Countering for Bernie 2020 - Myth vs. Fact
Talking points compiled and researched by the SGV Progressive Alliance (https://www.facebook.com/SGVProgAlliance/)
(latest revise: Oct. 7, 2019)
General Rule of Thumb: Stay away from provocateurs. Every minute you’re spending with a troll is more frustration and less time for you to spend on someone that is actually worthy of a conversation
Recommended resources to review:
- Bernie Kickoff Rally, Brooklyn: https://youtu.be/5XUeFu_wkok?t=3842
- Every Argument Against Bernie Refuted, Medium:
- Common Bernie Sanders Smears, and answers to them.
- Feel the Bern - Where does Bernie Stand on the Issues: http://feelthebern.org/
- TYT Army - debunking and getting informed: https://tytarmy.org
- Medium, June 24, 2019 “A Guide to the 2020 Democratic Candidates you should not vote for” (good evidence!)
- Bernie’s Democratic Socialism speech at George Washington University, June 2019
- Bernie Sanders is the Strongest Person to Beat Trump
- BernieSanders.com - get info about his platform directly
- YouTube: Secular Talk: “Very Clear & Simple Reasons to Vote Bernie Over Warren” (Sep. 23, 2019)
- For people on the fence between Bernie and Warren: “The Prospect of an Elizabeth Warren Nomination…” (Sep. 23, 2019)
Table of Contents (as of Sep. 18, 2019)
- He’s a socialist/communist!!
- He wants to make the US another Venezuela!
- He should let others take the mantel
- He’s too old
- Joe Biden is better.
- Bernie and Elizabeth Warren are the same, but she’s better because she’s xxx.
- Kamala Harris/ Pete B./Castro etc. is better..
- Establishment Dems don’t like Bernie = Not electable.
- Bernie is too white. We don’t need another white male in the White House.
- Lots of other progressives are now in the field. He may have come up with the stuff, but there are others now who may be more electable.
- He’ll never win because of the superdelegates
- He doesn’t have the support of POC (people of color)
- He’s had a problem with sexual harassment in his campaign.
- He doesn’t like the Democratic Party, he’s not a good Democrat.
- His ideas are stale and mainstream now. There are lots of other progressives on the scene that are better now.
- He caused Hillary to lose and we got Trump! He’s blowing up the Dem. Party - they will lose again!
- Bernie supporters caused Hillary Clinton to lose the election giving us Trump
- What’s he gonna do differently this time?
- Where are his tax returns?
- He’s bad with black voters. He polled low with them.
- He can’t work across the aisle with Republicans.
- He hasn’t done anything as senator/legislation; his voting record is misleading and full of fluff, duds and empty promises.
- The NRA helped elect Sanders to the House of Rep. in 1990 and he, in return, voted against background checks and waiting periods.
- He voted for the 1994 tough-on-crime bill that unfairly targeted blacks and other minority groups and encouraged the rise of mass incarceration
- More on Biden
- The media is neutral, we should pay attention to the polls.
- More on Elizabeth Warren
- How do Elizabeth Warren and Bernie differ in Medicare 4 All?
- Is Elizabeth Warren progressive when it comes to the military and foreign policy?
- What about Andrew Yang?
- How will Bernie pay for the Green New Deal (the most robust environmental package put out by any candidate in history, and acknowledged as being the strongest by Greenpeace)?
- Two flyers you can use about Bernie v. Warren (Oct 7, 2019)
- How’s he going to pay for everything else?
Fallacy | Information | Sources |
| That’s inaccurate. He’s a Democratic Socialist, which is basically capitalism with a conscience. Big difference. "If you support the Armed Forces who defend our country, you are a socialist. If you call the police or fire department in an emergency, you are a socialist. If you enjoy driving on our roads and bridges, you are a socialist. That is what we mean by Democratic Socialism." Bernie's opponents throw that term around a lot to make it seem like he's a scary radical. To clarify, Bernie describes himself as a democratic socialist, which means that he supports basic economic rights for all Americans, including affordable universal healthcare for all, tuition-free higher education, a living wage, and a secure retirement. -- Bernie has identified as a democratic socialist for decades because he understands that term to mean supporting basic economic rights for all Americans, including universal health care, tuition-free higher education, a living wage, and a secure retirement. He knows that Republicans and the corrupt political establishment will call him a "socialist" regardless of what he calls himself, which is why this campaign is focused on the issues important to working families, not political labels Like many of the parties in Europe and Scandinavia. He believes that that the government has a responsibility to provide housing, healthcare, education, food etc. as a basic right and reign-in the power of Wall St and corporations. | Bernie Sanders’ Democratic Socialism speech, June 19, 2019, George Washington University |
| Absolutely not. Bernie has never said that. More like European social democracies, especially Scandinavian countries You can’t equate Hugo Chavez or Nicolas Maduro with Bernie Sanders. Socialists want to replace the current system - Democratic Socialists want aim to improve it, not replace. Do you mean turn it into a failed state? Trump’s already done that in this country! So you don’t want another FDR for our country? See #1 above. | Sources for FDR: https://www.quora.com/Can-FDR-be-fairly-described-as-a-socialist/answer/John-Carter-118 They Tried to Call FDR a ‘Socialist’, Here’s How He Responded, LA Times, Feb. 13, 2019 |
| Why should he? He is running a serious campaign and character matters, he’s authentic. Have you seen his rallies, have you seen his CNN Townhall? The audience - the actual People - love Bernie Sanders - even if the Establishment and the mainstream media are against him | Bernie’s Brooklyn Rally, March 1, 2019. https://youtu.be/6Yg9MfgdbRg Chicago Rally March 2, 2019: https://www.facebook.com/NowThisPolitics/videos/312374099637864/UzpfSTcxNzM5ODA4NjoxMDE1NjI1MzU5MTc4ODA4Nw/ CNN Townhall: https://youtu.be/oW0VyXNQT_Y The View link: https://youtu.be/HAeTNQUaofc Bernie starts at 13:40 |
| Bernie, born 1941, so from 2020-2024, he’ll be 79-83 years old. He’s only a year older than Biden (born 1942). To compare:
President of South Africa, 1994-1999 (76-81 years old)
Judge people by the work that they do! 16 years experience as a congressman and in the Senate since 2007. He has been consistent throughout the years on the issues that are important, such as free college tuition, medicare for all, no more wars, getting money out of politics, etc. It’s not good to be ageist. Look at his many years of experience! Very much in good health (see YouTube videos) Have you seen his rallies? He’s on fire! He hasn’t aged in 3 years! He’s getting a younger VP he said. | Recent Chicago Rally March 2019: https://www.facebook.com/NowThisPolitics/videos/312374099637864/UzpfSTcxNzM5ODA4NjoxMDE1NjI1MzU5MTc4ODA4Nw/ Bernie running to catch a train: https://youtu.be/ORSRybY-eUU Bernie shooting baskets (2016): https://youtu.be/4OK82c5y2jE |
| Biden’s record is questionable. He supports endless and devastating wars abroad; and has contempt for women, racial minorities, and working people at home.
