Category Archives: Bernie Sanders

7/11 News & Afternoon/Evening OT

The Progressive Wing Posted on by

Hello Friends! A fresh thread for us.

Bernie picked a very good battle, one very much worth fighting, when he jumped into the planned closure of Hahnemann University Hospital.

Politico: Sanders says Philadelphia hospital closure ‘illustrates the entire problem’ with healthcare

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., condemned the planned closure of Philadelphia-based Hahnemann University Hospital as an example of the failure of the U.S. healthcare system, Politico reports.

“The situation in Philadelphia illustrates the entire problem: In a city with one of the highest poverty rates in the country, a major hospital serving low-income communities is on the verge of laying off 2,500 people, abandoning 500 medical residents, and closing its operations thanks to an investment firm looking to make as much money as possible in a corporate fire sale,” Mr. Sanders said July 7, according to Politico.

Mr. Sanders voiced his support for the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals, which is advocating to keep the hospital open. The union represents 800 registered nurses at Hahnemann University Hospital. PASNAP endorsed Mr. Sanders in 2016

 

Important story from about the closing of Hahnemann Univ. Hospital in Philadelphia. Its private equity owner is bankrupting the 171 year-old medical center and selling the real estate for luxury condos

https://twitter.com/ddayen/status/1149279612863680513

 

Private Equity’s Latest Scheme: Closing Urban Hospitals and Selling Off the Real Estate

Private equity experts worry that private equity firms buying up hospitals simply to sell them for their real estate could become a trend.

“This is an industry where once somebody does this successfully, lots of other private equity firms will follow,” says Eileen Appelbaum. “You just have to think to yourself how many hospitals are in gentrifying neighborhoods in urban America, where the property is worth a lot more than the hospital itself.” Indeed, Freedman could carry this off himself: Paladin has Howard University Hospital in Washington, D.C.’s luxury condo–packed U Street neighborhood in its portfolio, along with four hospitals in south and east Los Angeles.

Union workers and community members say that’s why they intend to fight against the closing.

“It’s a community, despite the fact that there are lots of hospitals in the city of Philadelphia, the patients and workers who get served by one hospital are a community,” says Sue Bowes. “I am fighting really hard for this hospital not just for us but so that another hedge fund doesn’t come in and close down hospitals, and leave patients with nowhere to go. It’s just simply wrong.”

My question is, how the heck did a private equity vulture get his hands on a university hospital?

David Gilmour, PPI & con artists

The Progressive Wing Posted on by

You may have heard about David Gilmour (Pink Floyd guitarist) auctioning off his most famous guitars the other day so he could donate the money to a group called ClientEarth.  He raised over $21 million.

Gilmour revealed that the money from the auction would benefit ClientEarth, which funds environmental lawyers and experts in the fight against climate change. “The global climate crisis is the greatest challenge that humanity will ever face, and we are within a few years of the effects of global warming being irreversible,” he said in a statement. “We need a civilized world that goes on for all our grandchildren and beyond in which these guitars can be played and songs can be sung.”

 

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/david-gilmour-guitars-christies-charity-auction-850597/

But, I’ve just learned that a so-called Democratic think tank is working against that ‘fight’.

Phil Goldberg, PPI’s director of its Center for Civil Justice, is leading the charge.

 

For over a year, PPI’s website has been showcasing Goldberg’s work attacking climate litigation, which he calls “copycat climate suits.” Goldberg is a former lobbyist for coal giant Peabody Energy, which his law firm still represents.

 

And while Goldberg’s bio on PPI’s website lists him as a partner in the corporate law firm Shook, Hardy & Bacon, there’s no mention of his hiring earlier this year by the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) to serve as special counsel in its fight against climate litigation. NAM’s Manufacturers’ Accountability Project, which it launched in 2017, targets climate lawsuits against the manufacturing industry’s energy sector.

PPI stands for Progressive Policy Institute.

PPI’s website also does not disclose Goldberg’s recent work for Grow America’s Infrastructure Now (GAIN), a front group funded by several oil and gas trade associations. In a report for GAIN titled “Vigilante Regulation,” Goldberg, along with two other Shook, Hardy & Bacon attorneys, detail how tort law can be employed to stem what the authors call “anti-pipeline activism.”

