The 2016 Presidential Candidates Thread

[grokit]

Bernie Invited to Speak at the Vatican

Bernie Sanders will put his campaign on hold in the United States next week when he travels to the Vatican to speak at a conference on social, economic and environmental issues.

Sanders will be flying to Rome immediately following the highly-anticipated last debate with rival Hillary Clinton on April 15. The conference at the Vatican is to be hosted by the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences. The Vermont senator says:

“I am grateful to the Vatican for inviting me to talk about an issue that is very dear to my heart, which is how we create a moral economy that works for all of the people rather than just the top one percent. I will also in my remarks be addressing the planetary crisis of climate change and the moral imperative to make sure we leave this planet in a way that is healthy and habitable for future generations.”

The very same day Sanders speaks out on inequality at the Vatican, Hillary Clinton will be holding a fundraiser hosted by Gary Gensler, a former partner at Goldman Sachs. Gentler is also Clinton’s Chief Financial Officer for her campaign. The fundraiser will take place in Hong Kong and attendees will have to pledge $2700 to Clinton’s campaign.

Sanders has long been a supporter of Pope Francis, speaking about him often:

“I think the Vatican has been aware of the fact that, in many respects, the pope’s views and my views are very much related. He has talked in an almost unprecedented way about the need to address income and wealth inequality, poverty and to combat the greed that we’re seeing all over this world, which is doing so much harm to so many people. … For me, it is an extraordinary honor to receive this invitation.”

Sanders is expected to be the only American public official speaking at the conference. The gathering will take place four days before the highly anticipated New York democratic primary.


http://www.nationofchange.org/news/...ak-vatican-hillary-clinton-holds-fundraisers/

 

[Magic9]

Remember when Clinton voted for the Patriot Act in 2001, and to reauthorize it in 2006? How about her evasive answer to the question whether she would "throttle back the NSA in the ways that President Obama has promised but that haven't come to pass?"

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics...intons-evasive-position-on-nsa-spying/386024/

http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/keystone-nsa-hillary-clinton-remains-quiet

Why bring up her record on this now? It turns out that the NSA data will soon be available to more than just the NSA.

"What does this rule change mean for you? In short, domestic law enforcement officials now have access to huge troves of American communications, obtained without warrants, that they can use to put people in cages. FBI agents don’t need to have any “national security” related reason to plug your name, email address, phone number, or other “selector” into the NSA’s gargantuan data trove. They can simply poke around in your private information in the course of totally routine investigations. And if they find something that suggests, say, involvement in illegal drug activity, they can send that information to local or state police."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...licing-that-has-nothing-to-do-with-terrorism/

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/26/u...sharing-of-data-that-nsa-intercepts.html?_r=0

 

[GetLeft]

Yeah dude. I'm gonna have a real hard time voting for H.

 

[gangababa]

We will all have a hell-ish time living under Republican rule!
Ask women in Texas, Missouri, etc
Ask students in Wisconsin
Ask anyone in the LGTB community anywhere other than in the most progressive communities
Ask around the schools in Kansas, Louisiana
Ask anyone who needs to pee in NC

 

[grokit]

I'm gonna have a real hard time voting for H.

A lot of people will, which is how we could end up with herr trump running the show
That young turks video that @Msek put up earlier was quite illuminating

edit:
This is pretty good!

NY Daily News Claims FDR Unfit to Be President: "No Concrete Plans, Only Platitudes"

Franklin D. Roosevelt at the White House in 1934 as he delivered a national radio address.
(Photo: National Archives)

[The following is an imagined 1932 New York Daily News editorial board interview with Franklin Roosevelt during his presidential campaign. The Daily News comments below derive from the editorial board’s interview with Bernie Sanders on April 1, 2016. The Roosevelt statements are taken primarily from his 1933 inaugural address and his 1936 campaign speech at Madison Square Garden.]

Daily News: Speaking broadly, you said that you expect to break up the big banks within the first year of your administration. What authority do you have to do that? And how would that work? How would you break up JPMorgan Chase?

FDR: We must get the money changers to flee from their high seats in the temple of our civilization. We must restore that temple to the ancient truths. The measure of the restoration lies in the extent to which we apply social values more noble than mere monetary profit.

Daily News: I get that point. I’m just looking at the method because, actions have reactions, right? There are pluses and minuses. So, if you push here, you may get an unintended consequence that you don’t understand. So, what I’m asking is, how can we understand? If you look at JPMorgan just as an example, or you can do Citibank, or Bank of America. What would it be? What would that institution be? Would there be a consumer bank? Where would the investing go?

FDR: I’m not running those banks.

Daily News: No. But you’d be breaking them up.