| ** The Other Reason Biden Shouldn’t Run ** No Joe! Joe Biden’s Disastrous Legislative Legacy ** Here Comes Joe Biden and It’s Worse Than You Thought ** Joe Biden Is a Link to the Past -- and Not in a Good Way https://twitter.com/haldornimrod/status/ https://www.truthdig.com/articles/joe-biden-might-as-well-be-a-republican/ |
6. Bernie and Elizabeth Warren are the same, but she’s better because she’s xxx. | About Sen. Warren: - MA Senator elected to Senate 2013 - Has served on Armed Services Committee since Dec. 2016 - On Energy and Natural Resources Committee - Registered Republican until age 47 (in 1996) About Sen. Sanders: Bernie will beat Trump. Warren will have a very hard time beating Trump. Donors: Bernie doesn’t take corp. money. Period! (Open Secrets…) Warren said she’d accept corp. Money in the General. Inequality/Capitalism - #Warren2020 has referred to herself as “capitalist to the bones”, to the point of standing to applaud Trump’s anti-socialist #SOTU comments. Notably, #Bernie2020 remain seated, without applause. https://bit.ly/2RI4rA8(RollCall), https://bit.ly/2KDrUBJ(Facebook) - Instead of denying corporations personhood, Warren drafted a bill not to tell a corporation that it isn’t a person, but to make sure that said corporation learns how to be a person that shares their toys, called the Accountable Capitalism Act, and its based on -- you guessed it -- market reforms. - Warren created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which doesn’t do anything to actually directly help consumers, but to theoretically punish firms who take advantage of people, slap on the wrist. Climate Change 2015: Warren Ranked 23rd on Climate Hawks Vote Senate scorecard, Bernie Sanders ranked #4 Working across the Aisle Warren refused to participate in #FoxNews #townhall, even though #Bernie2020 made huge strides with the audience and reached conservative voters he otherwise may not have access to. https://bit.ly/2LD2LIC(HuffPost), https://politi.co/2LHqqI3(Politico). Her refusal was called by NYT reporter “dangerously close to ‘deplorables’ territory” https://bit.ly/2IO2M9k(Free Beacon) Supporters Overwhelmingly college-educated whites (Sanders’ supporters, like 2016, is significantly more multi-racial, female, and working class. https://bit.ly/2ZNqfwQ(link to tweet)
| The Problem with Warren, Sep. 5, 2019 Warren’s Accountable Capitalism Act: https://bit.ly/2LgCcqR,https://bit.ly/2P8CaB7 Policy differences between Warren and Sanders: https://jacobinmag.com/2019/01/elizabeth-warren-bernie-sanders-socialism-progressives -- Recommended! For people on the fence between Bernie and Warren: “The Prospect of an Elizabeth Warren Nomination…” (Sep. 23, 2019) Also see #28 below: More about Warren. The Hill (9/23/19) “Krystal Ball: Dems on track to nominate Warren and lose to Trump…” Recommended! YouTube: Secular Talk: “Very Clear & Simple Reasons to Vote Bernie Over Warren” (Sep. 23, 2019) YouTube: Jimmy Dore Show: “Everything That’s Wrong with Warren” (Sep. 24, 2019) |
7. Kamala Harris/ Pete B. etc. is better... | So what policy issues, previous experience and votes from him/her do you like? | |
8. Establishment Dems don’t like Bernie = Not electable. | He polls high with independents/no party preference voters. He’s a bridge candidate - when he didn’t win, they didn’t vote b.c. the Dem. Party didn’t speak to them At least four in 10 Americans have been political independents in seven of the past eight years, including a record-high 43% in 2014. A Bernie ticket will be very electable: Bernie Sanders signals he’s looking for a younger, female. ““I think we would look for somebody who is maybe not of the same gender that I am, and maybe someone who might be a couple of years younger than me, and somebody who can take the progressive banner as vice president and carry it all over this county to help us with our agenda, and help us to rally the American people," Sanders told The Young Turks, a left-leaning media organization, a few days after he announced. He’s going to all 50 states - even Trump voters! Dems aren’t doing that. He’s been doing it since 2016 INDEPENDENT VOTERS FOR BERNIE: Some of Sanders’s strongest performances in primaries have come in places such as New Hampshire, Michigan and Wisconsin, states whose rules allow independents to vote in either primary. https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/why-sanders-does-better-with-independents/ In Wisconsin and Michigan, registered independents accounted for approximately one-third of the vote. Looking at these three states, many of the independent voters that showed up at the polls are likely blue-collar workers, who have watched manufacturing jobs leave their towns and cities in droves. They are middle-income men and women who have watched their health care premiums skyrocket, regardless of health care subsidies that some of them may not even qualify for. They are looking at a political system that has ignored them at every institutional level for decades. When offered a choice between more of the same and something new, the answer was clear for a majority of these voters. https://ivn.us/2016/11/09/independent-voters-flipped-entire-presidential-election-trump/ Graph shows that a majority of Independents who voted for Bernie voted for Trump over Hillary. https://www.newsweek.com/bernie-sanders-trump-2016-election-654320 Sanders-Trump voters were much less likely than Sanders-Clinton or Sanders-third party voters to have been Democrats. https://www.npr.org/2017/08/24/545812242/1-in-10-sanders-primary-voters-ended-up-supporting-trump-survey-finds Most Americans do not feel represented by Democrats or Republicans – survey When Obama Had "Total Control of Congress" https://www.ohio.com/akron/pages/when-obama-had-total-control-of-congress | Bernie Sanders is the Strongest Person to Beat Trump “54% positive to 35% negative” https://news.gallup.com/poll/243539/americans-maintain-positive-view-bernie-sanders.aspx https://news.gallup.com/poll/245801/americans-continue-embrace-political-independence.aspx Gallup datasheet of Dem/Repub/Ind identification trends https://news.gallup.com/poll/15370/party-affiliation.aspx ) Bernie Sanders spending time in Trump country https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/2016/12/12/bernie-sanders-set-appear-kenosha-town-hall/95345904/ https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/12/13/13933116/bernie-sanders-chris-hayes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkSGcBtvhnw http://www.wvpublic.org/post/mcdowell-microcosm-bernie-sanders-goes-all-chris-hayes https://www.msnbc.com/all-in/watch/bernie-sanders-in-trump-country-1288729155643 https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/08/politics/bernie-sanders-trump-country/index.html) |
