TPW News Roundup – Sanders To View Relief Efforts In Puerto Rico Instead of Women’s Convention Appearance, The GOP’s ‘Horrific’ Tax Vote & More
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), whose selection as a major speaker at the upcoming Women’s Convention set off a heated debate among feminists, said he won’t attend the event, but will instead visit Puerto Rico, which is still struggling to recover from the extensive damage left by back-to-back hurricanes.
In a statement issued by his office Thursday, Sanders said: “I want to apologize to the organizers of the Women’s Convention for not being able to attend your conference next Friday in Detroit. Given the emergency situation in Puerto Rico, I will be traveling there to visit with San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz and other officials to determine the best way forward to deal with the devastation the island is experiencing. The U.S. Congress cannot turn its back on the millions of people in Puerto Rico who, four weeks after the hurricane, are still without electricity, food and running water.
The convention, scheduled for Oct. 27-29, is the first major event since last January’s Women’s March, in which millions of women across the country took to the streets to protest the election of President Trump, and vowed to fight policies that they said would hurt women and families, including repealing the Affordable Care Act, cracking down on undocumented immigrants and curbing abortion rights.
When organizers announced last week that Sanders would speak on the opening day of the convention, some women criticized the choice. Some were still angry at Sanders, who they say ran a negative primary campaign against Democrat Hillary Clinton in her bid to become the first woman to win a major party presidential nomination. Others simply argued that it was an insult for a man to be the opening speaker at a national gathering of women.
Organizers noted that Sanders was one of only two male speakers at the gathering and that he was not the headliner. That honor went to Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), whose unrelenting criticism of the president has made her the most popular figure of the opposition to the Trump administration.
Via twitter from@WomensMarch:
We'll miss @SenSanders at the #WomensConvention next week. Puerto Rico needs our support. #PuertoRicoStrong pic.twitter.com/vpOjHF5ox3
— Women's March (@womensmarch) October 19, 2017
I’d of course love to hear your thoughts and reactions in the comments section where I’ll also have more of the days news, including:
*”People Are Dying’ But Trump Gives Himself Perfect ’10’ for Puerto Rico Response”
*Who Profits from the Opioid Crisis? Meet the Secretive Sackler Family Making Billions from OxyContin
*’Ecological Armageddon’: Warnings From Scientists as Flying Insects Disappear
*Concern of Progressive Purge as Bernie Wing ‘Left in the Cold’ at DNC
*A month after Stockley verdict, demonstrators stay in the streets
*Water Protector News, Pipeline Updates & More
Tips, Comments, Complaints, Etc!
Thank you LD!!!!
I so appreciate it when you’re able to find the time to do your daily round-ups. I realize how time-consuming it must be. And I so appreciate this platform for sharing news and views! 🙂
I wish I could separate everything out into their own individual posts and give my thoughts on them, and someday maybe I’ll cut back on content and do that… but for now I enjoy doing the roundups as I’ve been waking up and reading pretty much all the news on the internet for far longer than I’ve been doung the BNR… so its good to have some partners in ‘thought crime’.
I know theres a lot of content I miss and I’m glad you all catch most of it!
I have some more candidate posts to put together so those should go up in the coming days, and then oct 30th I am going to a meet and greet with candidate Todd Allen (TX24) which is not the district where I live but I know many people from ther (and Im dragging them with me) so hope to get enough content out of that for a post (Anyone with questions to ask, please submit!)
I of course think a trip to Puerto Rico is quite important but the whole uproar leading to the cancellation of the Womens Conference appearance actually having an effect is a pretty damn big shame. It was manufactured outrage and now the organizers look about as spineless as they are compared to corporate, anti Bernie interests
Regardless I’m glad Sanders will be in Puerto Rico with Mayor Cruz trying to help in a crisis instead, despite all the negative comments/tweets from the same people complaining he was going to the convention.
Oh yeah, from the WAPO article…
Is there some kind of polling to back that up?
Easily fixed by changing it to “one of the most popular figures.” At best, sloppy writing.
WAPO, owned by a young jackass billionaire, ain’t the linguistical giant it was decades ago.
