Sunday School 8/28/22

Let's dive right in with your Sunday School lesson with Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) in the This Week classroom with George, who started by asking if there should have been any documents at Mar-a-Lago. 

Blunt said "we need to know more" about what was found, and wondered why the Intelligence Committee he sits on didn't know anything about this before the top-secret poop hit the fan. He did say they are expecting a briefing soon.

George tried again, and a third time, at which point Blunt said he's careful with documents, butwhatabout Hillary Clinton and James Comey? The fourth time, Blunt said "he should have turned the documents over and apparently had turned a number of documents over." And, he wondered

why this could go on for almost two years and less than 100 days before the election, suddenly, we're talking about this rather than the economy or inflation or even the student loan program you and I were going to talk about today?

On student loan forgiveness, Blunt's a no - he thinks the plan is "monumentally unfair" to folks who didn't attend college because they couldn't afford to go, and to people who paid back their loans, and to people got educated without loans. Besides, it's

just bad economics... I think it's going to have a long-term, devastating effect on a student loan program that worked pretty effectively until about ten years ago when the federal government assumed responsibility for that program.

That Guy from Vermont was up next, offering his take on loan forgiveness. He explained 60% of the benefits will go to folks with Pell grants, and 87% is going to folks making less than $75K a year. He noted how "shocking" it is to some GOP colleagues when "the government actually... does something to benefit working families and low-income people."

He said there wasn't any squawking about "massive tax breaks to billionaires," adding 1%ers "have a lower effective tax break than working people;" and of course, there are corporations that, "in a given year don't pay a nickel in federal taxes." The fact that both Rs and Ds are unhappy? Well, "... the answer is not to deny help to people." 

The answer is maybe to create a government where -- which works for all people and not just for wealthy campaign contributors.

George asked if that can get done "without more Democrats in the Senate," Sanders suggested the Dobbs decision will have an impact, as will "the gun violence we're seeing."

So, I think there is a reasonable chance that Democrats will retain control over the Senate. I certainly hope we get more than 50 in the Senate, that we get at least 52, so we can start going forward and protecting working people in a way we have not been able to do up to now.

Down the hall, Dana Bash had Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Gov. Chris Sununu (R-NH) in the State of the Union classroom. 

Bash asked if AG Merrick Garland should indict FPOTUS. Warren thinks "it's powerfully important" that DOJ can follow the evidence, and if they have it, "they will bring charges and prosecute appropriately. And I support them in that."

Like Sanders, Warren's happy something's being done on student loans. Noting that 40% of folks with student loans don't have a four-year degree, she said the forgiveness "is about America investing in people who work hard, who play by the rules, and who just need a government on their side."

Bash wondered about fairness, and other kinds of debt that the government isn't helping with. Warren said she thinks "a lot about fairness," before reciting her own story of going to college when a semester cost $50, getting a part-time job and being able to pay for her education. That's not the case now, where "our public education system is no longer creating opportunities" for folks without financial means.

Instead, we're saying to these young people, you have got to get an education, but we are going to wrap the chains of debt around you. And, for many, you're going to be paying it for decades into the future, including getting Social Security checks garnished. That's not the America we want.

She didn't address the 'fairness' question, and Bash noted the package doesn't do anything about the cost of education. There are "a lot of problems in the whole system," she said, and this is one tool Biden had to help. She said the Dems "have put multiple plans on the table" to deal with the other issues, but the Rs won't get on board.

We'll close with Sununu, about whom there was some early talk of a presidential run; he's hoping to be re-elected as gov. Bash asked him how concerned he was about the Mar-a-Lago documents, including info related to 'human clandestine sources."  Sununu toed the party line, saying he's concerned about transparency.

...one thing I was very aggressive about was saying, look, if you're going to take unprecedented action and raid a former president's house, well, you better have a strategy for unprecedented transparency. So, I think we're all concerned about what might be in those documents, that some were classified, some weren't, what the serious nature was, but show us. You got to be able to show your cards when you're taking actions like this.

Bash said "you can't show all your cards when you're talking about top secret information," which is the point of the investigation. She asked if he was concerned about "the potential risk to American intelligence and national security."

I think we should -- we should absolutely be concerned. There's no question about that. But I don't know what to be concerned about. No one -- no one seems to. What's the subject matter? What's the dates? What's the times? What are we talking about here? Of course, you can't just open the whole investigation up.

