Tuesday, January 26, 2016

OBOF TYMHM Vol. 16 No. 2


OPINIONS  BASED  ON FACTS (OBOF)

THINGS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED (TYMHM)

YEAR ONE

YEAR TWO

YEAR THREE

YEAR FOUR

YEAR FIVE

YEAR SIX

OBOF YEAR SIX INDEX
 
OBOF TYMHM Vol. 16 No. 1
Jan. 03, 2016
OBOF TYMHM Vol. 16 No. 2
Jan. 25, 2016
 
 
 
 

 

 


 

 

 

Agenda


 

1.  FROM  FLOYD

 

2.  Bernie Sanders Rockets to First Place in Iowa


3.  Hillary & Bernie - The Credibility Gap

4.  The Most Critically Important Issue in this Election; Taking our Country Back


5.  Bernie for President 2016

6.  Bernie Sanders Raised $33 Million in Campaign Donations Last Quarter


 

 


 

FROM FLOYD


 


 


GOOD  NEWS


 


       My Son has been given clearance to start walking and he has been able to come to my house and correct the problems with my computer.  Better, and more news coming.  It sure is good to see him getting around again.


 


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Bernie Sanders Rockets to First Place in Iowa



January 23, 2016

| News Report

 


It’s great news for progressives – Bernie Sanders has pulled ahead of Hillary Clinton in Iowa less than two weeks before the Iowa caucus.

 

According to a new poll released by CNN on Thursday, 51% of polled voters would vote for Bernie Sanders, with only 43% in support of Hillary Clinton.

 

The poll was conducted via telephone with a sample size of 2,002 Iowa voters.  It has a sampling error of plus or minus 6 percentage points.

 

This is a huge shift for Sanders, who was lagging behind Clinton in a similar poll in December 54% to 36%.  Sanders success may be attributed to his recent announcements of his healthcare plan “Medicare for All” and his plans for breaking up Wall Street and the “too big to fail” banks.  In fact, Clinton has been pushed aside as the best on health care by Sanders 51% to 45%.  Voters also voted for Sanders to be the most trusted to handle the economy 58% to 36%. Perhaps the largest gap was the amount of voters that trust Sanders’ policies to help the middle class, versus Hillary’s policies with 67% to 30%.

 

Sanders continues to stay ahead of Clinton in New Hampshire, with 60% to Clinton’s 33%

                                                             ~~~

Hillary & Bernie - The Credibility Gap

 


January 23, 2016

| Op-Ed

 

Panic now grips the Clinton campaign.  Polls show Bernie Sanders surging to a dramatic lead in New Hampshire and closing in Iowa.  The Washington Post reports that Hillary’s national numbers are dropping faster now than they did in 2008.  The Clinton campaign has started throwing everything and the kitchen sink at Sanders, with the gutter award captured, thus far, by Senator Claire McCaskill who smeared him with the “hammer and sickle,” transparently attributing the red-baiting to future Republican attacks of her own imagination.

 

But the question isn’t what’s wrong with Bernie — he’s soaring beyond all expectations.  The question is what’s wrong with Hillary?

 

She has universal name recognition, unparalleled experience, the support of the big money and the political gatekeepers, the Hollywood glitz, the best political operatives, the pollsters, the ad makers, the establishment policy mavens, and political press coverage.  Having learned from 2008, she’s got the best ground operation in the history of Iowa caucuses that still may rescue her there.  But she’s sinking rapidly against a 73-year-old political maverick who is still just introducing himself to the American people 

 

It’s great news for progressives – Bernie Sanders has pulled ahead of Hillary Clinton in Iowa less than two weeks before the Iowa caucus.

 

According to a new poll released by CNN on Thursday, 51% of polled voters would vote for Bernie Sanders, with only 43% in support of Hillary Clinton.

 

The poll was conducted via telephone with a sample size of 2,002 Iowa voters.  It has a sampling error of plus or minus 6 percentage points.