FDR: Primarily this is because rulers of the exchange of mankind’s goods [the biggest banks] have failed through their own stubbornness and their own incompetence. They should admit their failure, and abdicate. Practices of the unscrupulous money changers stand indicted in the court of public opinion, rejected by the hearts and minds of men.

Daily News: Yes, we’ve heard all your campaign generalizations. I’m only pressing because you’ve made it such a central part of your campaign. And I wanted to know what the mechanism would be to accomplish it.

FDR: There must be an end to a conduct in banking and in business which too often has given to a sacred trust the likeness of callous and selfish wrongdoing. There must be an end to speculation with other people’s money;

Daily News: But how? What are your concrete policies? How do you get it done? What authority do you have? Can you break them up? Can the Federal Reserve do it? How is it going to happen?

FDR: Senator Glass and Congressman Steagall are formulating legislation. They’ll provide all the details. That’s their function in our democracy.

My task is very different. I have to set the broad vision for our nation — to help us understand that happiness lies not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort. The joy and moral stimulation of work no longer must be forgotten in the mad chase of evanescent profits.

Daily News: So if you look forward, a year, maybe two years, right now you have...JPMorgan has 241,000 employees. About 20,000 of them in New York. $192 billion in net assets. What happens? What do you foresee? What is JPMorgan in year two?

Aren’t you stirring up hatred of one group of Americans against the other with all your campaign rhetoric? Wouldn’t it be much better to share with the public concrete plans instead of pie-in-the-sky platitudes?

FDR: Here is an amazing paradox! The very employers and politicians and publishers who talk most loudly of class antagonism and the destruction of the American system now undermine that system by this attempt to coerce the votes of the wage earners of this country. It is the old threat to close down the factory or the office if a particular candidate does not win. It is an old strategy of tyrants to delude their victims into fighting their battles for them.

Daily News: But all you provide are generalities, no specifics. You have no plans, only vague promises. And what you do say sounds much more like dictatorial socialism than democratic capitalism. With all due respect, unless you can answer specific questions with something other that generalities and platitudes, you are unfit to be the President of the United States.

FDR: The disagreements with you are not about policy specifics or legislative details. We disagree about the fundamental direction of our great nation should take, and my vision for getting there.

You have not committed yourselves to struggle with the old enemies of peace—business and financial monopoly, speculation, reckless banking, class antagonism, sectionalism, war profiteering.

The billionaire class considers the Government of the United States as a mere appendage to their own affairs. We know now that Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob.

Never before in all our history have these forces been so united against one candidate as they stand today. They are unanimous in their hate for me—and I welcome their hatred.


more:
http://www.commondreams.org/views/2...e-president-no-concrete-plans-only-platitudes

 

[cybrguy]

Elizabeth Warren Gets Vituperative

Not that I think it will really help, but I’m grateful to Sen. Elizabeth Warren for tearing into her Republican colleagues in the pages of the Boston Globe. Her conclusion is excellent:

"For seven years, through artificial debt ceiling crises, deliberate government shutdowns, and intentional confirmation blockades, Senate Republicans have acted as though the election and reelection of Obama relieved them of any responsibility to do their jobs. Senate Republicans embraced the idea that government shouldn’t work at all unless it works only for themselves and their friends. The campaigns of Donald Trump and Ted Cruz are the next logical outgrowth of the same attitude — if you can’t get what you want, just ignore the obligations of governing, then divert attention and responsibility by wallowing in a toxic stew of attacks on Muslims, women, Latinos, and each other.

If Senate Republicans don’t like being forced to pick between a bullet and poison, then here’s some advice: Stand up to extremists in the Senate bent on sabotaging our government whenever things don’t go their way. Respect the oath you took to uphold and defend the Constitution. Show some courage and put that oath ahead of party politics. Do your job — and start by considering the president’s nomination to the Supreme Court."

You should really read the whole thing. If she hadn’t become a senator, Warren would have made a kick-ass blogger.

 

[neverforget711]

We will all have a hell-ish time living under Republican rule!
Ask women in Texas, Missouri, etc
Ask students in Wisconsin
Ask anyone in the LGTB community anywhere other than in the most progressive communities
Ask around the schools in Kansas, Louisiana
Ask anyone who needs to pee in NC

Good thing Trump isn't even a real republican but instead is just gaming them into not having run 3rd party.

 

[cybrguy]

Frankly that isn't all that much different from Bernie and the Dems.

 

[grokit]

There are some differences of opinion as to whether it was a sparrow “considered the lowliest of birds, represents the least among people, or possibly a finch, which has come to represent the “Passion of Our Lord.” And yet, nothing from the right-wing or Christian-right about signs from God.

Hey @BernieSanders,
Did you get the tweet I sent you?