He said he didn't want all the documents on the Internet, but "give us some sense " of what's in them and "what really drove us in there."

So, this is unprecedented. And they had to have an unprecedented strategy, which they clearly didn't have. They're on their heels. They don't know what to do. We just -- we want to see the information, so we can have this discussion, we can talk about the subject matter with some sense.

On the student loan program, here's the best part of his argument.

by the way, the debt is not going anywhere, right? Someone's got to pay it. And, in many instances, because there's no balanced budget, there's no sense of control on the $30 trillion in debt, here's the misery of it. Those individuals that think they're getting the $10,000 or $20,000 off their student loans, it's just getting effectively deferred into taxes down the road, higher taxes down the road, where they will have to pay interest on. This is a political shell game of money. 

 See you around campus.

Sunday School 10/3/21

I'm taking one for the team today, and spending time with Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-on't Need to Worry about a Number-WA) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-'ve Named a Lot of Post Offices-VT). We'll take them in that order.

Jayapal stopped by the CNN State of the Union classroom, where Dana Bash was serving up the questions, the first of which was "What do you think this week says about the progressive wing of the Democratic Party?"

Jayapal suggested that "progressives have helped push back onto the table, back onto the agenda President Biden's agenda." Biden laid out this big plan months ago, she said, that included infrastructure, sure, but also 85% of it

was around these other important programs, child care, universal child care, paid family leave for 12 weeks for everybody, making sure we're taking on the climate crisis, expanding health care, and, of course, taking on the challenge of giving a path to citizenship for immigrants. All of that ended up in something called the Build Back Better Act.

And now, even though "we thought we made clear three-and-a-half months ago that the two had to move together, because we don't want to pit roads and bridges against child care," but

suddenly, a small group of people, 4% of the entire House Democratic Caucus and the Senate Democratic Caucus, said, 'we only want the bipartisan infrastructure bill to go'... And that's after five months of negotiating. We had to stand up and get the whole thing back together. And that's what I think has happened now. We have put the bills back together, as was the original agreement, and we are going to deliver both bills, the infrastructure bill, which is important. And the Build Back Better Act.

Bash asked about the "scathing statements" released by Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-on't Know Why I'm a Democrat), the former accusing the progressives of using "Freedom Caucus tactics," and the latter accusing the progressives of further eroding trust. Jayapal said that was unfortunate, and pointed out that it wasn't "just a few people. We had over 60 votes" and that's growing, she said, because of "people who were desperately committed to the idea that we're not leaving anybody behind."

The conversation turned to dollars, and that's where Jayapal wasn't playing; she refused to give a number, much to Bash's dismay.

Well, what we have said from the beginning is, it's never been about the price tag. It's about what we want to deliver. The price tag comes out of that... And so, we are now going back to make sure, what is the way that we can get all of the critical programs that we had identified, those things I talked to you about, child care, paid leave plan... how do we get all of those things in, but -- and -- but perhaps for a shorter period of time, and be able to get then to the number from that? The critical thing is, let's get our priorities in, and then we will figure out what it actually costs.

She said even President Biden said "don't start with the number. Start with what you're for." And no matter how hard Bash pushed, that's where the stood.

I don't feel the need to give a number, because I gave my number. It was 3.5. So, if you're in a negotiation, you need to have a counteroffer before you bid against yourself... 

She said now they have to figure out how to get all of their priorities funded, maybe for "a little bit of a shorter time," and to look at some of the smaller items and decide if they're mandatory. Those should "cut out a decent amount," she said. And on means testing, while I am a strong supporter of means testing for government programs) Jayapal feels differently.

Well, all of the research shows means testing actually doesn't target it more, but it does create a lot of administrative burden and a lot more cost...So, it's not - it's not what I want to do. 

All I can say is, what a mess. And that's before we hear from That Guy from Vermont, who was in the Meet the Press classroom, with Chuck Todd asking, first, whether TGFV has "accepted the fact" that the Build Back Better plan won't be $3.5T. That's not what he heard, he said, and besides, even if he did,

what the president also said, and what all of us are saying, is that maybe the time is now for us to stand up to powerful special interests who are currently spending hundreds of millions of dollars trying to prevent us from doing what the American people want. We want to lower, substantially, prescription drug costs in this country so we're not paying ten times more for certain drugs than Canada and other countries. And the pharmaceutical industry has 1,400 lobbyists on Capitol Hill right now trying to stop us. We want to deal with the existential threat of climate change. We want to deal with child care. We want to expand Medicare so elderly people can chew their food, can have hearing aids, can have eyeglasses. And we can pay for this by demanding that the wealthiest people and largest corporations finally start paying their fair share of taxes. That's what this struggle is about. Do we do what the American people want? Do we fulfill what democracy is supposed to be about? Or do we bow down to powerful special interests?