 

This is a huge shift for Sanders, who was lagging behind Clinton in a similar poll in December 54% to 36%.

 

Sanders success may be attributed to his recent announcements of his healthcare plan “Medicare for All” and his plans for breaking up Wall Street and the “too big to fail” banks.  In fact, Clinton has been pushed aside as the best on health care by Sanders 51% to 45%.  Voters also voted for Sanders to be the most trusted to handle the economy 58% to 36%. Perhaps the largest gap was the amount of voters that trust Sanders’ policies to help the middle class, versus Hillary’s policies with 67% to 30%.

 

Sanders continues to stay ahead of Clinton in New Hampshire, with 60% to Clinton’s 33%.



Iowa caucuses that still may rescue her there.  But she’s sinking rapidly against a 73-year-old political maverick who is still just introducing himself to the American people. 

                                                                   

Already the inevitable Clinton circular firing squad has begun firing its salvos:  We should have gone negative on Bernie earlier.  We should have used Bill more… or less.  We shouldn’t have bet the house on the first four primaries.  Woulda, shoulda, coulda.

 

Inevitably, any Clinton campaign carries a lot of baggage that simply has to be overcome.  The assaults on her won’t really be unleashed until the general election (although Donald Trump and Republican legislators have already started).  What is plaguing the Clinton campaign are less the sins of the past than the strategic choices of the present — particularly her decision to be the candidate of big money.

 

Hillary’s Unilateral Disarmament

 

From its start, the Clinton campaign has boasted about its unparalleled fundraising capacity.  HRC geared up a bevy of SuperPacs and C4s to take big donations and dark money.  She launched a relentless operation to get wealthy donors to max out both for the primary and the general.  Her ability to raise money helped scare away other potential contenders. Her continued commitment to this path is symbolized by the $33,400 a plate dinner Warren Buffet is hosting for her in Washington, D.C. on the eve of the Iowa caucuses.  People who can afford $33,400 for one seat at the table aren’t exactly the working people Hillary claims to champion.

 

Sanders, of course, made a different decision.  He has condemned Super PACs, big money and secret contributions.  He has funded his campaign with record numbers of small donations raised largely over the social media.  He doesn’t have anything like a traditional campaign fundraising operation. That independence gives both force and integrity to his core message that it is time to take back our democracy from the “billionaire class,” the entrenched interests, and the Wall Street banksters.

 

Clinton argues that she favors fundamental campaign finance reform, but she can’t “unilaterally disarm.” Deep pocket Republicans are amassing huge war chests to assault her.  She has to be armed with big money to defend herself.

 

But in doing so, Clinton “unilaterally disarmed” her own credibility.  The Clinton family foundation and the family fortune have been built with large contributions and lavish “speaking fees,” significantly from the biggest financial interests in the country. Wall Street made Hillary herself a millionaire, as she pocketed over $3 million in speaking fees from Wall Street finance houses in 2013.  She made nearly as much ($2.8 million) speaking to health care industry interests.  And now her campaign is raising big bucks from the same folks.

 

The result is corrosive.  When Clinton insists that her Wall Street reforms are far tougher than those of Bernie Sanders and Martin O’Malley, it rings false.  She attacks Sanders for supporting Medicare for All which naturally is the bête noire of the private health insurance and drug companies.

 

When Sanders invoked the $600,000 Clinton received from Goldman Sachs alone in speaking fees (a bank that just agreed to pay $5 billion essentially for mortgage fraud) in the last debate, her only defense was to suggest that a similar criticism would apply to Barack Obama who also raised money from Wall Street.  Democrats like President Obama, but the defense is pretty lame given that fact that he will leave office with the big banks bigger and more concentrated than they were when their excesses blew up the economy, and with no major banker going to jail for what the FBI describes as an “epidemic of fraud.”

 

Moreover, Sanders has demonstrated that it is possible to generate enough true popular excitement to raise enough money from small donations to be financially competitive at a presidential level.  He didn’t “unilaterally disarm;” he armed himself in a manner consistent with his program.  And every attack by the Clinton camp only rouses his committed and growing army of small donors to ante up again.