 

It’s just plain freaky that a hired gun for the fossil fuel industry would pretend to be neutral or, shockingly, even perhaps ‘progressive’ under the guise of PPI, which has a good reputation as a think tank,” said Denise Antolini, an associate dean at the University of Hawai’i-Manoa’s School of Law.

So many sharks in the water..I mean front groups, to store in the brain!

Goldberg previously served as an adviser to the Civil Justice Task Force of the “corporate bill mill,” the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), where he published reports against state-led climate lawsuits in the group’s publication Inside ALEC.

ALEC!

How in the world can PPI get away with calling itself ‘progressive’ when the director of its Center for Civil Justice has done work for ALEC??

Aha, here’s how:

PPI’s website, which greets its visitors with the banner “radically pragmatic,” does not publicize its funding sources. But the group’s funding seems to come at least in part through its parent organization, the Third Way Foundation, whose tax forms states it is “doing business as the Progressive Policy Institute.”

I hope Gilmour’s beautiful guitars help with much needed funds to counter groups like PPI!

PPI and others’ pushback against climate litigation will only intensify, predicts Robert Brulle, a sociology professor at Drexel University, who studies environmental movements and climate science disinformation campaigns.

 

“As these cases move toward discovery and eventual trial, the architects of the campaign to obstruct climate action, such as the National Association of Manufacturers, are gearing up for a long battle in the courts,” he said.

 

https://truthout.org/articles/a-democratic-think-tank-is-promoting-pushback-against-climate-lawsuits/

I’m cool with Bernie calling Third Way out. They say they welcome the attention, but I suspect they’d prefer to be operating in the dark.

I, for one, only believe the last eight words of the above tweet. That’s what con artists do, they mix a lot of lies in with a little truth. They need to be called out at every turn.

 

6/9 BNR: Sanders Attracts Biggest Crowd at Capital City Pride Forum; Talks Dental Care in Marshalltown and Rallies in Waterloo; Still 2nd in latest DMR Poll, & Open Thread

The Progressive Wing Posted on by

Bernie marched into Des Moines at the Capital City Pride Forum around 1:45. He was greeted by the largest crowd at the event

Bernie discussed Medicare for All with Iowans in Marshalltown. Dental care was raised as a huge concern because Medicare doesn’t cover it, or current Dental plans limit surgeries, still have large out of pocket costs.

From the Times-Republican:

Helping Sanders talk about health care were four panelists from different parts of the state who joined him at Dejardin Hall at Marshalltown Community College.

The high cost of prescription medicines were a key complaint.

“What is to stop a pharmaceutical company from raising the cost of your medicine, two, three or four times what they cost now?,” Sanders asked the crowd. “They do it at will. The pharmaceutical industry recently made $69 billion in profits.”

Sanders said when he is in the White House he will work to cut prescription costs by 50 percent.

He cited Canada’s health care systems as a model the U.S. should exemplify.

“I took several women from Vermont suffering from breast cancer who required a certain medication,” he said. “We drove the 50 miles from St. Albans, Vermont, a working class town, into Canada. We were able to purchase their medications for one-tenth of the cost of what some are paying in the U.S.”

While many in the crowd held Bernie signs and cheered him on during his remarks, others in the audience have not made up their minds with the Feb. 3, 2020 caucus nearly eight months away.

“I have not decided on a candidate,” former Marshall County Supervisor Denny Grabenbauer of Marshalltown said. “I am here with my granddaughter Abby. We wanted to come and see what Sanders’ campaign is all about.”

However Theresa Walton of Marshalltown is a strong Sanders supporter.

“I am for Sanders,” she said quickly. “I was for him in 2016. I supported him on caucus night and volunteered for his campaign. My husband was a Sanders delegate.”

Walton said she likes Sanders positions on health care.

“My sister lives in Vermont, and we have known of his (health care) record for quite some time. He irritates a lot of people because he has some good ideas. But health care … they have done well with that in Vermont and health care is a major issue in this country.”

DMR published results of 2nd IA poll. Graphic is courtesy of DMR.

Bernie finished his day by firing up voters in Waterloo:

From the Waterloo Courier:

The 77-year-old U.S. senator from Vermont fired up a large crowd at the National Cattle Congress Pavilion, earning huge applause for his progressive platform including single-payer health insurance and free college tuition while attacking climate change and income inequality.

