September 18, 2015

'Justice Is Not For Sale': Sanders Leads Charge Against For-Profit Prisons

'Justice Is Not For Sale': Sanders Leads Charge Against For-Profit Prisons
'It is morally repugnant and a natcommonional tragedy that we have privatized prisons all over America.'
by Deirdre Fulton, staff writer * Common Dreams * September 17, 2015

With a call to "end the private prison racket in America," a group of progressive lawmakers on Thursday introduced a bill that seeks to subvert the reigning "pro-incarceration agenda" by banning private prisons, reinstating the federal parole system, and eliminating quotas for the number of immigrants held in detention.



"It is morally repugnant and a national tragedy that we have privatized prisons all over America," said Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, one of the legislation's lead sponsors along with Reps. Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), and Rep. Bobby L. Rush (D-Ill.). "We cannot fix our criminal justice system if corporations are allowed to profit from mass incarceration. Keeping human beings in jail for long periods of time must no longer be an acceptable business model in America."

With the ultimate goal of reducing the inmate population in federal, state, and local facilities, the Justice Is Not For Sale Act would, according to a fact sheet:

* Bar federal, state, and local governments from contracting with private companies starting two years after the bill is passed;
* Reinstate the federal parole system to allow "individualized, risk-based determinations regarding each prisoner and restore fairness in the system;"
* Increase oversight to prevent companies from overcharging inmates and their families for services like banking and telephone calls;
* End the requirement that Immigration and Customs Enforcement maintain a level of 34,000 detention beds; and
* End immigrant family detention.

http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/09/17/justice-not-sale-sanders-leads-charge-against-profit-prisons

September 14, 2015

Could this be related to Bernie starting to draw larger crowds in southern states?

Am I the only one who thinks this bodes well for Bernie's chances in Southern states?

Winds Of Change Blow Through South As Democrats Are Winning Special Elections On GOP Turf
By Keith Brekhus * Thursday, September, 10th, 2015 * Politicus

For the second time in less than a month, a Democrat has pulled off a stunning victory over a Republican candidate, by flipping a State House race in an almost hopelessly red legislative district. On Tuesday night, Democrat Cyndi Munson scored an improbable 54-46 victory in Oklahoma’s House District 85, a suburban district Northwest of Oklahoma City. Since 1965, when the district was first created, it had never been won by a Democrat. That changed on Tuesday night.

The 85th District went 61-39 for Mitt Romney in the 2012 election. Yet, on Tuesday night, in a traditionally low turnout special election, the district turned a surprisingly solid shade of blue. Speaking to supporters after she’d won, Munson acknowledged the magnitude of her achievement, proclaiming:

"Each time I heard it was an uphill battle I got more strength. This is amazing!"

Munson lost her race for the same seat in 2014 by 13 points, but she battled back and emerged on Tuesday night a winner. She ran on a platform supporting education and women’s health, while opposing income tax cuts for top earners. In a deep red district her message resonated with voters, weary of the GOP’s extremist stranglehold on Oklahoma politics.

As astonishing as Munson’s victory was, it was not the first Democratic upset of its kind this summer. In August, Democrat Taylor Bennett pulled off a similar surprise in Georgia’s 80th House District. Despite being outspent 2 to 1 in a district Mitt Romney carried by a 56-43 margin over Barack Obama in 2012, Bennett coasted to a 55-45 surprise victory over his Republican opponent, Max Davis.

More: http://www.politicususa.com/2015/09/10/winds-change-blow-south-democrats-winning-special-elections-gop-turf.html

September 13, 2015

Vicious Conservative Bashing of Black Lives Matter Is a Dangerous Proposition

Vicious Conservative Bashing of Black Lives Matter Is a Dangerous Proposition
Police brutality is real. It happens. When it happens, it's wrong.
By Shaun King * Daily Kos * September 12, 2015

Over the past few weeks, conservative opinion toward the Black Lives Matter movement has taken a harsh and ugly turn. It has never been supportive, but now it has taken a decidedly strong bent toward dehumanization, dishonesty, and dangerous accusations that run the risk of getting one of us killed.

By defaming, discrediting, and dehumanizing us with lies, memes, and false accusations, it makes us out to be something more akin to an enemy—when we aren't. We fight for what we fight for because we want to see a fair and just America. We fight because we care for this country and our people. We fight because we've seen seismic changes happen in this nation before and we believe they can happen again.

