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The Issue

Is Sanders leading the start of a new progressive era?

By Jacob Lind -

The surge of Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is fueling a movement of progressives across the country, writes Jacob Lind.

In 2013, Kshama Sawant was elected to the Seattle City Council. Ordinarily, such an event would be of little note to the United States at large, however, Sawant is no ordinary politician, at least by today’s standards. A member of the Socialist Alternative, Sawant became the first socialist party member elected to public office in a major metropolitan area in over 100 years. She recently dominated in the primary for her first re-election campaign, taking 51.88% of the vote in a 5-way contest.

Her closest competitor barely scraped 15%. Yet, despite Sawant’s popularity, socialism and progressivism as a whole has been decidedly lacking in the United States for the last century. Since Warren G. Harding proposed his “Return to Normalcy” following the First World War and progressive presidency of Woodrow Wilson, the U.S. has been in a constant Red Scare. As a result, words like progressive and socialist have become political poison. Indeed, aside for Sawant, the only other politician who dares to accept the mantle of socialist is Vermont Senator and current Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders.

Sanders is the longest serving independent in the history of the United States Congress, and though he caucuses alongside the Democrats, he has remained fiercely independent his entire career. Even now, as he pursues the Democratic nomination, he refuses corporate donations and is known as a fighter for the average American. When he launched his campaign in April of 2015, the establishment laughed in his face. Pundits claimed that he was little more than a protest candidate and snottily declared that his only purpose was to pull Hillary to the left.

…
But then, something remarkable happened……

more

http://berniepost.com/2015/08/is-sanders-leading-the-start-of-a-new-progressive-era/

Bernie Sanders Warns Democrats They May Not Win in 2016 Without Him

Taking his outsider message into the heart of the Democratic establishment, Senator Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent, challenged hundreds of the party’s leaders on Friday to embrace his candidacy, warning that the huge crowds of supporters he has drawn may not vote for Democratic candidates in 2016 unless he is at the top of the ticket.

Mr. Sanders, who has been gaining ground in the polls, was warmly complimentary at first in addressing the Democratic National Committee’s summer meeting here, crediting the party faithful for fighting on behalf of working people and low-income Americans.

But he soon turned pointed, suggesting that the Democrats’ electoral losses in 2014 – when Republicans won control of the Senate – could be repeated if the party nominated a traditional politician.

“My friends, the Republican Party did not win the midterm election in November: We lost that election,” Mr. Sanders said. “We lost because voter turnout was abysmally, embarrassingly low, and millions of working people, young people and people of color gave up on politics as usual and they stayed home. That’s a fact.”

more
http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/08/28/bernie-sanders-warns-democrats-they-may-not-win-in-2016-without-him/

Elizabeth Warren knows how to wield her power

MASSACHUSETTS HAS NEVER SEEN a politician like Senator Elizabeth Warren. Until Warren, a woman with that much altitude and attitude was an alien concept here.

Even if you consider her “the face of the uber-Left” — as Fox News host Bill O’Reilly describes it — you have to acknowledge what that means: Warren has the power. And it belongs solely to her. No derivative spousal muscle involved.

Followers across the country begged Warren to run for president. So far, she’s instead using her clout to push President Obama on policy and appointments and prod Hillary Clinton toward a sharper focus on income inequality.

And now Vice President Joe Biden is seeking Warren’s blessing — and fund-raising apparatus — as he mulls a 2016 presidential run. The prospect of a Biden-Warren ticket is also being floated by the Biden camp as a way to shift Democrats to an alternative to Clinton and her e-mail mess.

However this plays out, Biden needs Warren. She doesn’t need him. Biden-Warren — “The Dems’ Plan B,” as the Boston Herald put it — is not just about putting a woman on the ticket. It’s about pairing Biden with a charismatic, policy-smart progressive who just happens to be female.

more

https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2015/08/29/elizabeth-warren-knows-how-wield-her-power/tMIk04v0lzm0Wtu5resaZI/story.html

Slipping in polls, Jeb Bush pushes to rack up establishment endorsements

By Ed O'Keefe

Sinking in the polls amid the rise of renegade party outsiders, Jeb Bush is turning to something not in style this summer: establishment support.

The Republican presidential candidate has accumulated pledges from a steady trickle of mayors, state legislators, former governors and about two dozen members of Congress in recent weeks, including former House majority leader Eric Cantor on Thursday.

The tally puts Bush ahead of other 2016 contenders in racking up endorsements but far behind previous GOP candidates at this point in a presidential campaign cycle. The size of the Republican field, plus the sustained dominance of flamboyant businessman Donald Trump, is causing many to refrain from picking sides.

Bush began the year as the GOP’s presumed front-runner, but his poll numbers plunged into the single digits in a national survey this week alongside the rise of Trump and former neurosurgeon Ben Carson, who have pushed ahead of elected officials in the field.

more

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/slipping-in-the-polls-jeb-bush-pushes-to-rack-up-endorsements/2015/08/28/47d0e29a-4d81-11e5-902f-39e9219e574b_story.html


Seems like a familiar strategy…...

Two Indian Sisters Ordered to Be Raped by Village Council Beg Supreme Court for Help

They are being punished by the unelected council because their brother eloped with a married woman from a higher caste

A petition to save two sisters in India from being raped and publicly humiliated for their brother’s actions, a punishment handed down by an unofficial village council, has gathered considerable support for its demand that authorities intervene and stop the “disgusting ruling” from being enforced.

The petition by human-rights organization Amnesty International has garnered over 16,000 signatures thus far, and calls for law enforcement to stop the council-sanctioned rape of 23-year-old Meenakshi Kumari and her 15-year-old sister in Baghpat village in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.

