Politico: Bernie Ain't No Fortunate Son

[mhatrw]

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/09/bernie-sanders-candidate-wealth-2016-213364

Sanders’ rhetoric full of money, not his bank account

Railing for decades about unequal income has meant he earned little of it himself.

In 1981, less than six months after he was elected mayor of Burlington, Vermont, Bernie Sanders was asked about money. “Accumulating money and material possessions aren’t my interests,” the self-described socialist told a freelance writer, according to a transcript of the interview filed in Sanders’ papers at the University of Vermont. “Having money is the freedom of not having to worry about paying off debts. I’d like to travel, but I have no great desire to be rich.”

He’s not. He wasn’t rich then, and he isn’t rich now, at least not relative to his Senate colleagues or the other 2016 presidential candidates, nearly half of whom are among the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans. With a net worth of $419,000, according to a POLITICO analysis, Sanders and his wife are comfortably members of the richest 30 percent club.

Money, though, is the central engine for Sanders’ personal and political histories. Marked by a lower middle-class upbringing in a three-and-a-half-room, rent-controlled walk-up in Flatbush, Brooklyn, and more than a decade of early adulthood in Vermont in which he lived hand-to-mouth, the soon-to-be 74-year-old sees everything through the prism of the nexus of money and justice. In his 1997 book, Outsider in the House, which he wrote with his friend Huck Gutman, he called it a simple formula: “wealth = power, lack of money = subservience.”

Everybody could have enough money, Sanders believes, if nobody was allowed to have too much. “His commitment to those who are not ruling is deep and abiding,” his old friend Gene Bergman said in an interview with POLITICO. “It’s really based on who he is.”

...

[Uncle Joe]

1. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, mhatrw.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

2. Boom, there it is.

a simple formula: “wealth = power, lack of money = subservience.”

The central standard around which our society revolves. And why Bernie wants to move the power from the hands of the few into the hands of the many and how he sees it happening. Give the people the power, and they can create the change, rather than begging politicians to change things for them.

[sabrina 1]

5. Exactly. Without money you are powerless. Smart people know this

and those in Power know it too which is why they continue to try to deprive people of that power.

And yet, we have people objecting to Bernie wanting to give that power to the most oppressed in our society.

Makes you wonder what their real agenda is.

[Doctor_J]

3. This is a bad thing, per the Clintonites

it shows bad money management skills.

No...really...they've said that

rec

[mountain grammy]

4. Ain't that something!

My hubby and I are "richer" than the next president of the U.S. Guess it's time to bump up that monthly donation.

[Skwmom]

6. Rhetoric and the second word in...

Let's subtly push those FALSE memes against Bernie.

Rhetoric: language designed to have a persuasive or impressive effect on its audience, but often regarded as lacking in sincerity or meaningful content.

Sanders and rhetoric should not be used in the same sentence.

[xynthee]

7. How refreshing!

I can't wait to hear about how this is a bad thing. Should be entertaining!

[Skwmom]

8. Oh, I'm sure you see what this article is pushing. n/t

[Divernan]

9. I used to keep a stash of $1 bills in my car to give to homeless at intersections.

I'm retired, on fixed income - lost most of my savings in 2008 /THANKS! W!/ but I decided today to bump that $1 bill up to $5 - what the fuck can anyone get to eat with $1? So I gave a $5 bill to the youngish man who looked to have all his worldly belongings in a battered duffel bag & guitar bag, with a traveling-to-another-state sign. His face lit up and he headed to the Panera's to get some food.

Some cynics would say, what if he's a con artist? You know what? I don't give a fuck. If that's all he can find to do for a living, I'm still happy to help him out. And I feel damn good about myself right now!

What a fucked up country the USA has become, with the level of poverty we're in.

GO BERNIE! ! !