comes last on a list of voter concerns. I'm not saying forget the environment. I'm saying a progressive party should focus on the kinds of issues Bernie addressed, and you'll get the kind of following he amassed. If elected, the result will be the removal of all the obstacles politicians use to stop things being done about the environment. The goals of the Greens will be achieved much quicker this way.

As for the Democrats, I'm harsher on those of you who swim in that swamp. How many times do they need to tell you to get lost before you unbuckle yourselves? It's like you're riding a bucking bronco and clinging on for dear life. They covertly sabotage Sanders, rig the primaries for Hillary, blame everyone except themselves for their election loss, refuse to change their neo-liberal policies, appoint Schumer and Pelosi to the top jobs, install corporatist Perez to the DNC instead of Ellison, and you people are still saying "Maybe we can change them." It's madness.

For thirty years, they've made using progressives into an art form. Why do you think they do all these things and still try to get their hands on Bernie's donor list? It's because they want to use us like a piggy bank. For thirty years, they've been duping us with liberal social policies on guns, abortion, and gay rights, while filling the pockets of their corporate donors with right-wing economic policies and endless militarism. Their party is geared towards cheating, fooling, and using progressives. It's the founding principle of neo-liberalism. It's the whole point of them, and you're falling for it again! So, when I hear people say, "We just have to join them to change them," I exhale a big sigh. Would you join the KKK to change them?

You know why progressives won't take over the Democratic Party? Because neo-liberals won't let it happen. They control it and they've spent the last thirty years perfecting ways to stop progressives gaining a foothold. What's more, they'd sooner destroy the party than give it to you. This is being seen in the UK with the Labour Party sabotaging itself in an effort to remove Jeremy Corbyn from the leadership (a progressive). Neo-liberals would rather self-destruct than let a progressive takeover. That's the sad truth. They will never let you win, even if it means their demise. Why? Because that's what the lobbyists will tell them to do. That's what the lobbyists will pay them to do.

But you say, "We can take over the Democrats at the local level." Well, that's exactly where they want you! They want your votes; they want your enthusiasm; they want your hours of slave labor. How else are they going to keep fooling progressives into voting for them? It will be your job! Your kind face and kind heart on a stick being waved at people who end up thinking, "Gee, what a nice bunch those Democrats are." They will keep you in a place where you have no real power. And, when it comes to progression, they'll make sure a neo-liberal gets the big job you wanted. If you don't like it, there'll be plenty of others to fill your spot.That's why they made sure the DNC was kept in their pocket. They simply couldn't let progressives have any chance of taking over.
 
What about superdelegates? Do you Justice Democrats and Our Revolution bunch think you can change the list of superdelegates, too? Because that's their backup plan. Even if you cling onto that bucking bronco until its batteries die, that's what they'll use to stop a progressive from ever becoming the nominee. So why work for them when they'll just wear you down, use your vote, and spit you out? They've had a lot of practice at doing it.

Lastly, if your argument is that the electoral system isn't geared to accommodate third parties, please get real. What do you think will be the biggest incentive for changing that system? A few activists making some noise while the two big parties still get 95% of the vote, or a third party getting so much of the vote that it makes the electoral system look broken beyond repair? You have to show people something is broken before they want it fixed.

To conclude, this can't go on. We're spreading ourselves too thin again. In the

election, some progressives gave up and didn't vote, some voted Green, some wrote in Bernie, some held their nose and voted for the Evil Queen. We ended up with zero voice. If we'd all decided to vote for a progressive party, we could have made a ripple in the pond. But there was no progressive party, at least not one that many people see as representing them. Please, give up on the broken parties. Help form a new one. The Progressive Independent Party and Draft Bernie for a People's Party are viable solutions. They deserve a look.

Bio: Hector Danson is a writer and researcher who’s lived in the US, UK, and NZ. He supports Draft Bernie and the Progressive Independent Party. He believes a new movement with a blank slate and a whole lot of momentum is the only way to gain representation for progressives.

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The Strongest Case for a Third Party
by Dirk Droll

With all the flurry and convolutions in politics today, I often find myself buried under all kinds of details and arguments, writing possibly overlong articles about topics which should, and perhaps could, be much simpler.

An example of that is the splintering of last year’s Bernie supporters into groups such as those that went Green, others that want to try and reform the “Democratic” Party (for example, the Justice Democrats), and those who want to start a new party, like the very intriguing-looking effort which calls itself “Draft Bernie for a People’s Party” (draftbernie.org).