Was that the answer to a question, or a campaign speech? I couldn't tell.

Todd made the mistake of talking about there being a "large wish list" and wondering if there's a sense that they should get as much done as possible, and tackle some of the smaller stuff later. TGFV's response? Another campaign speech. 

Climate change and cutting carbon emissions has everything to do with whether or not we leave this planet to future generations that is healthy and is habitable. Scientists tell us we got a few years. You want more workers out in the workforce, we need to reform child care so that a million women can come back to work and not have to pay, as a family, 20% or 30% of their income for child care. You have to have a skilled workforce. We can't have a skilled workforce and do the good jobs that are out there unless we train young people. That's why we want to make community colleges' tuition free. So, this is not a wish list. This is what the working families of this country want and what the economy needs. The real question is -- will Congress -- the Republicans, of course, are owned by the pharmaceutical industry and the fossil fuel industry. We don't expect them to do anything. But the question now is whether the Democrats can come together, and I think that we can, to finally do what working families in this country desperately want us to do.

Todd also wondered if TGFV was just learning about his colleague Joe Manchin's $1.5T figure, suggesting that Chuck Schumer had known about it for months. Sanders pointed out that Manchin has been public about what he wants - a smaller number and a paid-for bill. Sanders wants those things, too. 

As you well know, Chuck, there's a given year when Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, the wealthiest people in this country, don't pay a nickel in federal income taxes. Large corporations don't pay a nickel. We address that, you could pay for $3.5 trillion. You could pay for a $6 trillion bill and pay for it completely.

They've been negotiating, "literally, for months now," TGFV said, but now, the progressives (I'd say the Dems, but he's not one) have a new job, to "rally the American people to continue the negotiations," and he thinks they'll get both bills done. He also disagrees that it's a "dysfunctional message" they're sending by having both bills go together. They have to, he said, 

because there is a strong feeling on the part of many of us that if you just pass the infrastructure bill, which is a good bill, I voted for it, then we will not get to the bill that working families really want, that finally demands that the wealthiest people of this country start paying their fair share of taxes. So, what we said is, "Look, we all want the infrastructure bill. Great. But we also have got to do the reconciliation bill which addresses the long-neglected needs of working families and the elderly." Expanding Medicare to cover dental, hearing aids, and eyeglasses, doing child care, doing community colleges, enormously important for working families.

He said lots of people are working with Sen. Sinema (she of the 'dysfunctional message' comment), and he thinks her constituents are starting to pressure her to get on board.

This is a long and complicated process which is dealing with the most consequential piece of legislation probably since the New Deal in the Great Depression. It's a big deal. And it's not going to happen overnight. And the president is absolutely right. It doesn't matter whether it's next week or three weeks from now. What matters is that we finally address the problems facing working families. That's what matters.

And in the end?

What matters is that we do it and we do it well. And when we do both of these pieces of legislation, I think the American people are going to say, "Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, Democrats in the Congress. And by the way, where the hell were the Republicans in not having the guts to stand up to powerful special interests?"

He's running in 2024. I swear he is.

See you around campus.

Sunday School 4/4/21

I dropped in on the State of the Union classroom yesterday, where Jake Tapper talked with Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, That Guy from Vermont, Gov. Tate Reeves (R-MS), and Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN). The state of our union, Tapper said, was "unironically engaged in infrastructure week."

Secretary Granholm was asked about the infrastructure bill, focusing the bill on "what everyone can support," and about there being more money for electric vehicles than for roads and bridges. She justified the spending allocations, pointing to both energy security and tackling climate change as necessary parts of the bill. 

And when Tapper asked if it was OK with her and with President Biden to "again have a bill pass with zero Republican votes," Granholm pointed out that over 80% of Americans favor infrastructure investment - Ds, Rs, and Is - and the president is inviting Rs to the table, telling them if they don't like something, come up with a better plan to make it happen. She also pointed out that Biden was sent to Washington to "do a job for America" and if we want infrastructure spending, jobs, and us to not lose the global race, then that's what he's going to do.

