Public’s Disgust With the Democratic Party Propels Sanders

Bernie Sanders is a fine politician, but that is not why he has emerged from obscurity to win so many Democratic primaries. The real story here is the breakdown of the ideology pursued for decades by the Democratic Party’s dominant faction.

The party gave up its historic mission to serve working people years ago and chose instead to represent the New Economy’s winners.
The Great Recession started in 2007, and for millions of average Americans no recovery has come. For most of the years since then, there has been a Democrat in the White House, and those Americans have a right to wonder why the eloquent hero they voted for has done so little to improve their situation. They see that banks, health insurance companies and Silicon Valley are doing extremely well; why, then, don’t their wages grow?

The answer, and the key to Sanders’s success, is staring us in the face: Because the Democratic Party gave up years ago on its historic mission of serving working people and chose instead to make itself into the party of professionals, of the New Economy’s winners, of a group they love to flatter with phrases like “symbolic analysts,” “wired workers” and the “creative class.”

This shifting allegiance is the fundamental reason that Democrats began to identify with Wall Street back in the 1990s (and then with Silicon Valley) but what makes this story so aggravating is the way Democrats keep choosing professionals over workers again and again. One class of Americans they reward with subsidies and forgiveness; the rest of us get discipline. The 1994 crime bill and the end of welfare were all brought to you, remember, by the same Democratic administration that rolled back the rules for banks and telecoms. The North American Free Trade Agreement and its many successors have brought, well, freedom to those who employ but anxiety and diminished lives to those who work. The present Democratic administration has hounded individuals who lied on mortgage applications, but it seems to find top bankers incapable of wrongdoing. And in these years of galloping industrial concentration and power grabs by Silicon Valley, antitrust enforcement has dropped off the agenda.
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more: http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2016/03/14/has-bernie-sanders-been-underestimated/publics-disgust-with-the-democratic-party-propels-sanders
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JURY/MODs: This is an OPINION piece. It is not meant to disparage Democrats. I posted it so we can all see a variety of opinions and views that are out there. Please have some consideration and leave this, during a time when we should ALL be highly reflective. This election will quite literally determine the future of our party, and possibly its' survival. Let us not do as the Republicans appear to be doing...

Does anyone remember way back when Bernie first started out and the news media

was reporting on him driving around from place to place in that little (red, I think it was) car? I tried to find a youtube of it, but I didn't remember how far back that was, and I can't find it. Still a fun memory...

Splenda ingredient, sucralose, linked to leukemia

(FOX 13) - New research shows the main ingredient in the artificial sweetener Splenda, called sucralose, has been linked to leukemia.

Italian researchers published their findings in the January edition of the International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health.

The study found "significant dose-related increased indicence of males bearing malignant tumors" and a "significant dose-related increased incidence of hematopoietic neoplasias in males" after being fed high amounts of sucralose for their lifespan.

Researchers pointed out similar studies conducted on behalf of Splenda's manufacturer did not show the same carcinogenic effects.

more: http://www.fox13news.com/health/105054347-story

Warren Haynes - One (U2 Cover) | Unplugged | Classic Rock Magazine

NNU Endorses Democratic Primary Challenger to DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz

Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. - National Nurses United, the largest nurses’ organization in the United States and in Florida, announced today its endorsement of Tim Canova who is running to become the next Member of the U.S. House of Representatives representing the 23rd District of Florida. A professor of law and public finance at Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad College of Law, Canova is running against incumbent Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

“We are proud to endorse Tim Canova today because he share’s nurses’ values of caring, compassion and community,” said Deborah Burger, RN, Co-President of National Nurses United, at a press conference here.

“Tim Canova supports mandatory, minimum nurse-to-patient ratios so that patients in hospitals in South Florida and the rest of the country receive optimal care,” Burger stated. “Debbie Wasserman Schultz has refused to support this important reform.