 

In the general election, this might not matter as much. Every Republican — except Donald Trump, the self-funding billionaire — is enmeshed in the same pursuit of big money.  But in the primary, as Clinton protests angrily that she is a true progressive reformer, her words lack conviction not because of Sanders’ mild criticisms but because she has unilaterally disarmed her own credibility.

 

Credibility and Electability

 

In his brilliant new book, America Ascendent, Stanley Greenberg, the opinion analyst who helped Bill Clinton win in 1992, maintains that credibility on political reform is a big deal, not a side note.

 

Greenberg has tracked the emerging majority that Obama helped forge of the young, single women, and people of color whom he projects will constitute a majority of the electorate in 2016.  These voters are looking for change.  They fare among the worst in the modern economy and are the most supportive of the activist government and progressive reforms championed by Bernie Sanders and, yes, by Hillary Clinton.  

 

(Note their rankings on the CAF Candidate Scorecard)

 

But, Greenberg argues, these voters are the most skeptical of whether government will serve them in the end.  They understand that the rich and powerful have rigged the rules, that when money talks, politicians listen.  Corruption isn’t a bug, it’s a feature of our big money politics.

 

Greenberg’s polling for Women’s Voices, Women’s Vote and other groups suggest that before they give a reform agenda a hearing, these voters must see a candidate who is credibly committed to political reform — to curbing big money in politics, to cleaning out the stables in Washington, to making government serve the many and not just the wealthy and wired few.  As Greenberg concludes, “When voters hear the [political] reform narrative first, they are dramatically more open to the middle-class economic narrative that calls for government activism in response to America’s problems.”

 

This helps explain the remarkable excitement that Sanders has generated among the young. He passionately champions popular big reforms — tuition free college, a $15 minimum wage, Medicare for all, a bold climate change agenda, breaking up the big banks and more.  And his integrity and credibility are affirmed by his commitment to funding his campaign with the support of millions of citizens, not the big money of special interests.

 

As Greg Sargent of the Washington Post notes, Hillary’s credibility gulf also undermines her argument about “electability.”  Democrats have a natural majority among the electorate, but only if they turn out.  Even the Clinton campaign has been worried about whether HRC can generate the excitement among the rising American electorate to get them to the polls.  Now, they worry about whether Sanders will generate so much excitement that he will flood the Iowa caucuses and primaries with a wave of new voters.

 

Hillary Clinton is a formidable candidate who has assembled a strong campaign.  She will remain formidable even if Sanders exceeds expectations by doing well in Iowa and winning in New Hampshire. The panic among her supporters is both unseemly and excessive.  Claire McCaskill and the rest of the hit squad would be well advised to listen to the advice Campaign Chair John Podesta offered to David Brock, head of one of the Clinton Super PACs, and “chill out.” Clinton’s difficulties stem not from the attacks of Sanders — the most courtly of opponents — but from her own revealing choices.

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The Most Critically Important Issue in this Election; Taking our Country Back



January 17, 2016

| Op-Ed

 

Nothing is more important than the need for the American people to take their government back; to once again make this a government “Of, by and for the people.” Sadly we have seen our democracy transformed into an oligarchy in which the rich and powerful, together with the masters of Corporatism, have taken control over this country and its government.

 

Over the past several decades this ultra-powerful entity has placed a vice-like grip on this government. It, thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court in the Citizens United decision, is now being allowed to flood our election process with unlimited amounts of corporate money in order to elect those to Congress who will bend to its dictates and facilitate its special interests. Estimates indicate that it will spend as much as $5 billion in this presidential campaign.  That’s obscene.

Let’s see how this corporate grip on our government is damaging this country.  What we have here is a powerful alliance between Corporate America and the government that is without question, determining the direction of this country.  The people of America have no voice, no say in these matters, and their needs, their wants and what they may think are irrelevant to those who are in command of this alliance.

