View Full Version : What if Bernie goes all the way
What do you think will happen if Bernie becomes President?
Im concerned, but think most likely he won’t get anything done. What has he accomplished in the past? The republicans aren’t going along with his proposals, and neither will many of the Democrats.
It'll be a standstill as far as new legislation I suspect.
He might get a couple of Supreme Court picks, and lots of lower-level appointments.
Presumably he can exercise quite a bit of power on his own though using existing executive branch powers, until and unless Congress takes some of them back.
I think bae is right. Short of some electoral wave that washes out a huge segment of the current office holders, I don’t think most of Bernie’s proposals will ever be put to the test in the real world.
I agree with both bae and LDAHL, actually I'm not terribly concerned about Bernie's potential as a one term president, I'm more concerned with his growing number of accolytes ready to force his revolution upon us along with the normalization of dependence on an all powerful government.
A lot probably depends on who controls the Senate. I doubt that some of his wild ideas on free college education and medicare for all will advance to ideal completion, but there could be some compromises.
Donald has been a good example of how far a president can extend executive power even up to partially controlling the judicial branch, determining the direction of environmental policy and use of public lands, and shrinking important agencies like the EPA. I would not at all discount Bernie as being a do nothing president. I think there will be changes in the tax structure.
The Trumpers will get rabid and push for an impeachment payback.
If you go by Bernie's record, your fears that the US will turn into some communist gulag are sure to be unfounded.
Burlington, VT is a thriving city, thanks in good measure to his leadership as mayor.
Take a look at some of his accomplishments: http://www.addictinginfo.org/2016/02/19/heres-a-long-list-of-bernie-sanders-accomplishments-with-citations/
IRL as President, I would hope that he'd get rid of the wolves in charge of the EPA henhouse. I would hope that he would reverse all 95 of Trumps environmental roll-backs and elevate the urgency of combatting climate change. I would hope that he would move the needle a little more towards a progressive agenda, and I would hope that the Senate would gain enough democratic seats to enable some legislation to move forward. I don't expect miracles. But I do expect that a man who has dedicated his life to improve the lives of all the citizens of this country with consistency, honesty and integrity would be a vast improvement over our current leader.
If you go by Bernie's record, your fears that the US will turn into some communist gulag are sure to be unfounded.
Burlington, VT is a thriving city, thanks in good measure to his leadership as mayor.
Take a look at some of his accomplishments: http://www.addictinginfo.org/2016/02/19/heres-a-long-list-of-bernie-sanders-accomplishments-with-citations/
IRL as President, I would hope that he'd get rid of the wolves in charge of the EPA henhouse. I would hope that he would reverse all 95 of Trumps environmental roll-backs and elevate the urgency of combatting climate change. I would hope that he would move the needle a little more towards a progressive agenda, and I would hope that the Senate would gain enough democratic seats to enable some legislation to move forward. I don't expect miracles. But I do expect that a man who has dedicated his life to improve the lives of all the citizens of this country with consistency, honesty and integrity would be a vast improvement over our current leader.
Hear, hear! Bernie isn't my candidate (yet), but I have a great deal of respect for his character and his perseverance. Character is something we sorely lack in the current iteration of American governance, led as we are by a coalition of grifters, sycophants, and scoundrels.
I think he would have appointees who represent regular people not oligarchs, that enforcement of existing laws would change from the environment to marijuana to the border, and that he would use the bully pulpit to shame Congress into some things like allowing negotiation on drug prices.
Due to his age, I think we need to be comfortable that his running mate is a good choice for President.
I think I would finally get a good night's sleep.
I think I would finally get a good night's sleep.
Amen. Most of my friends are anxiety-ridden and sleep-deprived these days, due to wondering what fresh hell will greet them in the morning.
Most of my friends are anxiety-ridden and sleep-deprived these days, due to wondering what fresh hell will greet them in the morning.
Is that what they mean by Trump Derangement Syndrome?
Is that what they mean by Trump Derangement Syndrome?
You have a point--he's clearly deranged (and/or impaired) and Republicans don't have the cojones to stop him.
iris lilies
2-27-20, 11:07am
You have a point--he's clearly deranged (and/or impaired) and Republicans don't have the cojones to stop him.
Seriously, he is not deranged. I mean that.
Teacher Terry
2-27-20, 12:12pm
Seriously trump is either mentally ill or has dementia. When they flew healthy people from a cruise ship home people asked if any sick people would be on the plane because they had the option of staying on the ship one more week and being off quarantine instead of being quarantined another 2 weeks after getting off the plane. They were told no sick people. This is what the CDC recommended to trump’s administration. Passengers took pictures of a tarp separating sick from well people so they had now been lied to and exposed. The interview was on tv. Everyone I know would be doing the happy dance if Bernie was elected.
