Sanders continues to close the gap on Clinton

[sggatecl]

I disagree with your characterization. It looks like Sanders had a guy for this, and his guy backed down.

He should hire Trump to be his guy for that.

He works for NetRoots, the organization that threw the rally. Bernie was just a guest speaker.

 

[Monster]

You've got to pick your battles. I'm less worried about our President's physical presence and more concerned with his ability to believe in the same thing from year-to-year. Two different kinds of strength I guess. I you want someone that won't get shouted down, vote Trump.

This is a ridiculous argument. Bernie Sanders has also changed his stance several times. He's downplayed his support for NRA and guns and completely changed his stance on "Black Lives Matter" after he was bullied off stage. Bernie is not a democrat. He leans much more socialist. I'm sorry, but if you think doubling the minimum wage, giving free college, free healthcare, and heavily taxing the wealthy is a good idea, you're not too bright. Taxes (on everybody) would go way up, unemployment would spike, and inflation would be out of control.

Yes, you can do some of these things and still survive, but the way he trumpets all of these policies tells me he's too much of a bleeding heart to realize he'd cripple our economy.

It's time for people to actually look at what Bernie is proposing and the consequences for them. I keep hearing how much Hillary lies and that she changes her positions all the time. Do people really not know her stance on the issues? She's aligned with Obama on most things aside from foreign policy. I'd much rather have that person in the White House than Bernie who is too far to the left to be considered a Democrat.

And yes, it does matter that he was bullied off stage. Security was right there. He could have had them removed and nobody would have cared. They were extremely rude and abusive. And Bernie disrespected his own supporters who came to see him by fading into the background and disappearing.

Bernie needs to go back to representing his state because that's where he can actually make a difference.

 

[Monster]

He works for NetRoots, the organization that threw the rally. Bernie was just a guest speaker.

From what I understand, he was the main attraction. The headliner.

 

[Monster]

I'd also like to add that I think a lot of this Bernie/Trump love is coming from people who are sick of politics and politicians. I agree with that! I've made threads on here going off about the state of politics. That doesn't mean that either of them are qualified to be president. You know who I would vote for over all of these people? Elizabeth Warren. A woman like her would completely change this country for the better. It's a shame that she seems to have no desire to be president.

 

[sggatecl]

This is a ridiculous argument. Bernie Sanders has also changed his stance several times. He's downplayed his support for NRA and guns and completely changed his stance on "Black Lives Matter" after he was bullied off stage. Bernie is not a democrat. He leans much more socialist. I'm sorry, but if you think doubling the minimum wage, giving free college, free healthcare, and heavily taxing the wealthy is a good idea, you're not too bright. Taxes (on everybody) would go way up, unemployment would spike, and inflation would be out of control.

Yes, you can do some of these things and still survive, but the way he trumpets all of these policies tells me he's too much of a bleeding heart to realize he'd cripple our economy.

While I think a minimum wage hike would be good, I do think the $15.00/hr he and others have touted is a bit much. I would like to see congress start lower and see what effect it has before creeping that high.

Free college/child care/pre-K programs would be covered under the Wall Street tax (0.5% on stock trades and hedge funds) quite easily. That's actually one of his ideas that's pretty straight forward and I'm surprised gets backlash.

Concerning his healthcare plan, the 2.2% tax that he proposed would be significantly cheaper than the premiums I pay for health insurance now and I'm in a higher income bracket. It would help families in the 50k/year bracket even more. I do hate when it's called 'free healthcare' instead of single payer. Big difference.

It's time for people to actually look at what Bernie is proposing and the consequences for them. I keep hearing how much Hillary lies and that she changes her positions all the time. Do people really not know her stance on the issues? She's aligned with Obama on most things aside from foreign policy. I'd much rather have that person in the White House than Bernie who is too far to the left to be considered a Democrat.

You're kidding right? She has reversed her positions on gay marriage, the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact, mass incarceration, immigration, gun control, and the Iraq War, and you could make an argument that she flipped on the Keystone XL pipeline too.

From what I understand, he was the main attraction. The headliner.

He was the keynote speaker at an event that takes place with or without him. I don't know if that gives him control over "security" or not to be honest.

 

[sggatecl]

I'd also like to add that I think a lot of this Bernie/Trump love is coming from people who are sick of politics and politicians. I agree with that! I've made threads on here going off about the state of politics. That doesn't mean that either of them are qualified to be president. You know who I would vote for over all of these people? Elizabeth Warren. A woman like her would completely change this country for the better. It's a shame that she seems to have no desire to be president.

Now there's something we can agree on 100%. If I was a religious person I would pray nightly that she was Bernie's VP if he won the nomination.

 

[tinselwolverine]

Now there's something we can agree on 100%. If I was a religious person I would pray nightly that she was Bernie's VP if he won the nomination.

Wouldn't he be wise to take more of a centrist; like say? Biden?