Police brutality is real. It happens. When it happens, it's wrong.

This is not a partisan idea. This is not liberal or conservative idea. This is a human rights issue. In fact, if a Muslim country somewhere else in the world had thousands of people killed by police, and the officers regularly called the people they killed the ugliest, most inhumane names imaginable, the United States would call that place a repressive regime.

Yet those of us who are calling for serious reforms on the issue of police brutality are being treated like we are a real physical threat to police. Not only that, but the issue has jumped the fence from conservative media outlets calling us a threat to actual police departments and prosecutors calling us a threat.

This is extremely dangerous and reckless. Keep reading to examine the reasons why.

MORE: http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/vicious-conservative-bashing-black-lives-matter-dangerous-proposition

September 11, 2015

TruthOut: Clinton Pitches Campaign Finance Reform While Raking in Million$ From Wall St Since 2008

Clinton Proposes Campaign Finance Reform While Raking in Millions From Wall Street Since 2008
Friday, 11 September 2015 * By Candice Bernd * Truthout

Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton announced a campaign finance reform plan Tuesday, in a post-Labor Day effort to boost her support after her closest competitor, Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, took a nine-point lead over her in New Hampshire polls, and continues to gain ground in Iowa among Democratic voters.

Clinton called for overturning the infamous 2010 Citizens United decision that paved the way for dark money groups to mete out millions from corporate donors into federal elections. In addition, the plan proposes using executive authority to require government contractors to disclose their campaign contributions. She would also press for the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to mandate that publicly traded companies disclose their political spending. Lastly, Clinton's plan would create a publicly funded pool that would match small donations to presidential and congressional campaigns.

~snip~

The timing shows she's keeping a cautious eye on Sanders, who has eschewed support from super PACs (outside spending groups that are allowed to take unlimited contributions from donors, but cannot explicitly coordinate their activities with candidates), and has drawn tens of thousands of people at his campaign stops across the nation.

Sanders has made campaign finance reform central to his campaign, and was the first member of Congress to introduce a constitutional amendment that would reverse the Citizens United decision in 2011. Clinton has also previously supported such an amendment.

But unlike Sanders, Clinton has accepted support from super PACs and outside spending groups - the types of groups that she now says she wants to rein in with her new plan.~snip~

The July FEC filing showed big banks and investment firms continue to be among Clinton's top donors this year, with Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase reappearing on her FEC filing this cycle. According to a MapLight analysis the FEC data, employees of Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America Merrill Lynch have already contributed about $290,000 to her campaign committee through June 30.

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/32754-clinton-proposes-campaign-finance-reform-while-raking-in-millions-from-wall-street

September 11, 2015

Bernie's up next on Chris Hayes msnbc -nt-

September 10, 2015

LOL - O'Malley is trying to "make an honest buck" on Wall Street.

O'Malley plays for tips on Wall Street
September 10, 2015 * By Jesse Byrnes * The Hill

Democratic presidential candidate Martin O'Malley is seen in a new video wearing pedestrian clothes and playing acoustic guitar for tips on Wall Street.

"Excuse me," says O'Malley in the IJReview video, navigating a crowd this week in New York while clad in jeans and a black shirt from the Baltimore-based Under Armour.

The former Maryland governor unpacks his guitar case, adorned with "#WeNeedDebate" stickers, and strums Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land."

September 10, 2015

Charles Blow: Hillary Is Hobbling, for Now

Hillary Is Hobbling, for Now
Sept. 10, 2015 * Charles Blow * New York Times

I must say that I’m starting to feel bad for Hillary Clinton. There is a sense surrounding her candidacy of building doom and imminent disaster. She just can’t seem to shake the email controversy and the idea that the issue raises — or raises again — some kind of character flaw.

In an interview on Tuesday with ABC News’ David Muir, Clinton finally apologized for her handling of the controversy saying, “I’m sorry about that.” She continued, “I take responsibility and I’m trying to be as transparent as I possibly can.” But every month, every week, every news cycle that the media focus is on the way Clinton is addressing the issue is a bad day for her, regardless of what she says or does about it.