 

For example, in poll after poll, Americans are quite clear about what they believe that their government should do.  First, they badly want this government to create millions of more jobs for America’s workers; to see new industries developed and jobs returned to this country from overseas.  The corporate/government alliance wants no such thing and job creation is not even on the table.  Anyone recall when they last heard of a comprehensive plan by this Congress to create jobs? Even one?

 

Americans are sick and tired of constant war and watching massive amounts of taxpayer dollars pumped into the military machine.  Iraq and Afghanistan were disastrous and now the U.S. government is caught up in another quagmire in Syria. Check out this article, one of a great many                                              that give the details of the massive U.S. military presence all over the world, with elite U.S. special ops forces existing in some 147 countries.

 

Here is one of the major conclusions that this excellent article presents: “Investing in enduring bases rather than diplomatic, political, and humanitarian efforts to reduce conflict across the region (meaning the Greater Middle East in particular) is likely to do little more than ensure enduring war. Wise words to be sure but they will fall on deaf ears of those who continue to facilitate this government’s agenda of war.

 

This controlling corporate/government alliance places an enormous emphasis on expanding U.S. military presence across the world but at the expense of America’s many other critically important needs.  It’s as if everything of importance in America has been put on hold because of this ongoing pursuit of military objectives.  It is serving to suffocate America’s creative and innovative abilities that once produced great achievements and made America the envy of the world.

 

The people want to see an appropriate portion of those funds shifted from the military into domestic needs, for example, those such as repairing and improving our crumbling national infrastructure and our education system.

 

Americans want to see steps taken to lessen this country’s dependency on petroleum and begin the process of developing alternate sources of energy, primarily solar power.  That’s not going to happen anytime soon because the giant petroleum corporations who are a major part of this alliance; they say NO!

 

Bernie Sanders continually talks about the massive inequality of wealth and income   between those at the top and the rest of Americans, which is hurting this country and this society in so many ways. Congress clearly has the power to deal with this inequality in many different ways but chooses to totally ignore it.  And why?  Well, because the wealthiest Americans and the masters of corporatism don’t want any part of it and so the Congress does what it is told.

 

The majority of the people are not pleased with the sad state of the electoral process in this country.  They see politicians continually elected who then go to Congress and, instead of representing the interests of the country and its people, they answer only to those who control the campaign funds that determine the outcome of most elections.  That’s deplorable but it’s how the system operates and the people are helpless to do anything about it.

 

So what in the world can the American people do to deal with this situation; how can they reverse this direction, what measures can they use, what process  can they follow to turn it around?

 

The most effective way to deal with this situation would be to determine how to reverse the Citizens United decision and ban those massive corporate campaign contributions.  The best one would be through the Supreme Court reversing that decision. The other would necessitate a Constitutional Amendment, a virtually impossible endeavor. However, neither of these options will ever materialize as long as the current court is controlled by five Republican-appointed justices who will block any attempt to do it.

 

So what to do?  Simply this; that court’s makeup would have to be reconstituted into one that would be very receptive to taking the steps to initiate that reversal.

 

Let’s look at the ages of the 9 justices on the court to determine how long it could be before one or more would retire or might die in office.

 

Antonin Scalia – 79

Anthony Kennedy – 79

Ruth Bader Ginsburg – 82

Clarence Thomas – 67

Steven Breyer – 77

John Roberts – 60

Samuel Alito – 65

Sonia Sotomayor – 61

Elena Kagan – 55

That indicates that there are 3 or 4 of these justices who would probably need to be replaced in the next one or two terms of the next president.

 

Of all the current candidates running in the presidential primaries in both parties how many of them even consider this to be a deep and serious issue and problem for this country?  The only one that consistently brings it up is Bernie Sanders as one of his main talking points.  Hillary Clinton does not emphasize it as much but indications are that she would make this reversal of Citizens United a prime objective in her administration.

 

Therefore, we can conclude that of all the candidates of both parties who are currently in the running to become the next president only two, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, would appoint new justices who would, undoubtedly, be favorable to reversing Citizens United.