As a life-long progressive female futurist, I think the Bernster is correct. Puerto Rico is part of this country, and it’s in serious crisis. People are dying of disease, dirty water, thirst, heat stroke, and god only knows what else! 🙁 He is a sitting US Senator, and he knows how to fight the FRightwingnuts to get PR the $$help it needs. He also knows this will force the corporo-crap MSM to pay attention. I am so glad I avoid Twitter and Facebook! Who needs them? T and R to the usual suspects!! 🙂
Plus he’s on the budget committee, which can/will play a big part in the relief efforts. He certainly won’t be throwing rolls of paper towels at people.
Plus, he gets out of the Women’s Convention that is turning into a fiasco.
Yes, I think it was a graceful way to avoid more controversy and possible booing/cheering etc. Too bad that was necessary, but it was strategic. Good for him.
Stupid whole thing and too bad for the attendees and organizers who wanted to hear him, but best to battle over policy stuff as Bernie does every day.
My first reaction on hearing that Bernie wasn’t going to attend the Women’s March convention was, “NO!!!!!!!!!!!”
The abuse from the hateful 8% (of Dems) was atrocious, unfair, venomous, undeserved, and unhelpful vis-a-vis bringing light and solutions to women’s issues.
But for sure Puerto Rico needs the help! The idea that Trump gave himself a ’10’ for his response to PR is obviously absurd.
And all of those hateful Hillary supporters who claimed that they wouldn’t attend due to Bernie’s presence will all be revealed to be the dreadful hypocrites they are if they don’t attend the conference now.
Two (of the many) worries I have about this though:
1) If Bernie doesn’t do something concrete to help PR it may make the situation there even worse and, albeit far less importantly, his detractors will use that against him.
2) I think this empowers the haters as they’ll view this as a victory and double down on their destructive campaign against everything Bernie does. I can only hope that with their small numbers that they will be drowned out by the voices of reasonable and loving people!
I have read that Warren and others are working on a PR debt relief bill, wouldn’t be surprised if Bernie was part of that, maybe something will be announced.
Also just by showing up it ‘helps’ with a contrast of how Trump treats people vs how Bernie does. I’m sure we will see many hugs.
I’m with you on #2, but its not like they werent doubling down already. once I think they see that their ‘win’ wasn’t really a ‘win’, it may make them pause and think. And regardless… anything Bernie/Nina do is going to be ripped to pieces just because they are truth tellers and that’s not allowed. Everyday I see more and more people catching on to the tactics, thus Joy and Joan’s ever expanding ‘blocked’ list.
I saw a Susan Sarandon tweet about Ironstache that had about 40 comments, about 35 of them were in support of Cathy Myers. Made me happy.
I think he made a brilliant choice. He is out of the middle of the nasty conference fiasco over MEN speaking at a woman’s convention and really showing an interest in Puerto Rico. He will be able to show where they need help and put pressure on the President to do more than talk.
PS We all know the speaking controversy was started by the Clinton backers, especially Joy Reed.
He made an excellent choice. The Womens Conference is turning into a farce.
Bernie Sanders bows out of Women’s Convention to make trip to Puerto Rico
Bernie Sanders Skips the Women’s Convention Amid Outrage and Heads to Puerto Rico Instead
I’m sure everyone there will be looking forward to Stabenow’s scintillating opening speech LOL. Bernie going to Puerto Rico is a good thing for him
I have a funny (?) feeling Bernie’s little chat with “Ponzi Scheme” Teddy Cruz solidified his PR decision. He knows the battle that is brewing with the FRightwingnuts over getting PR the help it needs!
I agree. Id much rather see him in Puerto Rico as well. Theres a few speakers at the conference I’ll watch video of speaking but but I think his time is better spent in Puerto Rico with Mayor Cruz, hopefully it brings some big media attention to the situation there. That would be a help to many Puerto Rican men and women.
There will be plenty more conferences and time for speeches in the future. Probably a CNN townhall and a few debates as well.
I live in Mi. and I have not been overly impressed with Sen. Stabenow.
Nina Turner. Full stop.
Amen. And his minimum wage. And his fewer wars. and on and on.
51 GOP Senators Just Voted To Cut $1.5 Trillion from Medicare and Medicaid To Give Super-Rich and Corporations a Tax Cut
What’s Even Scarier Than Donald Trump?
Nothing unusual for a GOP president and congress. Because they are so extreme and crude, when we get middle of the road presidents like Clinton and Obama, we tend to think they are liberal while they are not.
A President Pence would qualify.
