Cursing, Name Calling, and More : Progressive Socialist Senator Bernie Sanders
66The Filibuster
If you had a TV set turned on in your house today, you probably already know: Senator Bernard "Berine" Sanders from Vermont filibustered against the Obama/Republican tax compromise today for a full eight hours. Nonstop.
Impressive.
In that extended rant, the Senator actually said that Obama "...effed up..." when he agreed to let people with money actually keep it. He also issued a clear threat to the sitting President, wondering aloud if the man currently in the White House would even be the Democratic nominee in 2012.
Sanders is not alone, of course. The newest buzz-words for the Democrats--moving right along from "racist"--are all "terrorist related": Terrorists (Republicans)...holding the American people hostage...stuff like that. In a way, it's fertile territory for an in-depth sociological study, this pattern of having someone in Democrat psy ops produce trigger words which are then parroted by liberal pundits alike in clear attempts to gatling-gun down their political opposition while avoiding rational discussions of such an unpleasant subject as the simple fact that America is broke.
However, such a study lies well beyond the scope of a one-page hub. For that matter, even the back story on Bernard "Bernie" Sanders, born in Brooklyn as the son of Polish Jewish parents, would take a few thousand pages to cover adequately. You might want to check out his Wikipedia entry, but for this page, let's just mention that he's a self-described Democratic Socialist who detests people who have "too much money".
How much is too much? Well, legistorm lists Bernie's own take as a Senator at $174,000 annually, so it's probably right at that $250,000 mark. You know, the benchmark where Dems want to start increasing taxes on the (ha-ha) "rich". With room for another $76,000 in raises over time (not counting graft, which of course is not reported to the I.R.S. anyway), that would keep Bernie's own ox from getting gored for a good while yet. And since that $174,000 is the default figure for new Congress-critters at the moment, it suddenly seems crystal clear why they picked $250,000 as the place to start picking on us business-growers. (I get to count myself as such by virtue of once having been there, done that.)
Passage or No Passage
Will both Houses of Congress actually pass the tax compromise during this crippled quacker legislative session?
Frankly, it seems massively unlikely at this point. Even as originally presented by Obama, there were some aspects in the proposal that gave liberals cerebral hemorrhages...and others that felt to conservatives like getting a splash of battery acid directly in the eyes. From that point forward, things have deteriorated rapidly:
1. In the Senate, Sanders and his filibuster are not to be taken lightly.
2. In the House, Nasty Pelosi has zipped through a pork-packing pail of earmark amendments that Senate Republicans are sworn to oppose.
3. Obama painted himself in a corner when he told the Dems to "take it or leave it". I actually appreciated that, but neither Pelosi nor Reid did.
4. Speaking of Reid, he's likely to make a mess of things in the Senate beyond what Sanders alone could ever hope to accomplish.
5. As more details of the original deal surface, it's turning out to be a mini-version of Obamacare--with lots of Devils in lots of details. (In other words, the first press release describing terms of the compromise...didn't tell the whole story. Surprised?)
Plus, Congress just gave itself a four day weekend. Ho-hum, move along folks, head for Wal-Mart, get some Christmas shopping done, no legislative crisis or anything, nothing to see here.
My opinion? At this point, I don't have one. Reserving judgment, waiting to see what scum floats to the top of the pond at the end of the storm. Only one thing is certain: Senator Bernie Sanders is a true believer, he's eloquent, he works his tail off for the American people as he sees it...and he's earned himself a high ranking--right beside Representative Rotten Raul Grijalva--among those We the People need to send packing in 2012.
In summary: This isn't exactly Weekend at Bernie's, but Bernie certainly spiced up the weekend. And yes, he does come up for reelection at the same time as President Obama has to face mama grizzly Sarah Palin...if he gets past the primary, that is.
Remember in November 2012.
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This guy has become a disgrace. He needs to be removed. At this rate he might be.
Keep on hubbing!
anon, What do you think the rich do with their money, put it in their mattress. No, they reinvest it for growth and job creation. These are they people we need to be leading us out of the jobless era. They know how to do it, the government surely don't because most of the congressmen never had a decent job.
Please wake up and see what happens in life. I sick of hearing this some old argument you democrats use. It doesn't have merit or any basis.
Keep on hubbing!