The unelected council of elders ordered that Kumari and her sister — both members of the low Dalit caste — be raped and paraded naked with blackened faces, after their brother eloped with a married woman of a higher caste. He and the woman, who belongs to the dominant Jat caste, were in love and eloped after she was forced to marry someone from her own caste, according to reports.

more

http://time.com/4014444/india-khap-panchayat-two-sisters-rape-ordered-uttar-pradesh/

Ben Carson: There's No War On Women, But On 'What’s Inside Of Women’

By CAITLIN CRUZ


Republican presidential candidate and former neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson said during a campaign stop in Arkansas on Thursday there isn't a war on women, but rather there may be "a war on what's inside of women."

"They tell you that there’s a war on women," Carson said while in Little Rock, according to RawStory. "There is no war on women. There may be a war on what’s inside of women, but there is no war on women in this country."

Carson didn't clarify how women and their insides were being separately legislated.

video at link

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/ben-carson-war-on-women

The insanity continues

'Stop Chris Christie' PAC Disbands: He's Already Stopped Himself

A super PAC opposing Chris Christie's (R) presidential bid said Tuesday that it planned to shut down, citing the New Jersey governor's poor performance in the polls.

The treasurer of the Stop Chris Christie PAC, Thomas Bjorkland, made the announcement in response to a letter from the Federal Election Commission that warned the super PAC must change its name or else clarify the nature of the committee. Bjorkland wrote in a letter to the FEC that "based on recent polling and the miserable showing of the candidate in question," the committee decided to instead wind down its operations.

"Our committee believes that Mr. Christie has already performed the service of stopping his campaign in spirit, (without our aid) even if not by the letter of the law," Bjorkland wrote in the letter. "Therefore, we intend to stop (cause to come to an end) the Stop Chris Christie PAC within the next 30 days."

A CNN/ORC poll released Aug. 19 showed that Christie polled in 11th place in a crowded GOP presidential field.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/stop-chris-christie-pac-shuts-down

Now shut up and go back home, Chrispie.

For Bernie Sanders to Win in 2016 His Young Supporters Will Need to Make History

By: Justin Ackerman

In an election season where media coverage for Bernie Sanders is rare, there are a few common accolades every outlet has no choice but to concede. The biggest compliment many have for the Bernie Sanders campaign is his appeal with young voters. It might seem strange that the 73 year old Senator from Vermont is making such a splash, but when you take a deeper look at his policies it becomes abundantly clear why young people, and so many others, have flocked to the Democratic hopeful. Still, if his supporters intend to turn this support into an election or meaningful reform they must be willing to work hard in the primary election, general election, and political life well into his presidential tenure. For Bernie Sanders to win young people are going to need to show up to vote in historic numbers, but unfortunately nothing like that has happened for decades. That said there is definitely a historical precedent for an American youth movement to shape American politics and it seems as though times are getting dire enough to warrant mass political participation.

As it stands now there is an education crisis in the United States. Millions of hard working students around the country are forced to squander their potential because of the increasing cost of higher education. According to the college board survey of colleges in 1983 the average cost of tuition was $2,810 which has since risen to $9,139, where it sits today.An almost 400% increase, when accounting for inflation it’s still over a 20% increase. On top of that the cost of living, gas, food, books and nearly everything else has risen considerably. Unfortunately wages have not kept up, especially in the industries where most college students work, entry level, food service, and retail. All of which are for the most part minimum wages jobs. For decades American students have been pushed to pursue a college education at any cost and until recently that was feasible for everyone able to get in. The result of easily obtainable college education was generation after generation of college educated Americans, but was once a guarantee is becoming harder and harder to obtain.

For many the rising costs make it a financial impossibility and many who do choose to attend walk away with an average of over $30,000 in student loan debt. Considering that is half a small house in some areas, it is no wonder many are choosing to forgo college entirely. Even with college costs soaring, the value of a college degree cannot be denied. Workers with a degree almost always tend to make more throughout their lifetime and the job market itself is increasingly unforgiving to those without a degree. Perhaps even more important than job opportunities is the tools a college education provides citizens. Without extended education making informed decisions and analyzing the world becomes a lot more difficult. Which is why increasing the availability of a college education must be a priority in 2016 and no candidate has fought as hard for affordable higher education than Bernie Sanders.

Recently Sanders introduced legislation to publicly fund universal higher education in the United States. His plan would only cost $70 billion dollars and while that is over double current pell grant expenditures, universal education is too important to not foot the bill. Almost no investment provides as much utility as universal higher education. Bernie Sanders himself has said time and time again that, “in a global economy, when our young people are competing with workers from around the world, we have got to have the best educated workforce possible.” People from all around the world flock to the American university system, but that success is far less meaningful when millions of would be American students are held back for financial reasons which are almost always entirely out of their control.

Every student in the country should support Bernie Sanders and his proposal to fully fund universal higher education. Not only would it only cost a quarter of what we spend on defense each year and roughly the same as we spend on incarceration, the social benefit would be enormous. As it stands now students everywhere are being punished with high interest rates and ever increasing tuition costs. Another issue which Bernie Sanders legislation would address. There is over $1.2 trillion dollars in student loan assets in the United States and while simply absolving people of their debts may have disastrous economic outcomes the situation should have never gotten so dire in the first place. That money should have been flowing through our economy all along. As it stands now that is not the case and millions of students are stuck with large payments that make starting a good life nearly impossible. Admittedly a decent portion of that money goes back to the government, but still our government should be investing in our country’s citizens, not profiting off one of society’s most beneficial institutions. Thankfully Sanders’’ plan would end the current practice of profiteering off students.

more

http://studentsforberniesanders.com/studentsmakehistory

Friday TOON Roundup 3 - The Rest

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Climate