However, his sincere preference is -- his open hand is to Republicans to come to the table and say, if you don't like this, how would you pay for it? If you don't like this, what would you include? So much of this, though, includes priorities that Republicans have supported. So, I hope that Democrats and Republicans can be on a final vote yes on this bill, on this package.

And on the tax increases needed to pay for it? She pointed to a study showing that almost 20% of fortune 500 companies paid zero taxes after the Trump tax cuts, which points to the underlying unfairness of the tax code.

And so, what Joe Biden wants to do is to say, corporations should pay their fair share. In the same way that a plumber and a teacher would have to pay 22 percent of their income or 24 percent of their income, corporations should have to pay their fair share too, to invest in America.

 Next up? TGFV, who was asked whether the Biden plan goes far enough in terms of tax increases and the Green New Deal. He said he thinks it's a "serious proposal" and that "every American" understands our infrastructure's falling apart; "the vast majority" of Americans understand that climate change is an existential threat; and "most Americans" know we have a housing crisis. And the bill addresses all of that.

But does it go far enough?

I think that, for example, as you indicated, in terms of climate, we're probably going to want to put more money into that area. I think there's a lot of work that has to be done in terms of health care, the high cost of prescription drugs, making our colleges affordable for young people, and dealing with student debt. So, right now, I think, at an unprecedented moment, the president has given us a serious proposal. A lot more work has to be done in that regard.

As TGFV says, "it depends on what you call infrastructure." He thinks we have "a crisis in human infrastructure" and mentioned child care, expanding Medicare benefits to include dental, vision and hearing services and he also pointed out that we're behind the rest of the world when it comes to this stuff. And when Tapper suggested adding more to the bill would make it even harder to get Republican support, he didn't seem to care. There may be some differences of opinion among the Dems, he said, 

But I do believe, given the crises the country faces and the need to create millions of good-paying jobs, the need to expand health care, to guarantee health care to so many more people today who are uninsured or underinsured, the need to take on the pharmaceutical industry and lower the high cost of prescription drugs, I think you are going to see the Democratic Caucus coming together and pass very, very significant legislation.

We'll see. 

Gov. Reeves didn't really add a lot to the conversation on the infrastructure bill. While he said his state would love a share of the money, he said the bill was more like a giant tax increase, or like the Green New Deal, than it was an infrastructure bill. And when he was specifically asked how to pay for it? "... by seeing significant improved economic growth," for one thing.

We saw that throughout the Trump administration, because the policies were pro-business, they were pro-growth, and revenues improved. Now, unfortunately, during those four years, like the four years before that, they did not in Washington get control of spending. They feel as if the debt doesn't matter. You're looking at a debt burden today of nearly $30 trillion for Americans. And what's ultimately going to happen -- and it's already happening -- as interest rates rise, the share of our annual budget that goes to pay for interest expense is going to rise from what is already an enormous level of 15 to 20 percent of all federal revenues goes to pay interest expense. That is not sustainable over the long term.

Tapper said that didn't answer how to pay for it; rather, it "actually provides examples of how it's even more complicated than that." And he's right.

Finally, Rep. Omar was asked about the Derek Chauvin trial and "what it's been like" watching the trial and reliving the trauma that so many folks are feeling. She said it's really hard, both wanting to avoid watching, and wanting to watch and hear from the witnesses. She said the feeling of helplessness they've all expressed resonated with her.

That is a feeling that we know really well here in Minneapolis when it comes to police abuse. And I remember feeling helpless 20 years ago when I witnessed police officers unload three dozen rounds on mentally ill Somali men in the middle of the street. And so, it's been -- it has just unearthed so much trauma for many of us, but we have each other, and we're going to get through it.

And what about a hung jury or not guilty verdict, is Minneapolis prepared for that? 

So, the community is on edge about that. We have seen justice not delivered in our community for many years. And I think that there is a lot of confidence in Attorney General Keith Ellison and the prosecutors in this case. But we are all eagerly awaiting to see how this trial shakes out. It's been really horrendous to watch the defense put George Floyd on trial, instead of the police office -- the former police officer who's charged with his murder.

I have to agree with her on that.

See you around campus. 