Anon, I'm leaving your comment in place because Eovery's response is on target--and worth having available for later readers to peruse. Attack posts on any of my hubs are usually deleted/denied without comment, however...just FYI. I write opinion pieces, not public debate forums.
So that Eovery isn't carrying the total burden, I'll respond a bit (this one time) as well:
Wal-Mart. You're right; I have no trouble whatsoever with the Walton family keeping every penny they've ever made and hopefully make in the future. Stealing it from their employees? That's one way (the Progressive/Liberal/Socialist income redistribution way) of seeing it, no doubt.
But I'm old enough to clearly remember a few details about the small town retail landscape in America BEFORE Wal-Mart was so much a gleam in old Sam's eye. In the region (Montana and other mountain states) where I grew up and traveled the rodeo circuit, there were stores like Coast to Coast, Gibson's, Ben Franklin (an earlier relative of Family Dollar), and others.
People worked in those stores, yep, but didn't make much (if any) more income-wise than Wal-Mart employees do today, and health insurance was no sure thing. There were also far FEWER jobs available per square mile than we see in W-M today...and prices for CUSTOMERS were FAR higher.
Working in a Mom and Pop corner cafe or working at Mickey Dee's? I'll take the Big Mac folks any day of the week.
As for the stories told by B.S. (that would be Bernie Sanders), yeah, they have a pathos to them. Now, try living for a lifetime or two under the sort of socialist system that he'd like to see installed in these United States...then tell me you and your family are better off.
Final note for the moment: Prostrate myself? Anon, I'm about the least prostrate-myself guy you'll find anywhere. In more than a few cases (among the more than 100 jobs I held between 1961 and 2009), I told my boss to Take This Job And Shove It--sometimes LITERALLY. What I DO embrace as a work ethic--despite preferring to work for MYSELF--is this:
1. If I'm taking a man's money, if he's cutting my paycheck, then I OWE HIM the best work shift I can produce--EVERY shift. In western circles, that attitude is termed "Riding For The Brand".
2. The boss (be he the Supervisor at Wally World or a crusty old rancher running a thousand head of beef cattle) owes me ONLY WHAT WAS AGREED UPON WHEN I WAS HIRED. Nothing else. NOT ONE THING. I realize that's a concept as alien to a liberal as, say, Sarah Palin's Alaska, but that's how it is.
3. If I find I'm unhappy with the job--and with as many jobs as I had over the decades, you KNOW I found that out fairly often--then it's up to me: I can talk to the boss (doesn't usually help much), I can change my nasty attitude (not that easy, but did it a few times), or I can serve notice. I CANNOT plot, scheme, or otherwise work to set up my employer for grief--because if I did, I'd see myself as an absolute jerk, and I hate that.
Having had that same approach since early childhood (my Dad put me to work with an AXE, cutting firewood for our rural home in Montana, at FOUR YEARS OF AGE) hasn't always been totally comfortable, but it HAS had benefits. Performance reviews were generally favorable, sometimes highly so. Promotions were had. Trust developed between management (boss) and "peon" (me)...and TRUST is the ONLY coin with which I can be bought.
Ahhh...I ramble, therefore it's time to go write another hub on a different topic. But before I go...
...I've deluded myself into thinking I'm rich? Anon, I don't think the RICH are rich! But I DO believe that cutting corporate taxes by 50% ACROSS THE BOARD could literally save our economy. Recent news reports have stated that American corporate taxes are the highest of all industrialized nations on the planet. No WONDER businesses are taking their bucks elsewhere!
Undo that single fact...and we'd be awash in employment. Wages would rise, because low-tax-loving companies would be competing heavily for the labor pool.
Ahh...that uber-lengthy word-spew probably didn't accomplish anything for y'all readers...but it DID feel about as healthy as a visit to the outhouse after Thanksgiving Dinner! :)
First off, let me say this: anon44, you totally missed the boat somewhere, and I am being nice in stating this. As for the terrorist implications, the loon is himself in that category as shown by his entire life. And Weekend at Bernies was a picnic compared to what is going on on the hill at the present time. Reserving judgment is the only sane thing to do whilst commenting your observations on this mess those people up there have put us in. As for a four day weekend, they are following the loon on his vacation as far as walking away from the more important issues. Would that we all could take a vacation from our duties in life. Of course, if we all did that, peoples lives would be in the same shape the government, house and senate are: out to lunch.
