Skip to content

Bernie Sanders

Why Sanders “Revolution” Must Take On Permanent War State

July 2, 2016 Gareth Porter, www.truth-out.org , ,
By Gareth Porter for Truthout - The People's Summit in Chicago June 17-19 dramatically displayed both the strengths and the vulnerabilities of what has emerged in 2016 as one of the most potentially powerful movements for fundamental change in the United States in many decades. The event, which brought together 3,000 committed movement activists to rally in support of the "political revolution" given impetus by Bernie Sanders' campaign, was an opportunity to ensure that the movement will not dissipate in the wake of Hillary Clinton's clinching the Democratic nomination.

Senate Food Fight Erupts Over Sham GMO Labeling Bill

June 30, 2016 Lauren McCauley, www.commondreams.org , , ,
By Lauren McCauley for Common Dreams - The pending "compromise" GMO labeling bill has food safety and consumer advocates both in and out of government scrambling to block the legislation, which they warn will destroy popular efforts to label products made with genetically modified (GMO) ingredients. Sen. Bernie Sanders has vowed to put a hold on the legislation, which would prevent it from coming up for debate unless proponents can muster 60 votes.

DNC Torpedoes Majority Of Sanders’ Agenda

June 26, 2016 Hugh Wharton, www.usuncut.com , ,
By Hugh Wharton for US Uncut. St. Louis, MO - The battle over the official Democratic Party platform began in earnest this Friday at a nine-hour meeting in St. Louis, Missouri, and already the sparks of tension seem to be outweighing the calls for “unity.” The Democratic Party’s platform is an official statement of values on a wide range of issues, and while it is officially non-binding, the platform serves as a crucial guidepost for the entire party. The 2016 platform committee comprises fifteen members, with five members chosen by Bernie Sanders, six chosen by Hillary Clinton, and four chosen by Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the chair of the Democratic National Committee. Bernie Sanders himself had conflicting feelings about the progress and concessions made on Friday.

On Citizen Activism, Before & After Sanders Campaign

June 15, 2016 Steve Early, www.counterpunch.org/ ,
By Steve Early for Counter Punch - As the 2016 primary season ends and Bernie Sanders backers look beyond next month’s Democratic convention in Philadelphia, many who’ve “felt the Bern” have their eye on local politics. Hundreds, if not thousands, will be heeding the call of Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison, a Sanders’ endorser and convention delegate. “We need people running for school boards,” Ellison told theNew York Times in May. “We need people running for City Council. We need people running for state legislatures.

The “Afterbern”: What’s Next For The American Left?

May 23, 2016 Salar Mohandesi, www.viewpointmag.com , ,
By Salar Mohandesi for Viewpoint Magazine - One of the most significant political stories of the year is the meteoric rise of a little-known, seventy-four year old, self-proclaimed "democratic socialist" senator from the small state of Vermont. Although he may win many of the remaining contests, it seems extremely unlikely that Bernie Sanders will clinch the Democratic nomination. Nevertheless, his bid for the presidency has dramatically, perhaps irreversibly, changed the political landscape in this country.

They Lit The Bern, What Comes Next?

May 21, 2016 John Tarleton, www.indypendent.org ,
By John Tarleton for The Indypendent - Winnie Wong calls herself a practical anarchist. She speaks in short intense bursts, an activist warrior slashing her way through the thicket of establishment politics toward a future that somehow has to be won. Charles Lenchner identifies as a “full-spectrum socialist” who will adopt the best strategy in a given moment to build the power of the working class. A former director of communications for the Working Families Party, his preferred voice is one of bemused irony that masks an underlying seriousness of purpose.

More Americans Want Socialist Healthcare Than You Think

May 20, 2016 Harry Cheadle, www.vice.com , ,
By Harry Cheadle for Vice - The passage of the Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. Obamacare, shows what it takes to create a new government benefit in 21st-century America. The debate over the bill during Obama's first term was a nationwide shoutfest that turned violent at times; since Obamacare became law in 2010, the Republican-controlled House has continuously voted to defund it, conservatives have challenged it in multiple court battles (at least one of which is still being fought), many GOP-run states have stalled the expansion of Medicaid that was supposed to come with the law...

Political Revolution Will Continue Long After Bernie Sanders’ Campaign

May 10, 2016 Ethan Corey, www.inthesetimes.com , ,
By Ethan Corey for In These Times - A YEAR AGO, WHEN BERNIE SANDERS ANNOUNCED HIS RUN FOR PRESIDENT, few thought his bid would amount to more than a protest campaign. But today, after more than 2 million donors and 400,000 volunteers have helped Sanders build a highly effective political organization that has earned him victories in 18 states so far, activists are strategizing about how to turn his campaign into a long-term movement. In nearly every state in the nation, autonomous grassroots organizations began campaigning for Sanders months before his campaign established any official presence on the ground.

