Bernie and AOC on holding the line on the government shutdown

 

Platner v. Susan Collins

 It shouldn't even be close.

UPDATE 10/22/2025:  OK, this doesn't look good.

Trumpism marches on

The center cannot hold.  As Jim Hightower used to say, there's nothing in the middle of the road but yellow lines and dead armadillos.

I've been standing against the conventional wisdom of the Democratic Party pundits who say Democrats need to move toward the center - or, in other words, move right - for years.  And now they have some data that shores up my claim that Democrats need to move left.  It's been obvious for years that moving right is not getting them winning votes.  They've been at the center for decades.  Zohran Mamdani's routing of Andrew Cuomo should tell them something.  Instead, some of the establishment Dems are complaining about his win, and many more are simply not saying anything in support of it.  I hope it's not too late when they realize what's going on.  Bernie Sanders and AOC both endorsed Mamdani.  And I still think that if the Old Guard Democrats (and some younger, promising candidates who should have known better - I'm looking at you, Pete Buttigieg) hadn't banded together to push Bernie out of the 2020 primary when they saw him starting to eclipse them in the polls, he would have been the Democratic candidate, and he would have beat Trump.  We would have been spared Joe Biden, and we might have picked up more Congressional seats on Bernie's coattails, and this would be a very different world.  A much, much better one.

Bernie and AOC in Arizona

 

Bernie and AOC in Colorado

 

UPDATE 03/23/2025:

At least somebody is taking it to heart

 Things would be different if the Democratic Party elite hadn't pushed Bernie out and given us Joe Biden in 2020.

Bernie Sanders just lost me

If this is true.

The Hill is reporting that a source close to both Bernie Sanders and RFK Jr has told them that Sanders will vote for both Kennedy and Gabbard to be confirmed. I got to admit I was pretty pissed about this for an hour and had to get offline to process. I guess when I think of it I can see the reasons why Bernie would find the positions of both on different issues attractive based on some of his beliefs, but he fails to take into account that: 1. Both of them are likely compromised; 2. Both are definitely deeply disturbed; 3. Both are 1,000% untrustworthy.

  Meidas Touch

Listen to Bernie

Thus spake Bernie Sanders

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

This

A thousand times this. Did we not notice that in 2015 Sanders was gaining ground at a surprisingly rapid rate, and when it looked like he was going to be the nominee, the other democratic contenders pulled out and consolidated support for Biden? They didn't try to hide it.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Still sad Bernie didn't get the Dem nomination in 2016

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Unsurprising, if extremely disappointing

ON TUESDAY, THE Senate voted down a resolution that would have set the stage for Congress to place conditions on U.S. military aid to Israel — quashing what has so far been the most serious effort on Capitol Hill to hold the U.S. ally to account for its brutal assault on Gaza.

[...]

When it came to a vote Tuesday evening, the Senate voted 72-11 to table the resolution, effectively killing it.

[...]

“It’s frankly historic that this vote took place at all,” said Andrew O’Neill, the legislative director for the political advocacy group Indivisible. “The number of senators willing to take a vote like this even weeks ago, on the face of it, would have been zero.”

  Intercept

Progress, I suppose.

If only

A group of Senate Democrats voted Tuesday in favor of advancing a resolution sponsored by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) to potentially freeze U.S. military aid to Israel, sending a pointed message to President Biden that the war in Gaza is becoming a major problem for his party.

The Senate voted 72 to 11 to table the matter, but the number of Democrats who supported the measure reflects rising dissatisfaction among progressives over the civilian casualties in Gaza, which are now said to exceed 24,000.

[...]

Nine Democrats voted with Sanders, as did Republican Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.), a frequent critic of U.S. foreign aid.

Sanders, the Senate’s leading critic of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of the siege and invasion of Gaza, says it’s “immoral.”

  The Hill

And how about illegal, as in war crimes committed?

The other Democrats who voted for the resolution were Sens. [Elizabeth Warren (Mass.),] Laphonza Butler (Calif.), Martin Heinrich (N.M.), Mazie Hirono (Hawaii), Ben Ray Luján (N.M.), Ed Markey (Mass.), Jeff Merkley (Ore.), Chris Van Hollen (Md.) and Peter Welch (Vt.).

Some of them may only be worried about the November election, but whatever it takes.

UPDATE 01/18/2024:  Unsurprising.