“We’re going to have to take them all on,” Sanders said. “We’re talking about Wall Street; we’re talking about the fossil fuel industry and the insurance companies and the drug companies and the military industrial complex and the prison industrial complex and the corporate media — all the the power that is out there trying to preserve the status quo.”

Bernie will be appearing on State of the Union this morning with Jake Tapper. He will be marching with McDonald’s employees on the Fight for $15 to the IA Dem Convention in Cedar Rapids.

More news, tweets, videos, and articles in the comments section. See you there!

6/2 News Roundup & Bernie at Arab American Caucus #CADem2019

The Progressive Wing Posted on by

Happy Sunday everyone!!

Please feel free to use this as an open thread, I just thought this might be a good place to post this video of Bernie’s arrival at the Arab American Caucus meeting at the California Democratic convention.

 

Fair warning-I will be posting some other tweets from the CA convention down below.

But please post whatever you like on this fine Sunday!

Cheers!

 

5/9 AOC on the #46 Dem Primaries: Bold with Big Ideas That Will Make People’s Lives Better & Evening OT

The Progressive Wing Posted on by

Boom!

Only 2 seem to fit that vision….from CNN.

Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez, one of the most popular figures on the Democratic left, are using the new bill to address an issue that many closely identify with another presidential candidate, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.

Ocasio-Cortez has not endorsed any primary candidate and has indicated she could wait until New York votes next year before making a decision.
Speaking to CNN on Thursday, she named Sanders and Warren as two potential picks.

“I would like to see in a presidential candidate is one that has a coherent worldview and logic from which all these policy proposals are coming forward,” Ocasio-Cortez told CNN. “I think Sen. Sanders has that. I also think Sen. Warren has that. I also want to see us centering working people in the United States to stem income inequality (and) tackle climate change.”
Asked if she would consider former Vice President Joe Biden, Ocasio-Cortez said, “I’m not sure,” adding with a laugh, “Now it’s getting a little nuts.”

More videos, tweets, (including the video of Bernie and AOC’s Loan Shark Prevention Act) and news in the comments! Consider this an open thread.

The time for playing games on Medicare For All is over

The Progressive Wing Posted on by

Abdul El-Sayed said something yesterday that brings into focus the essential dysfunction which is the US health-care system: Cost of a SINGLE vial of insulin: Canada: $32United States: $300 That's TEN TIMES more for the same exact drug. Our healthcare system is broken — and it's putting lives at risk. We're long overdue for #MedicareForAll— Abdul El-Sayed (@AbdulElSayed) April 2, 2019 Millions of Americans need insulin to survive. The researchers (Frederick Banting, Charles Best and James Collip) who developed insulin in the 1920s knew this and wanted to ensure the medication would remain affordable and safe. They assigned the patent to the … Continue reading →

Concern trolling Medicare for All: NYT begins by saying investors matter, patients and doctors don’t

The Progressive Wing Posted on by

As it becomes clear that the eventual Democratic nominee will run on Medicare For All, we can expect the policy to be attacked by the concentrated interests who benefit from our current, broken system. The NYT is right there to lend a hand, with a news (not opinion) piece carrying a scary title: Medicare for All Would Abolish Private Insurance. ‘There’s No Precedent in American History.’ Such a change would shake the entire health care system, which makes up a fifth of the United States economy, as hospitals, doctors, nursing homes and pharmaceutical companies would have to adapt to a new set of rules. … Continue reading →

3/22 BNR Evening +OT: Bernie Rally in San Diego

The Progressive Wing Posted on by

Hello Birdies,

Dreaming about CA? I am after seeing this tweet!

https://twitter.com/davidsirota/status/1109253966603247616

Livestream of Bernie’s rally in San Diego at the Waterfront Park. Starts pretty soon.

https://youtu.be/w1v02cSWL5g

Meantime, chat away and add any news, tweets, videos, or even fun videos in the comments!