Technically, narcissistic personality disorder or sociopathy may not qualify as mental illnesses, but Adderall/pseudoephedrine addiction probably fits in there somewhere, I wouldn't be surprised if dementia played a part.
ApatheticNoMore
2-27-20, 3:24pm
Maybe most of our politicians are doped the heck up. That would sure explain a lot.
So apparently Ann coulter has endorsed warren over sanders. This is perhaps the first time in my life that I actually agree with her in any way.
‘Sen. Warren has convinced me that Bernie isn’t that worrisome. He’ll never get anything done. SHE’S the freak who will show up with 17 idiotic plans every day and keep everyone up until it gets done.’
So apparently Ann coulter has endorsed warren over sanders. This is perhaps the first time in my life that I actually agree with her in any way.
‘Sen. Warren has convinced me that Bernie isn’t that worrisome. He’ll never get anything done. SHE’S the freak who will show up with 17 idiotic plans every day and keep everyone up until it gets done.’
I'm discouraged that Warren has been basically ignored. She has everything I'd ever want in a candidate--a sharp mind and, it seems, a kind heart. And indefatigable energy. And Biden is making some sort of comeback. Mediocrity rules in this country, apparently.
I too like Warren a lot. I think she is more pragmatic than Bernie, and could bring some change, similar to Obama’s methods.
ApatheticNoMore
3-1-20, 11:44am
I'm discouraged that Warren has been basically ignored. She has everything I'd ever want in a candidate--a sharp mind and, it seems, a kind heart. And indefatigable energy. And Biden is making some sort of comeback. Mediocrity rules in this country, apparently.
Warren IS the decent centrist people are looking for if they think Sanders isn't electable (although noone really knows what is electable, I think likability matters more to most people than policy in terms of getting elected, and people like Sanders, he'll do well in the primaries). Klobuchar's positions are pretty far right. Disappointed how far right most of the "centrists" we are asked to consider are at this point and I've looked at them. Never mind social democrats, atlhough there are strong arguments that's what we need, these centrists aren't even from the Democratic (that is progressive) wing of the Democratic party as they say :) If you make the claim we have to vote on elect ability and beating Trump, well Trump IS awful but STILL noone wants to vote for bad policy! Policy positions aren't everything, much follow through is needed, but if the policy positions aren't even good ...
But Warren has decent positions, Steyer had mostly decent positions. Maybe others would have evolved far right, but people like Beto certainly were starting out decent etc.. I was never on the Beto train for many reasons, but thinking of how mean so many candidates have gotten, I remembered him yesterday and missed his lightness. I mean it's gotten very very ugly this far in. And it's maybe whitled down in the wrong way. Biden is just Biden.
I think a number of things combined to take Warren down. To some Democrats, she may have seemed too reminiscent of Clinton. The Native American fiasco, her changing stories about her background, her he-said/she-said with Sanders, and her off and on policy toward PACs perhaps contributed to a general impression of phoniness. The wonkier-than-thou image she worked to create often seemed belied by their failure on grounds of financial logic, political feasibility or constitutionality. From time to time, she seemed to panic and go into attack mode.
She does not seem well suited to these populist times.
If Warren were male she would have a better chance. Women have to be so very careful to not come across as bitchy to succeed in our society.
LDAHL and Tammy are both right about Warren.
Being honest and direct may be perceived as "bitchy" by those who are looking for an excuse to discount women. Warren is as warm and personable as Biden, and a lot smarter, IMO.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8u6v2DbTyi4
She said she had Native American heritage, and she did. Of course it was a few generations back. So what.
Oh I totally agree! But our society judges women much more harshly when they want to lead.
She said she had Native American heritage, and she did. Of course it was a few generations back. So what.
Six to ten generations. But hey, it was truthy enough for Harvard to brag about.
Six to ten generations. But hey, it was truthy enough for Harvard to brag about.
I have 4 times more African DNA than Warren has Native American DNA. I suppose that means I can check "African-American" and identify as a POC after she's elected?
According to Ancestry I have more Norwegian and Swedish ancestry than Cherokee and Pamunkey Indian ancestry even though I can find the names of my Cherokee and Pamunkey ancestors but nobody from Norway or Sweden.
So I'm not sure what to make of it all.
I would guess most people from Oklahoma have Cherokee ancestors, and isn't she from Oklahoma?