My head being filled with gazillions of details and arguments, and easily

becoming hypnotized by things like current memberships or donation levels or alternative media support for some of these approaches, it’s easy to feel uncertain. But, when I stop deliberating and ask myself where my heart is leading, I find it quietly rooting for Draft Bernie. And perhaps that is the simple answer I am looking for--the choice made by my heart. My heart is so often right.

This reflection allows me to remember how, before all the bustle of last year’s primaries, I had already decided years ago to never again go for the ruling party duopoly. I had started voting Green, and also for other small parties and independent candidates, before Bernie Sanders ever showed up on my radar screen. The reason was quite simple--both mainstream parties are hopelessly corrupt. Voting for corruption makes no sense. My strategy was simple: build momentum until one of the duopoly parties will be replaced by a new one. A sound strategy for me and every other American who realizes voting for those who harm us makes no sense whatsoever.

When the Justice Democrats formed their most convincing argument (to me) was there are just too many barriers in place which keep third parties from ballot access, debate access, media coverage, and momentum building in the face of our winner-take-all-electoral system. That’s why new parties have almost never replaced the dominant ones in our country and why independent candidates rarely won elections. Nick Brana, who is the brain behind Draft Bernie, not only pointed out the precedent of how Abraham Lincoln succeeded to form a new party by leaving the Whig Party and taking millions of disenchanted Whig partisans with him, he also made an argument that sounded even stronger to me than the one about barriers stopping third parties. 

It's an argument somewhat reminiscent of something Debbie Lusignan (a.k.a.

The Sane Progressive, who tends to make very sharp observations) once said, namely that the “Democratic” Party is designed to prevent take-over from within and has a history of successfully co-opting any such attempts and firmly suppressing the progressive elements within it. The point? Barriers within the DNC (and for sure the GOP as well) are actually higher than the barriers against new parties. This is even more true when new parties arise from a sundering of an old party, bringing with them a lot of energy and millions of already connected members.

I don’t know the details of all the mechanisms the “Democrats” have for internal suppression. Nick Brana seemed to hint in an interview that he knows quite a bunch of them, but he didn’t go into much detail. Still, having myself witnessed the corporate shills who form the DNC exerting their tight top-down control over everything which happens inside the “Democratic” Party, such as primary election outcomes, the party’s political platform and the DNC chair selection, the argument about insurmountable internal barriers rings very true. 

In complete contrast, The People’s Party, which Nick Brana hopes to build, would actually let the party base vote on the platform and its officers (making it possible to recall them whenever they turn to corruption). And that strikes me as a necessity to have a people-representing party as opposed to an establishment-representing party.

So, I think these are the points of interest on which my heart has fixed and why

it keeps whispering into my reason’s ear:  Draft Bernie,  Draft Bernie,  Draft Bernie…

Of course, there is the worry that Bernie might never chose to join, or that he might wait too long. Brana has an intriguing response to that, too: after some time the effort might not need Bernie. Others who rose with Bernie might be able to take his place, or even others we haven’t seen, yet. In the meantime, the mere hope or wishful dream Bernie might lead the blue exodus into a true people’s party – like the biblical Moses led the Israelites into the Promised Land – might be enough to keep the fire burning, energize people, and help realize my original hope from years ago of a third party, carried by other disenchanted independents like myself, rising to power and giving us – the people – political representation again in our broken United States of Adversity.

And so, even as I am rooting for all the current efforts to revive our clinically dead democracy, my heart quietly keeps whispering:  Draft Bernie,  Draft Bernie,  Draft Bernie…
 

Bio: Dirk Droll blogs for a better world on his own Beanstock’s World and other sites.

 

Fighting For The People

Missing In Action: Our Elected Representatives
Taking Action: We the People
photos and words by C.A. Matthews 

I had hoped to give more details about local town hall events featuring "big name guests of honor," but, for the most part, they were no shows. It's not like the distinguished gentleman weren't at home. US Senator Rob Portman had sneaked into the venue at Terra State Community College in Fremont, Ohio several hours earlier than scheduled and never came out to speak to his constituents standing outside. Congressman Bob Latta (R-OH 5th District) didn't show for several events planned in the area during his recess week, but he reportedly did show up for a Republican fundraiser golf tournament. 

Golf balls and rich Republicans tend to garner these two politicians' attention more than "scary" ordinary Americans asking questions about the ACA and why it's okay to dump coal waste into Ohio's streams. At the very least, Congressman Jim Jordan (last week's top story) wasn't afraid to talk with his constituents at the Warren G. Harding Presidential Site in Marion. (Way to go, Jim! I guess you don't golf, or Bob and Rob thought they made a better team without you?)