9. Bernie is too white. We don’t need another white male in the White House. | He’d be our first Jewish president, which is a great first, like the first black president or first female president. To be his 2020 campaign manager, Bernie named Faiz Shakir, the first Muslim American to lead a presidential campaign in American history! Bernie has assembled a very diverse campaign leadership team for 2020. Campaign Co-Chairs, Bernie 2020:
Campaign Staff Leaders, Bernie 2020:
He wants to dismantle systemic, institutional racism, not just interpersonal racism Civil Rights Movement - He had participated in sit ins, protesting, marching, and gotten arrested
Criminal justice reform and immigration reform are on his platform and had been in 2016
| More on Faiz Shakir: https://mvslim.com/bernie-sanders-picks-muslim-civil-rights-lawyer-to-lead-presidential-campaign/ Bernie Sanders being arrested in a protest by the Chicago Police Jan 1962 picture. Bernie Sanders leading a sit-in on the campus of the University of Chicago Source: http://feelthebern.org |
10. Lots of other progressives are now in the field. He may have come up with the stuff, but there are others now who may be more electable. | Do you know about the “Bag over the head” theory? We need to embrace whoever is the most progressive and aim right now for the candidate with the best voting record and longest streak of progressive values with Bernie. If you were to listen to the candidates speak without having a visual cue as to who they were, what age, what gender, what ethnicity, etc. and you choose the person whose ideas were the most progressive simply by listening to what was said, you would choose Bernie Sanders.
They weren’t saying it 40 years ago. They know those points are very popular right now. Where were they when he was promoting Medicare For All , for example? Cory Booker kept taking money from Wall Street, and he also was a big supporter of Charter Schools when he was the mayor in NJ. (L.A. Times March 6, 2019) Kamala Harris has been questioned about refusing corp.$ then she came out against it but only in the primary she says she will refuse PAC $. That’s disingenuous/ not good enough. https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/384408-kamala-harris-will-no-longer-accept-corporate-pac-money In 2017-18 he forced Amazon and Disney to pay their workers a living wage The last federal minimum wage hike was in 2009 when Congress raised the national level to $7.25 an hour. Despite stalling at the federal level, 29 states and the District of Columbia have a minimum wage that is higher than the national minimum. In 2016, Arizona, Maine, Colorado, and Washington had ballot initiatives to raise the minimum wage. The measures passed in each state. | If you were to listen to the candidates speak without having a visual cue as to who they were, what age, what gender, what ethnicity, etc. and you chose the person whose ideas were the most progressive simply by listening to what was said, you would choose Bernie Sanders. From: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/11/arkansas-missouri-minimum-wage-ballot-question-midterm/ Bernie’s been leading the way for the past 2 years to get $15/hour in several states, now 22 states have raised their min. Wage (see map: https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2018/12/27/minimum-wage-2019-which-states-increasing-next-year/2377035002/) |
11. He’ll never win because of the superdelegates | They changed the rules now so the first vote at the DNC convention has to reach a certain threshold (First round: 50% +1) But: If a candidate can’t win its own party primary without the establishment pushing them over the edge with superdelegates, what is their prospect of winning the general? CA has a the largest # of DNC delegates in the country and now we’re at the forefront so the role of the superdelegates isn’t as important as you think it is as it was in the past. In 2016, Bernie won 45.7% of the CA primary. | More info about DNC rule change: https://www.politico.com/story/2019/02/14/dnc-fundraising-polling-early-debates-1170182 CA primary results: http://www.nytimes.com/elections/2016/results/primaries/california |
12. He doesn’t have the support of POC (people of color) | Not true. These POC support Bernie:
| “Nearly two in three nonwhites (64%) have a positive view of Sanders.” https://news.gallup.com/poll/243539/americans-maintain-positive-view-bernie-sanders.aspx |
13. He’s had a problem with sexual harassment in his campaign. | What matters now is that he met with and apologized to his former staffers and has been taking taken immediate action starting with his re-election campaign for Senate (Gotten rid of the top staffers, new and improved team, placed strong safeguards in the campaign) Others have similar issues on their campaigns, possible in large organizations. Kamala Harris’s senior aid resigned in Dec. 2018 after sexual harassment settlement unsurfaced: See Huffington Post, Washington Post, etc. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1i3QqEyt_m246LjT0-152Qzc9A_kXxFw6o120gnsSPf4/edit?usp=sharing | "What I will tell you is that when I ran for re-election in 2018 in Vermont, we put forward the strongest set of principles in terms of mandatory training — in terms of women — if they felt harassed, having an independent firm that they can go to. And I think that’s kind of the gold standard for what we should be doing. So I certainly apologize to any woman who felt that she was not treated appropriately." Anderson Cooper interview; https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2019/01/03/bernie-sanders-sexual-harassment-allegations-nyt-sot-ac-vpx.cnn https://www.politico.com/story/2019/01/16/sanders-staffers-sexual-harassment-1105182 https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/423622-sanders-says-he-did-not-know-sexual-harassment-allegations-during-campaign |
