Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

relayerbob

relayerbob's Journal
relayerbob's Journal
February 24, 2020

So this SEC letter isn't good

Individuals exceeding limits and foreign campaign contributions cited. It's only 510 pages long

https://docquery.fec.gov/pdf/943/202002230300058943/202002230300058943.pdf?fbclid=IwAR1OA1TyOxxaRpJX-sfA23LdevYmVHehrbQsGdARjYoVs5YntZGp4ue-OTg

February 22, 2020

My "official" endorsement on my social media pages

As if anyone really cares about such things, I wrote this today:

I have avoided expressing my political preferences very much in the primary so far, for two main reasons: 1 - Supporting candidate A doesn't require dissing candidate B, and all too often, that's how these discussions end. We are all allies and need to act as such. I am proud of the huge depth of potential candidates the Democratic Party has offered up, and all would be superior to the crackpot that currently resides in the WH. Full disclosure: I have donated substantially to all of the major candidates. 2 - I think the primary processes are too long and byzantine, and leads to 24/7/365 campaigns for office, which IMO, does not help in governing the country in the least.

I do, however, think it is time for the field to tighten up and defragment.

To that end, I am asking everyone to read my little essay, especially all my many friends in California (since a plurality of them live there and Super Tuesday is coming fast) and to seriously consider Elizabeth Warren for your vote. I have gone back and forth and have debated the merits of all of them, and truly believe she is the best candidate for the office of President that we have had in a long time. As a political junkie and activist since 1976, I feel qualified to make this observation. I actually wanted her to run in 2015 before she opted out. Please also refer to her website, and her bio articles. I endorse Elizabeth Warren for the following reasons:

1 - Liz has a long record of successfully fighting corruption, starting with her fighting unfair bankruptcy laws, resulting in the laws restricting the ability of corporations to force individuals into bankruptcy. She helped create and run the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. She fought strongly for more stringent banking regulations after the 2008 crash. One of her main themes of her Presidential run is to remove the corruption that permeates Washington - once and for all! She has made it clear she WILL hold law-breakers in the government accountable for their actions, and will pursue criminal and civil charges as required. Her considered, rational and devastating take-down of Mike Bloomberg in the last debate shows she will not flinch when it comes to calling out Donald Trump, in public, during the General Election campaign.

2 - She is a strongly Pragmatic Progressive, who wants to tax the wealthy on their fortunes to fund the massive structural improvements in climate change, universal health care, education, child care, consumer protection, voting rights, labor laws and other items on her agenda that she proposes. She understands and advocates common sense, shared, team approaches to problem solving and has repeatedly proven herself as a leader who can be trusted to listen to the experts, as well as the layman, and make the right decisions. She doesn't believe that government should control everything, just regulate and tax corporations and the wealthy appropriately, so that the economy can work for everyone fairly. She believes in science!! Wouldn't that be a nice change?

3 - Liz is one of most intelligent people to have ever run for President, having taught law at various Universities including bankruptcy and contract law at Harvard University, and has written five books, coauthored a number of others, as well as authored many articles. She will appoint intelligent and fair judges to the Supreme Court and lower courts.

4 - She has extensive experience in foreign affairs, having served on the Committee on Armed Services, and travelled to Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere. This article from CNN outlines her positions rather well: https: //www.cnn.com/2020/01/10/politics/elizabeth-warren-foreign-policy/index.html (link broken on purpose, just remove the space after https . She supports our Veterans and wants to put in place rational, multilateral and multi-national solutions to terror and international conflict.

5 -She has a goal of reducing domestic gun violence by 80% by removing the NRAs ability to block legislation and put in place gun buyback programs, as well as funding research into the root causes of gun violence that has been stymied by the GOP for decades. She also supports common sense laws that aim to reduce gun deaths, much as previous era leaders reduced automotive deaths.

6 - She is the most well-positioned to be able to unify the various wings of the Democratic Party and lead us to the victory we all need, not only in the race for the Presidency, but in the down-ticket races for the Senate, which we MUST retake and in the House of Representatives, which we must not lose.

7 - While I am not one who cares much about endorsement, she has them from Julian Castro, the Working Families Party, Alicia Garza - the co-founder of Black Lives Matter, Robert Reich, countless current and former politicians and celebrities, and a wide variety of media outlets.

So, please join me in supporting Elizabeth Warren. I have spent a lot of effort analyzing all of the candidates, and truly believe she provides the best and most balanced approaches to solving our country's and the world's many crises, and will be able to put together the most effective coalitions, both nationally and internationally, to combat climate change, massive wealth inequality and never-ending wars. In my opinion, she has the experience, temperament, broadly-based appeal and the detailed plans required to lead us in the post-Trump mess we will find ourselves in come Jan 20, 2021.

She details these plans and many others on her website, https://elizabethwarren.com/ (just bypass the donation page, for now, but if you want to support her financially, please join us!)

Thanks!




February 20, 2020

My personal take

More or less in order

Great (but all very close)
Warren
Buttegieg
Biden

Marginal:
Klobuchar
Sanders

Poor:
Bloomberg

And I expect others to disagree, even my wife does, lol

February 13, 2020

To any and all

Thank you for the hearts!!

February 6, 2020

The Iowa caucus is not winner take all

There is no "winner" per se, as the delegates are awarded proportionately.

If this was a marathon race, the best one could say is that Sanders and Buttegieg are nose to nose, leading the pack, with Warren close behind and Biden right on her heels. Also, if this was a marathon, we wouldn't have even passed the first half mile mark, yet. As a distance runner I can tell you, they would barely have worked up a sweat yet.

So, relax, the start was bad, the officiating sucked, but the relative positions of the contenders at this point won't change the end results much, if any at all. The hoped for prime-time victory speeches were missed, but in reality, don't mean much. The delegate counts will likely remain very close to the same in any recount.

No matter who your candidate is, over 70% of the Democrats in Iowa CHOSE SOMEONE ELSE. This is true in almost all national polls. Quit freaking out, no one's "surging" ahead, that's all media and campaign hype.

Let the process play out, stay focused on the end goal (taking back our country from the morons), and most of all, take a deep breath and let the numbers get checked and rechecked and otherwise, let it go.

Profile Information

Name: Bob
Gender: Male
Hometown: Atlanta
Home country: United States
Member since: Sat Oct 25, 2008, 05:03 PM
Number of posts: 6,544
Latest Discussions»relayerbob's Journal