America has never recovered from Ronald Reagan. That’s why Bernie Sanders is so important.

[cal04]

Sanders explained his democratic socialism in a speech last week that should be a wakeup call for America
http://www.salon.com/2015/11/22/america_has_never_recovered_from_ronald_reagan_thats_why_bernie_sanders_is_so_important/

(snip)
Not only were social programs opposed and called socialism; so were any kind of laws or regulations that intervened with the “free market” for the betterment of society. “Unemployment insurance, abolishing child labor, the 40-hour work week, collective bargaining, strong banking regulations, deposit insurance, and job programs that put millions of people to work were all described, in one way or another, as ‘socialist,’” explained Sanders.

Of course, capitalists never come out and say that they want the government to get out of their way so that they can take advantage of workers or employ children or contaminate the water supply. They fear-monger about the threat of socialism and claim that as long as the government intervenes with their business, we can never have true freedom.

A young propagandist named Ronald Reagan issued such a warning in the early sixties, in opposition to what is seen as the predecessor to Medicare. “Federal programs,” Reagan warned, “will invade every area of freedom as we have known it in this country, until one day… we will wake to find that we have socialism.” Sounds familiar.

(snip)
The two political parties, who for decades have been neoliberal parties serving the interests of the capitalist class first and foremost, seem to be moving further apart. Since the ISIS attacks on Paris, some Republicans have started to sound increasingly like their fascist forbearers, while also talking about the importance of freedom. But the only candidate who offers the real freedom that so many great Americans have advocated in the past, it seems, is Bernie Sanders.

[Demeter]

1. Or Nixon, or Joe McCarthy, or the Assassinations

Maybe it has something to do with all the lying and cover-ups and corruption and the CIA/MIC?

[Zorra]

2. Yes, in so many ways.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1280&pid=77498

[monmouth4]

3. One of the many things I could never forgive Reagan was the shutting down of the mental health,

State Hospitals. That is when the homeless problem began. Many of these souls belong in hospitals and mental facilities to care for them, not the streets..

[Enthusiast]

4. Kicked and recommended! The Righties® used Reagan to deliver a massive propaganda assault.

It worked to perfection. As a matter of fact, it is still working.

[immoderate]

5. All presidential candidates (except Bernie) are supply siders.

All presidents since Carter were supply siders. All Reaganites. We've got to end that string.

--imm