— God (@TheGoodGodAbove) March 26, 2016​

On Friday, God’s own anointed messenger, The Pope, invited Bernie Sanders to the Vatican to discuss social, economic and environmental issues. He’s also been asked to speak. Got that? The head of the Catholic church wants the advice of Socialist Jew. He didn’t ask Jerry Falwell or Pat Robertson.

He asked Bernie Sanders.

Bernie Sanders was invited by the Pope to the Vatican to speak.
I told the Pope to do that.​

— God (@TheGoodGodAbove) April 8, 2016​

The hate bags of the right are probably losing what little is left of their minds at this point, not to mention Hillary Clinton. The last time the Pope had anything to say about American politics the person third in line to the presidency quit his job and hasn’t been heard from since. FOX and the rest of the wing-nuts also accused the Holy Father of being a communist and sticking his nose into things that were none of his business.

http://samuel-warde.com/2016/04/bernie-sanders-getting-signs-god-conservatives-silent-video/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+SamuelWarde+(Samuel+Wynn+Warde)

 

[howie105]

Being a big supporter of separation of church and state I find no comfort when the head of any church injects himself into national politics on the behalf of the right or left.

 

[Gunky]

Chinese philosopher 韩非子Han Fei Zi, commented on gridlock circa mid 3rd century BC:

人主之患在莫之应，故曰，一手独拍，虽疾无声。人臣之忧在不得一，故曰，右手画圆，左手画方，不能两成。 "The big difficulty for rulers lies in no one responding to them. Hence it is said, 'if a single hand claps hard as it can there is still no sound'. The sorrow of ministers lies in not being united. Hence it is said, 'if the right hand draws a circle and the left draws a square, they cannot both be completed together.'"

 

[CarolKing]

Paul Ryan is saying no but he really means yes. He has made a video that looks like he might want to be president.
Paul Ryan shares curiously presidential campaign video | MSNBC
www.msnbc.com › watch › paul-ryan-sh...

 

[cybrguy]

Paul Ryan wants to be President, but he doesn't want to have to run. He wants it the way he got speaker. "Please Mr Ryan, will you pretty please be President? We promise you won't have to raise money or anything..."

 

[Nooky72]

 

[CarolKing]

Ted Sheeran is Cruz's doppelgänger. I posted a pick of a guy from a Christian Rock band that looked like Cruz some pages back.

Here it is.

 

[cybrguy]

So, for the Dems there are 2 caucuses left with a total of 14 delegates. There are 18 primaries left with a total of 1633 delegates. Anyone wanna make a bet on how this goes?

I can't help but be terribly entertained by the Donald whining about how unfair the Republican party's primary process is. Anyone think it might have been a good idea to figure out how it all works, BEFORE running for President?

Sorry, Donald. If you want to make changes to the system you are gonna have to do it BEFORE you run, not in the middle of it.

Someone else needs to understand that too, but I'm not picking on him today...

 

[CarolKing]

I don't like the super delegates that the Democrats have. They already stacked the deck for Hillary. That doesn't seem right either.

I think both parties electing process needs to be changed. WTFs with the electoral college?

I will never forget how stupid the hanging chads in FL were. They needed to have FL vote over again back in 2000. The voting was so flawed. Another candidate should have won.

Having elderly folks stand in line hours before they can vote? I hope they have fixed their voting process in FL come this fall. They made it too difficult in the past.

 

[Gunky]

The super-delegates are really there to prevent situations like the republican party is having now: an awful demagogue that no one among elected party officials wants gets the nomination in a multi-candidate race by virtue of a fairly small plurality. In this case the super d's are very unlikely to affect the outcome; Hillary will likely win on the first ballot without their help.

Democratic delegates are awarded proportionally, mostly. If the democratic delegates were handed out like the republican ones - where in many cases if you get a majority in the state you get all the delegates, winner take all - Hillary would probably have the nomination locked up at this point.

 

[CarolKing]

I'm glad that the Republicans may have a contested convention, it's going to be very entertaining. A big shitstorm with the Trump voters.


Edit
I like the fact that Hillary is mainly being positive, even when Bernie says something bad about Hillary she holds her head up high. She doesn't say things bad negatively, for the most part. If Bernie ends up getting too mean I might have to switch my vote - like that will change anything.

 

[Gunky]

Despite all the crazy barrage of mud that people have slung at her for decades, Hillary is not only the smartest, most competent, most experienced and most likely to be effective in advancing a progressive agenda of any candidate running, she is also a tireless, lifelong fighter for civil rights, human rights, the rights of women and children. Not only in the US but internationally, even when she was first lady. May the best woman win!

 

[grokit]

Democratic socialism in action, kickin' ass and takin' names:

Fed Official: America No Longer Top Country to Achieve American Dream
Research finds upward mobility higher in Canada and Denmark

Federal Reserve official William Dudley said America is no longer the top country for achieving the American Dream in remarks on economic opportunity and income mobility at a conference in New York on Monday.