On Wednesday, February 22, about one hundred activists stood outside the conference center at the community college in Fremont waiting for Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) to come out and address the crowd's concerns about health care and other issues. The senator had arrived several hours earlier than announced and was already in the building and wouldn't make an appearance it was later discovered, but this fact didn't deter the activists. They stayed to share information about upcoming events with the public. 

The big story at the Portman Protest was how those who purchased a table at the fundraiser (non-Republican constituents) were told at the last minute they could not attend. These individuals paid the Sandusky County GOP $30 a seat to get into the conference center and hear Senator Portman speak and ask questions. They were told at the last minute by the local Republican party they couldn't attend because the senator's staff instructed the county Republicans to not let in non-Republicans constituents who might act "disruptive."

Almost immediately Senator Portman's staff denied discriminating against these individuals and said they were excluded because the Sandusky County GOP didn't want to include them. So... you decide where the buck stops, since they're still passing it back and forth!

Over 200 attended a rally on "The Future of America's Health Care" sponsored by Our Revolution in Northwest Ohio at Bowling Green State University on Saturday, February 25. Several groups hosted tables as well, providing information about area progressive organizations, petitions and upcoming events. Congressman Bob Latta (R-OH 5th district) was a no show in his hometown--as were US Senators Rob Portman (R) and Sherrod Brown (D) and a dozen other elected officials who were also invited. Only two sent letters of regret stating they couldn't attend due to prior commitments and offered their support--US Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (D) and state Representative Steve Arndt (R). 

Ohio state Senator Randy Gardner (R) and state Representative Michael Sheehy (D) attended and gave their insights on American health care, fielding questions along with Dr. John Ross, a local physician/teacher and activist on public health care topics. The discussion was lively and poignant at times. Several participants shared their stories of how the ACA and Medicare has saved their lives and the lives of family members. State Senator Gardner did his best to handle concerns many had about the Republican proposal to abolish the ACA and institute "tax breaks" instead. As low income persons generally do not pay any federal income taxes, what "tax break" would these individuals receive to pay for private health coverage? (He didn't know.) Both Gardner and Sheehy said as state officials they cannot predict what their federal counterparts will do, but they both were in favor of Governor John Kasich's decision to accept the ACA's expanded Medicaid program, as over 700,000 Ohioans have benefited from it.

"Health care is a right," said Representative Sheehy, declaring it to be our next human rights struggle akin to the abolition of slavery and women gaining the right to vote. He noted citizens live longer in countries which provide universal health care. Dr. Ross shared that Taiwan in 1995 instituted a "Medicare for all" health coverage for its citizens after studying the US Medicare system and deeming it the world's best health care delivery system.  Dr. Ross also noted how the idea of the open market doesn't work simply in this case because health care isn't a consumer product: "People don't have two heart operations because they're cheap or on sale." Medicare for all is a smart business decision and would help entrepreneurs start their own businesses and create more jobs for Americans.

The main thread which ran through these town hall events was well stated by Senator Gardner. When speaking with a class of fifth graders, he asked them, "Who is my boss?" They answered "the president" or "the governor" until he told them, "No, you are my boss. I work for you." This is a lesson all Americans need to keep in mind as they continue to speak out and share their concerns with their elected representatives.

***

And now a look at the man who encouraged us to host town hall events this past week. He's...

Still Fighting For The People

by Cindy A. Matthews

Bernie Sanders hasn't let up one moment since the inauguration. He has led health care rallies and town halls, been interviewed numerous times on mainstream news programs, and published several biting op-ed pieces in large newspapers and periodicals. He hasn't skimped on his message or pulled back on his rhetoric since the campaign trail. If there's one person ordinary Americans can depend upon to speak up for our rights and to fight for a happier and healthier future for our children and grandchildren, it's Bernie Sanders.

A fascinating thing I've uncovered recently is how much Bernie has grown in popularity since the election. It's not only "Berners" who have faith in Bernie's ability to lead the political revolution; voters who supported other candidates have come to know and trust him as well. 

How else can you explain the sudden resurgence of pro-Sanders/progressive Facebook, Google+ and other social media groups? How else can I explain the growing numbers of "hits" on past articles about Bernie's positions I've published on the Our Revolution Continues blog? How else can you explain the large crowds who show up at rallies and marches to show solidarity with oppressed peoples for whom Bernie fights so hard to protect? Bernie Sanders is the man of the hour, and the public is eager to know more about him and support his ideas. 