TGIF 1/22/21

What a week, eh?

We've said goodbye - sorry, we've said have a good life and we'll see you soon - to one president, and said 'hello' to another. 

We've said goodbye to OrangeVerse, and hello to "there is always light if only we're brave enough to see it, if only we're brave enough to be it."

We've said goodbye to American carnage, and hello to humanity and decency. At least, we've said the words 'humanity and decency,' even if there's not necessarily a lot of acceptance of that idea quite yet. 

We've said goodbye to hundreds of bills going to the Senate to rot on the Grim Reaper's desk, and hello to 'shared' control of the US Senate, if Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell can figure out how to make it work. The fullabluster on the filibuster is currently a huge hang-up - or, at least, it's the excuse for the delay in getting things organized.

We've said goodbye to Executive Orders in lieu of legislation (217 in four years), and hello to Executive Orders in lieu of  legislation (30 in three days).

We've said goodbye to long red ties, and we've fallen in love with a pair of mittens. 

We've said goodbye to the president who won 306 Electoral College votes in 2016, and hello to a president who won 306 Electoral College votes in 2020, one who must abandon his agenda now in order to create unity with the 74.2 million voters who are upset that 81.2 million other voters picked someone else. 

But we also had some pretty cool fireworks, from multiple locations in the nation's capital, and a pretty cool celebration leading up to those fireworks, one that looked like us and sounded like us and was shared by lots of us Americans in a way that inaugural balls never were. 

I'll close with this, which I saw on Twitter earlier today.

TGIF, everyone.

In Case You Missed It (v67)

Got a cuppa? Time to settle in for a review of last week's posts.

Your Sunday School included visits to the CNN State of the Union classroom by Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) and incoming Reps. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) and Cori Bush (D-MO).  Here's a bit from Kinzinger's interview, with Dana Bash sitting in for Jake Tapper.  Among other things,

Kinzinger also laments the president purposefully conflating the COVID bill and the omnibus spending bill, which is money that would have been spent "whether we had COVID or not."

But to then say that we're giving money to other countries in the COVID bill is disingenuous. And it totally conflates two different issues. But -- and it doesn't do a service to the American people to explain what's going on and how these things are different.

When it comes time to officially accept the Electoral College results, he expects "there will be a little chaos," and said "This is a scam, though." The election can't be overthrown, isn't going to be overthrown,

...And so all that's being done is, certain members of Congress, the president, et cetera, and like -- quote, unquote -- "thought leaders" on Twitter are getting retweets, they're getting followers, they're raising money on this scam. It is a scam.

It's refreshing to hear an R point that out, isn't it?

Moving to Monday, and your Extra Credit, My Favorite Republican (MFR) - Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan - was on This Week (Jon Karl hosted). Hogan appeared after That Guy From Vermont; they both were asked about the incoming administration. Here's Hogan on that, and another hot topic - the danger of the waning days of president Trump. 

I know your previous guest probably would like him to move more -- more to the left, but I've been pushing to try to keep him, you know, in a more moderate place where he's willing to reach across the aisle and work together with Republicans.

On what kinds of "damage" president Trump can do in the next three weeks or so (Karl mentioned the ridiculous pardons as one example), MFR says he "gave up guessing what he might do next." The veto of the NDAA has been troubling, he said, but the fooling around on the stimulus bill "really bothers" him.

He'll tell you how bothered he is, don't worry. 

I took a little road trip, away from politics and the news of the day, and focused on holidays and technology, two fun topics (for very different reasons). I explored the question of one of those one-named tech assistants 'taking down Christmas' in  Could Alexa Even Handle the Decorations? 

And what about the memories? 

Will she smile at each Santa as she gently puts them to bed until next year, remembering which came from where, or who, and why? 

Will she know which of the cast iron ones I got years ago in one of the first booths we visited at a massive antique show, and carried in a knapsack for hours as we wandered around a field of 1,000 dealers? Will she hear My Sweet Baboo cursing my foolishness that day?  

How could she possibly know which was the very first one he gave me, or the most recent? Whether it was from our first Christmas, or our second? The tenth? Twelfth? Does she even know this is our 18th Christmas this year? Could she actually put the decorations away without knowing our history, our Christmas history?

How do you think She'd do with yours?

