Category Archives: Bernie Sanders

2/5 News Roundup and OT

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Senate vote paves way for passage of Biden’s economic relief plan

The Senate approved a budget bill early Friday that paves the way for passage of President Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package, with Vice President Harris casting the tiebreaking vote on the measure that will be key to enacting Biden’s first major legislative initiative.

Passage of the budget bill by a 51-to-50 vote came just after 5:30 a.m. Friday, after an all-night Senate session during which senators plowed through dozens of amendments in a chaotic process known as a “vote-a-rama.” Democrats cheered on progress to address the pandemic, while Republicans complained of partisanship and excessive spending.

The House, which approved its own budget bill on Wednesday, is expected to act on on the Senate’s version within a day.

With the budget resolution nearly complete, Congress can turn in earnest to writing Biden’s expansive pandemic relief proposal into law — and push it through the Senate, without Republican votes if necessary, under the special rules unlocked by the budget legislation. That process will take weeks, with Democrats eyeing mid-March as the deadline for final passage of the relief legislation because that is when enhanced unemployment benefits will expire if Congress doesn’t act first.

“With the passage of this resolution we have the opportunity not only to address the pandemic, to address the economic collapse, to address the reality that millions of kids have seen their education disrupted,” said Senate Budget Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). “We have the opportunity to give hope to the American people and restore faith in our government to fight for them.”

Despite Biden’s campaign promises of unity and bipartisanship, now that Democrats control both chambers of Congress and the White House they appeared ready to leave Republicans behind. Republican senators accused Democrats of hypocrisy and argued that, after already devoting $4 trillion to fighting the pandemic, including $900 billion in December, there was no need to spend another $2 trillion on what they termed a wish-list of liberal priorities.

“This is not the time for trillions more dollars to make perpetual lockdowns and economic decline a little more palatable,” said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). “Notwithstanding the actual needs, notwithstanding all the talk about bipartisan unity, Democrats in Congress are plowing ahead. They’re using this phony budget to set the table to ram through their $1.9 trillion rough draft.”

The House passed the budget legislation on Wednesday, with all Republicans opposed.

More news, videos, etc in the comments section. TGIF!

1/20 Joe Biden is POTUS; News Roundup & Open Thread

The Progressive Wing Posted on by

Greetings Birdies,

I’m starting a new thread as a symbol of moving forward.

and we welcome new senators:

More news,tweets, videos, etc in the comments.

1/20 Trump Has Left the WH; Biden’s Inaugural;Bernie is Chairman of Budget;& OT

The Progressive Wing Posted on by

(image courtesy via TOP)

Farewell to a Monster

Vast numbers of Americans have, at the most intimate level, suffered far more than I during these bastard-years: people who have been separated from parents or siblings or children or spouses or lovers by ICE agents and by capricious executive orders designed to lock down this country against immigrants. Individuals who have had online—and, more recently, in-person—goons unleashed against them by the president. Civil servants whose careers have been destroyed for speaking truth to power. Workers whose rights have been trampled. Members of the LGBTQ+ community who have had their legal protections undermined. Victims of hurricanes and forest fires who have seen federal emergency assistance turned into a political football. Pandemic victims ignored by a president who seemed to think he could make Covid-19 vanish simply by refusing to speak to the nation with urgency, compassion, or scientific understanding about this horrific disease.

These last years have been a collective stress test. How do we cope with unyielding irrationality and unrelenting cruelty doled out from on high? How do we navigate a landscape poisoned by Twitter trolls and mobs? How do we deal with the streams of undiluted venom, death threats, and other nonsense the Trumpists have showered on those with whom they disagree politically? How do we provide context for such a vertiginous slide from rationality and toward cultism?

At noon on January 20, Trump will become a private citizen again. Perhaps the viciousness of his presidency will fade and the sense of omnipresent chaos will dissipate. Perhaps, in the months and years ahead, America’s shredded moral fabric will be repaired. Perhaps social media really will continue to mute Trump, leaving him no choice but to crawl back under the rock from which he emerged. Perhaps the systems Trump tried so hard to break really will have the last laugh, outlasting a president and his inner circle who expressed nothing but contempt for the idea of rational, knowledge-based leadership.