This was a wonderful hub and I have enjoyed your thinking on all of this Ghost. Thanks for writing it.
Heh! WMH, it was really just "anon" who posted...44 HOURS ago! :)
Really appreciate your spirited defense of my writing, though--thanks!
What a ditz I am sometimes, but he could have posted it 1 minute ago and I would have said the same thing. Anon needs to take another look at life in general. That's my story and I'm stickin to it!!! You have done massive amounts of extremely hard work and research to write the hubs you do. And more people learn from reading your work.
That's the idea--hopefully, anyway. Now, if my writing can help a few others learn each year, and we project that forward, maybe I'll only need another thousand years or so to actually impact a national election! :)
Sanders is a self proclaimed socialist and an utter disgrace, not to mention full of hot air. I am sick of the attempt by many in Congress to vilify the wealthy. Last I heard we lived in a free society where the sky is the limit if you have the ability, will and fortitude to make your dreams come true. Try to destroy the wealthy and destroy society.
Most definitely.
Regarding Sanders specifically, here's a simple exercise you might try--although it helps to first understand that a man's LEFT EYE will reveal how he feels about what's "coming at him" (intake), while his RIGHT EYE will reveal what he's throwing back at the world (outflow).
The exercise: Looking at the Sanders photo above, try covering the right side of his face so that you can see ONLY the left side. Looks "dead" or at least "sick with very low energy" to me. Which tells me (especially in conjunction with his clear belief that America is a sick, sick place) that he can barely stand to live in such an awful, greedy society. Truly; I'm neither joking about this nor trying to put the man down.
Then do the same, looking at only the right eye. To me, the "Rage Against the Machine" is VERY obvious.
Interesting?
Now, moving on to the tax compromise itself: The Senate overwhelmingly approved the deal in a vote today, so the mini-buster (now what you'd call a real filibuster) by Sanders had no real, lasting effect on the legislative process--despite his 8 hour rant.
Which is good!
So, about that video, is this an example of the power of persuasion, or the persuasion of power? rambling rhetoric? septegenarian statistics?
As for anon, he might want to consider a self-study in the difference between the concepts 'equal wealth' and 'equal opportunity'. I more often hear 'do you know of any jobs?' than I hear 'can you give me some money?'.
Good question, Jim. My gut says it could be simply Rage of DALE--"DALE" being "Disillusionment At Life's End" for one more lib.
On the jobs vs. money, issue, we have our share of panhandlers around here...but, yeah, like you say, they're far outnumbered by the folks actually hustling to find work.
You know I don't hear any of the "rich" screaming, don't tax me. Rich or not, they are Americans. The plans I've seen wouldn't hurt them at all. Anyone with a taxable income of $250,000 would have a tax increase,that's after all deductions so they may make $400,000 - $500,000 in gross income. For every $1,000 in taxable income over the $250,000, they would pay $30.00 more in taxes. The amount of taxes for the first $250,000 would remain the same as it is now. I don't see something like that hurting anyone. It would help the country.
With the cuts we are making, we are asking the lower income groups to give up a lot more than that. I think this "debate" needs some facts thrown into it. We might all be on the same page then.
But then getting "facts" out of a politician is like pulling teeth from a squid.
You make a good point about the "rich" not screaming. At least where we can hear them.
And that image, "pulling teeth from a squid"...awesome.
anon 17 months ago
So you're apparently fine with the richest 1% of Americans holding more wealth than the lower 50% combined? You apparently think they worked harder than those 50% of Americans? You've completely fooled yourself into thinking you're one of the "rich", apparently. You're ok with the Walton family getting a $35 billion tax break while their employees struggle to make ends meet on minimum wage with out-of-reach health insurance? You heard none of the stories he told about his constituents going cold and hungry in an economy that makes sure the richest Americans (again: not you or me) makes out like bandits?
I'm sorry you've so completely deluded yourself into thinking that 98% of Americans have to prostrate themselves before the rich to beg for scraps off the table they loaded with the wealth they stole from us. And yes, they stole it from you as well. Keep defending them until you've finally had enough, like the rest of us.