~snip~

I don’t find the controversy to be the scandal others have made it out to be, but that doesn’t seem to matter now. It is an issue with a life of its own. ~snip~

Furthermore, it is hard to know what the unifying message of the Clinton campaign is. Is there a bumper sticker message? If there is, I don’t know it.

A close primary rival in the polls, Bernie Sanders, who is gaining on Clinton in Iowa and has overtaken her in New Hampshire, has such a message: He’s saying to the über rich, “You can’t have it all.” (It should be noted that many of Sanders’s supporters are also complaining about media coverage, suggesting that Sanders hasn’t received his fair share.)



http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/10/opinion/hillary-is-hobbling-for-now.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=opinion-c-col-left-region®ion=opinion-c-col-left-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-left-region

September 10, 2015

Pelosi praises Bernie Sanders

Pelosi praises Bernie Sanders
By Mike Lillis * 9/09/15 * The Hill

Eyeing another Democratic wave in the House, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Wednesday she’s hoping the energy surrounding Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-Vt.) presidential run will pay dividends for down-ticket Democrats at the polls next year.

Sanders, a liberal icon who has made economic justice the focal point of his long political career, has performed surprisingly well on the campaign trail this summer, inspiring a young grassroots following and drawing the largest crowds of any candidate in either party.

Pelosi, the House Democratic leader, said she had followed Sanders down the West Coast during her travels around the country amid the August recess. The enthusiasm for the Democratic candidate’s message was remarkable, she said, especially among young people.

“I was going right down that trail and it was just amazing to see,” Pelosi told reporters from her office in the Capitol. “Parents would come to me and say, ‘I’m for Hillary, I’m for this one, I’m for that one, [but] my kids are all for Bernie Sanders.’

“It’s a younger demographic, and I think that it’s really good for the country [and] certainly for the Democratic Party for him to attract people to the polls,” she added. “Hopefully he can keep them there in the general election for our Democratic candidates.”

http://thehill.com/homenews/house/253167-pelosi-praises-bernie-sanders

September 8, 2015

I'm for Bernie, but here's how much I don't care about Hillary's emails.

I would much rather that REAL ISSUES are discussed, issues that effect voters' lives, and
that they actually CARE about.



I would have K&Red this post in Hillary's group, but I've been banned there. So I'm doing it here\.

September 4, 2015

So Hillary has started lobbing digs at Bernie.

Hillary Clinton on Bernie Sanders: Waving Your Arms Doesn’t Mean a Lot
“You can wave your arms and give a speech but at the end of the day are you connecting with and really hearing what people are either saying to you or wishing that you would say to them?” Mrs. Clinton told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell on Friday, without directly naming Mr. Sanders.
http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/09/04/hillary-clinton-on-bernie-sanders-waving-your-arms-doesnt-mean-a-lot/

ON EDIT: I'm adding the portion of the transcript of the Hillary interview that includes Andrea Mitchell's question, and Hillary's answer, up to and including the "waving arms around" bit. Now people can decide for them selves, if Hillary's comment was aimed at Bernie, at least partially, or not.

Interview Transcript

AM: Looking at the campaign now you see huge crowds for Bernie Sanders and for Donald Trump, and people talking about Joe Biden having an opening if he decides to make a difficult choice on an emotional level. They talk about how authentic these campaigns are. (Hillary laughs)
Does it hurt you when people say you’re too lawyerly, you parse your words, you’re not authentic, you’re not connecting.

HRC: Well, that’s just not my experience, out campaigning. I feel very, very good about where we are.

We’ve built a terrific organization in the early States, and we’re expanding into those States that will be after Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Nevada.

The level of support, the intensity of support that I’m experiencing as I speak with people, and talking about issues that I, I know are on their minds.

I want to be the President who deals with all those big problems that are in the headlines, but also those problems that keep families up at night, and that’s why I started out listening.

Because I think you can come with your own ideas, and you can, you know, wave your arms and give a speech, but at the end of the day are you connecting with and really hearing what people are either really saying to you of wishing that you would say to them.

ON FURTHER EDIT:
apparently Team Bernie got the message and responded, here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251570958

I still think this is laughable, because Bernie IS listening to voters REAL concerns, and staking
out the Progressive high-ground on real issues effecting their lives, rather than attacking Hillary,
like every reporter has tried to get him to do.

GO BERNIE!!