Bernie Sanders for President

Dear Friends,

Bernie Sanders is my choice for President of the United States.  His policies are exactly what this country and the world need now.  The media, many pundits and a number of my friends say he cannot be elected, he is too far left, he is a socialist and he is impractical.  I want to encourage everybody, including the media, to look beyond labels and examine his policies and positions.  Since I believe his policies are the ones that we need now, I intend to work for his election.

Bernie Sanders is not new to his positions.  He has been espousing them for years.  They are not focus group tested policies.  They are what he truly believes.  In the weeks to come, I will focus more on the policies in detail.  For now, these are just summaries of some of his positions and policies that I think are great.

Democracy

Our democracy is being destroyed by big money and voter suppression.  Bernie Sanders has been clear that we need to stand up to the billionaire class who are spending billions of dollars to impose their will on the country.  That is not democracy.  We need to reverse the Citizens United case and provide for government funding of campaigns.  Bernie Sanders is a strong advocate for both of these positions.    We also need to stop the Republican efforts at voter suppression.  Bernie Sanders wants to reinstate the provisions of the Voting Rights Act that require pre-approval of voting rights changes in states with histories of racial discrimination.

Economic Justice

Bernie Sanders, along with Elizabeth Warren, is at the forefront of the movement for economic justice - imposing higher taxes on the rich, having a $15 an hour minimum wage, increasing workers' wages, rebuilding the infrastructure of this country providing thousands of middle class jobs, providing better educational opportunities, focusing on increasing the incomes and opportunities for the poor and middle class, and the list goes on and on.

Bernie Sanders is an outspoken critic of the Trans-Pacific Partnership and other similar "trade" agreements that are negotiated in secret by the government with the help of big business but with no input from economic justice advocates or environmentalists.

Racial Justice

Bernie Sanders has issued a detailed plan to work to eliminate institutional racism in this country, including police and criminal justice reforms.  In addition, all of his economic justice initiatives will help alleviate the lack of economic racial justice in the country.

Privacy

Bernie Sanders is a strong advocate for protecting the privacy of the American people from government spying.

Women's Rights

Bernie Sanders is a strong advocate for women's rights and has been for years.  As mayor of Burlington, VT he passed some of the first legislation to advocate for women's economic rights and he has always been a strong supporter of women's health care rights.

Foreign Policy

Bernie Sanders voted against President Bush's Iraq war and has been consistently in favor of diplomacy over military action.  He is in favor of the Iraq nuclear agreement.  When Bernie Sanders says that war should be the last resort, he means it.

Environment

Bernie Sanders is and has always been an environmental activist.  He is opposed to fracking and the Keystone XL Pipeline and other environmentally dangerous fossil fuel development.  He is a long time supporter of alternative energy options.

Regulating Capitalism

Bernie Sanders understands that capitalism must be regulated.  If left alone the market will destroy capitalism and create an oligarchy as we have seen in recent years.  He is in favor of breaking up the banks that are too big to fail and curbing the abuses of Wall Street and making sure that all businesses have to account for all the costs of their activities including pollution, paying wages so low the government must subsidize the workers, etc.

Immigration

Bernie Sanders has been criticized by some progressives for his immigration position.  While his immigration position is more complicated and nuanced than other Democrats, I think it is very consistent with his guiding principles.  He supports immediately bringing all undocumented people out of the shadows and giving them a real path to citizenship.  He is, however, not in favor of many of the open border and guest worker programs.  His overriding concern is to protect American workers.  If anybody thinks that Republicans and big business want guest worker programs and more legal immigration because they are concerned about providing opportunities to immigrants, they are crazy.  They want those programs for an ongoing supply of cheap labor.  That is the reason that Bernie Sanders has objected to those programs.  Ultimately, he voted for the 2013 immigration reform bill but only after he was able to secure an amendment that provided significant funds for jobs for American workers.  Immigration is important to our success as a country, but we should not bring people here to be cheap labor.  We should bring people here because they want to come and be full participants in our country which will make us a better country.

Education

Bernie Sanders is a strong advocate for education.  Consistent with his core beliefs, we will not be able to achieve economic justice, to reduce the wealth and income gaps between the rich and the poor, to eliminate institutional racism, to compete in the global economy or to achieve economic prosperity for all without a great educational system.  That system has to be truly available to all at no cost.  Bernie Sanders is the leading proponent of making college free and affordable.

Healthcare

Bernie Sanders has been pushing for a universal single payer health system for years.  We are the only developed country in the world that views healthcare as a privilege not a right.  While for those that can pay, we have a great healthcare system.  The system overall costs significantly more than in other developed countries and has significantly poorer results.

I look forward to more detailed discussions of the issues in this election and whether or not Bernie Sanders has the best policies and positions.

Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal

Hillary Clinton and Foreign Policy

Dear Friends,

I have long been concerned about the hawkish, interventionist foreign policy of Secretary Clinton.  In an essay in The New York Times this morning entitled "The Real Threat to Hillary Clinton" Jacob Heilbrunn (here) posits that the real threat to Secretary Clinton's bid for the Presidency is not Senator Warren but former Senator Jim Webb from Virginia.  I know very little about Senator Webb, but I intend to find out more.  Mr. Heilbrunn describes him

as a Vietnam War hero, former secretary of the Navy in the Reagan administration, novelist and opponent of endless wars in the Middle East.

He was an outspoken critic of President George W. Bush's wars, asked the question, "Do we really want to occupy Iraq for the next 30 years?" and voted against the Iraq war.  Secretary Clinton, on the other hand voted for the Iraq war.  Senator Webb's foreign policy views have been very consistent with his first hand knowledge of the horrors of war, while Secretary Clinton continues to try to move her views around to suit her perceived needs.  Secretary Clinton's record is clear that she is a hawk and an interventionist.

Senator Webb's views are certainly not perfect as he was a strong proponent of the coal industry while in the United States Senate, but if Senator Webb fully jumps into the race for the Democratic nomination, perhaps we can have a real debate about foreign policy and perhaps he will prove to be a viable alternative to Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal

[Q] Qaddafi, Libya and President Obama's Foreign Policy

Dear Friends,

It appears as though the Qaddafi nightmare for Libya has ended or is about to end, and for that we can all be thankful.  As you may recall in June I was upset with President Obama's flagrant disregard for our Constitution and the War Powers Act (here).  I remain just as upset with President Obama's imperial presidency views, but I must admit that the end of the Qaddafi regime in Libya is a significant foreign policy victory.

President Obama's restraint with respect to the use of all out American force, his understanding of the need for the Libyans to own this revolt and its outcome and his willingness to try to tip the balance towards the rebels even though they might not prevail proved to be absolutely correct approach. The stark difference between President Obama's approach to foreign policy and that of President George W. Bush is something that all Americans should remember.  The fact that Senators McCain and Graham today criticized President Obama for not using the full force of American air power makes the contrast between President Obama's approach to the world and that of the Republicans even clearer.  As an American, I am proud of President Obama's foreign policy with respect to Libya.

His failure to follow the Constitution and the War Powers Act is not forgiven because of the result, he could have achieved the same result in a constitutional and legal way.  But we need to separate the issue of his imperial presidency views with his approach to foreign policy. 

Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal