The Democrats' biggest donor says the party is blowing it and should get behind Bernie's platform

[Donkees]

July 16, 2017

Excerpts:

Mic recently caught up with Steyer, a California hedge fund billionaire who spent a whopping $87 million on Democratic candidates and causes in 2016 and endorsed Clinton after the primaries, to discuss the state of play for Democrats in the Trump era — the good, bad and yes, the ugly. Today, Steyer is an unabashed supporter of Sanders’ progressive vision.

“There is an absolute, unspoken war between corporate interests and the American people,” he said. “That’s the underlying subtext for all of the public discussions within the Democratic party.”

“We’re seeing a deliberate attempt to take away future by really rich people. Until we address that, I don’t think we’re dealing with the reality Americans are facing today,” he continued

When the Democrats’ biggest donor calls single-payer the gold standard for the country, that is a clear indicator of Sanders’ long-term impact — and of the ever-widening gulf between the party’s progressive and centrist camps.

https://mic.com/articles/182238/the-democrats-biggest-donor-says-the-party-is-blowing-it-and-should-get-behind-bernies-platform#.Rhbw5rhY0

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

1. This!! Plain as the nose on your face.

Bernie & Elizabeth 2020!!!

[Me.]

9. Whose Face?

and no thank you

[bettyellen]

2. Huge donors are cool now? I thought they were evil?

[jrthin]

6. Only if Hillary and Obama does it. *sarcasm* n/t

[R B Garr]

10. Exactly! I was just coming to say that when I saw your post.

"hedge fund billionaire" is persona non grata in the Our Revolution wheelhouse. Supposedly.

[bettyellen]

11. My friend who catapulted the Russian propaganda now says "all fair" and yet he talks about trust?

[R B Garr]

12. yeah, the mission creep has started. That's what happens to propaganda.

Never accountable for anything.

[bettyellen]

14. When he started with the Guccifer /Wiki shit, I really lost it.

Obviously coordinated effort and the misogyny accelerated the whole thing. Anyone who sneered over "her ambition" outed themselves as a moron w mommy issues in my book. All the candidates EVER were "ambitious" you fucking twits.

[R B Garr]

15. Yes, they totally outed themselves. If a woman is ambitious, she can be questioned

or mocked. I remember seeing comments that she was only where she was because of Bill. But if you actually read things about their relationship, you could tell it was often the other way around. He benefitted from her -- her intelligence, her stability -- her ambition. It's a Karl Rove tactic to attack someone's strengths, looked like to me.

[lunasun]

16. I am so confused

[bettyellen]

17. Seems like there was a ton of "fake concern" or now it's some

Billionaires are better than others. Reminds me of Animal
farm.

[lunasun]

18. good analogy

[bettyellen]

22. My fave: she's going to start a war w Russia. Source: Russia! LOL

[BlueMTexpat]

39. Get with the program,

bettyellen! They're ALWAYS cool when they criticize Dems.

[killbotfactory]

41. Well if you aren't going to listen to Bernie, or his supporters like me...

Maybe the you'll listen to major democratic sponsors like this guy?

[Binkie The Clown]

3. What?!? Here all along I thought warring factions was the way to go. It's what we've always done. nt

[still_one]

4. The NY Daily News interview that many conviently forget indicate Bernie is not the messiah

many make him out to be

[Me.]

8. Nor A Democrat

This guy has the money, why doesn't he start his own party and then he can waste his money on BS and not anyone else's.

[Voltaire2]

5. filed under no shit.

But the Democratic Party establishment is hell bent on repeating the same failed centrism that has lost them control of all branches of the federal government and an alarming majority of the states.

[delisen]

23. Those losses came as a result of passing healthcare and not investing in the party for

8 years, not fighting voter suppression. not because "centrists" were running. In 2016 the Russian factor was added and tipped the scales.

Do you think Russ Feingold was too centrist?

Are you saying that Obama, as party head should have built up the party during the past eight years? I know he has mentioned some regret the losses.

Do you think Sanders and other candidates should build up the party instead of their own organizations?

I think that Obama made a smart move on passing healthcare-It ended the debate between whether to secure healthcare for the non-medicaid, non-medicare population or leave them uncovered or badly covered.

The debate is now between the ACA and universal coverage. and universal will win. People got a taste for what they were missing and don't want to give it up---they want more.

I don't want to insult Sanders, or his billionaire backer but the analysis is not impressive.

The term Progressive is being misused too much-sort of like those evangelicals who claim to be the only Christians and rejected Catholics and protestant denominations as not Christian.