14. He doesn’t like the Dem. Party. He’s not a good Dem. | Vermont, Bernie’s home state that he represents as a US Senator, has no partisan voter registration, so it’s impossible to “register” there as a Democrat or Republican or with any other party. Bernie has long caucused with the Democratic Party in Congress and is part of the Senate Democratic Leadership team (Outreach Chair). . He votes with and for Democrats He campaigned avidly for Hillary after he lost the primary. Actually, he’s growing the Party and expanding the electorate by bringing the millenials | New Yorker article on AOC and Bernie: https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-and-the-legacy-of-the-bernie-sanders-movement Times article on Bernie’s pop. with millenials http://time.com/4299321/millennials-bernie-sanders/ “Sanders’s base going into the 2020 election, explained.”: https://www.vox.com/2019/3/7/18216899/bernie-sanders-bro-base-polling-2020-president |
15. His ideas are stale and mainstream now. There are lots of other progressives on the scene that are better now | Where were they when he was on the front line of the ideas? Since the early 90s, he had been arguing against mass incarceration and income inequality while advocating for single-payer universal health care, and even LGBT rights as far back as the 80s. As Nina Turner says, “We’ve got the receipts!” with Bernie. | VoteSmart (Look up voting records): https://votesmart.org/bills#.XIM3uSLYqUk Also see: https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes ) and Late 80s interview with Bernie, responding to caller about religion and income inequality, https://youtu.be/sMuH3DJYivo?t=991 and https://www.thedailybeast.com/mayor-bernie-sanders-created-an-80s-trans-mecca-in-burlington |
16. Bernie himself caused Hillary to lose and we got Trump! He’s blowing up the Dem. Party - they will lose again! | No, he campaigned for her from August to November 2016. He also said then, and now, whoever becomes Dem. primary winner, he will support. He says that Trump is the most dangerous person in modern history. For him, it’s most important to defeat Trump and also transform this country to one that represents US. | “Trump is the most dangerous person in modern history”; The View: https://abc.go.com/shows/dancing-with-the-stars/video/most-recent/VDKA3516979 |
17. Bernie supporters caused Hillary Clinton to lose the election giving us Trump | Not only did he heavily campaign for HRC, 90% of his supporters voted for her in the general election. The Pew study, which surveyed 2,353 Democratic voters, found that of this 20 percent, 90 percent now endorse Hillary Clinton. Only 8 percent support Donald Trump, and the remaining 2 percent are undecided. | |
18. What’s he gonna do differently this time? |
| The Nation, Feb. 6, 2019, article is titled: “Who is Matt Duss, and Can He Take On Washington’s Blob?” This article is all about Bernie’s foreign policy advisor. |
19. Where are his tax returns? | Bernie released his tax returns in April 2019. He also released his 2014 forms in 2015 back when he was running in 2016. Hillary Clinton, by the way, said she wouldn’t release her tax returns UNTIL she was the nominee. She also has had much stronger ties to the financial system, including six-figure payments for speeches she gave to several financial institutions in recent years. What about other candidates - have they been pressured to release their tax returns and what are their responses? | Link to his 2014 taxes: http://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2804313-Bernie-Sanders-Just-Released-His-Tax-Returns.html An explainer on his 2014 form by finance experts: https://www.fool.com/taxes/2019/02/24/bernie-sanders-1-disclosed-tax-return-5-facts-you.aspx 10 years of tax returns quote: (https://www.marketwatch.com/story/bernie-sanders-set-to-release-10-years-of-tax-returns-2019-02-26) Huffington Post article on Clinton-Sanders donation/finance contrasts: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/bernie-sanders-tax-return_us_5711836be4b0060ccda3634e |
20. He’s bad with black voters. He polled low with them. | “Mr. Sanders had won 14 percent of the black vote there (South Carolina) compared with 86 percent for Hillary Clinton, according to exit polls.” “Mrs. Clinton dealt Mr. Sanders a series of stinging defeats in Southern states with high black turnout, while African-American leaders repeatedly criticized the Sanders campaign for failing to understand the concerns and priorities of their constituents.” - NYTimes Maybe before, but not now! No, they’re not; look at the last 6 months! He’s paying attn.to distressed communities, white, black, etc. | NYTimes Feb. 17, 2019: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/17/us/politics/bernie-sanders-black-voters-outreach.html More on how Bernie’s working on african-american outreach: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/17/us/politics/bernie-sanders-black-voters-outreach.html Last 6 months of polls in distressed communities, etc. https://news.gallup.com/poll/243539/americans-maintain-positive-view-bernie-sanders.aspx |
21. He can’t work across the aisle with Republicans. | Not true. He’s been doing so continuously, including bill against U.S. support for Yemen war and being open to work with them to improve Affordable Care Act. He also worked with John McCain, creating a $16.5 billion bipartisan bill that aimed to expand veterans access to healthcare and increase accountability at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VIDEO). He also had some some success as the Roll Call Amendment King by Rolling Stone magazine, where from 1995 to 2007, when Republicans controlled Congress, Sanders passed the most roll call amendments (17) out of anyone in the House of Representatives.
