How will Bernie accomplish his goals?

[Bubzer]

[cantbeserious]

1. Thank You For Sharing

eom

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

2. Great goals, but that's not the real question. The question is, how does he get moderate

and conservative Democrats to go along with this?

How will he work with a Republican-dominated Congress to get these things done?

No one has addressed these questions. No one!

[hoosierlib]

3. Through a groundswell of support and an election mandate...

If HRC is the nominee and eventual President (which is assuming a lot), Republicans will NOT work with her. So unless you get the House back and 60 Democratic Senators, nothing is getting done.

So which candidate has better chance of winning in landslide that will create coattails? The scandal ridden candidate that independents hate or the candidate that is drawing huge crowds and is energizing younger votets and moderates?

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

10. Obama had two overwhelming mandates and groundswell support, and yet, Democrats and

especially Republicans blocked him every step of the way.

What makes anyone believe that Sanders will get MORE support for arguably more progressive policies?

Again, please be specific: HOW will Sanders work with a less progressive Democratic Caucus and a Republican-dominated Congress, in general, to get his agenda passed?

[hoosierlib]

16. Neither will...

Unless the House is taken back and we have 60 Senators (or 51 and we change the cloture rule).

As previously stated by Bernie; raising the minimum wage, removing the cap on Social Security taxable wages, paid parental leave, wage equality and cracking down on Wall Street are all supported by a majority of Americans. So why wouldmoderate / conservative Dems oppose or not vote for those proposals?

Again, it boils down to who has a better chance of helping to win majority in the House and the Senatel? A flawed and damaged candidate or the candidate that is energizing the youth and attracting moderates?

Methinks the latter...

[yeoman6987]

32. He will negotiate

Remove the SS cap can change to 250K. That would help a great deal.
Free college can begin with first two years.
And other things he can get done will be negotiated. It's still progress and good for the country.

[hoosierlib]

40. Hopefully...and as any good negotiator knows

You've gotta work from a position of strength and you gotta demand more than what you really want...

[Bubzer]

21. You're asking for an oracle, which is unrealistic.

Instead of looking to the unknowns of what Bernie will deal with, and how he'll have to react, it's far more reasonable to look to past actions as a more likely indicator of how future events will transpire.

Bernie has a history of working with Dems and Republicans to get the progressive agenda pushed forward. It is reasonable to expect that, if he was able to do this during the Bush years, of all things, he'll be able to do it in spite of a presumed republican dominated congress.

That said, I doubt, highly, that the republicans will maintain a majority.

[Perogie]

5. we won't know how until he gets there.

any speculation that Bernie won't be able to work with Republicans is just speculation.

the same can be said about HRC. How will she get anything done with republican congress?

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

11. Of course, but when Obama was forced to work with Democrats and Republicans, Sanders

and his supporters ridiculed him over and over again.

Now you're admitting that he'll have to work with less progressive Democrats and ultra-conservative Republicans?

If so, doing so will mean that he'll have to compromise.

Do you think Sanders will be bashed and ridiculed for having to compromise with Democrats and Republicans, just as Obama has been bashed and ridiculed throughout his presidency?

[Perogie]

15. every president has to work with congress

that will never change, even when the president has a majority in both houses there is still some compromise.

ridicule? not sure that's the right word, but many are disappointing and angry and openly showed it. i think obama could have done more using the bully pulpit to get people on his side to push through more/better legislation.

i haven't admitted anything in regards to him working with fewer democrats or republicans. nothing in my post suggests that.

in my opinion clinton would have a harder time than sanders getting things through republican congress. republicans just hate her and now go out of their way to derail her so their efforts to stop anything she does would be tenfold greater.

so the meme bernie won't be able to get anything done is not a valid reason to vote for hillary because she won't be able to get anything done either.

[Stuckinthebush]

6. Magic and flying unicorns

I kid, I kid!

It'll be nearly impossible for him to do those things. More power to him for trying, though

[Perogie]

20. same can be said about HRC

you think it's bad now with obama? they will find new ways to block her just because she's a clinton.

[Bubzer]

8. Allow me to try and tackle this one...

Have you ever heard Bernie get referred to as the amendment king? He managed to get a substantial amount of progressive work done in spite of dealing with a republican majority:

Bernie Sanders was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1990, and many immediately doubted his efficacy. “It is virtually impossible for an independent to be effective in the House,” said then-Congressman Bill Richardson (D-NM). “As an independent you are kind of a homeless waif.” Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), today an outspoken advocate for Hillary Clinton, said Bernie's “holier-than-thou attitude—saying in a very loud voice he is smarter than everyone else and purer than everyone else—really undercuts his effectiveness.”

As if things didn't look bad enough, in 1994 the Republicans swept into power in the House of Representatives, dashing the hopes of many that Congress could do anything progressive whatsoever. But Sanders was not content with tilting at windmills. He didn't want to just take a stand, he wanted to pass legislation that improved the United States of America. He found his vehicle in legislative amendments.

Amendments in the House of Representatives are often seen as secondary vehicles to legislation that individual members sponsor, but they are an important way to move resources and build bipartisan coalitions to change the direction of the law. Despite the fact that the most right-wing Republicans in a generation controlled the House of Representatives between 1994 and 2006, the member who passed the most amendments during that time was not a right-winger like Bob Barr or John Boehner. The amendment king was, instead, Bernie Sanders.

Sanders did something particularly original, which was that he passed amendments that were exclusively progressive, advancing goals such as reducing poverty and helping the environment, and he was able to get bipartisan coalitions of Republicans who wanted to shrink government or hold it accountable and progressives who wanted to use it to empower Americans.

He has everyone's respect. Conservatives, liberals, independents... everyone respects Bernie. He has no enemies in Washington. That's a really big deal. Huge in fact. It means that people are not predisposed to be confrontational with him... it means, unlike Hillary who has MANY enemies in DC, he will have a much easier time of pushing his agenda through.

http://www.alternet.org/election-2016/bernie-gets-it-done-sanders-record-pushing-through-major-reforms-will-surprise-you

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

12. Amendments REFLECT compromise rather than policies in their initial form.

I'm asking HOW Sanders will be able to get these very progressive ideals through Congress, WITHOUT having to compromise on any of them along the way?

And again, please listen carefully:

When he is forced to accept Republican ideals; when he is forced to accept less progressive **amendments** will his supporters bash and ridicule him, just as they've done to President Obama?

[Bubzer]

26. So you're saying he's not allowed to compromise? I reject that form of goal-post setting.

I also don't accept your framing that he'll be forced to accept Republican ideals, or that he'll be forced to accept less progressive amendments. In fact, I generally reject your artificial and largely arbitrary requirements that you're attempting to pigeon-hole Bernie's policy through.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

39. Are you kidding me? NO! I expect him to compromise with Democrats and Republicans. That's the

point I'm trying to make! SIGH!

How will he get these ideals that he is proposing through Congress? He can't without significant compromise.

And he's not getting single payer. Sorry.

If he couldn't get it done with Democrats in subcommittee, then he can't do it with a Republican-dominated Congress.

[Bubzer]

41. Allow me to remind you of your own question.

I'm asking HOW Sanders will be able to get these very progressive ideals through Congress, WITHOUT having to compromise on any of them along the way?

Maybe you were being rhetorical? Maybe you didn't bother with the article I linked for you? Or you interpreted this OP as somehow saying Bernie would accomplish his goals singlehandedly?

Regardless, you know what else we were not going to get? Obama care... and before that? Well, pick any number of social safety-net items, and you'll have the same bone of contention... the claim we wont get it... cause... reasons.

I reject your claim.

You say we can't... and demand proof on how Bernie can do it... but nothing will satisfy you because you're already convinced. Trying to convince you is literally a waste of time.

In exactly the same way you think I cannot prove Bernie cannot get single payer, you cannot prove he cant.

[JudyM]

18. This deserves its own independent post, IMO. The pragmatic meme needs to be pragmatically tackled.

[Bubzer]

23. Done and done.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/12511172345

[CatWoman]

9. thank you

[Goblinmonger]

19. If Democrats in Congress don't work with a Democratic President

then they are the problem. I really don't think we can start making our decision on who we want to be President based on people from the same party not supporting that President.

As to the Republican-dominated Congress:
1. Same thing Clinton is going to face.
2. Sanders has made it clear that his revolution is about getting the disenfranchised to vote which should bring about change in Congressional makeup. He isn't saying that we will magically have single payer 6 months after he takes office.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

28. The difference between HRC and Sanders is that she understands that she'll have to compromise.

She seems to understand the realities of this Republican-dominated Congress.

It's Sanders and his supporters who wrongly believe that he'll be able to get single payer through a Republican-dominated Congress. Hell, he couldn't get his and Kucinich plan out of subcommittee, under a DEMOCRATIC-controlled Congress.

If President Obama had problems getting policies through what were loaded with Republican policy ideals, what makes Sanders and his fanatics believe that he'll be able to get anywhere with even less progressive representation in Congress?

This is a reasonable question, and it has not been addressed by Sanders and his backers.

[Goblinmonger]

30. Of course he realizes he will have to compromise to get there.

He has talked about that pretty regularly for those that are listening.

