Sanders was giving an interview to Andrea Mitchell of MSNBC when she asked him if his endorsement would help Hillary beat Trump. Sanders's answer was lengthy, convoluted, and devastating to Obama. Why Obama? Well, here's what Sanders said:
It's a question of the American people understanding that Secretary Clinton is prepared to stand with them as they work longer hours for low wages, as they cannot afford health care, as their kids can't afford to go to college. Make it clear that she is on their side, that she is prepared to take on Wall Street, the drug companies, fossil fuel industry. Deal with the global crisis of climate change.The thing is, Obama has been president for eight years. And what Sanders is saying is that this is the state of America today. That's why he believes Hillary needs to assure the American people that she will fix these things if she wants to win the election. If this is the state of America today, and Obama has been in office for eight years, then obviously these are things Obama either did not fix or that he caused. Either way, the result is damning:
1. "as [the American people] work longer hours for low wages". This is an indictment of Obama's economic record. It means that everything you feel about the Great Recession hanging on is true. There are fewer jobs. They are worse jobs. They are lower paying jobs. Remember Obama's multiple stimulus plans? Weren't they supposed to fix that? Wasn't he going to fight China on trade? I guess not.
2. "as [the American people] cannot afford health care". Huh. Didn't Obamacare solve that? Don't we have universal coverage now that everyone can afford? I thought those denying that were Republican liars? Guess not.
3. "as [the American people's] kids can't afford to go to college". That would be colleges run by liberals. That would be the places taken over by students in protest after protest. Yep, those place. Well, didn't Obama fix this when he forced all the private lenders out of the Temple and brought all the student loans into the government? I could have sworn that was the case. Guess not.
4. "that she is prepared to take on Wall Street". Wait a minute! I KNOW Obama fixed Wall Street. Don't you remember Dodd Frank? Yeah, that ended too-big-to-fail and finally brought real regulation to Wall Street. Besides, Obama runs all the regulatory agencies that monitor Wall Street. How can Wall Street be out of control?
5. "that she is prepared to take on... the drug companies". Hold on. These guys were neutered under Obamacare, weren't they?
6. "that she is prepared to take on...the fossil fuel industry". Hasn't Obama been waging a war on coal for eight years? Didn't Obama create a massive lending program to hand out money
7. "that she is prepared to deal with the global crisis of climate change". Hmm. I thought Obama fixed this in Copenhagen. Weren't we promised he had saved the world? Has something gone wrong?
There's more that Bernie missed, but this is honestly a damning indictment of Obama's legacy. You would think he could have fixed a couple of these given the fact he got whatever laws he wanted until 2010 and could cut deals thereafter, that his administration does whatever it wants in the regulatory world, and given that he's just so gosh darn Nobel. Odd.
Thoughts?
16 comments:
Excellent analysis Andrew, and good catch!
Also, thanks for listening to Sanders so we don't have to (as if we can avoid it). :)
I may be wrong, but I wouldn't be surprised if Sanders didn't realize that he is, in effect, saying pretty much what you have. He may be a socialist but he is clever sometimes.
He has tapped into a lot of liberal angst, and liberals, like conservatives, libertarians, and everyone else want a real change from the status quo.
And just an asnide: the difference between Sanders and Trump is that besides their ideology, Sanders hasn't walked back on any of his promises. So, oddly enough, the socialist has more integrity than Trump has. I mean, sure, Sanders is wrong about virtually everything but he does seem to have integrity.
I just thought that was kind of funny.
Thanks Allena! It is a funny thought, but it is accurate. Sanders is 100% wrong, but he does have the strength of his convictions.
I thought it was hilarious that Bernie was tearing down Obama without even realizing it. He really just invalidates Obama's entire administration, doesn't he?
Barry Uh-O.
Just confirms to me that most people liberal and conservative are sheep begging to be sheared.
Its fascinating that Trump and Bernie both are fine with raising the minimum wage, more taxes, less trade and generally speaking more government intervention, but history provides countless examples of that not working.
Due to competition and mechanization the job market is changing especially at the low end but even at the high end. There is a lot less security than there used to be and lower wages on the low end.
A future president could help the economy by chopping down some of the regulations that impede businesses (economies in Republican led states tend to do better), but that isn't going to change the direction of things or for that matter most people's lives.
Rather than voting for a politician and trusting said politician to radically improve their personal circumstances, more people need to set about improving their own lives.
In modern times power has been a poisoned chalice for both parties due both to overreaching and overpromising. I see no sign that the cycle will end.
But, but, Republicans! They exist! And they're in Washington opposing stuff! Democrats could fix everything if only they had 1000% unanimous support from everyone all the time.
Sadly true, tryanmax. As long as there is one Republican anywhere on the planet, then we can't judge the failures of the left as their own.
I wish more Republicans/Conservatives were making the point I made in this article. This is what liberalism is all about -- failure.
Anthony, I think leftists like Bernie want to remake mankind, so they always favor more control. Guys like Trump and moderate Republicans and conservative Democrats tend to view government action as the only tool available to the government to fix things, so naturally they advocate "doing something." They also worry that will be seen as doing nothing if they let something other than government fix a crisis.
So all the examples in the world won't change the minds of those groups.
Eric, Oh yeah.
Sorry, CommentaramaPoliticians, no post tonight. Stuck at work...
So, Obama got BERNed!
Ha, ha, ha...okay, I'll go sit in the corner now and think about what I did.
Rustbelt,
You do that.
Rustbelt, That's awesome! :)
For those following the Tesla car death story, they are saying officially that the car did not see the truck because the big honking monster road hazard in front of the car was white which blended in with the sun and therefore was missed by the car's camera.
That's a major fail.
Bill Clinton had a private meeting with Loretta Lynch, who is overseeing the e-mail investigation of Hillary. A very unusual move, but they insist the investigation never came up ;) .
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/loretta-lynch-privately-meets-with-bill-clinton-aboard-personal-plane/
The conversation is likely to raise some eyebrows, given that Lynch’s Justice Department is currently engaged in an investigation of Hillary Clinton‘s use of a private email server during her tenure as Secretary of State. The meeting with Hillary’s husband also occurred hours before the release of the Benghazi House Committee’s final report.
In her remarks to reporters, Lynch denied discussing either matter with Clinton. “There was no discussion on any matter pending before the Department or any matter pending with any other body, there was no discussion of Benghazi, no discussion of State Department emails,” she said.
Lynch as taken lying lessons from the Clintons apparently...
Re: Lynch/Clinton meeting and nothing was discussed...Oh, wait, I just saw a huge flock of pigs flying passed my window!
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