Nick Brana, a former Sanders campaign staffer, feels now is the time to draft Bernie Sanders into a new progressive party to run for the presidency in 2020. He and several others have started DraftBernie.org and are currently surveying voters about the validity of forming a new party and drafting the Vermont senator as their first presidential candidate. With Bernie headlining the ticket, they feel that other progressives running for state and local positions in 2018 will soon join. Progressives will no longer have to compromise their beliefs and accept corporate money (and the strings attached to it) in order to run for office via an establishment party. They will find a home within a "People's Party" whose stated aims agree with their worldview. 

While others may argue that American third parties have been conquered and absorbed by establishment parties in the past and don't stand a chance in our current system, Brana disagrees. He sees history repeating itself in the same way the nascent Republican Party came into being. The GOP didn't come onto the political scene in a big way until 1856, but by 1860 they had won the presidency.

 
This remarkable feat was accomplished during a time of much debate over civil rights (slavery), turmoil in the economic system, and threatened succession by several states. Recent news stories of California wanting to leave the union, because of the current administration's violation of civil rights, add a sense of déjà vu to the Draft Bernie movement. Nick Brana may be prescient about the timing and ultimate success of this new progressive party.

However, the establishment party (parties, if you insist) isn't going to take a threat to their control of our electoral system lying down. Already the Democrats are taking actions similar to ones they implemented during the primaries last spring. Bernie Sanders was to speak at a town hall meeting in McDowell County, the poorest county in one of the poorest states, West Virginia, on February 13. It was to be televised and hosted by MSNBC's Chris Hayes, but at the very last minute, the National Guard Armory hall where it was to take place was "unavailable." West Virginia's Democratic governor more than likely was told to cancel the event by the Democratic National Committee to keep Bernie off the air. But why?

The televised town hall meeting Bernie led in Wisconsin  (also broadcast by MSNBC) received phenomenal ratings. You Tube clips of the Wisconsin town hall have received hits in the millions.  The CNN Health Care Debate between Senators Sanders and Cruz got good ratings too. Establishment Democrats (those who take corporate money) can't risk looking "less progressive" to the public they're trying to fool. They are cracking down on what they feel makes them look bad by comparison--Bernie speaking to and about the poor. "Corporate Dems"  shut down this necessary discussion about poverty in America at the expense of millions of suffering Americans who could be helped by implementing Sanders' proposed policies. 

Bernie said in a statement: “If anyone in West Virginia government thinks that I will be intimidated from going to McDowell County, West Virginia, to hold a town meeting, they are dead wrong... Poverty in America will be discussed. Solutions will be found.”

The desire to keep "big money" in politics is the establishment's motivating factor to discredit Bernie Sanders yet again. However, this time it might not work. The mainstream media has given more air time to Bernie recently--much more than it did in all of the campaign of 2015-2016--and anxious Americans are looking online for answers to their problems. They're finding the answers in the words of Bernie Sanders. 

The establishment may think they can succeed in silencing one dynamic man, but in the end, they can't silence his ideas. Bernie Sanders' political revolution will live forever. He'll always be fighting for the people.

***

 Sean asks an important question that many on the left are ignoring at the risk to all we hold dear: In the midst of all the resistance and protest against Trump, are we providing a viable alternative to the American people?

Providing a Viable Alternative

by Sean Nestor 

"Say what you like about Mussolini, but he made the trains run on time."

Many of my friends on the left seem convinced that Donald Trump's excessive abuses will lead to his certain defeat in 2020, if he isn't impeached first. Based on what I have seen so far, I believe Donald Trump has a strong change of being re-elected, and may even successfully push to remove the current restrictions on presidential terms to remain in the seat longer than eight years.

The automatic assumption of many on the left is that most voters will think like them and place civil liberties and social issues before all others--at least when they are threatened to the degree that Trump is threatening them. However, my experience is that most voters, sadly, will place their own economic self-interest above social issues and will accept increasingly brutal conditions toward minorities and resisters if it means they can be allowed to share in more of America's economic pie.

While many on the left are eager to point out the fascist tendencies of Trump as it relates to his treatment of marginalized groups and his constant overreach of executive authority, few are acknowledging the importance of another piece to that puzzle--how he uses economic opportunity as a carrot on a stick to get

away with those abuses.

This is the same strategy Mussolini used in Italy and Hitler used in Germany. By making the argument that the existing government is bureaucratic, ineffective, and corrupt, Trump is able to assert that the solution is a strong executive willing to dismantle that bureaucracy and deliver prosperity to the people directly. As long as people perceive that he is bringing them newfound wealth by creating more jobs at home, they will look the other way on any number of human rights violations.

