Beto, Social Security, lies and smears.

[Amimnoch]

So, let's address this latest desperate lie, slander, smear, and old dug up crap by our independent "allies".

1. Beto is rated 100% by the Alliance for Retired Americans. That doesn't come from someone who is for raising the age of SS, or increasing the cost.

2. Beto opposed the Republican led call for converting SS into personal retirement accounts, and privatizing.

2. Pretty telling that one camp has to dig back 7 years to an obscure campaign speech, that was given to address specific concerns of a small constituency, and is NOT at all reflective of what a Senator Beto, and especially a President Beto would look like.

3. Do not be fooled by this crap. A President Beto, or President Biden, or President Warren, or President Harris, or President Buttigieg, or President Inslee, or President Klobacher, or President Hickenlooper, etc.. NONE of them, as a Democratic Party President of the US is going to refuse to sign, or refuse to support ANY Democratic Party Senate or House legislation that pushes to protect Social Security, or expand Social Security. Any of our candidates as POTUS would likewise VETO any Republican congress bill that does weaken our Social Security system.. period. anyone who thinks otherwise is a damn fool. There is NO Democratic Party version of a potential congress that will pass any bill that raises the retirement age, or increases costs of SS (other than possibly raising the tax cap)

They gave you 7 years old information as a representative of a pretty red district, Here's 4 months ago from a red-going purple state:

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=beto+o%27rourke+on+social+security&&view=detail&mid=AC23A092193BCA01FFA9AC23A092193BCA01FFA9&&FORM=VRDGAR

And coming up, I don't have a doubt in my mind, that as a national candidate, his stance and support will likewise be reinforced to support the needs and desires of a national, and not just Texas audience.

Beto has not had the benefit of being a muppet, up in the balcony section, watching and heckling all the real players, while being shored up from a small, homogenous, fully sympathetic constituency. So yes, some of his stances while running as a Representative of El Passo Texas house 76 disctrict aren't going to mesh well with a national message.

But, what's been implied from that 7 year old video.. that he won't support Social Security expansion and protections should we be lucky enough to get a full congress that will pass it, and put that bill on his desk?? Bullshit.. pure, unadulterated, and shameful bullshit.

[stonecutter357]

1. K&R

[Cha]

2. KR! for Beto!

[lark]

3. It's weird how the Bernie Bros (Sirota and all) have been piling on Beto so much.

It's almost like they fear him? It's just contemptible and unnecessary and stupid. The Dems should not be attacking each other, this is just wrong.

[TexasTowelie]

6. Bernie doesn't have to play by the same rules

since he is an independent. The paperwork for his 2024 Senate campaign is confirmation of that fact.

[dalton99a]

10. The venerated saint enjoys special status

"I Could Stand In the Middle Of DU And Hire Three Anti-Democratic Operatives..."

[mac56]

17. Good God. Let it go.

[dalton99a]

19. Not when they try to silence legitimate criticisms

[TexasTowelie]

20. Don't count on it.

This is a political discussion board and I'm rightfully pointing out that Bernie is a Democrat only when it is convenient for him.

[mac56]

27. Good for you.

Let's make sure we keep beating dead horses and fighting among ourselves.

That's the path to victory.

[TexasTowelie]

30. Is the lecture only for me

or are you an equal opportunity criticizer? It's not like I'm the only person on DU that is fighting and holding grudges.

[mac56]

32. "But everyone else is doing it!"

No, you're hardly the only one I've discussed this with.

But you do seem reluctant to get past it.

[TexasTowelie]

38. Why should I get past it?

I'm just a poster on an Internet discussion board and I don't expect my opinion to sway anyone. However, I have the same privilege to express my opinion as anyone else on DU.

Now that we had this exchange please feel free to confront someone else.

[mac56]

42. Sorry.

Didn't mean to interrupt your hobby.

[R B Garr]

40. What's with the turnabout?? Only one group besides the

GOP has been attacking Beto, and we know whose campaign that is. Maybe they should let it go.