Newsletter: Living In A Post-2011 World

May 7, 2016 Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers, www.popularresistance.org , , , , , , , , , , ,
By Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers. The 2016 election has deepened the understanding of how out of step the establishment political parties are with the people of the United States. The parties have reinforced the rationale for the Occupy uprising, and the uprisings on racism, inequality, poverty wages, mistreatment of students and more that have occurred since 2011; and they have increased national consensus on the dysfunction and corruption of government, the unfairness and inequity of the economy and the lack of concern for the environment and climate change.Don't Represent US In order to understand the election's relationship to the movement for economic, racial and environmental justice, we need to understand that the roots of this election come from the uprising of 2011. As Paolo Gerbaudo wrote in ROAR Magazine: "The 2011 protest wave will forever be associated with the slogan 'they don’t represent us' — a clear indictment of the present form of representative politics and the existing political class."

The Movement Will Continue No Matter How The Election Turns Out

April 19, 2016 Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers, www.PopularResistance.org , , , ,
By Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers for Popular Resistance. Below is an announcement of a partnership between Popular Resistance and Resistance Against Plutocracy which created the 'Bernie or Bust Campaign.' This is not an electoral alliance but a movement building alliance. We recognize the incredible work the Bernie Sanders campaign has done to build national consensus around the issue of the unfair Wall Street dominated economy and the corruption of the US electoral system by big money interests. We also recognize that despite the national consensus on these issues an independent mass movement is essential for creating the trasnsformational change need. We hope other supporters of Sanders 'political revolution' recognize that a revolution does not coincide with an election but is much bigger than an election. The people need to build a movement that is able to impact whoever is elected president, as well as congress, state legislatures and local governments. We need to unite Sanders supporters with the popular movement.

Free-Trade Opposition Unites Political Parties In Bloomberg Poll

April 2, 2016 John McCormick and Terrence Dopp, www.bloomberg.com , , ,
By John McCormick and Terrence Dopp for Bloomberg - Opposition to free trade is a unifying concept even in a deeply divided electorate, with almost two-thirds of Americans favoring more restrictions on imported goods instead of fewer. The latest Bloomberg Politics national poll shows the issue unites the country like few others, across lines of politics, race, gender, education, and income. A stunning rejection of what was a postwar cornerstone of American economic and foreign policies reverberates again and again in the answers to the poll’s questions.

After Election, Can Support For Bernie Spur Social Change?

March 27, 2016 Arun Gupta, www.telesurtv.net , ,
By Arun Gupta for TeleSur. Some call it a movement because Sanders volunteers are self-organizing to phone bank, canvas, leaflet, rally, and fundraise. That is not independent organizing, however; it’s mobilizing voters to advance Sanders in a process controlled by Democrats. Once that ends the groups will unravel because they’ve lost their common bond (unless the members have a pre-existing political relationship). It’s similar to how Occupy Wall Street disintegrated after groups were evicted from the physical camps that glued them together. If the Sanders campaign were a movement, leaders would be emerging with their own strategies, networks of support, and organizations as they have in movements from immigrant Dreamers and climate justice to Occupy and Black Lives Matter.

Confused On Health Care When The Answers Are Obvious

March 22, 2016 Lori Robertson, www.factcheck.org , , ,
By Lori Robertson for Fact Check - Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton said, “I don’t know where [Bernie Sanders] was when I was trying to get health care in ’93 and ’94.” Actually, Sanders cosponsored a single-payer health insurance bill in 1993, and Clinton thanked him for his work on the issue that year. Clinton made the comment at a campaign rally in St. Louis, starting at the 18:23 mark, after she talked about standing up against “powerful forces.”

Newsletter: Justice Takes A Lifetime

March 19, 2016 Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers, www.PopularResistance.org , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
By Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers for Popular Resistance. The #BlackLivesMatter movement continues to grow its power and have notable victories, but 600 hundred years of racial oppression, older than the nation itself, will not be rooted out quickly. The movement had a series of electoral and other victories this week. These victories for #BLM and their supporters are notable but problems still persist and the movement must continue to grow and get stronger. There are no quick fixes to a country that is crippled by its history of racism. We must all recognize that the work we are doing for racial, economic and environmental justice requires us to be persistent and uncompromising. achieve the transformational justice we seek will last our lifetimes – a marathon and not a sprint.

Why Are There Suddenly Millions Of Socialists In America?

March 4, 2016 Harold Meyerson, www.theguardian.com , , ,
By Harold Meyerson for The Guardian - In 1906 German sociologist Werner Sombart wrote an essay entitled Why Is There No Socialism in the United States? that sought to explain why the US, alone among industrialized democracies, had not developed a major socialist movement. Today, however, we need to pose a different question: why are there socialists in the United States? In this nation that has long been resistant to socialism’s call, who are all these people who now suddenly deem themselves socialists? Where did they come from? What do they mean by socialism?
«123456»