Trump knows this, which is why he has been busy leveraging his power as president to pressure companies into investing in American jobs. Leftists, focused more on his outrageous behavior toward marginalized groups and unwilling to acknowledge anything positive about someone they find so abhorrent, will downplay and nitpick these advances. But if the largely apolitical masses feel their economic woes lessen even slightly during Trump's administration, they will line up to support him in spite of the reservations they have about his stance on any number of social issues.

This is the price Americans are set to pay for refusing to take income inequality seriously for so long. The leaders of both major parties--whom Trump can claim a victory over through his direct defeat of symbolic titans Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton--have been so feeble at addressing the economic plight of working Americans for so long that they have, in effect, created a powder keg of populist anger that is now set to go off and destroy the very fabric of the nation, and possibly more.

Beyond the obvious costs to minority groups who will be scapegoated and subject to ghastly levels of violence during his administration, the greater threat may well be to the notion of democracy as a viable form of government. Democracy will be equated to ineffective bureaucracy while strong executives (read: fascists) will be equated with prosperity and strength.

Combined with the nuclear stockpiles that leaders of both major parties have failed to eliminate during their many decades at the helm, we are facing an extremely grim future. Meanwhile, many friends of mine, newly outraged at the uncouth behavior of the president, have started to experiment with calling senators and holding protest signs in a vain attempt to right longstanding wrongs. Their approach conveys a sense that Trump himself is the problem rather than the symptom of deeper issues--namely, income inequality and the responsiveness of our government to the needs of its people. Their actions will further increase the likelihood that fascism will take hold while leftists struggle to establish a coherent identity that can provide a viable alternative.

Bio: Sean Nestor is an educator and activist from Toledo. He currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Single Payer Action Network of Ohio and Co-Chair of the Lucas County Green Party.

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Janet Garrett, 2016 Democratic Candidate for Congress in the 4th Congressional District and Administrator of Indivisible Oberlin, issued the following statement:

I Challenge Congressman Jim Jordan to Debate
(Glass Steagall, National Bank, Medicare for All)

If we are going to build the economy, I ask you to co-sponsor HR 790, Glass-Steagall, and join the campaign for a National Bank for Infrastructure, the only way to build jobs and the tax base.
 
I am hereby challenging Congressman Jim Jordan to step up to the plate and debate me anywhere, any time in the 4th Congressional District.
 
Congressman, you and I both agree that the national economy is a mess.  We both know there is a crisis in health care.  Due to the collapse of Ohio as a job creator in industry and infrastructure, we are not generating the kinds of productive, high paying jobs the state and the nation need.  Hence, we have a hard time paying for things like health care.
 
There is an immediate two step solution to this situation.

"First, Congress can pass the Glass-Steagall Act, HR 790, recently introduced by Rep Marcy Kaptur, Rep Tim Ryan, Rep Marcia Fudge, Rep. Walter Jones and dozens of co-sponsors.  This will break up the Wall Street banks, stop their control over credit generation and open the door for productive investment.  Glass-Steagall has been endorsed by the Republican and Democratic Party platforms, so there is nothing standing in the way of you adding your name as a co-sponsor to HR 790.  I hope you support the platform your party adopted at the Republican Convention this summer.
 
Second, Congress can create a National Bank for Infrastructure, like the national banks that were created throughout our history, which generated the large amounts of credit, without taxpayer funds (!), to build all of our industry and infrastructure.  As a sitting member of Congress, you can initiate draft legislation to create this bank.  The bank can then directly fund or participate in financing infrastructure and industrial development, creating the millions of jobs we need to build the nation and the tax base.
 
These steps will jump-start the economy and allow us to not only build our overall output, but allow us to pay for Medicare for all, which will solve our health care needs.  Rep. John Conyers recently introduced HR 676, "The Expanded and Improved Medicare for All Act", which addresses this crucial matter.  I would urge you to co- sponsor this bill as well.
 
The citizens of our congressional district want this discussion to take place.  A debate between the two of us would certainly frame the discussion in a useful way.  We can set a debate agenda that addresses these crucial topics and others.
 
Therefore, I am challenging you to debate me on this agenda anywhere in the district.  I will clear my busy schedule to make myself available to engage in this dialogue. I look forward to sharing a podium with you.

Contact Janet Garrett-- 440-724-9981, janet@janetgarrett.com