[onit2day]

37. Why does this make a difference. It's the ideology not the label and his ideology

is and always has been strongly democratic even helping to rewrite the democratic platform. Saying he''s only a democrat when it's convenient is a duh...who cares and so petty why keep saying it. Campaigns for the party, fund raiser for the party, but directed the party away from corporate funding to multiple small donors. Bernie brings the 'We Can' to the party so stressing over his party 'label' is pointless. He signed an agreement with our party not to run against and to support the dem candidate no matter who it is...just like he did with Clinton when he became her #1 campaigner. "Where We Go From Here" is Bernie's new book which shows the dem party candidates and agenda is the American people's agenda. It shows how united we really are. As a party we must get the people to understand how united we really are.

[TexasTowelie]

47. Please don't mention unity to me since I've seen Bernie's supporters attack the other candidates

with deceitful posts. I don't agree with most of Bernie's ideologies and he is near the bottom of the list of candidates that I will vote for in the primary.

[BannonsLiver]

15. The fear is strong.

The Sirota created talking points have been showing up here already. Your OP is about one particular talking point which was pushed here heavily by his supporters in the days following beto’s fundraising announcement.

[onit2day]

33. You mean like you just did with Bernie.

[lark]

45. Nope, I am not in the race.

Neither did I have someone working for me write hit pieces on the other major candidates. If Bernie disagreed with Sirota, he wouldn't have hired him and be paying him.

[George II]

4. A little dose of reality sure doesn't hurt. Thanks for the CURRENT information!

I guess if digging up old stuff is going to be acceptable here, there are some essays and speeches I'd be interested in posting.

[leftofcool]

8. You will get banned from Bernie Underground if you do

[dalton99a]

11. +1. There are many

[Autumn]

14. George. You don't have to dig for that essay, it's posted about on a daily basis.

Look for any OP about Bernie.

[George II]

16. That's blatantly false. Why did you say that?

[Autumn]

21. Because it's not false. All you have to do is search Bernie's name and essay.

About 1,730 results (0.53 seconds)
https://www.google.com/search?q=Bernie+Sanders+essay&sitesearch=democraticunderground.com

[George II]

22. None of those DU links contain the essay. Please give me a link to an OP confirming, in your words..

"You don't have to dig for that essay, it's posted about on a daily basis."

[Autumn]

26. I said

"You don't have to dig for that essay, it's posted about on a daily basis."

To be clear I should have said there are posts about it on a daily basis. Hope that helps.

about[uh-bout]
WORD ORIGIN SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR about ON THESAURUS.COM
preposition
of; concerning; in regard to:
instructions about the work; a book about the Civil War.
connected or associated with:
There was an air of mystery about him.
SEE MORE
adverb
near in time, number, degree, etc.; approximately:
It's about five miles from here.
nearly; almost:
Dinner is about ready.
SEE MORE
adjective
moving around; astir:
He was up and about while the rest of us still slept.
in existence; current; prevalent:
Chicken pox is about.

[TexasTowelie]

5. Thank you for researching this information.

I would have done so last night, but I've been taking care of the final details for a job interview this afternoon.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

18. I'm surprised you didn't catch that glaring mistake about the district being "pretty red"

Being from Texas and all...

54-44 for Kerry 2004

66-33 Obama 2008

64-35 Obama 2012 <<< Beto first elected to the seat

67-27 Clinton 2016


There has been a Democrat in that seat all the way back to 1903 (with the exception of 1963-1965)

[PatrickforO]

25. Hey good luck!

Hope you get it.

[TexasTowelie]

28. Thank you.

The bottom end of the salary range is about $500/month more than the last job I had in DFW and the cost of living is much lower here. It's possible that I might be the only applicant since not many people in a rural town will meet the qualifications.

[sheshe2]

7. K&R

[Hassin Bin Sober]

9. Beto's district isn't anywhere near "pretty red"

Where did you get that information?

54-44 for Kerry 2004

66-33 Obama 2008

64-35 Obama 2012 <<< Beto first elected to the seat

67-27 Clinton 2016


There has been a Democrat in that seat all the way back to 1903 (with the exception of 1963-1965)


https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas%27s_16th_congressional_district

[jalan48]

13. +1

[PatrickforO]

23. Indeed.

Any of the candidates will, if elected, work to preserve and even expand Social Security.

[watoos]

24. So, we have eliminated Bernie and Tulsi,

Republicans should be proud.

We are also working to eliminate friends of Bernie, like AOC.

I choose to not eliminate any of our candidates, that's a goal of Republicans to get us to fight among ourselves.

