January 21, 2016

Coming from the man who got me into politics:

"George Bernard Shaw, speaking as an Irishman, summed up an approach to life, 'Other people, he said, see things and say why? But I dream things that never were and I say, why not?" John F. Kennedy, June 28th, 1963 in his speech to the Irish Government.

My biggest problem is turning our backs on people who are dying without healthcare coverage - thousands per year.

Hillary is basically saying "you go ahead and keep on dying because there's no hope for you! As president, I'm going to bury you. I'm not going to save many of you." Because under Hillary's plan, she's not going to save all of the people who are dying without healthcare. She might save some of them. To me, that's unAmerican.

Bernie's idea is that his election is only one part of the political revolution he seeks. Unlike what we did with Obama, we have to follow through and take the House and Senate. Now, if you want to sit on your hands and say "I give up. That's too hard. Or that's impossible. Can't be done." Fine. If you don't try, then for sure, it can't be done. People are dying, so I have to try.

But if things like single payer are properly sold as :
- something that saves thousands of lives every year
- something that reduces the deficit
- something that helps bring jobs back because it reduces labor costs to business
etc, it has a much better chance. To date, it's been poorly sold ignoring the dying and the bigger picture.

Fighting gerrymandering, Citizen's united, etc. Is part of Bernie's revolution. I don't know how far we'll get while Bernie is in office. But at least we're heading in the right direction. Of course, we can pick up gains for the ACA along the way until the complete goal is achieved.

I thought the United States was supposed to be the greatest country in the world. All the other advanced nations got great, universal or single payer healthcare for their people. I do not buy the notion that the US cannot. But I guess the United States has become second rate because a bunch of it's folks cower in defeat when faced with a tough challenge for the good of so many of it's people who will die without it.

The heck with Hillary. She's going nowhere special. There's no guarantee with Bernie but at least we've got a chance.

January 21, 2016

We're just two weeks away from the anniversary of her 2008 campaign manager quitting

It was preceded with these signs of it unraveling.

January 21, 2016

No way. If she's going down, she'll go down swinging

to the bitter end - like she with with Obama - long past the time when there was any realistic chance.

If they indict her and arrest her, she'd probably be campaigning from a jail cell.

There's characteristics in Hillary one might want to improve but I don't think quit is in her vocabulary.

January 21, 2016

He's doing pretty well so far.

If he wins the primary, the Clintons gravy train will be over in Washington. There will be no end to the line forming in front of Bernie with their political hands out wanting to hop on board.

January 21, 2016

After all we've been through on jobs exiting the country over the last couple of decades+

since NAFTA, it stuns me that it is not a bigger issue.

The biggest issue for me is that Americans stop dying from a lack of healthcare. But jobs and closing the net income gap which this also does are benefits.

And the last piece is that the cost of American products and services go down relative to the rest of the world because their labor component is more cost effective with more sensible health care costs - so more American products sell and deliver more American jobs that way ... and the economy and P&E for Wallstreet (except health insurance companies) goes up.

It will help bring jobs home.

Single payer makes sense in so many ways - even for Wallstreet and big business.

January 21, 2016

Makes American doing jobs more competitive with world labor

because the overall taxes/costs to provide health insurance are less.

And there's not nearly as much deductible. If they go as far as Canada, the deductible is darn near nothing.

January 21, 2016

That's the part that didn't entirely jive with the Clinton campaign being dismissive

If those emails were so sensitive that the folks looking for Top Secret stuff didn't have the clearance to look at them, then why would someone be stupid enough to stick their neck out and talk about what was in them to the media or the Clinton campaign? It's very confidential stuff.

And maybe the Clinton campaign knows they can't say anything so they can tamp this down with BS. Who knows.

I cannot see this guy McCullough writing such a letter about New York times articles (as the Clinton campaign suggested). He'd have to know he'd look like a buffoon if he did.

It doesn't add up to me. The Clinton campaign has been doing too much lying lately for me to have much faith in their take. I guess time will tell.

I was looking at the primary in terms of: if this thing blew up and Hillary had to withdraw or if they wanted to take Bernie out because the "establishment" didn't want a "socialist" after New Hampshire voted, only 32% of the primary delegates would be up for grabs because primary filing/deadlines for the other 68% would have passed. In fact, the deadline has passed for 50% of the elected delegates now.
https://ballotpedia.org/Important_dates_in_the_2016_presidential_race#State_primary_and_filing_deadline_dates
so I think in practical terms that notion is close to dead unless Hillary hangs on and then tries to turn her delegates over to someone else.

January 21, 2016

Let's get him elected and then we can worry about the revolution

January 21, 2016

Is this another endorsement where the union executive

supports Hillary but no one got around to asking their members?

January 21, 2016

It's got zero to do with sex.

Treating women equally should mean that they can be criticized equally.

Regardless of the sex of the candidate, Hillary, even by the concerns expressed in that article by folks that support her, is not running a good campaign. Her husband, regardless of his sex, who happens to have run two national campaigns and some campaigns as governor successfully, has stepped in to help. If Hillary was doing well, he would not have to.

It's got zero to do with sex and everything to do with her performance to date.

If it's demeaning, Hillary earned it by her performance. Not because of her sex or anything else.

I find such a conclusion lamely simplistic and ignoring basic facts.

The Clinton campaign is scrambling - by many, many accounts - including some in that article. They were not prepared for the states beyond the first few primaries as that article reinforces. They have not done well making their case to Iowa and New Hampshire where they spent massive ad money and resources - so that part of the campaign has fallen short. They're behind in organization in Nevada and there's simply no good excuse for that.

"Bill Clinton, according to a source with firsthand knowledge of the situation, has been phoning campaign manager Robby Mook almost daily to express concerns about the campaign’s organization..."

Why does Bill need to do that if she's doing such a bang up job? Is Bill being sexist trying to fix his wife's campaign?

I doubt Elizabeth Warren would make the same mistake twice like Hillary has. It's got nothing to do with sex and everything to do with a candidate making similar mistakes like they did in 2008.