Might want to ratchet back on "fanatics" a bit. It seems like many want to describe Sanders supporters as being unable to think through anything and it is all just a knee jerk. I think most polling indicates that we know what's going on and realize it is a fight but we feel it is one that needs to be had.

It's about a revolution. It's about making a change in the way politics is run in this country. That won't come easily, but it is something that needs to happen. How does it even begin with Clinton?

[enid602]

27. internet

Through his swarms of posters on DU and Twitter bombs. Yeah, that's how things get done in the real world.

[Thav]

4. That doesn't even take into account the economic activity

That a 3.2 trillion each year that isn't going into the coffers of insurance companies. Say half of that activity is new wages - 1.6 trillion, and say that's taxed at a marginal 18% - That's another 288 billion per year of revenues. Not to mention the new infrastructure spending.

The cut in the healthcare insurance industry will cause long-reaching ripples, which will take a bit to realign. However when it does, it will be a great thing.

Also when someone says "I work for my healthcare!" you can counter with "And your employer pays handsomely for that insurance." Employers may pay upwards of $1200 a month for health insurance for a single employee. This plan would save the employer $12,000 a year per insured employee. That'd be a lot of new wages for that person!

[FlatBaroque]

7. HE CAN'T! NO ONE CAN! NO WE CAN'T!

NO WE CAN'T

We should give up now.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

13. I don't think he can without significant COMPROMISE! Not with a Republican-dominated Congress.

He's going to have to compromise, and you guys are going to be upset about it.

[Perogie]

22. everyone will be upset with compromise, that's the nature of compromise.

it's the degree of compromise that you need to discuss.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

24. Degree of compromise will have to be significant and that won't make his fanatics happy.

[Perogie]

29. so if hrc has to compromise a lot to get something done

are you saying her supports won't be upset about it?

and again the ad hominem attack on bernie supports is getting old. why are they "fanatics"?

i heard the same thing from the republicans when obama was running for president. they called his supports fanatics.
were you one of those fanatics that supported obama?

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

31. Again, this isn't about HRC. I'm asking about SANDERS!! Not Hillary. I know that Hillary won't do

shit. She'll go along with the Rethugs on most things.

This thread is about Bernie Sanders and his stances.

And yes, I think some of his supporters are fanatics.

[Perogie]

36. ok dude, you're getting a little fanatical. I'm signing off now.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

37. Dude? I'm very much a girl. And I'm NOT fanatical. I'm asking a fair question.

Sanders supporters continue to deflect to HRC because they can't answer the question.

[colsohlibgal]

14. Hopefully He Can Flip Congress

Many people blow off voting in off year elections because why bother....maybe Bernie, who is trying to undo business as usual, can inspire a horde of non voters to get out and vote.

The formidable sticking point though is all the crooked gerrymandering about.

[gollygee]

17. Even if he only works toward them and only makes some headway

We'll still be a lot better off than we are. And once the ball is rolling in that direction, things might keep moving that way.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

25. Which is what Obama has done, but Sanders and his fanatics bashed and ridiculed the

president for it.

[Perogie]

34. fanatics can be applied to any candidates supporters

http://freebeacon.com/politics/chris-matthews-unloads-on-hillary-allies/

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/hillary-clinton-fanatics-marisela-adams

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/hillary-clinton-fanatics-fight-alive-article-1.297597

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

38. I'm not an HRC supporter. Anyone around here who knows me knows that.

I don't support either candidate.

I'm challenging Sanders's supporters to be more critical than they are.

[gollygee]

42. IMO President Obama has done an amazing job in office.

I support both Pres. Obama and Bernie Sanders.

[doc03]

33. Not the analisis I read on Motley Fool a couple days ago. I remember one of the highlights we would

lose 6 million jobs.Everyones taxes will go up even the lowest brackets increase 2.2%, that is $1100 a year for me. There would also be several trillion
dollar increase in the deficit. Inflation would increase several percent. The good thing is he has a snowball's chance in hell of getting any of his stuff passed.

[Perogie]

35. you didn't read the whole thing and the other articles about Sanders plan

[jeepers]

43. How to beat DC

Don't know if you have noticed but Real change comes from the bottom and moves up, it does not come from the status quo in DC and filter down.

You want to beat the oligarchy you use the bully pulpit to call congress out and to organize your activist base. In the separate states an organized campaign to use the initiative process to change state laws and make the wish of the people known. Outlaw paperless voting, expand and guarantee voting rights, dictate access to birth control, outlaw the gerrymander, call for medicare for all. Teach the people to flex their muscle in state elections while building and empowering the base. Move those activists to vote in the midterm Two years in you own the house, the senate and the presidency.