| https://www.npr.org/2018/12/12/676152310/senate-poised-to-vote-to-end-u-s-military-support-for-war-in-yemen https://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/video-audio/sanders-mccain-announce-bipartisan-veterans-bill https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/inside-the-horror-show-that-is-congress-177955/ https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/mar/24/bernie-s/bernie-sanders-was-roll-call-amendment-king-1995-2/ |
22. He hasn’t done anything as senator/legislation; his voting record is misleading and full of fluff, duds and empty promises. |
| Stop BEZOS bill: https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/9/11/17831970/stop-bezos-bernie-sanders |
23. The NRA helped elect Sanders to the House of Rep. in 1990 and he, in return, voted against background checks and waiting periods. | Sanders said he has advocated for banning assault weapons as far back as 1988, when he came in second running against a Democrat and a Republican for the U.S. House. | Read full context and statements from NRA: https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/apr/14/hillary-clinton/hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders-has-been-largely-ve/ Here’s a quote directly from Bernie: https://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/opinion/2018/04/10/analysis-bernie-sanders-his-gun-control-record/500824002/ |
24. He voted for the 1994 tough-on-crime bill that unfairly targeted blacks and other minority groups and encouraged the rise of mass incarceration | “While the Clintons have defended the 1994 crime law until quite recently, Sanders was always careful to point out that he saw the law as a compromise — and regularly stated his concerns with mass incarceration. Quote from Bernie floor speech on the bill: “Let us be honest: This is not a crime prevention bill. This is a punishment bill, a retribution bill, a vengeance bill. All over the industrialized world now, countries are saying, "Let us put an end to state murder, let us stop capital punishment." But here what we're talking about is more and more capital punishment. What we're discussing now is an issue where some of our friends are saying we're not getting tough enough on the criminals. But my friends, we have the highest percentage of people in America in jail per capita of any industrialized nation on Earth. We've beaten South Africa. We've beaten the Soviet Union. What do we have to do, put half the country behind bars? Mr. Speaker, instead of talking about punishment and vengeance, let us have the courage to talk about the real issue: How do we get to the root causes of crime? How do we stop crime, which is in fact a very, very serious problem in this country?” | Vox article about 1994 tough on crime bill (includes videos of Bernie criticizing the bill): https://www.vox.com/2016/2/26/11116412/bernie-sanders-mass-incarceration |
25. Joe Biden | 1994 wrote the Crime Bill The crime bill, among other things, imposed the 3 strikes law which increased a defendants likelihood of life imprisonment encarcerating and ruining the lives of thousands of low-level offenders . The bill led to mass incarceration and for profit prison industry In 1984, Biden joined with South Carolina’s arch-racist Strom Thurmond to sponsor the Comprehensive Crime Control Act, which eliminated parole for federal prisoners and limited the amount of time sentences could be reduced for good behavior. He and Thurmond joined hands to push 1986 and 1988 drug enforcement legislation that created the nefarious sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine as well as other draconian measures that implicate him as one of the initiators of what became mass incarceration.” In 1988, he co-sponsored legislation that enacted mandatory-minimum sentences for drug possession, including higher sentences for those in possession of crack over powder cocaine, a ruling that specifically targeted poorer African-American and Latino populations, while letting wealthier white drug users off the hook.
| 1993 speech https://youtu.be/Wsq30E6OSVU |
Biden Quotes “Vice President Mike Pence “is a decent guy” Speaking in Omaha 2-28-19 “I really like Dick Cheney for real. I get on with him, I think he’s a decent man” Speaking at George Washington University Oct 2015 “Guys, the wealthy are as patriotic as the poor. I know Bernie doesn’t like me saying that, but they are” Speaking in Alabara - 10/3/17 “I love Bernie, but I am not Bernie Sanders, I don’t think 500 billionaires are the reason why we’re in trouble… the folks at the top aren’t bad buys” Speaking to the Brookings Institution, 5/9/18 | 1991 Anita Hill hearings – Joe Biden was the Senate Judiciary Committee Chair who could have done more to stop the attacks on Anita Hill and allowed a more through hearing. Biden was reluctant even to let Anita Hill testify as to how Thomas had repeatedly sexually harassed her, since — as he would explain afterward — he had given his word to a Republican colleague, in the Senate gym, that he’d make sure Thomas’s confirmation was speedy. When Hill did testify, and was treated with disrespect and disregard by leering and patronizing Republicans on the committee, Biden did not defend her or rebuke them; he permitted her ill treatment. Perhaps most crucially, he declined to call any of the three women — Rose Jourdain, Angela Wright, and Sukari Hardnett — who were willing to testify about their own experiences of Thomas’s inappropriate behavior, and thereby corroborate Hill’s claims. Biden has repeatedly commented in recent years that he “owes” Hill “an apology,” yet has never bothered to pay her the respect of proffering one directly | On Trade: Voted in favor of 1993 NAFTA (The North American Free Trade Agreement) Trans-pacific Partnership (The TPP heavily favored by corporate influence peddlers, including the US Chamber of Commerce. Silicon Valley, agribusiness, and Wall Street trade associations) |
Opposes the Green New Deal to save our plant and create thousands of jobs (he wants “middle ground”. We don’t have time for middle ground! Prominent scientific organizations have warned us that if we remain willingly ignorant and complacent, if our political powers remain selfishly focused inwardly upon their own special interests we have little time left). Ref: https://climate.nasa.gov/scientific-consensus/ | He would go after Medicare and Social Security News and clips of Bidens speeches (TYT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSdobLgfkU0 / Secular Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xjfs4B-i06o ) | |