 

As far as the Republican candidates go, the idea that any one of them would ever even consider initiating steps to reverse that decision is unthinkable.  So, the natural conclusion for those who are very intent on taking their country back and restoring its democracy will call for them to think deeply about voting for either Clinton or Sanders.  While I certainly am not a supporter of Clinton I would, in fact, vote for her if I believed that it would result in taking our country back.

 

Bernie Sanders talks about the major banks that are “too big to fail”, those who were the primary cause of the 2007-2008 recession, who are masters of using clever scams and schemes to fleece the American people.  Banks that have been receiving ongoing huge loans from the Federal Reserve Bank at near zero % rates and who have not appropriately used the funds to make loans to businesses; and, instead, have used a good portion of them for their own purposes, including buybacks of their stocks.

 

The collusive nature of these banks and the government was evident when these banks who largely caused the 2007-2008 recession cried out for government to help them when they were in deep trouble. Thereafter the U.S. Congress and the president did not hesitate to provide the huge funding to bail them out.  Did the powerful banks learn from their near catastrophe and change their ways? Absolutely not.

 

In this upcoming presidential election it’s imperative that the vast majority of Americans join the movement whose chief objective is to take our government back; to make it “A government of, by and for the people and to restore our democracy.  And the only way to accomplish that formidable task is to break up the powerful corporate/government alliance that stands in the way.

 


 

Michael Payne is an independent progressive activist. His writings deal with social, economic, political and foreign policy issues; and especially with the great dangers involved with the proliferation of perpetual war, the associated defense industry, and the massive control that Corporate America holds over this government and our election process; all which are leading this nation down the road to eventual financial ruin if the conditions are not reversed.  He is a graduate of Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois and a U.S. Army veteran.

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Bernie for President 2016


Dear Floyd,

“I like to give on a scale where I can see impact...” - David Koch

Earlier this year, a number of Republicans flew to California to make fundraising pitches to more than four hundred wealthy conservative donors attending a private conference hosted by the Koch brothers.

It’s worth taking a moment to ask the question, who are the Koch brothers, and what do they want?

The Koch brothers are the second-wealthiest family in America worth $82 billion.  For the Koch brothers, $82 billion in wealth apparently is not good enough.

Owning the second-largest private company in America is apparently not good enough.

It doesn’t appear that they will be satisfied until they are able to control the entire political process.

This issue isn't personal for  me.  I don't know the Koch brothers, but I do know this.  They have advocated for destroying the federal programs that are critical to the financial and personal health of middle class Americans.

Now, most Americans know that the Koch brothers are the primary source of funding for the Tea Party, and that’s fine.  They know that they favor the outright repeal of the Affordable Care Act, and that’s their opinion.  It’s wrong, but that’s fine as well.

But it is not widely known that David Koch once ran for Vice President of the United States of America on the Libertarian Party ticket because he believed Ronald Reagan was much too liberal.  And he ran on a platform that included the following:

  • “We favor the repeal of the fraudulent, virtually bankrupt and increasingly oppressive Social Security system.”
  •  
  • “We favor the abolition of Medicare and Medicaid programs.”
  •  
  • “We support repeal of all laws which impede the ability of any person to find employment, such as minimum wage laws…”
  •  
  • “We support the eventual repeal of all taxation.”

In 1980, David Koch’s presidential ticket received one percent of the vote from the American people.  And rightly so.  His views were so extreme they were rejected completely out of hand by the American people.

But fast forward almost thirty-six years, and one of the most significant realities of modern politics is just how successful David Koch and the like-minded billionaires attending his retreat have been at moving the Republican Party to the extreme right.  The ideas above that were dismissed as downright crazy in 1980 are now part of today’s mainstream Republican thinking.

The Koch brothers, and billionaires like them, have bought up the private sector and now they’re buying up the government.  It’s up to us to put a stop to them, but it will require all of us standing together with one voice on this issue.

