Progressive Caucus on the rise

[TexasTowelie]

Inspired by presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders and fueled by an idealistic generation frustrated by the wealth amassed by large corporations, today’s version of left-wing politics is an aggressive, uncompromising, in-your-face movement that will get its first taste of electoral success or failure in the next month’s primary.

Saying you are “progressive” is not good enough. Ask gubernatorial candidate Shri Thanedar, who was booed and hissed out of April’s Progressive Caucus meeting when he attempted to give his stump speech.

The new rules are that only Progressive Caucus-endorsed candidates can address the full caucus. Say what you will, selfmade millionaires don’t walk the walk like the charismatic Abdul El-Sayed, their gubernatorial pick.

El-Sayed is not taking corporate contributions for his campaign. Thanedar isn’t either, but there’s a broader point. They believe the Indian-born chemist is adopting a liberal agenda for political expediency instead of truly believing in its virtues.

Read more: http://lansingcitypulse.com/article-16168-Progressive-Caucus-on-the-rise.html
(Lansing City Pulse)

What might create discussion is their definition of progressive:

“We define progressives as a group of people aspiring for freedom, equity and justice. A progressive stands by the oppressed, marginalized and less privileged until the scale is evened. A progressive implements those ideals by: promoting economic justice, ending capital control of our economic and political system and agitating for workers’ owned and operated businesses, forming a truly democratic government that derives its own legitimacy from the active consent of all governed, advocating for reparations for victims of our nation’s original sins; slavery, colonization, manifest destiny, racism and greed, and striving for justice for people of all races, beliefs, gender identities and sexual orientation. We believe a progressive crafts policy based on science, fact-finding and careful assessment of context.”