Bernie Sanders now on Senate floor: How did we get here?

[flpoljunkie]

Meaning the $14.3T deficit.

Two unpaid for wars (firstly, the war in Iraq)
$700 billion in tax breaks for the top 2%
An unpaid for Medicare prescription drug benefit
Wall Street bailout (TARP)
The recession we're in (caused by deregulation and greed on Wall Street)

http://www.cspan.org/Live-Video/C-SPAN2/

[rhett o rick]

1. We got here because the American people have yielded their freedoms for some shiny trinkets. nm

[Autumn]

2. Well we are spreading Democracy, if the rich get tax breaks

we all get jobs, hey maybe the Medicare prescription drug benefit is part of the insurance finance reform deal, TARP, well see Wall Street made some bad, sleezy investments and they really, really needed the money back so there went more tax dollars, and the recession,that's that darn Wall Street again.

Ask Bush and Obama, of course they would probably say it's all those wasteful entitlement programs.Welfare, SS, Food Stamps, Medicare. The list goes on.

[flpoljunkie]

3. Sanders assailing the Ryan budget plan now

End Medicare as we know it in 10 years; replace with an $8,000 voucher for private insurance health coverage
Drastically reduce funding for Medicaid and CHIP
Pay $3500 more for drugs when you reach the donut hole
Repeal ACA (Obamacare)
Kick 10 million off of food stamps
Defense sending go up $20 billion alone next year
Rich and large corporations to receive even more in tax breaks by permanently extend Bush tax cuts and reduce top and corporate rates to 25%

Sanders: 'We take from the poorest people and we give to the richest people.'

[canoeist52]

4. 18,00 companies share an adress in the Cayman Islands.

[flpoljunkie]

5. 18,857 to be exact

[Cleita]

6. We got here because of our corrupt election system.

We need more Bernie Sanders as our elected officials but seem to get more right wing trash that treats our government like a bank that is meant to be robbed by them until there is nothing left.

[flpoljunkie]

7. And, sadly, it will remain so--unless we demand otherwise.

[bigwillq]

8. K and R (nt)

[fascisthunter]

9. basically he is outlining reasons our reps keep ignoring

anyone stating our social services need to be cut due to our debt, needs to STFU and stop being dishonest!

[flpoljunkie]

10. Read and sign Bernie Sanders letter to the president

Link: http://sanders.senate.gov/petition/?uid=c1fd7f9b-abd8-4e7a-a370-1867881259d8

Dear Mr. President,

This is a pivotal moment in the history of our country. Decisions are being made about the national budget that will impact the lives of virtually every American for decades to come. As we address the issue of deficit reduction we must not ignore the painful economic reality of today - which is that the wealthiest people in our country and the largest corporations are doing phenomenally well while the middle class is collapsing and poverty is increasing. In fact, the United States today has, by far, the most unequal distribution of wealth and income of any major country on earth.

Everyone understands that over the long-term we have got to reduce the deficit - a deficit that was caused mainly by Wall Street greed, tax breaks for the rich, two wars, and a prescription drug program written by the drug and insurance companies. It is absolutely imperative, however, that as we go forward with deficit reduction we completely reject the Republican approach that demands savage cuts in desperately-needed programs for working families, the elderly, the sick, our children and the poor, while not asking the wealthiest among us to contribute one penny.

Mr. President, please listen to the overwhelming majority of the American people who believe that deficit reduction must be about shared sacrifice. The wealthiest Americans and the most profitable corporations in this country must pay their fair share. At least 50 percent of any deficit reduction package must come from revenue raised by ending tax breaks for the wealthy and eliminating tax loopholes that benefit large, profitable corporations and Wall Street financial institutions. A sensible deficit reduction package must also include significant cuts to unnecessary and wasteful Pentagon spending.

Please do not yield to outrageous Republican demands that would greatly increase suffering for the weakest and most vulnerable members of our society. Now is the time to stand with the tens of millions of Americans who are struggling to survive economically, not with the millionaires and billionaires who have never had it so good.

Respectfully,

Sen. Bernie Sanders;
and Co-signers

[LiberalEsto]

11. Everything proceeding according to (GOP) plan

These things didn't happen by accident.

They want to fuck us over.

[bvar22]

14. The GOP Plan?

They've needed a lot of help from the NeoLiberal "Centrist" Democrats,
but there is "hope".
Look South.

"The worst enemy of humanity is U.S. capitalism. That is what provokes uprisings like our own, a rebellion against a system, against a neoliberal model, which is the representation of a savage capitalism. If the entire world doesn't acknowledge this reality, that nation states are not providing even minimally for health, education and nourishment, then each day the most fundamental human rights are being violated."
----Bolivian Reform President Evo Morales

FDR said much the same thing in 1944 with his Economic Bill of Rights.



Who will STAND and FIGHT for THIS American Majority?
You will know them by their WORKS,
not by their WORDS.

[flpoljunkie]

12. Sanders ends with, 'Stand tall, Mr. President, do not yield to Republican blackmail.'

[great white snark]

13. K&R