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Open thread October 18, 2016

Dan Crawford | October 18, 2016 12:28 am

Tags: open thread Comments (7) | Digg Facebook Twitter |
7 Comments
  • bkrasting says:
    October 18, 2016 at 10:11 am

    Can any readers explain to me the difference between debt and deficits in Fiscal 2016?

    For the Fiscal Year the Federal deficit was $587B

    In the same period Federal debt rose by $1.422T

  • Jim Hannan says:
    October 18, 2016 at 6:21 pm

    I wonder if Bernie Sanders ever has second thoughts about not joining the Democratic Party at some point in his political career. He started out running for mayor in Vermont against an entrenched Democratic machine.
    However, he ended up serving for many years in the House and then the US Senate. At some point, he could have joined the Democratic Party since he caucused with them in Congress and was given committee assignments and status almost as if he was a Democrat.
    When Bernie ran against Hillary, there were 44 Democratic senators, all super delegates. Hillary ended up with 39 endorsements, Bernie one.
    Some might attribute this to the vaunted Clinton machine, but I don’t think that explains everything. When Obama ran in 2008 against the Clinton machine, he got lots of Democratic senators to support him, including Ted Kennedy.
    I think there is some element of we support folks who are part of our tribe, and Bernie had never done the little things like helping out Democrats in their elections, raised money for the party, etc. There were probably some meetings in the US Senate that he was not invited to attend.
    Would it have made a difference in the campaign? Hard to say. But it surely wouldn’t have hurt. I think there were some in the Democratic base, not on the left but more party people, that didn’t know Bernie and were a little uncomfortable with the fact that he wasn’t a Democrat.
    Fast forward to today. Bernie decided to leave the Democratic Party during the Democratic convention, after working hard to shape the party platform. Now he has formed Our Revolution, a group that will hopefully push a more progressive agenda nationally. But once again, Bernie is on the outside.
    I personally think that he would have more clout within the party, like Elizabeth Warren, than sitting outside.

  • EMichael says:
    October 19, 2016 at 8:34 am

    Jim,

    We agree. If Sanders had taken the Dem nomination for Senate in 2006 and supported the Dem Party and its nominees in the elections since then, I believe strongly that he would be the next POTUS.

    And I believe his unwillingness to stay a Dem now will hurt the Progressive movement.

    Mystery of life question to me why he has acted like this since this century began.

  • EMichael says:
    October 19, 2016 at 8:49 am

    BTW,

    In case it was not clear I am not talking about Sanders’ policies in any way, shape or form. I am only talking about his decision not to become a member of the DP.

    Meanwhile,

    One thing in this regard always runs through my mind. What would have been the effect on the country is Sanders had become a Dem in 2006 and campaigned for Coakley versus Scott Brown?

  • amateur socialist says:
    October 19, 2016 at 10:25 am

    Naked Capitalism features a must read piece on Madame Secretary’s vision for Social Security here: http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2016/10/blackstones-tony-james-touting-what-looks-like-hillarys-scheme-to-gut-social-security.html

    It points to another key article by David Sirota in International Business Times here: http://www.ibtimes.com/political-capital/hillary-clinton-wall-street-financial-industry-may-control-retirement-savings

    Is she finally going to achieve her husband’s second term goal of destroying the US’s publicly funded retirement system? watch and learn.

  • EMichael says:
    October 19, 2016 at 10:59 am

    Amazing how people make stuff up.

    There is nothing in her entire political history, her campaign platform or the DP platform that suggests anything like privatizing social security.

    Btw,

    She actually did not have sex with that woman.

  • Amateur Socialist says:
    October 19, 2016 at 12:29 pm

    Right. So just watch then.

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