3/19 BNR Afternoon +OT: Sanders Campaign Hires 15, among them Briahana Joy Gray as Press Secretary; Sanders Wins DK Poll

The Progressive Wing Posted on by

Ten of the 15 hires are women; 5 of them are alums of the 2016 campaign. One of the new hires is Briahana Gray (@briebriejoy on twitter) of The Intercept, a progressive investigative digital publication. She’s also been a contributor to Rolling Stone, The Root, Current Affairs, The Guardian, and New York Magazine.

From Refinery:

The women coming on board include: René Spellman, deputy campaign manager, a Bernie 2016 alumna who has worked in the Obama White House; Analilia Mejia, political director, a union organizer who was honored by President Obama as a “Champion of Change”; Sarah Badawi, deputy political director, previously the legislative affairs director for the Progressive Change Campaign Committee; Claire Sandberg, national organizing director, a Bernie 2016 alumna and previously the deputy campaign manager for Abdul El-Sayed’s gubernatorial run in Michigan; Dr. Heather Gautney, deputy director of policy, formerly a senior policy advisor on the U.S. Senate Budget Committee and a researcher for Bernie 2016; Arianna Jones, communications director, a Bernie 2016 alumna with experience leading media strategy for progressive clients; Sarah Ford, deputy communications director, a Bernie 2016 alumna who served as the communications director for Cynthia Nixon’s 2018 gubernatorial campaign in New York; Briahna Joy Gray, national press secretary, a former attorney and senior politics editor at The Intercept; Georgia Parke, senior social media strategist, who worked in Sen. Sanders’ Senate office since 2016; and Robin Curran, digital fundraising director, formerly the email director at the Democratic National Committee.

Another interesting bit of detail about the campaign’s personnel announcement:

The campaign says that now, every single one of its teams — management, political, policy, organizing, communications, advance, digital, and fundraising — has women, and predominantly women of color, in leadership positions. Overall, the national leadership team is around 70% women.

Other tweets, videos, and news in the comments section. This is also an open thread.

Update: Bernie won the TOP Straw Poll. GOS just updated his post. No announcement.

#StillSanders

BNR Breaking: Progressive Dems of America Endorses Bernie Sanders for President & Afternoon OT

The Progressive Wing Posted on by

Excellent news from NJ.com

The Democratic front runner in the race for president, US Senator Bernie Sanders, has been endorsed by the Progressive Democrats of America.

In an email to members across the nation, Alan Minsky said Progressive Democrats of America “sent an e-mail to all of its supporters around the country asking them to participate in a binding online poll to determine whether we would be endorsing a candidate in the race for the Democratic nomination for President in 2020.”

“Over the next week, we followed up with more e-mails, plus announcements across our social media, asking people to vote before the deadline of midnight on Sunday night the 10th,” Minsky said.

“Sanders won a resounding victory, with 66% support from all of the PDAers who responded,” he said.

How is this determined?

To win PDA’s endorsement, a candidate needed to win more than 60% of the votes, which is always PDA’s threshold for endorsements.

Because there were so many candidates in the presidential race, the group adjusted the rules so that if any candidate failed to receive more than 60% of the vote on the first ballot, there would be a run-off between the top two candidates.

Support for Sanders was so strong, he won on the first and only ballot.

Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts received support from 9 percent of the members voting, Senator Kamala Harris of California got 5 percent and Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard earned support from 3 percent.

“It is clear the Bernie Sanders has a commanding lead for the Democratic nomination and anyone interested in defeating Republican President Donald Trump will rally behind him now,” said Lisa McCormick, who ran in last year’s Democratic primary election for US Senate in New Jersey.

snip

Along with combating climate change and curtailing the use of military force, Sanders advocates a “political revolution” that would give citizens more control over government, which now caters to the wealthy.

“Just as Americans were ready for the New Deal, when Democratic President Franklin Roosevelt saved our nation from the Great Depression, people today recognize the Reaganomics and greed have been a disaster for America’s middle class,” said McCormick. “Bernie Sanders has the answers we need to secure the blessings of liberty, prosperity and justice for all.”

New Jersey Democrats in Union County who want to start campaigning locally for Sanders can attend a campaign house party and others may sign up at berniesanders.com to get news and event information from the national campaign organization.