[cilla4progress]

7. I agree with Steyer

Perhaps it is time to remake our country's political parties - what better time?

Perhaps we need a progressive and a centrist party on the left that comes together when they share positions on issues.

I think it is clear now that in amazingly short order we lost a significant number of potential Dem voters from the working class last election to trump, who would have supported an "outsider" progressive candidate on the left.

In the short term, this sort of division may cost us, but we need to think long term now, to save our democracy and the planet.

[elleng]

36. Yes.

[George II]

19. "Steyer, a California hedge fund billionaire"?? Really?

BTW, what is "mic.com"?

[murielm99]

20. Bernie's platform contained suggestions

with few specifics. Much of it was cribbed from Hillary and others. Much of it set impossible standards that would have been far too expensive to implement.

I am sick of this divisive stuff.

[oxbow]

21. Absolutely. Single payer IS the gold standard.

please let's focus on that and less on infighting and ad hominems attacks. The GOP is splitting apart before our eyes, and Russia is doing its damndest to make sure the same thing happens to dems...It's time to rally around our best dreams for this country!

[elleng]

35. If only!

[Blue_Tires]

24. Once again I must ask:

WHERE IN FUCK'S NAME WERE ALL THESE BORN AGAIN SINGLE-PAYER ADVOCATES WHEN WE NEEDED THEM BACK IN 2010?

[killbotfactory]

26. They were lobbying for the public option, which Lieberman killed. Nt

[mikehiggins]

28. They were listening to Rahm Emmanuel, et al, tell them they weren't needed or wanted.

[Blue_Tires]

25. Bernie still needs to join the party for that to have a snowball's chance of happening...

[Blue_Tires]

27. So Berners lurve them some hedge fund billionaires now?

This time a year ago Chelsea was getting smeared daily from the emoprog left for daring to marry a hedge fund manager... I'm supposed to forget that now?

[chillfactor]

29. sorry but...

I am not and have never been a bernie fan....he is NOT a Democrat and as far as I am concerned, he helped Hillary lose the election. If bernie is/was the presidential candidate I would not vote for him....in my 75 years of voting in every election, that time around I would not vote at all.

[NanceGreggs]

30. I thought Bernie's "people" ...

... were all about getting money out of politics. Seems rather ironic to hear that we should suddenly be listening to the money people.

In case no one noticed, Bernie LOST the Dem nomination - and by a LOT. Claiming that we should all get behind the LOSER seems rather counter-productive. Hillary had the WINNING strategy - to the tune of 3,000,000 more votes in the GE. Shouldn't we be rallying around the WINNER'S strategy instead of the LOSER'S?

“We’re seeing a deliberate attempt to take away future by really rich people. Until we address that, I don’t think we’re dealing with the reality Americans are facing today" - said the guy who could afford to spend $87 million on an election.

Just sayin' is all.

[elleng]

34. There is an absolute, unspoken war between corporate interests and the American people,

he said. “That’s the underlying subtext for all of the public discussions within the Democratic party.”

Accept fact or not, Just sayin'.

[NanceGreggs]

37. ""It would be hypocritical of me ...

... to run as a Democrat because of the things I have said about the party." - Bernie Sanders

Accept as fact or not - just saying'.

[lunamagica]

31. Oh, the irony...or should I say, the hypocrisy...

[SoCalMusicLover]

32. DU Has Become Bernie Bashing Central

I think by the end of the year, they'll make everyone who still supports Bernie Sanders, want to leave the site.

Even if it were proven that the Russians Fixed the election, many here will find the time to place some blame on the fact Bernie Sanders dared to run in the Primaries. Hell.....why stop there, perhaps you should all start calling him a Socialist like the repubs do.

[elleng]

33. There is an absolute, unspoken war between corporate interests and the American people,

he said. “That’s the underlying subtext for all of the public discussions within the Democratic party.”

[killbotfactory]

40. the billionaire donor said that, not Bernie. nt

[JayhawkSD]

42. He is missing the boat. (snark follows.)

What is important is Russian meddling in an election that is in the past, that is already over. That is what we need to be talking about and screaming about at the top of our lungs.

We should not be talking about future policy. Why? Because the Russians having successfully gotten Trump elected means that they are now in charge, and there is no point in trying to beat them because they are headed up by Putin, who is terrifying. I mean, just look at the guy, he scares the crap out of you just to look at him. He kills people, for God's sake.

So talking about what we might do if we win an election is foolish because Putin and the Russians have kicked the shit out of us once and if we don't align the world against them, and talk endlessly about how evil they are, they will kick the shit out of us again.