“Tim Canova supports single-payer, Medicare-for-All health care so that safe, therapeutic care is guaranteed for all in this country; Debbie Wasserman Schultz has refused to support this,” she continued. “Tim Canova supports a small Robin Hood Tax on Wall Street that would raise billions of dollars for programs to meet human needs; Debbie Wasserman Schultz has said no.
more: http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2016/03/10/nnu-endorses-democratic-primary-challenger-dnc-chair-debbie-wasserman-schultz

Prison officials say lighter sentences aren't saving money

INDIANAPOLIS -- Prison officials say a massive sentencing reform law that was supposed to save taxpayer money is actually costing more.

The Department of Correction reports costs have more than tripled since it began diverting low-level offenders out of state prisons and back into their communities, as required by the new law.

Its report, which has yet to be released publicly, is alarming to some lawmakers who’ve seen it.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Brent Steele, R-Bedford, calls it “ridiculous” and says the report contains “phony-baloney numbers.”

more: http://www.heraldbulletin.com/news/prison-officials-say-lighter-sentences-aren-t-saving-money/article_65e15ab6-e652-11e5-9672-6bf2b892e2d5.html

Outrageous sound quality at the debate. I can hear it get good for brief moments, the rest

sounds hollow and distant. This is not an accident.

Timeline: Labor Wars in the U.S. (PBS)

(Cross-posted from Good Reads)

Timeline: Labor Wars in the U.S. (PBS)

December 4, 1874
Mine operators in Pennsylvania reduce wages, and 10,000 miners go out on strike. The Molly Maguires, a group of mostly Irish miners, plan attacks and use violence against the operators and foremen. Twenty of the Molly Maguires will be sentenced to death by hanging.

Martinsburg, WV, July 16, 1877
July 14, 1877
The Great Railroad Strike begins in Martinsburg, West Virginia when the Baltimore & Ohio railroad company reduces wages for the second time that year. The strike spreads to other states, and state militias are mobilized, resulting in several bloody clashes. At least 10 workers die in Cumberland, Maryland.

May 4, 1886
A day after a union action in support of the eight-hour workday results in several casualties, labor leaders and strikers gather in Chicago, Illinois to protest police brutality. A bomb is thrown at policemen trying to break up the rally in Haymarket Square, creating chaos that results in the deaths of seven policemen and four workers. The clash is known as the Haymarket Affair.

January 25, 1890
The Knights of Labor Trade Assembly No. 135 and the National Progressive Miners Union combine to create the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA). The goal of the new union is to develop mine safety, to provide miners with collective bargaining power, and to decrease miners' dependence on the mine owners.

more: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/timeline/minewars/

Timeline: Labor Wars in the U.S. (PBS)

December 4, 1874
Mine operators in Pennsylvania reduce wages, and 10,000 miners go out on strike. The Molly Maguires, a group of mostly Irish miners, plan attacks and use violence against the operators and foremen. Twenty of the Molly Maguires will be sentenced to death by hanging.

Martinsburg, WV, July 16, 1877
July 14, 1877
The Great Railroad Strike begins in Martinsburg, West Virginia when the Baltimore & Ohio railroad company reduces wages for the second time that year. The strike spreads to other states, and state militias are mobilized, resulting in several bloody clashes. At least 10 workers die in Cumberland, Maryland.

May 4, 1886
A day after a union action in support of the eight-hour workday results in several casualties, labor leaders and strikers gather in Chicago, Illinois to protest police brutality. A bomb is thrown at policemen trying to break up the rally in Haymarket Square, creating chaos that results in the deaths of seven policemen and four workers. The clash is known as the Haymarket Affair.

January 25, 1890
The Knights of Labor Trade Assembly No. 135 and the National Progressive Miners Union combine to create the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA). The goal of the new union is to develop mine safety, to provide miners with collective bargaining power, and to decrease miners' dependence on the mine owners.

more: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/timeline/minewars/

MSNBC Projects Sanders the winner in Michigan!

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