What we have learned from the attacks on Rep. Ilhan Omar

The Progressive Wing Posted on by

For now, House leaders have backed off from the presenting a resolution aimed at rebuking, or censuring Rep. Ilhan Omar. Earlier in the day, Democrats, including some prominent African-Americans, confronted Speaker Nancy Pelosi at a testy closed-door meeting, demanding to know why they were being pushed to pass the resolution when bigoted comments by Republicans have gone unchallenged. Representative Ayanna Pressley, Democrat of Massachusetts, said she told leadership that there must be “equity in our outrage,” noting that Ms. Omar, a Minnesotan and one of the first two Muslim women elected to Congress, was being attacked for her faith. — www.nytimes.com/… … Continue reading →

Bernie News Roundup – Bernie On ‘The Breakfast Club’, Sanders Signs Pledge To End ‘Forever Wars’ & More

The Progressive Wing Posted on by

Bernie Sanders: ‘Too many lives are being destroyed’ by pot policy

Sen. Bernie Sanders said Monday that “too many lives are being destroyed” by federal laws banning marijuana use, telling a morning radio show that he supports decriminalizing the drug even though his personal experience with it is limited.

In an interview on “The Breakfast Club,” a nationally syndicated morning radio show, the 2020 presidential candidate reiterated his stance on cannabis, calling for legalization of the drug due to the disparities he says it has created in the criminal justice system. His comments marked the most recent example of a 2020 candidate speaking in support of decriminalizing marijuana, an issue that’s moved from the fringes of the last presidential campaign cycle to center stage.

“Too many lives are being destroyed. Hundreds of thousands of people get criminal records. You know why? Because they have smoked marijuana,” Sanders (I-Vt.) said. “That’s insane.”

When asked if he’d smoked marijuana, Sanders told the talk show’s hosts he had a few times, echoing what he told reporters in 2015.

“Didn’t do a whole lot for me,” he said Monday. “My recollection is I nearly coughed my brains out, so it’s not my cup of tea.”

..

On other topics, Sanders diverged from some of his declared 2020 opponents. Unlike Harris — who said she was in favor of reparations for African-Americans during her interview with the radio show last month without offering much in the way of specifics — Sanders said Monday that he was opposed to straight cash payments as a means of making amends for past racial injustices.

“Just a check to every African-American? Well, then there’s a check to every Native American who were nearly wiped out when the settlers first came here,” Sanders said. “I think the way to move forward is to build America together.”

The senator said his agenda would focus on paying attention to communities in distress of all demographics. He criticized President Donald Trump for failing to do just that.

More Bernie news/videos/tweets/etc. in the comments.

3/3 Bernie & Progressive News Roundup + Open Thread –Afternoon/Eve Edition

The Progressive Wing Posted on by

Hi Birdies,

Opening another thread since Bernie’s second rally is in a couple of hours.

See you in the comments!

2/25 BNR Evening & Open Thread: CNN Town Hall at 8ET Live Blog

The Progressive Wing Posted on by

CNN is hosting Bernie Sanders in a town hall. From Newsweek:

Following the announcement of his 2020 presidential campaign, Senator Bernie Sanders will head to Washington D.C. to talk policy and field questions from voters during a nationally-televised town hall event.

Monday evening’s town hall, which will be moderated by CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, will air at 8 p.m. eastern time. The event can be watched live on the cable news channel or streamed online at Sanders’s official Twitter account @berniesanders and CNN.com.

Sanders announced his candidacy for the presidency last week, telling Vermont Public Radio that “what I promise to do is, as I go around the country, is to take the values that all of us in Vermont are proud of—a belief in justice, in community, in grassroots politics, in town meetings—that’s what I’m going to carry all over this country.”

This will be Sanders’s second shot at the Oval Office. In 2016 the Vermont senator lost the Democratic nomination to Hillary Clinton, though his grassroots campaign gave the former secretary of state a serious primary challenge. Sanders won 23 primaries and caucuses before conceding defeat to Clinton. According to CNN, Sanders will “address a host of issues” during the prime-time event. It is the first town hall of Sanders’s 2020 campaign, which was launched less than a week ago on February 19.

You can also watch it via TYT.com on YT or TYT via Pluto Channel if you have a Roku streaming device.

Follow me below for more BNR as well as your other news. Open Thread.

Update: good soundbite from the TH: “Damn right I will’ raise taxes on the rich.”