I plan to vote for the candidate who I believe is tough as nails, that's the only quality that will beat Trump, IMO.

I have 2 females and 1 male in mind. Tulsi being former military fits my qualification, she may well be the only candidate who served? I'm not sure? Kamala fits my qualifications being a former prosecutor. My male candidate is not Bernie but I will gladly vote for him if he wins.

[TexasTowelie]

29. Buttigieg is a Naval intelligence officer

and was deployed to Afghanistan. He is also a Rhodes scholar.

[onit2day]

31. We know better. Still wish he was not against Medicare for all & Green New Deal

That tells me alot when I see that kind of regressive thinking because we are running out of time to save the planet and ourselves. We need action which is why I know I can count on a president Sanders to remain steadfast to our democratic ideals. Would love to see a Sanders/Warren ticket...just wow. Don't know enough about Beto to have an opinion but not supporting Medicare for all or the GND is a deal breaker for me.

[msongs]

35. there are options beside medicare for all nt

[Amimnoch]

36. Those are other fallacies that are being spread.

He's 100% in support of the Green New Deal and on the record on it:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/128726744

On Medicare for all, it is true he has a different agenda that he's pushing.
https://slate.com/business/2019/03/beto-orourke-health-plan-medicare-for-all-america.html

Still a great one imo. One that if we do manage to reclaim the senate is likely to pass the numbers in both chambers.

Bernie (as president), will not pass a bill that gets either plan passed, nor will Biden, nor will Beto, nor will Kamila, nor will any candidate we elect.

The Senate and the House will get to decide. ALL of our candidates will pass ANY Democratic Party led bill that expands the ACA, OR goes single payer, OR goes Medicare for all, OR goes full on universal right to and funded healthcare. ANY of our candidates will sign any of these bills into law.. NONE of the Republicans will. This "policy infighting" is absolutely absurd.

Bernie actually has MORE power to get the bill he wants passed in his current position. The POTUS will only either sign it or veto it.

[jalan48]

46. The fossil fuel industry is more interested in maintaining their profits than saving the planet.

[Gothmog]

39. K&R

[Sapient Donkey]

41. I haven't seen the details on what you're responding to, but I have a feeling

I know where it came from. I noticed when Harris announced she was a running there was a big push of misinformation put forward about her stances and history similar to what we saw with Beto before and now. The dishonest bullshit really turns me off. I hope people continue to call out these shady tactics even when it's not their candidate of choice who is the victim of it.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

43. It was a YouTube video from Beto's own YouTube channel. Unedited.

[Sapient Donkey]

48. Ahhh, I thought this was related to something else.

I watched the video. That's an older video, right? My stance with politicians (or anyone) is - where do they stand now and what is their recent voting record. I would be more interested in what he said a decade ago, if someone was able to demonstrate that he has a history of saying he supports/doesn't support something, but then at the same time he does something that's the exact opposite of what he claims to be his current stance. Basically prove that he's full of shit on his current stance based on his current actions and words.

It's not that I'm on any side here, but just that I don't really like these gotcha sort of tactics that don't focus on the here and now. The "oh but eight years ago you held this opinion" arguments rarely convince me of anything. Particularly if the person has predictably been on the correct side of issues in recent years. If anything, it shows me that a person is open to new ideas and adjusting their opinions as they learn new information. I'm interested in the now and the future.

[BobMcWan]

49. Thanks for the laugh

I don't know what the original post is referring to either, but I agree with stopping the attacks once a candidate announces. I want all the candidates to bring good ideas to the table and start stealing from one another.
Beto is pretty far down on my list of possibilities, but there is no way I am going to believe he would run as a Democrat who wants to mess with Social Security, or would be weak on protecting Medicare.
I don't know much about Texas, aside from it being a red state (in general), so I get that Beto had to temper his Blue down there. I'd still rather see a Representative with a D behind their name (or an I).
We have a few conservative Democrats here in Michigan because there are a lot of conservative-leaning voters here. Believe me, I know, I have rarely felt so unwelcome as when I did some poll-greeting in Ingham County. It's a tough balance to find support; as a candidate you have to present your ideas AND meet your audience where they are.

[melman]

44. So you're saying he changes his views based on the audience

That certainly is encouraging.