This vote shows that any Dem (no matter how much trouble they cause progressives) is better than a scumbag Republican. Of course, those establishment Dems need to be replaced by progressives, both for policy and for any hope of beating back the evil GOP. Establishment Dems are the reason Republicans are now ascendant.
AMEN!
Or it shows that the Dem party must crumble before we can get anyone who is enough better in policy to change our direction in a real way. As long as they still want to hurt us in very real ways, but just a tad better than the Republicans, I will not give them my vote.
Remember, we hear this argument every four years, and look where we are.
Well we have to beat the establishment Dems. Hasn’t happened yet–not easy for all the reasons we know
Did you see what Perez did yesterday? He got all of Keith Ellison’s backers out of the DNC! I have no hope for the Democratic party in my lifetime.
This is an oldie but goodie but still true today just change the players to to Neolib and Neocon
Actually I think the Dems with all their problems are more than a tad better than the Republicans. I dislike Clinton as much as the next progressive, but there are so many bad things that are happening under Trump that would not be happening under Clinton. That being said, Clinton’s defeat has wounded the establishment Dems, which gives progressives more of an opening to defeat them. Until then, get used to Republican rule.
There are a lot of greys here, for sure. And yes, there are valid arguments for both “sides,” imho. I’m hoping things like the meeting in W VA where Bernie got a standing ovation for bringing up MFA happens a lot more often.
I’ll be canvassing and calling for James Barber for Commissioner in our county, a diehard Berniecrat who can work with establishment Dems, but not capitulate to them or get riled up, a skill I wish I had.
It wasn’t that long ago that we at least had the Independents make a real showing with Perot. I’m thinking unaffiliated so I can still vote Merkley and some downtickets without the hassle of always changing.
It is all an illusion when we get a Clinton/Obama presidency and we rejoice because we think they will go back to FDR ways. Obama even had a Democratic House and Senate and passed the corporate Obamacare bill. No single payer for them.
The Dems should raise a yuuuuuge stink about this, starting now.
This is very upsetting. I feel like crying. Wealth inequality will continue to grow, instability in our society will too, many people will suffer in real ways, become even more desperate and angry, and the state response to that will be to crack down on dissent even more.
🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁
Anyone know how the cuts will effect Medicare?
will cost more. never know by how much. Of course that happened under the previous admin, too. don’t the dollar difference. and i got a notice about a deductible, too.
Bernie Sanders to Campaign with Local Candidates
Bernie Sanders in Rollinsford Sunday
Here’s what Rober Reich had to say about that:
https://www.facebook.com/RBReich/
Correct me if I am wrong but I remember Reich on CNN last year praising Clinton, like she could do not wrong. I was really disappointed in him.
Indeed.
I follow Reich pretty regularly (EPI and various pursuits) and this characterization just doesn’t ring true. After the convention, of course he supported Clinton. So did Bernie. You don’t bash the only barrier to the Trump presidency, though of course plenty of Berners did to the delight of the Neo-nuts.
I’m v very rarely on Twitter these days, but I do remember the fake accounts that pushed the uranium giveaways to Russia and numerous other right wing memes. Better to stick with the truth, which was enough to differentiate Clinton and Sanders without exaggerating.
How much closer to Wall Street can they get?????!!
Obama spoke to Carlyle Group last month for craps sake! Remember them? See war profiteering Sham Iraq Invasion edition.
Why Democrats Don’t Need Wall Street
Please note that the writer of the piece is Mike Lux who:
Lux is now:
It sounds like Lux has his fingers on ‘the pulse’ far more than Schoen.
And it also sounds like Hillary would have been wise to listen to Lux last year:
Hillary, Embrace Your Inner Bernie
Did anyone really expect anything different from Perez? He follows the money just like Debbie did.
‘People Are Dying’ But Trump Gives Himself Perfect ’10’ for Puerto Rico Response
A Month Later, U.S. Is Failing with Its Food and Water Crisis in Puerto Rico
That is true but thanks to Trump they do have a few more paper towels!
Maybe a “10” on the paper towel toss his release was good (snark)
Brooklyn Political Roundup, October 18: Another challenger for Dan Donovan’s seat
Just for the record, from my interactions with them on internets, Michael and his wife are good people.
Wish him luck but Staten Island is very conservative compared to other parts of the City.