ON TUESDAY, THE Senate voted down a resolution that would have set the stage for Congress to place conditions on U.S. military aid to Israel — quashing what has so far been the most serious effort on Capitol Hill to hold the U.S. ally to account for its brutal assault on Gaza.

  Intercept

If only

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

West Virginians need to pay a visit to their senator on Christmas

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-W.Va.) opposition to President Biden's social spending package was "a breach of his commitments" calling his reversal on the bill "inexplicable."

“Senator Manchin’s comments this morning on FOX are at odds with his discussions this week with the President, with White House staff, and with his own public utterances,” Psaki said in a statement on Sunday shortly after Manchin told Fox's Brett Baier that he was a "no" on the legislation.

It was the first time Manchin said firmly where he stood on the bill after months of wrangling with lawmakers and the White House to come up with an agreeable framework.

[...]

Manchin announced on “Fox News Sunday” that he would not vote for Biden’s climate and social spending bill, confirming “this is a no on this legislation.” He cited concerns with inflation, the $29 trillion federal debt and a surge in new infections caused by the omicron COVID-19 variant as reasons for his position.

Psaki said the White House will continue to press Manchin on the bill and see if he will “reverse his position yet again” and “be true to his word.”

  The Hill

Yeah, good luck with that.

As Manchin said, if you want more progressive policies, elect more progressive Democrats.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE:

UPDATE:

There are better reasons to reject the Democratic Party.  The problem is, with our current system, there's only one other party capable of holding power - and that's the New Fascist Party, aka GOP.

UPDATE:

Progressives are hated only slightly less by "moderate" Democrats ("Beltway" Democrats) than by Republicans.

White House statement on Manchin:

More here

UPDATE:

Projecting much, Joe?

Bernie votes with the GOP on Beaudreau

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) joined several GOP senators to oppose President Biden’s nominee for the No. 2 role at the Interior Department in a procedural vote Wednesday.

Sanders joined with eight GOP senators against a vote to limit debate on Tommy Beaudreau's nomination for deputy Interior secretary, while 89 senators voted in Beaudreau's favor.

The move doesn’t guarantee that Sanders will ultimately oppose Beaudreau's confirmation, but cloture votes often preview how senators will ultimately vote.

[...]

Beaudreau has faced some scrutiny from progressive groups over his ties to oil giant Total and multinational mining company BHP. The nominee also has ties to the offshore wind industry.

Beaudreau is seen as a more moderate compromise for deputy Interior secretary after the White House pulled back its initial pick for the role, Elizabeth Klein.

Klein’s shot at the job was spiked amid reported concerns from Senate moderates that she was too progressive. She is now a senior counselor to Interior Secretary Deb Haaland.

  The Hill

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Bernie may be old, but he's not lost any mental acuity

The Senate Parliamentarian says the minimum wage hike doesn't fit the rules for including it in the big budget bill vote coming up.

Vilsack is the wrong choice, but he's in

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Tuesday voted against Tom Vilsack to lead the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), making him the first senator who caucuses with the Democrats to vote against a Biden Cabinet nominee.

Sanders joined six Republicans in opposing Vilsack, who ran the agency for all eight years of the Obama administration.

[...]

“I opposed his confirmation today because at a time when corporate consolidation of agriculture is rampant and family farms are being decimated, we need a secretary who is prepared to vigorously take on corporate power in the industry,” Sanders said in a statement.

[...]

The Senate confirmed Vilsack in a 92-7 vote. Sanders joined GOP Sens. Ted Cruz (Texas), Josh Hawley (Mo.), Rand Paul (Ky.), Marco Rubio (Fla.), Rick Scott (Fla.) and Dan Sullivan (Alaska) in voting against the nominee.

Progressives have pushed back on Vilsack's nomination because they felt he was too aligned with major agricultural corporations during his previous stint as USDA chief. More recently, Vilsack has been president of the dairy lobby group the U.S. Dairy Export Council.

[...]

Biden passed up Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) for the USDA post. Fudge was backed by a number of progressive groups and has been a key advocate for food banks and food insecurity programs.

Fudge is Biden’s nominee to run the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

  The Hill

That string of Republicans is probably just voting against every nominee.  They're not against corporate advantage or lobbyists, anyway.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Hell yes

How does McConnell keep getting elected?

And he doesn't give a shit about any of them.

Which is what Republicans do every chance they get.  That's what the Trump tax cuts did.  That's not what the $2,000 checks would do.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE: