2016 Postmortem

Ferd Berfel

(3,687 posts) Sat Feb 6, 2016, 10:56 AM Feb 2016

One word, the core difference between Bernie Sanders' & Hillary Clinton's platform: "If"

http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/2/6/1480788/-One-word-the-core-difference-between-Bernie-Sanders-Hillary-Clinton-s-platform-If

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A few people were asking where a video of February’s New Hampshire Democratic debate could be found and since I was already searching for online access including a full transcript to clear up something that struck me as an important point, i dug in and found both.

While watching the debate and listening to the discussions afterward something was bugging me big time. After sleeping on it, trying to figure if it was as important to others as it seemed to me, I now think it is the fundamental difference in our leading Dem candidates running for the nomination to the US presidency. It was also around the time of the most heated part of the debate.

The word “If”. That’s it. Just that word and what it actually means to each of the leading Dem presidential candidates platform
Link to a rushed transcript of Thursday's "MSNBC Democratic Candidates Debate" moderated by Chuck Todd and Rachel Maddow live from Durham, New Hampshire.

Here are a few key excerpts that have been needling me:

Sanders on Wall Street and breaking up and ending the economic and political power of Big banks over the people:

I am running for president as a Democrat. And if elected, not only do I hope to bring forth a major change in national priorities, but let me be frank, I do want to see major changes in the Democratic Party

[...]

Let me just say this. Wall Street is perhaps the most powerful economic and political force in this country........

(Snip)

Clinton:

..........I have great respect for Senator Sanders's commitment to try to restore Glass-Steagall. But I do not believe that that is enough. And in fact, I don't believe it really addresses a lot of the biggest issues we have.

You know, we now have power under the Dodd-Frank legislation to break up banks. And I've said I will use that power if they pose a systemic risk.

(snip)
And by the way, President Obama signed that, pushed it through, even though he took donations from Wall Street, because he's a responsible president. So we have a law in place. If the circumstances warrant it, I will certainly use it.

(snip)

“.. if they pose a systemic risk.”

”.. If the circumstances warrant it..”

“.. if they ever try to use their economic power once again..”

(snip)

They do pose a systematic risk right now. The circumstances have warranted it for many years. They have never stopped using the economic power.

Democracy is becoming a commodity and we the everyday people can’t afford even the opening price, much less have our voices heard at the volume that money can buy

(snip)

Bernie does not need to ask "if" Wall Street "poses a systematic risk" or whether Big Banks will "ever try to use their economic power once again..” nor does he wait to see if "circumstances warrant" doing something about it.