Your donation to our campaign today is a contribution towards the dismantling of a corrupt system of campaign finance held in place by the Koch brothers and their billionaire friends:

If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately:







Here’s the truth: The economic and political systems of this country are stacked against ordinary Americans.  The rich get richer and use their wealth to buy elections, and I believe that we cannot change this corrupt system by taking its money.  If we’re serious about creating jobs, health care for all, climate change, and the needs of our children and the elderly, we must be serious about campaign finance reform.

So far in this election, less than four hundred families have contributed the majority of all the money raised by all the candidates and super PACs combined. According to media reports, one family will spend more money in this election than either the Democratic or Republican Parties.

This is not democracy.  This is oligarchy.

Our job is not to think small in this moment.  The current system of campaign finance in this country is utterly corrupt.  That is one of the reasons I am so proud of how we have funded our campaign — over 2.5 million contributions from working Americans giving less than $30 at a time.  But our campaign is unique.

We must pass a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United, and I will not nominate any justice to the Supreme Court who does not make it abundantly clear that she or he will overturn that decision.  We need legislation that requires wealthy individuals and corporations who make large campaign contributions to disclose where their money is going.  And more importantly, I believe we need to move towards the public funding of elections.

Our vision for American democracy should be a nation in which all people, regardless of their income, can participate in the political process, can run for office without begging for contributions from the wealthy and the powerful.


Tomorrow afternoon I’ll be in New York City to deliver a major speech about our need to create a financial system that works for all Americans, not just the few. I’ll be in touch shortly after. I hope that you’ll keep an eye on your inbox for my message.

In solidarity,

Bernie Sanders

 



Bernie Sanders Raised $33 Million in Campaign Donations Last Quarter



January 3, 2016

 

During the final quarter of 2015, Sen. Bernie Sanders managed to raise $33 million in campaign donations. With over a million individual donors making more than 2.5 million contributions, Sanders’ campaign shattered President Obama’s previous record of more than 2.2 million contributions in 2011.

“This people-powered campaign is revolutionizing American politics,” said Jeff Weaver, Sanders’ campaign manager.  “What we are showing is that we can run a strong, national campaign without a super PAC and without depending on millionaires and billionaires for their support.  We are making history and we are proud of it.”

Although Sanders’ campaign fell $4 million short of Hillary Clinton’s $37 million contributions received last quarter, Sanders’ supporters are able to donate again because most have not reached their campaign contribution limit.  Unlike Sanders’ campaign, Clinton struggled to establish a low-dollar donor base with many of her donors having already reached the maximum limit of $2,700.  Instead of targeting wealthy contributors, Sanders’ campaign received small donations averaging $27.16 during the last three months.

GOP presidential candidate Ben Carson reported raising $23 million last quarter, while Sen. Ted Cruz only raised $20 million.  Even after refusing to accept any support from super PACs, Sanders’ campaign ended up raising $72.8 million for 2015.

“Bernie is the only candidate generating the kind of broad-based enthusiasm and excitement that Democrats must have in order to raise funds for a general election campaign and keep the White House and make gains in Congress,” Weaver said.

Unlike Clinton’s affluent donors, many of Sanders’ supporters simply cannot afford to contribute the maximum donation limit for his campaign.  By taking a grassroots approach, Sanders has gained a better understanding of the escalating financial and racial tensions plaguing the country.  On Saturday, Sanders took to Twitter and wrote, “Over half of American workers have less than $10,000 in savings and have no idea how they will be able to retire with any shred of dignity.”

 

 


 

Andrew Emett is a staff writer for NationofChange. Andrew is a Los Angeles-based reporter exposing political and corporate corruption. His interests include national security, corporate abuse, and holding government officials accountable. Andrew's work has appeared at WeAreChange, TravelersToday, The Joy Camp, and ForceChange.

 

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If the good Lord is willing and the creek don't rise, I'll try to get more to you.  I am still in hopes of getting my computer fixed before long and that would make it much easer to get info to you,

 

God Bless You All

&

God Bless the United States of America.

Floyd

 

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