 

[sggatecl]

Wouldn't he be wise to take more of a centrist; like say? Biden?

Possibly. Might make him more electable. I'm no expert on actual politics though, I know VPs can ruin you (see McCain/Palin) but I don't know the effect they have positively.

 

[Gulo Blue]

We've talked about Warren before on here. We're not talking more about her now because she isn't running, not because we're unaware.

I wonder if a tax on stock transactions would stop all the ridiculous high frequency trading bs.

 

[Gulo Blue]

This is a ridiculous argument.

We're just going to disagree on this one I think. I'm a reluctant Sanders supporter. I don't think I'm prone to stretching arguments on his behalf. Being able to win a screaming match just isn't a litmus test for me. If I was looking for a cable news host or ESPN maybe, but not for President.

 

[grandy]

I'd say the choice comes down to demographics, typically regional or political, in an effort to cover up weaknesses and sway some undecided voters.

Biden was experienced with a long history on the foreign relations committee
Ryan was a conservative darling to complement a more moderate Romney
McCain wanted Lieberman but was encouraged to choose Palin for more women and conservative support
Edwards was popular with the base and a southerner
Cheney was apparently chosen because there were no good choices and he only wanted to be VP


I don't think Biden makes sense, two old white guys from the east coast don't exactly complement each other. I think he'd be best paired with a younger non-white politician, perhaps someone from the Midwest or Florida/Texas.

 

[tinselwolverine]

We've talked about Warren before on here. We're not talking more about her now because she isn't running, not because we're unaware.

I wonder if a tax on stock transactions would stop all the ridiculous high frequency trading bs.

There is a tax on stock transactions.

Stock transactions involve brokerage fees, and the brokerages pay taxes on money earned from those fees.

I don't know what quantity of trading needs to be done to result in "all the ridiculous high frequency trading" or what makes it "bs."

 

[tinselwolverine]

I don't think Biden makes sense, two old white guys from the east coast don't exactly complement each other. I think he'd be best paired with a younger non-white politician, perhaps someone from the Midwest or Florida/Texas.

Hey - Tulsi Gabbard would be all that; plus she's a woman.

And a veteran.

Except she's really really young

 

[Michchamp]

... Being able to win a screaming match just isn't a litmus test for me...

Huh.

I owe you an apology. I had you pegged as a dyed-in-the-wool Mr. Scream supporter:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rm8im...41KfLw4fKixaLYeeHTuh6hT0lFoMorPQcPyJd2xw4E-9g

 

[Michchamp]

Sanders' best running mate: Elizabeth Warren or Sherrod Brown

safer choices: I don't know. Maybe any left of center Senator, or Democratic governor or even congressman from a state he otherwise wouldn't do well in... like Alan Grayson?

Does it make sense for him to pick someone that the DC flacks, Party Leadership, and lobbyists will approve of? He's come this far without compromising... why start now?

 

[tinselwolverine]

Anyways...those of you who are interested, the next secret Democratic Presidential debate is this coming Sunday, January 17th, at 9 Eastern on NBC.

But please don't let Debbie Wasserman Schultz that you heard it from me.

 

[grandy]

Hopefully it's an actual debate and not just a sad attempt by the DNC to prop up Hillary. Did anything memorable even happen outside of the first debate (Jim Webb complaining about speaking time and reminiscing about killing some dude in Vietnam)?

 

[tinselwolverine]

Hopefully it's an actual debate and not just a sad attempt by the DNC to prop up Hillary. Did anything memorable even happen outside of the first debate (Jim Webb complaining about speaking time and reminiscing about killing some dude in Vietnam)?

There have been two after that first one, and they were pretty well kept secret.

They were both on a Saturday.

I think this one coming up hasn't been kept secret as well as those.

It's on Sunday, which is a better night for people to tune in.

 

[sggatecl]

But please don't let Debbie Wasserman Schultz that you heard it from me.

 

[Gulo Blue]

There is a tax on stock transactions.

Stock transactions involve brokerage fees, and the brokerages pay taxes on money earned from those fees.

I don't know what quantity of trading needs to be done to result in "all the ridiculous high frequency trading" or what makes it "bs."

It needs to be something that hits each trade just a little bit. I don't know what the percentages are but it needs to be something like whatever the current percentage is + 0.0001 cents per trade. The practice of buying buildings as close to trading computers and investing gobs of money and work from our best and brightest to shave milliseconds off of the time it takes to make a trade is wasteful. It doesn't help the economy in any way. It makes people rich the sort of the way they tried in Superman III and Office Space, but instead of rounding fractional cents from transactions, their snipping off the tiniest amounts of market inefficiency. But nothing is happening in the real world as a result of that trading to promote the general welfare. The invisible hand just doesn't move that quickly. Meanwhile, the people involve are smart enough to do some really great things with their effort. I don't see it as morally worse than any other kind of waste. That's all it is. Just wasteful.