“While income mobility in the United States has been relatively unchanged, it remains well below several other nations,” Dudley said. “The probability of moving from the bottom quintile to the top quintile is 7.5 percent in the United States, as compared to 11.7 percent in Denmark and 13.5 percent in Canada—two countries with relatively high levels of intergenerational mobility.”

“So effectively the chance of achieving the American Dream is not the highest for children born in America,” Dudley said.

Dudley, who is president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, made the comments at a conference hosted by the Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development, where he discussed what is going on at the grassroots level of the economy and shared data on the health of household balance sheets at the state and local levels.

“Broadly, the economy’s potential growth rate depends on effectively investing in and taking advantage of all of the resources in the economy—in particular, we need to achieve the full potential of the human capital of all Americans,” Dudley said. “For the United States to reach its maximum economic potential, all Americans must have the opportunity to reach their potential.”

http://freebeacon.com/issues/fed-official-u-s-no-longer-top-country-achieve-american-dream/


Compare and contrast the above with:

With Saudi and Russian ties, Clinton machine’s tentacles are far reaching, according to Panama Papers
The Podesta Group, a lobbying firm headed by Clinton operatives, has made a pretty penny working for Saudi & Russia

A key gear in the Clinton machine that has sucked in hundreds of thousands of dollars lobbying on behalf of the Saudi absolute monarchy has also worked for Russia’s biggest bank.

The Podesta Group is one of the most influential Democratic Party-linked lobbyists in the U.S. And it is headed by a top Hillary Clinton fundraiser who has been referred to as the “Hillary moneyman.”

This is just one of the many findings in the so-called Panama Papers, a trove of 11.5 million documents that expose how political and economic elites from around the planet are stashing their money in secretive tax havens.

Perhaps most egregious of all, huge arms deals approved by Hillary Clinton’s State Department also happened to place weapons in the hands of governments that donated money to the Clinton Foundation — including the autocratic Gulf regimes in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar — an investigation the International Business Times found.

In his report on the Clinton machine’s ties to Saudi Arabia, Isikoff also notes that two “of the Clinton lobbyist-bundlers, Richard Sullivan and David Jones, are principals in a firm that, until late last year, represented the Russia Direct Investment Fund, a sovereign wealth fund co-founded by Vladimir Putin when he was prime minister.”

All of these actors are moving parts in the enormous Clinton machine, which has its tentacles everywhere, and — as journalist Matt Taibbi infamously wrote of Goldman Sachs — “relentlessly jams its blood funnel into anything that smells like money.”

https://www.salon.com/2016/04/08/wi...according_to_panama_papers/?source=newsletter

 

[cybrguy]

I think I would actually be happier if Trump won the nomination by getting to 1237. I don't particularly want to see Cleveland on fire. I worry about the possibility that the Repubs will nominate someone at the convention who might have a chance, like Lyin Ryan or Kasich.

Donald Trump at the top of the ticket practically guarantees the Senate for the Dems and makes it possible to take the house. And that is the ONLY thing that puts the house in play...

 

[Gunky]

I think I would actually be happier if Trump won the nomination by getting to 1237. I don't particularly want to see Cleveland on fire. I worry about the possibility that the Repubs will nominate someone who might have a chance, like Lyin Ryan or Kasich.

Donald Trump at the top of the ticket practically guarantees the Senate for the Dems and makes it possible to take the house. And that is the ONLY thing that puts the house in play...

I think Cruz also puts the House in play. Repubs in the know have long acknowledged that the two front runners are losers: poison or bullet.

As to Ryan, I suppose he is possible after a series of inconclusive votes as a dark horse candidate. I doubt he could win the general election but it's not clear what he would do down-ballot. Policy-wise he is similar to the Bush-Rubio wing of the party, which does not seem to be a winner at this point.

 

[cybrguy]

Yeah, but as much as we all (including the repub establishment) hate Ted, he isn't as obviously ridiculous as Trump. The house is so heavily gerrymandered that the only way it could change hands is if MANY republicans stay home and don't vote on down ticket races, and all the Dems show up. I don't see that happening with Ted at the top. That is a Trump phenomenon. Trump will bring out the Dems better than Ted will.

 

[GetLeft]

I'm seeing myself swaying. It used to be harder for me to buy into Sanders, being that the creepiness on the other side of the table outweighed my idealism. But there's creepiness on this side of the table too. Who didn't think "H" when the Panamá thing broke? Who's not afraid that there's something out there to bring her down? Who doesn't think the big D doesn't have dirt on her?

So Bernie is a novice way to the left. And Hillary I do not now nor ever have trusted, regardless of her experience.

For f's sake. Couldn't Elizabeth have just run?