Perhaps… but don’t expect any grace or decency or humility from Trump. In retirement, the ex-president will likely be at least as obnoxious as he has been in office. He will continue to love the sound of his own voice and will likely continue to rile up his mob. It will take a long time for us to heal from Trump’s dismal presidency. But his ignominious departure from Washington, following his drubbing at the hands of voters and the collapse of his attempt to orchestrate a judicial and then a mob-fomented coup, is at least a start.

Trump has already left town.

Update: After trying for 3 decades, Joe Biden is #46. For our democracy, “Rise”.

More news, tweets, videos, etc in the comments. We’ll see you there!

1/15 TGIF News Roundup & OT

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We’ll start with Stephen Colbert’s interview with Bernie Sanders last night on The Late Show. There are 2-3 segments, in which Bernie got about 20 minutes altogether. Among the topics: the experience of the riot in the Capitol building, Biden’s America Rescue being introduced, and how to reach Trumpers.

Here’s the first one. Bernie’s introduced at the 2:30 mark.

Second segment, in which at the 7:00 mark, they discuss America Resue:

And the last one:

More tweets, news, videos in the comments. TGIF – we’ll have a happy hour later if there is interest.

1/13 Can’t You Hear Steam Starting to Play…and Open Thread

The Progressive Wing Posted on by

10 not as terrible idiots who realize they have to work with “these” people crossed over the Potomac to impeach the worst POTUS in this century.

They recognize they have to get re-elected. And also they have to work with others, especially these representatives, the most diverse group of Dems.

Especially these guys:

Benny’s B & D is open. Have one on the house and contribute your tweet, news, video. Jukebox is welcome too, this is an open thread.

1/8 News Roundup & OT

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Sanders Says ‘First Order of Business’ for Biden, New Democratic Congress Must Be Covid Bill With $2,000 Checks

Sen. Bernie Sanders late Thursday implored President-elect Joe Biden and the incoming Democrat-controlled Congress to make a robust coronavirus relief bill containing $2,000 direct payments the “first order of business” upon taking power, warning that failure to quickly deliver real material aid in the midst of devastating crises could lead to electoral backlash on the scale of the 2010 midterms.

“Remember what happened in 2010? Democrats got wiped out,” Sanders (I-Vt.), the incoming chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, said in an appearance on CNN Thursday evening. “They had the power, but they did not deliver for the American people.”

To avoid a repeat of 2010—when Republicans won control of the House and gained seats in the Senate, ending a brief period of unified Democratic control during the Obama presidency—Sanders said the new Congress must urgently pursue “an aggressive agenda that says we understand that millions of people… are lining up in their cars in order to get emergency food, people can’t pay their medical bills, people are going deeper and deeper into debt, people are facing eviction.”

“We have to act and act now,” Sanders said, arguing that Democrats must be “bold in a way that we have not seen since FDR in the 1930s.”

“The first order of business, by the way,” the Vermont senator continued, “is to pass an emergency Covid-19 bill which, among many other things, says to working-class Americans, ‘We know you’re in pain, and we’re gonna get you a $2,000 check… We are on your side.'”

Watch:

Sanders’ remarks came days after Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff won their runoff races in Georgia, positioning Democrats to take control of the U.S. Senate by the narrowest possible margin.

The Democratic victories in Georgia were credited in part to a last-minute push for $2,000 direct payments in the days leading up to the pivotal runoffs, an effort led by Sanders and members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

While Senate Republicans ultimately blocked Sanders’ attempt to force a vote on a House-passed bill that would have provided one-time $2,000 payments to most Americans, Warnock and Ossoff both embraced the checks on the campaign trail and slammed their GOP opponents for standing in the way of desperately needed relief. President-elect Joe Biden also backed the demand, promising that the election of Warnock and Ossoff would “put an end to the block in Washington on that $2,000 stimulus check.”

Following the Democrats’ victories, soon-to-be Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) told reporters Wednesday that “one of the first things that I want to do when our new senators are seated is deliver the $2,000 checks to the American families.”