Voted with credit card companies (Biden was one of a handful of Democrats to oppose a measure that would have required credit card companies to warn consumers of the risks of only paying the minimum due on their credit card bills and worked against legislation that would have increased protections for those whose debts mounted thanks to medical bills and for those in the military. In the mid-2000s, he was a major Democratic supporter of a bill that made it harder for individuals, many of them struggling with enormous credit card debt, to declare bankruptcy) | 1999 repealed Glass Steagall Act - As beneficiary of enormous campaign donations from his home state’s financial behemoth MBNA, in 1999 Biden voted to repeal Glass-Steagall legislation that, since 1933, had separated commercial and investment banking, paving the way for the financial crisis.) | |
26. The media is neutral, we should pay attention to the polls. | Notice anything fishy from this June 2019 Univision barchart? | ... |
27. More about Elizabeth Warren | The Environment Warren only scored a 25 out of 100 on climate leadership. https://bit.ly/2IKTjzu “Some Senate observers have expected Warren to discuss climate change more this year now that she is on the energy and natural resources committee, but so far she’s only made one public statement, engaged in minimal press release work, not written any bills, and cosponsored very few bills,” the Climate Hawk report reads.” https://bit.ly/2XsifE8 - Dodged question about “slashing the military budget to help pay for human and environmental needs”. https://bit.ly/2Pwcy17^^^^ - Green Bombs:Warren rationalizes her hawkishness by stating that enacting incremental environmental measures is somehow good for the military https://bit.ly/2WZwNGY(Black Agenda Report), https://bit.ly/2ITkGYp(OpEd News) - Though claiming Native American heritage, Warren never once supported the protestors at Standing Rock.https://bit.ly/31Vnhs9(Observer), https://bit.ly/2qUqk4O(CounterPunch) Election Integrity Never denounced the $14.2 million the UAE spent to influence US gov’t in 2013, or the 4 million from Morocco, or the 2.3 million from Axerbijan, or the millions AIPAC spends lobbying American politicians https://bit.ly/31VgU81(Humanist Report) Has never denounced a single instance of the US directly manipulating the elections of other countries Warren endlessly talks about Russia and “foreign interference” in US elections but notably never mentions the fact that as of 2017, Saudi Arabia registered 120+ new lobbyists since 2015 https://bit.ly/2NpSDnI(The Intercept) Education - Supports Charter Schools. “Charters - whether for-profit or non-profit - destabilize, defund, and destroy the neighborhood public schools that 90% of America's students attend.” https://bit.ly/2J9lrey(link to tweet) - #Warren2020’s education advisor is an alum of #TFA, which supports market-based, corporate education reform schemes https://bit.ly/2ZSdXDI(link to tweet). In contrast, #Bernie2020 introduced an anti-charter school education plan https://bit.ly/2KEfvxc(HuffPost) - Supports student loan forgiveness up to $50k. Plan would cost 1.25 trillion and cover 42 million people, based on income. #Bernie2020’s plan would cost 1.6 trillion, forgive *all* debt, and cover 45 million people - literally everyone with student loan debt, regardless of income. Both plan to add a small tax to the very rich to pay for their plans. https://bit.ly/2Yj8fua(HuffPost) Misc - Voted to confirm Ben Carson as HUD Secretary https://cbsn.ws/2FzBRMp(CBS) - Said in a 2017 TYT interview https://bit.ly/31VgU81(Humanist Report) that she wanted to make a “spirited defense of Joe Manchin” - that Russia, not #MedicareForAll (or any other issue people are suffering from), should be the issue Dems focus on in the 2018 midterms - Signed a secret Senate letter in 2013 pushing #HillaryClinton to run for #POTUS https://bit.ly/2ZSlDWy(US News)
| Warren’s Notable Quotes - Capitalism: “I believe that capitalism has the capacity to deliver extraordinary benefits to American workers.” https://bit.ly/2N96f6 - Military: “The work that goes on at bases and by defense contractors throughout the commonwealth is a great example of how investments in research and development can help ensure our nation’s military is ready and able to meet current and emerging needs while also supporting our state’s economy. Defense spending should always align with our strategic priorities.” https://politi.co/2ElJjLm - Military: “Now we need to make sure that other investments in necessary programs that protect our families and communities are preserved and that this program continues to be a priority.” https://bit.ly/2LjM7vR
Sex Work Elizabeth Warren has a bi partisan bill with Marc Rubio that would deny banking to SUSPECTED sex workers, making it impossible for sex workers to get housing. https://bit.ly/2NdXIzf(HuffPost), https://bit.ly/2INRRfH(The Spectrum) ++ Campaign Finance: - Promises to run a grassroots, PAC-and-corporate-free campaign are very misleading and lead us to believe she truly wants to end massive corporate influence. If you read the fine print, you’ll notice the “in the primaries, only” disclaimer. She fully plans to open the #darkmoney floodgates to her campaign, should she win the primary. https://bit.ly/31XbJo3 (The American Mirror, citing an #MSNBC interview) - “ELIZABETH WARREN DECRIES BIG MONEY IN POLITICS. HER CAMPAIGN TREASURER EMBODIES IT” https://bit.ly/2K5m4Ip - Swears off PAC money in a largely symbolic gesture, then breaks promise, anyway. “But while the pledge might help attract voters, it isn’t otherwise consequential—at least not yet. Corporate-pac donations don’t constitute a significant amount of any Democratic candidate’s funding, and nothing precludes candidates from accepting individual donations from corporate executives.” https://bit.ly/2MI3DLz:
“One important distinction to make is what kind of money the candidates are actually rejecting. Many have cited the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission ruling, which paved the way for the creation of super pacs, as their motivation for ditching corporate contributions. But not accepting corporate-pac money has little to do with super pacs.”
