Summary
Bernie Sanders criticizes the Democratic Party for neglecting the working class, leading to their recent election losses.
He highlights issues like economic inequality, job displacement, healthcare costs, and foreign policy as key concerns for the American people.
Sanders questions whether the Democratic leadership will address these issues or remain beholden to big money interests.
Spoiler alert: They will remain beholden to big money interests and continue to lose. God damn it.
Hi. Working tradesman. I still voted blue even when the 4 years under trump were mostly better for me than under Biden. Of course most likely coasting off of Obama’s era. But I got no relief under Biden. I pay $20k a year for my Healthcare and still have to pay thousands a year out of pocket for visits. My family in Ukraine is still unsure what’s going to happen in the next year. Many of brothers in my local are unemployed now during the hardest time to pay to live. We hear the record profits the corporations made and swindled the working class dry so we can eat yet there has been no relief. How did making 6 figures for a family of 5 turn into almost living pay check to pay check.
I’m ok with sacrifice if it means others get the help they need. But I don’t think anyone got the help they needed. We sacrificed for no benifit to anyone but the elite, and we are continuing to be ignored.
This is what Sanders is talking about. And I’m afraid of what Trump is going to do for many Americans. For my Ukrainian family back home. For my neighbor who is Taiwanese. But recently I’m more worried to keep food on the table for my kids. I don’t even care who won anymore. I have election and political fatigue. I did what was asked. I keep doing what everyone thinks is right. But I’m burning out.
This comment spoke to me. I’m in the trades as well. I vote blue because, its further left than I can get from the red party.
Best of luck. We will need it.
You’re likely eligible for your states Medicare subsidies. Democrats fixed the family glitch in 2022, so you’ll likely save thousands switching off your employer plan, even if you’re making low six figures.
Of course those subsidies expire in 2025, and there is a snowballs chance in hell of those getting renewed now.
Democrats did a lot of things to improve the lives of working class, at least as much as they could get pass the Republican house.
Their problem is messaging. They are terrible at communicating what they’re doing, and how it’s going to help. I mean part of that problem is the media (ie fox news) is allowed to lie and Dems try to tell the truth. The playing field is not really level.
I really wish the DNC would get a blowhard demagogue cult of personality lying piece of shit like Trump to be their figurehead and then just actually do good shit once in office. Like read the fucking room man, you’re playing to sound policy when the people are voting for bloviating dickheads. Just be one of those and then worry about doing the right thing. Quoth Trae Crowder a few years back: “Do you want to be right, or do you want to win?”
Another headache is that everything dems do is means tested, so you’ve got to jump through a bunch of hoops to figure out if you’re even eligible for any new program. Even if the programs do give relief to people, it’s much harder to message on a complicated program with layers of bureaucracy rather than “everyone gets 3k per child no matter what.”
I’m in social work and this is huge. Trying to sign people up for these programs feels so invasive. I regularly apologize for the invasion of privacy and the implied judgement of these means-tested forms.
This is the legacy of the Clintons and those that followed them giving credit to the idea that you have to prove you’re deserving. Not only do means-tested programs have a negative psychological impact, they’re stupidly inefficient. They require lots of outside labor to make them even marginally effective.
The people who need them often barely have time/energy to take care of themselves, so you end up needing this whole extra layer of professionals to help them through the barrier. They all need grant it state funding of their own. All that money could be more efficiently distributed if the gates were gone, or even designed to be useable by the people who need them, in the circumstances they’re in.
The what party? America still has more than one political party?
Edit: I don’t mean ‘both parties are the same, you knuckleheads.’ I mean there won’t be a Democratic party by the next election. There won’t be any parties but the Republican party.
50/50 on that one. It’s just as likely they keep an opposition party to keep up appearances as many dictators do and have sham elections.
Kind of a distinction without a difference when it comes down to how anything works though.
If we’re talking about a distinction without a difference then we can admit that America is a one-party state that only pretends to be a two-party system.
No, sorry, I can’t admit that Hillary Clinton would have picked the same sort of SCOTUS justices that Trump picked, the ones that did things like end legal abortion nationwide.
I also can’t admit that Trump would have appointed Lena Khan to any sort of powerful economic position.
And I certainly can’t admit that Republicans had an infrastructure program considering they had four years to come up with one and never did.
Edit: If you want to say that the U.S. has two major political parties, one is center-right and the other is far right, I won’t disagree. But that’s a different issue.
But you have to admit that RBG didn’t step down during Obama’s term, that they let Republicans keep Merrick Garland out of the SC and gave them that seat, that they didn’t put Roe v. Wade into law during any of the chances they had to do so.
Admit that they were excited about Cheney and Bush’s kids giving an endorsement and never even bothered putting Sanders on stage at a campaign rally.
Admit that their presidential candidate underperformed the abortion-legalizing state ballot measures in every state that had one.
See my edit:
Edit: If you want to say that the U.S. has two major political parties, one is center-right and the other is far right, I won’t disagree. But that’s a different issue.
You telling me what I need to admit has nothing to do with your initial claim that it has only pretended to be a two party system. Do not move the goalposts.
What goalposts?
America has a capitalist monoparty that only pretends to be two parties so as to maintain the illusion of choice.
The only focused Democratic message for the past 8+ years has been, “We need to stop Trump,” which I agree with, but without Trump, I can’t think of a single, unified message. That’s not enough to get the general population fired up and excited to vote for Dems. One thing that made Obama so popular was he had specific goals and gave people hope.
Trump, in the meantime, has been feeding people all sorts of promises and hopes and dreams. They’re all terrible and full of shit, but that is a more powerful message than just, “We need to stop Harris.”
I’m also legitimately convinced that the average American person is just an asshole and likes other assholes. Trump is the most conceited, whiney, cry baby, know it all, jagoff and everybody knows it. He wears it like a medal. And people love it man. They just eat it up.
It’s just like Carlin said. The politicians come from us. Because they are us.
Trump is the most conceited, whiney, cry baby, know it all, jagoff and everybody knows it. He wears it like a medal. And people love it man. They just eat it up.
That’s the thing. I’m sick of the media painting this as a “they’re holding their noses and voting” thing. This dude doesn’t win despite his vulger rallies and his racist, sexist, homophobic, crazy, whiney, criminal, and arrogant behavior… He wins because of that shit.
Hey Bernie:
Thanks for being a democratic hack for years and years. You rage against them and constantly try to dunk on them, but what’s your party affiliation? Oh yeah, that’s right, Democratic. Good job criticizing them while also being part of the problem.
Bernie sanders is the longest serving independant senator in united states history. Hes been criticizing the democratic party since the 1970s, you absolute muppet.
OK… so he’s been part of a party he feels is ineffectual and hasn’t solved anything since the 1970s?
Do you know what an independant is? Who would you prefer he caucus with? The gop?
Ask him, he’s seemingly the one very disappointed with the Democratic party.
Ok. Let me try again.
What would you do if you were bernie? Whats your course of action?
I would do the same thing: complain endlessly about the Democratic party while doing nothing to distance myself from them.