The Washington Post reported Wednesday that “it’s unclear how quickly Congress could actually vote on the checks. That depends on when the elections in Georgia are certified, which could be delayed by GOP challenges, making the timing uncertain.”

The certification deadline for Georgia counties is January 15, and the state deadline is January 22—two days after Biden’s inauguration.

“Additionally, it’s not clear whether the House and Senate would vote on the checks as stand-alone legislation, or as part of a larger package that could also include items like state and local aid and an extension of unemployment benefits,” the Post noted. “Congressional aides cautioned that discussions with the Biden team over how to proceed were in early stages.”

More news, tweets, videos in the comments. TGIF!

1/2/21 Open Thread

The Progressive Wing Posted on by

Bernie fought the good fight.

Thune pointed to GOP concerns that under the House-passed bill higher income households who were not eligible for a payment under the $2.3 trillion coronavirus-government funding bill passed last month would be eligible because the House bill increased the amount of the checks but kept the same phase-out structure.

When Sanders asked if Thune had seen a Tax Policy Center analysis, which shows that a small percent of the checks would go to top earners, Thune responded that he hadn’t but “I know math.”

And when Thune said that all he was saying was Democrats shouldn’t “misrepresent the facts,” Sanders responded: “All I’m saying is that according to a very reputable tax organization center … less than 1 percent of the benefits of the entire program go to the wealthiest people in this country.”

Sanders also cut in as Thune rehashed a months-long stalemate over coronavirus relief, saying that he was reclaiming the Senate floor but that senators were having a “great debate.”

“In one moment I am going to bring — because I know Republicans think I don’t do much for them, that I’m not concerned about them. … I am going to bring your bill to the floor to show you what a nice guy I am,” Sanders added.

Please “cut in” on Thune as much as possible going forward Bernie.

Happy Saturday Birdies! I hope you all have a wonderful day and please stay strong!

 

12/30 Senate Debates NDAA & CASH Act; News Roundup & Open Thread

The Progressive Wing Posted on by

Daily Poster’s 10 Stats That Will Blow Your Mind

Read these ten stats related to the $2K checks and then you decide.

1. The total cost of $2,000 checks ($465 billion) is less than half the amount that American billionaires have made during the pandemic ($1 trillion). The total cost of the checks is less than the amount that just 16 American billionaires increased their net worth by during the pandemic ($471 billion).

2. Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk gained more wealth during the pandemic ($158 billion) than Congress just authorized for additional unemployment benefits for millions of Americans ($120 billion).

3. Jeff Bezos’s personal wealth increased more every second of 2020 ($2,800) than Congress is considering giving Americans who are facing eviction, starvation and bankruptcy ($2,000).

4. Congressional lawmakers are being paid $3,300 of government money every week to come up with ways to block $2,000 checks to millions of Americans.

5. It took Congress less than a month to pass legislation giving a $700 billion bailout to bank executives during the financial crisis. It has taken Congress more than 8 months to even seriously consider a far less expensive bill to give $2,000 checks to millions of Americans during this economic crisis.

6. A $2,000 survival check would give the average soldier more money than the proposed 3 percent military pay increase that is included in defense legislation that Sens. Bernie Sanders and Ed Markey are filibustering in order to force a vote on the survival checks.

7. The richest 5 percent of Americans received more in Trump tax cuts in 2020 ($145 billion) than Congress is spending on increased unemployment benefits for millions of Americans during the economic crisis ($120 billion).

8. In 2016, “children, elderly, disabled people, and students made up around 70 percent of the poor,” according to the People’s Policy Project. Unlike unemployment benefits, $2,000 checks would help them.

9. About 60 percent of Georgia households make less than $75,000, meaning Georgia Republican senators allowing $2,000 checks to be blocked would deny aid to roughly 2 million of their state’s households as they run for reelection.

10. As Republicans try to block the $2,000 check legislation, a new national survey found that 78 percent of Americans support it, even as some pundits insist that the proposal is “divisive.”

News, tweets, videos in the comments section. Last Hump Day in 2020!