“[Warren] also transferred into her account $10 million in leftover campaign cash from her run for Senate last year, and a political committee she operates with other candidates, according to disclosures filed with the FEC. https://bit.ly/2FkYlR0: ---> Those two previous campaign accounts included about $400,000 in PAC contributions made by labor unions, trade groups and other special interests over the past two years, including the American Federation of Teachers, EMILY's List, Utility Workers of America, the AFL-CIO, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, and the United Auto Workers. (not bad orgs, but still PACs)
Warren has moved about $3.8 million in contributions from her political committee, the Elizabeth Warren Action Fund, into the main account for her Senate campaign, Elizabeth Warren for MA, which was later funneled to her presidential primary account, the FEC reports show. “The transfers, combined with her individual contributions, boosted her haul to $16.4 million as of March 31.” https://bit.ly/2L2gVBp, https://bit.ly/2XTrERY |
28. How do Elizabeth Warren and Bernie differ in Medicare 4 All? | - Medicare for All/Single Payer: Warren has been backpedaling on #MedicareForAll #SinglePayer for months. She has even taken it off her website. ++* - Dec. 2018: Warren’s website discusses health care. Even then, though she mentions cosponsoring Bernie’s Medicare for All bill, she focuses on rebuilding the ACA. Even when she discusses Bernie’s bill, she still uses the phrase “affordable healthcare” → https://web.archive.org/web/20181223200044/https://elizabethwarren.com/issues/(https://bit.ly/2ZLsrFishort link for Twitter) - Excerpt from the healthcare section: “We’ve made a lot of progress thanks to the Affordable Care Act. But millions of Americans are still uninsured, and even families with insurance are still getting slammed by the costs of medical care. There are lots of ways to lower health care costs for families. For example, I worked across the aisle to pass legislation to make hearing aids available over the counter, lowering costs for millions of Americans with hearing loss. We can put an end to health insurance price gouging, an end to surprise bills, an end to bickering with insurance companies over what procedures are covered or what kind of out-of-pocket costs you should have to pay. We can put an end to the complexity of this system and make it easy for everyone to get affordable health care.
In fact, we already have a program that works. It’s called Medicare. I’ve cosponsored Senator Bernie Sanders’ Medicare for All bill, which would create a public health care program available to all Americans. Medicare for All is a way to give every single person in this country a guarantee of high-quality health care that is much easier to navigate and more affordable.
And for the more than 200 million Americans who currently depend on private insurance, there is no reason we cannot do far more to hold insurance companies accountable. Health care in America should be about the well-being of families, not the profits of giant insurance companies and their wealthy CEOs. That means ending the tricks that insurance companies pull to shift costs onto families, like drawing networks so narrow that people can’t see a doctor or slapping a bill on a patient who relied on an outdated list of in-network doctors. It means raising the standards for insurance under the Affordable Care Act so these plans play by the same rules as Medicare and Medicaid and more people are able to afford good coverage. And it means telling insurance companies that if they want to pull down billions in taxpayer dollars by selling Medicare and Medicaid plans, they have to participate in the Affordable Care Act markets, too.” - Warren has said “There are a lot of different ways to get there. ‘Medicare for all’ has a lot of different paths.” https://nyti.ms/2WR1EKP(NYT) For Bernie, there’s just one path. “Take for instance Warren’s March town hall on CNN. When asked directly whether she supports Medicare for All, Warren suggested that Medicare for All is merely a slogan for expanded public coverage, rather than a specific piece of single-payer legislation. https://bit.ly/3260OJ4(Jacobin):
“When we talk about Medicare for All, there are a lot of different pathways,” she said, before listing a slew of incremental proposals without explicitly endorsing any of them, from lowering the age for Medicare eligibility to allowing employers to buy in to Medicare. “For me, what’s key is we get everyone to the table on this.” Taking this answer at face value, it seems Warren sees herself pursuing an incremental approach that expands public coverage while preserving the private insurance industry should she be elected president. This would likely surprise many of her supporters, who might view her cosponsorship of Sanders’s Medicare for All bill as an endorsement of single-payer health care.”
“...By following this playbook, Warren is actively supporting the corporate effort to kill the growing Medicare for All movement.”
- Warren’s non-single payer plan, introduced Apr. 2019, is market-based reform that keeps private insurance in business for profits, does not provide universal coverage, retains restrictive networks, and will not lower costs. The very first line of the bill states “To provide health insurance reform, and for other purposes”. - Link to S. 1213, the Consumer Health Insurance Protection Act of 2019, Warren’s healthcare plan: https://bit.ly/2RBLTRR - 2015: Warren spoke out with Senate Republicans and mostly Bluedog Dems to fight against medical device tax which was created to help fund Obamacare. Notably, Warren’s home state of MA is home to the largest medical device industries, including Boston Scientific. https://politi.co/2FyXXi1 - Her Daughter - August 2019 backtracking off #MedicareForAll | - When she announced in Feb. 2019 there was no mention of healthcare on her website. Bernie has always made it a pillar of his platform. Even after 3 debates, her website as of Sep. 18, 2019 is vague on the topic: When Elizabeth was in middle school, her father had a heart attack. He was out of work for a long time, and the bills piled up. They lost their family station wagon, and they came about an inch away from losing their house. Years later, as a bankruptcy law professor, Elizabeth studied why working families were going broke. Her research showed that most people who filed for bankruptcy looked a lot like her family – most were solidly middle class, and about half had filed for bankruptcy in the aftermath of a serious medical problem. And here was the kicker: about three-quarters of them had health insurance, but it just wasn’t enough. The Affordable Care Act made massive strides in expanding access to health insurance coverage, and we must defend Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act against Republican attempts to rip health care away from people. But it’s time for the next step. Elizabeth supports Medicare for All, which would provide all Americans with a public health care program. Medicare for All is the best way to give every single person in this country a guarantee of high-quality health care. Everybody is covered. Nobody goes broke because of a medical bill. No more fighting with insurance companies. The basic business model of an insurance company is to take in as much money as you can in premiums and paying out as little as possible in health care coverage. That leaves families with rising premiums, high deductibles, and fighting with insurance companies to try to get the health care that their doctors say they and their children need. Insurers protecting their bottom lines restrict your networks of providers and stand in the way when you want to see your doctor or need to see a specialist without going broke. Medicare for All solves these problems. Everyone can see the doctor they need. Nobody goes broke. And your doctor gets paid by Medicare instead of fighting with an insurance company. Every American should be able to get the care they need when they need it. This is a goal worth fighting for, and Elizabeth is in this fight all the way. That's why Elizabeth will fight for Medicare for All. - Warren 2020 website |
29. Is Elizabeth Warren progressive when it comes to the military and foreign policy? | Military/Intervention Warren is much more hawkish than many believe her to be and is generally well-liked by the defense industry. https://bit.ly/2N96f6l(MintPress), https://politi.co/2ElJjLm(Politico) ++* 2017: Press release from Warren stated “defense budget goodies she helped secure for Massachusetts, from $10 million to build an indoor small arms range at Westover Air Force Base near Springfield to $45 million in additional defense research funding, some of which will flow to Massachusetts universities and military labs.” She also sought advice from “at least a dozen military leaders”. https://bit.ly/2KzONG4 Has said the following of John McCain, who committed war crimes by “bombing a lightbulb factory when his place was shot down”: “celebrity rock star”, “war hero”, “principled”, “true American hero”, “true American patriot”, “my friend and colleague”, “public servant who lived his life with courage and conviction” https://bit.ly/2X3SfiQ Dodged question about “slashing the military budget to help pay for human and environmental needs”. https://bit.ly/2Pwcy17 Green Bombs:Warren rationalizes her hawkishness by stating that enacting incremental environmental measures is somehow good for the military https://bit.ly/2WZwNGY(Black Agenda Report), https://bit.ly/2ITkGYp(OpEd News) - 2017: Voted for a defense budget *significantly higher* than the one requested by Trump. https://bit.ly/2XzS4vaNotably, Sanders is the only candidate to vote against all 3 Trump military budgets. https://bit.ly/2HqA0L2 - The late Senator McCain and Warren were on the same side in “ratifying a bill that takes more taxes from workers and funnels it into foreign wars, leading to more deaths of innocent people, sponsors Israel’s war against the Palestinians ($705 million), and invests additional hundreds of millions in anti-Russian military build-up in Ukraine and the Baltic ($600 million)” https://bit.ly/2XzS4va(LeftVoice). Also see https://nyti.ms/2xhG9UM(NYT). Palestine-Israel: Pro-Israel, has publicy condoned the murder and occupation of Palestinians.Voted to send $225 million of American taxpayer money to Israel to support the “Iron Dome” missile defense system after stating that she supports Israel attacking Palestinian hospitals and schools because “Israel has a right to defend itself”, she says. ++* - https://bit.ly/1OjXZeL(The Intercept): “I think the vote was right, and I’ll tell you why I think the vote was right. America has a very special relationship with Israel. Israel lives in a very dangerous part of the world, and a part of the world where there aren’t many liberal democracies and democracies that are controlled by the rule of law. And we very much need an ally in that part of the world.”
Warren said Hamas has attacked Israel “indiscriminately,” but with the Iron Dome defense system, the missiles have “not had the terrorist effect Hamas hoped for.” When pressed by another member of the crowd about civilian casualties from Israel’s attacks, Warren said she believes those casualties are the “last thing Israel wants.”
“But when Hamas puts its rocket launchers next to hospitals, next to schools, they’re using their civilian population to protect their military assets. And I believe Israel has a right, at that point, to defend itself,” Warren said, drawing applause.” Even further, #Warren2020 doesn’t even believe that the US gov’t should withhold funding from Israel for any reason, *even as a condition to get Israel to stop building illegal settlements over Palestinian land*. Also see: https://bit.ly/2xfclr2(HuffPost) ^^^^
- Dodged question asking if she would consider sponsoring “a version of an existing bill on Palestinian’s children’s rights in the Senate”. https://bit.ly/2Pwcy17^^^^ | Iran: Warren is very hawkish on Iran and has been using pro-war rhetoric for years. ++* - 2017: Warren specifically claimed that “Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons”, even contracting U.S. intelligence reports stating otherwise. Even worse, her Senate campaign website stated in 2017 that “Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons” and “Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons is unacceptable because a nuclear Iran would be a threat to the United States, our allies, the region, and the world. The United States must take the necessary steps to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. I support strong sanctions against Iran and believe that the United States must also continue to take a leadership role in pushing other countries to implement strong sanctions as well. Iran must not have an escape hatch.” https://bit.ly/2LeS1yw ++* https://web.archive.org/web/20170319085208/http://origin.elizabethwarren.com/issues/foreign-policy(or https://bit.ly/2X5bEjpshort link for Twitter) (Senate campaign website, archived version from 2017) - Has referred to Iran as a “bad actor” https://bit.ly/2N96f6l, https://bit.ly/2J7Jk6f Saudi Arabia: The Atlantic: https://bit.ly/2DSObaE Afghanistan: - https://bit.ly/2RxfuMg Venezuela: Pro Venezuela intervention https://bit.ly/2N96f6 Elizabeth Warren and the Military Industrial Complex Russia and China: Warren has stated that they “invest heavily in their militaries and other tools of national power. Both hope to shape spheres of influence in their own image,” she said. “Both are working flat out to remake the global order to suit their own priorities. Both are working to undermine the basic human rights we hold dear.” “Russia has become belligerent and insurgent. China has weaponized its economy without loosening its domestic political constraints.” https://fam.ag/2FyaD8Z North Korea: Referred to Trump’s meeting as a “photo op” that “doesn’t change the fact that a nuclear-armed North Korea is a threat to the security of the United States, our allies, and the world.” Vietnam: “According to the Senator, Washington started getting it wrong on foreign policy “beginning in the 1980’s” – a time period, the reader should note, that followed the US withdrawal from Vietnam.” She referred to the foreign policies of the 70s (i.e. Vietnam era) as policies that “benefited everyone”.https://bit.ly/2DSObaE^^^^ Syria: 2017: called for “Syrian regime” to be “held accountable” for alleged chemical weapons attack (with little to no actual evidence of it happening as stated here, here, here, here, here, and several other places). https://bit.ly/2JcgZvQ |
30. What about Andrew Yang? |
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31. How will Bernie pay for the Green New Deal (the most robust environmental package put out by any candidate in history, and acknowledged as being the strongest by Greenpeace)? | It will pay for itself over 15 years. Experts have scored the plan and its economic effects. We will pay for the massive investment we need to reverse the climate crisis by:
| Bernie’s website: https://berniesanders.com/en/issues/green-new-deal/ |
32. How is he going to pay for everything? (See last page!)
