Last night, Republicans blocked my amendment to the #FY19NDAA that would stop the U.S. from refueling Saudi-led coalition jets bombing civilians in Yemen. They argued that our alliance with the Saudi monarchy meant we needed to overlook their war crimes in Yemen. I disagree. pic.twitter.com/jfTNfct1PF
Go here to see the vote. Unfortunately, it looks like nine Democrats also “blocked” Ro’s amendment, but I’m glad that my Rep. Joe Courtney voted with Ro. Tulsi Gabbard and Beto O’Rourke also voted with Ro.
Beto O’Rourke Wants To Debate Ted Cruz Six Times, Twice In Spanish U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke, D-El Paso, has invited U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, to participate in six debates with O’Rourke across Texas, two of them in Spanish, during their U.S. Senate race. O’Rourke campaign manager Jody Casey made the proposal in a letter last week to Cruz’s senior staff, adding that the debates should have “media reach to all twenty markets in the state.” “I would like to begin direct coordination of the debates with your campaign team between now and May 10th,” Casey wrote to Cruz advisers …Continue reading →
This showed up on my twitter feed just now as a ‘Promoted’ tweet. Now, I don’t tend to squander any love on Bloomberg, Steyer, or Soros, but I was curious enough to look up this group, Power The Future, and look at what I found on the group’s timeline: Hmmm, I thought, something seems off. Here is the linked story: Beto O’Rourke to major Democratic super PAC donor: “Thanks, but no thanks” Tom Steyer, one of the biggest Democratic donors in the country, openly mulled spending on O’Rourke’s behalf via his environmental super PAC, NextGen America. Wait, is it..possible that O’Rourke said, “Thanks, but no thanks” for …Continue reading →
Sanders, Warren, O’Rourke inspire patriotic small donor waves During the 2016 presidential campaign, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) fired the small-donor fundraising shot that was heard around the political world and now stands on the brink of transforming American politics for a long time to come. The Sanders fundraising triumph in 2016, raising huge amounts of money by refusing dirty special interest money and appealing to intensely patriotic and idealistic small donors, is a living legacy that is demonstrating enormous political power as the midterm elections and the 2020 presidential campaign come closer. .. Now Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas), who is …Continue reading →
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who sought the Democratic presidential nomination in the 2016 election but lost out to Hillary Clinton, on Monday criticized Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his policies.
“As someone who believes absolutely and unequivocally in Israel’s right to exist… we must say loudly and clearly, that to oppose the reactionary policies of Prime Minister Netanyahu does not make us anti-Israel,” Sanders told the annual conference of the J Street organization.
He took issue with Israel’s response to the recent riots along the border with Gaza, claiming Israel “massively overreacted” to the protests.
“The presence of Hamas members among a crowd of tens of thousands does not justify the level of violence we saw, and frankly it’s amazing to me that anyone would find that point controversial,” Sanders said.
“I have condemned Hamas’s use of terrorist violence and will continue to do so. But that violence cannot excuse shooting at unarmed protesters, and it cannot excuse trapping almost two million people inside Gaza,” he charged.
Sanders also said that the United States “must play a much more aggressive and even-handed role in ending the Gaza blockade and helping Palestinians and Israelis build a future that works for all.” He added that, If the White House does not do that, Congress must take the lead.
“Too often, our foreign policy debate here in Washington is dominated by those whose answer to complicated international situations seems always to involve dropping more bombs, rather than engage in the hard work of diplomacy and negotiation,” said Sanders, who opined that the best way to achieve peace between Israelis and Arabs is the “two-state solution”.
More news/video/tweets/etc. in the comments, including:
*Sanders Speaks To The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) *The Working Families Party endorsement of Nixon over Cuomo helps fuel deepening split among New York Democrats. *Why Democrats everywhere are watching Beto O’Rourke’s Senate campaign in Texas *Protect indigenous people’s land rights and the whole world will benefit, UN forum declares *New AUMF? Critics Warn Against Giving Trump—or Any President—Power to Wage War ‘Virtually Anywhere on the Planet’ *Pipeline news, Water Protector updates & More
Speaking to a room packed with progressives running for state and local office, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., advised the first-time candidates to ignore the political establishment and trust their guts.
Crediting the movement catalyzed by his 2016 Democratic presidential campaign, Sanders said the policies of Medicare for all, free college tuition, a $15 dollar minimum wage, criminal justice reform, and legalizing marijuana are now “mainstream” among Democrats.
“What was once considered radical is now mainstream,” Sanders said Thursday to cheers at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington.
Sanders bashed the political establishment and the press repeatedly throughout his speech. The media, Sanders said, plays a “destructive” game by telling the “American people that politics is too complicated, you can’t get involved, you don’t know how to run for office.”
..
The former presidential contender encouraged the candidates, who are in Washington for four days of training, to embrace a progressive agenda even if they’re running in red or purple states.
“Let me give you a warning here: Watch out for consultants,” he said to laughs. “Often their advice is conservative and wrong. Trust your own guts, trust your own instincts.”
The training, put on by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee and Sanders’ Our Revolution, includes four days of helping candidates craft their public persona, how to pitch reporters, building field operations, do-it-yourself opposition research, and budgeting.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said Monday that he will oppose Mike Pompeo to lead the State Department days before his nomination hearing.
“Mike Pompeo is absolutely the wrong choice to serve as the United States’ top diplomat, and I will vote against him,” Sanders said in a statement.
Pompeo, who is currently CIA director, is slated to testify before the Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday.
Sanders isn’t a member of the panel and previously opposed Pompeo’s nomination to lead the CIA.
He added on Monday that “we need a secretary of State who will represent the best principles of the United States to the rest of the world.”
Sanders pointed to Pompeo’s position on climate change, “longstanding relationship with anti-Muslim extremists” and “hawkish” foreign policy views.
Mike Pompeo is absolutely the wrong choice for secretary of state. He is a supporter of the Global Gag Rule. He opposes LGBTQ rights. And as the top recipient of money from the Koch brothers, he's stymied action on one of our most serious security threats: global climate change.