ApatheticNoMore
3-2-20, 2:22am
Warren's lies (or confusion if you want to say that), are the type that ordinary people can relate to in a sense though, maybe not at that level, she's more privileged than most but ... small scale stuff to get ahead. Oh I'm honest as the day is long but I've heard most people lie on their resume etc..
Yea I refuse to get outraged over that stuff, because it's all interpersonal nothing lies in the grand scheme of things. I mean it's lies that have consequences but very small one's in the grand political scheme of things, like a politician cheating on their spouse, sucks to be their spouse, but it's strictly interpersonal consequences. The political game being played has consequences for lives on a large scale. Even Bidens bankruptcy bill hurt more people than Warrens lie ever did. Though I can understand questioning whether to trust Warren and that's important if you campaign on changes people want. If you just campaign on the status quo, like Biden, well you can be a plagiarist (and how is that for a male telling lies too and getting seemingly much less friction for it). But then noone has much invested in whether Biden keeps his promises, he doesn't promise much, he's just Not-Trump.
At the least, I think a woman should be vice president this time around. I've been thinking about all this and how many young people are decidedly for Sanders. It will be their world to inherit and if that is what they want - let it be.
She doesn't identify as a Native American, but you can identify as anything you like, bae.
Her family passed down that they have Native American ancestry, which turned out to be true. As far as I've been able to tell, she never used that for any advantage.
iris lilies
3-2-20, 12:52pm
At the least, I think a woman should be vice president this time around. I've been thinking about all this and how many young people are decidedly for Sanders. It will be their world to inherit and if that is what they want - let it be.
A Bernie vs Trump match up would be epic!
A Bernie vs Trump match up would be epic!
Maybe the Dems feel Joe can better beat Trump (not sure if that's true), but I really think Bernie could withstand the slings and arrows of a debate with Trump better than Joe.
BTW, I've been watching Race to the White House on CNN, and last night was about the LBJ/Goldwater election in '64. They talked about that famous Daisy ad and how that really hurt Goldwater's campaign. He was seen as a divisive renegade and loose cannon that could ignite a nuclear war.
Hmmm.. sounds familiar.
And that ad, without even naming Goldwater, played into people's fears of nuclear war at that time, after the Cuban missile crisis. The power of advertising. That ad is a classic.
Goldwater was a stable genius next to this guy.
I agree the ad was terrific.
Goldwater was a stable genius next to this guy.
I agree the ad was terrific.
For those that maybe don't remember it, or were too young:
It ran ONLY ONCE. Cost to produce and run: $25,000.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cwqHB6QeUw
Teacher Terry
3-2-20, 1:25pm
I didn’t watch much tv as a kid so never saw it. Thanks for posting it.
She doesn't identify as a Native American, ...
Apparently in the past, until it became a bit of a problem for her, she did.
She even released the documents of some of the self-identification events.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2018/09/01/did-claiming-native-american-heritage-actually-help-elizabeth-warren-get-ahead-but-complicated/wUZZcrKKEOUv5Spnb7IO0K/story.html
It's funny what "sins" Democrats are charged with, vs. Republicans, isn't it?
It's funny what "sins" Democrats are charged with, vs. Republicans, isn't it?
Indeed. Warren is head-and-shoulders above Trump in terms of moral character. And yet flawed enough that I'd have fired her for fibbing on her job application in industry.
The fact that the Republicans are often worse shouldn't give the Democrats a free pass though.
Surely the Democrats can find better candidates?
Well, the DNC are having their way with the moderate candidates. Amy Klobuchar is bowing out tonight and endorsing Biden.
Indeed. Warren is head-and-shoulders above Trump in terms of moral character. And yet flawed enough that I'd have fired her for fibbing on her job application in industry.
The fact that the Republicans are often worse shouldn't give the Democrats a free pass though.
Surely the Democrats can find better candidates?
Well we did have Jimmy Carter... I agree that it's likely you could find spotless Democrats more readily than spotless Republicans, but it's hard to reach middle age without doing something that others would find objectionable.
Teacher Terry
3-2-20, 3:24pm
I like Amy but her and Pete needed to go as does Bloomberg.
ApatheticNoMore
3-2-20, 3:33pm
The thing is Pete had an actual base, not huge maybe. But, I don't think Biden actually does. Isn't Biden kinda holding political meets noone shows up at?
There was no visible Biden or Bloomberg support and only a little for Pete here.
Teacher Terry
3-2-20, 4:02pm
Both Biden and Bernie had visible support here. Both of their rallies here were well attended.
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