A Message from the Buffalo for Bernie Sanders campaign
Posted June 13th, 2016 on Niagara At Large
(A Brief Foreword Note from NAL publisher Doug Draper – This message from dedicated Bernie Sanders campaigners in Buffalo/Western New York raises hope that the ‘political revolution’ Sanders ignited over the past year will bern on! For the sake of social justice for the 99% in the U.S., Canada and around the world, it must. Now here is the Buffalo for Bernie message.)
150 days until the Presidential election
Supporters of Bernie Sanders all over the country have come to the campaign from various backgrounds and with various viewpoints. We’re lifelong Democrats, recovering cynics who stepped off the sidelines, young voters getting involved in the process for the first time, independent voters critical of both major parties, and even right-of-center voters who see in Bernie Sanders an honest man with the best interests of all of us at heart.
It has become apparent that Hillary Clinton will very likely emerge as the Democratic nominee for president following the convention in Philadelphia. High profile Democrats, including President Obama and Senator Elizabeth Warren, have endorsed Hillary Clinton for president. In the coming weeks, calls for Democratic party unity will grow.
It is the task of the Democratic Party to earn votes for their presidential nominee. The Democratic party at all levels needs to acknowledge and address the concerns many Sanders supporters have raised during this primary season.
Among those concerns:
– The growing wealth and income inequality in New York. Education costs and housing costs are outpacing wage growth. The working poor need to take on debt just to survive.
– New York’s election laws denied 27 percent of registered voters the right to participate in the April 19th presidential primary.
– The New York State Assembly has once again passed Universal Healthcare legislation sure to fail in the State Senate, despite wide public support.
– The real unemployment rate in New York is much higher than the 4.9 percent reported by the NYS Department of Labor. This statistic only applies to unemployed people who are still actively looking for work; people who have not yet given up. The rate of discouraged workers is at record highs with no proposed solutions in sight to address this market failure and failure of public servants to address this social crisis.
There are many other issues that are of concern to us; growing wealth and income inequality, renewable energy, criminal justice reforms, the need for a living wage, tuition-free public colleges, the role of Big Money in state politics and more.
Bernie has demonstrated there is a better way to finance elections. Public financing of elections and tough restrictions on corporate and PAC donations is crucial to stop the erosion of our representative Democracy.
Buffalo for Bernie Sanders will not work as an organization on behalf of the Democratic nominee unless that nominee is Senator Bernie Sanders. We are encouraging Sanders supporters to vote their conscience in the November presidential election.
We respect the fierce independence and diversity of opinion that exists in our ranks. We hope for a general election campaign focused on the issues Senator Bernie Sanders has raised in this primary.
Buffalo for Bernie Sanders
For more information on Buffalo for Bernie Sanders click on – https://www.facebook.com/BuffaloforBernieSanders/ .
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“A politician thinks of the next election. A leader thinks of the next generation.” – Bernie Sanders
Niagara At Large 
Clinton has already claimed credit for some state initiatives, such as increasing the minimum wage to $15, while she originally advocated $12, and did so due to the pressure from Sander’s proposal. Prior to that she said $7 was fair in some states! She was booed and he was cheered in debates about the minimum wage and many issues like fracking, Iraq and health care. She has put on at least a pretence of not being a Wall Street insider due to his criticism of her connections and speeches. She has had to go slightly left of centre due to his succinct criticisms and massive public support. She was right of centre in many ways. Whether she reverts to her original positions will remain to be seen. She probably will.
Bernie has had a definite effect on public opinion, the Democratic party and its policies and has pointed a finger at the blatant inequality of US society. Ralph Nader failed. He tried to create change from outside the party system and that doomed him to failure. By contrast, Bernie was smart and knew change was currently hopeless as an independent. He had to play by the rules and knew he could only get attention as a major party contestant. He has done so with a rational call for action as opposed to Trump who spews absolute crap without any concrete plan and mocks Sanders as a Commie (who doesn’t he mock?). I truly believe Sanders would trounce Trump. Sanders is not a “Johnny come lately” in his crusade. There is a You Tube over ten years old of of him ripping up a smug Alan Greenspan on the evils of big Wall Street, income inequality and societal favouritism so these are not platitudes he concocted just to get elected. He has since been proven right on all counts. I think if the Democratic party eschews Sanders and his policies at the convention it will be at its own peril. He has too many devoted supporters to ignore and those supporters just might fail to vote at all or launch a protest vote against Clinton if he is shut out of the policy making process.
As the younger voters, who get their news through social media, outnumber their elders, there might be hope for progress. They are the ones who have the most to lose and have traditionally been the creators of change.
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