I did the annual look-back to identify 2020's Top Ten posts, based your pageviews. The list included a rant or two, and some Trump in Transition posts, and even a couple posts where I offered up my middle-aged white lady perspective. But the top post of the year was an Irony Board entry, a response to Rev. Franklin Graham's ludicrous statement that God was missing from the Democratic National Convention - and that, in comparison, somehow, God is present wherever Donald Trump can be found.

I had a hard time with that. I still have a hard time with that. And I had evidence on my side, which I shared in the post.

And finally, we closed out the week with the first TGIF of the new year, one in which I tried to be positive and upbeat, as is norm when we start from scratch each January. Here's an excerpt.

Our reasons for eagerly awaiting the arrival of 2021 surely include wanting to get past the worst of the pandemic - that one's shared by just about everybody. Others? Wanting to see the end of the Trump administration, or the start of the Biden Administration. The potential end of Mitch McConnell's reign of terror. A return to normalcy. The thrill of having the Buffalo Bills in the playoffs, and the Patriots watching on TV. They are endless, the reasons one wants to see the dawn of the new year - but even in times as divisive as these, most of us will agree we're glad 2020 is over, and we're looking forward to better things in 2021. 

And just like that, you're up to date!  See you later for Sunday School.

Email of the Week 11/12/20

Even though the election was more than a week ago, the outcome was not projected until Saturday, putting it well within the seven-day window I use for the Email of the Week feature. 

That gave me a chance to look at messages from some of Joe Biden's primary challengers in trying to find this week's winner. For example, Tom Steyer sent me a note saying, in part,

We knew this was the biggest election of our lifetimes... This win was critical.

The vision and leadership that President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris projected was exactly the antidote needed to the divisiveness and recklessness of the last four years. The American people made it clear that we are ready to turn the page on Mr. Trump's disastrous presidency and tackle our climate crisis.

In addition to hitting on his pet issue, he also called out a key demographic: young voters, who he said "were a decisive part in delivering this win," and what that means.

We have a new electorate, a new president and a new hope for getting the bold, urgent, equitable economic recovery and climate leadership we need. 

Let's get to work.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar's email was short and to the point:

We can now say President-Elect and Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris! The American people have spoken. This is a moment of major celebration but I also know that Joe and Kamala understand the major challenges ahead.

Joe Biden is going to be a president for everyone, not just the people who voted for him. We have to come together as a nation, and Joe Biden is the perfect person for this moment.

Thank you for standing with us.

 Also offering congratulations? Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

 It feels so good to say it: President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.

Warren noted that history was made in this election.

And for the very first time, we've elected a woman as our vice president. Millions of little girls who see themselves in Kamala will dream a little bigger tonight. 

After talking about how Biden and Harris will "bring decency and competence to the White House," she turned to our economic situation and the pandemic. "We have a mandate for action on bold plans," she said, and "we need structural change." And she's planning on staying in the game. 

Yes, our country is divided, but whenever they are asked, voters of both parties make it clear in overwhelming numbers that they don't want a government controlled by giant corporations and their lobbyists. In the past, steps to build unity and consensus in Washington have often meant turning over the keys to those corporations and lobbyists. We must resist this. 

In a nutshell, the Dems have got to walk the talk, and rise to the occasion.

Mayor Pete also reached out, looking to ensure that we stay in the fight, and that our wallets were, too, by donating to the Biden Fight Fund. And, contrary to what the Rs have been suggesting, the Ds are looking more broadly at votes.

We know not every vote that comes in from now until the end will be a vote for Joe, but we still believe that all votes should be counted. The hypocrisy we're seeing from Trump's allies across the country is telling - but we will do whatever it takes to ensure voters are protected and all valid votes are counted.

Hear, hear.  

And finally, the congratulatory note that I was most looking forward to? It wasn't in the form of an email, but rather in a tweet - but I'm still handing this one the coveted Email of the Week award. Not for what it says, but for what it doesn't. 

Now, don't get me wrong - I don't want greed and bigotry to rule the day, any more than Sanders does. But would it have killed him to actually offer congratulations to the people who won the election? Say their names, maybe, or say anything about them at all? 

Nah -- it's not about them, those winners, it's about us - the people who didn't win. It's about what we want, not what the people who voted want. 

As usual, color me unimpressed with That Guy from Vermont.

Sunday School 8/16/20: Extra Credit

In yesterday's Sunday School, we heard from Mark Meadows and Robert O'Brien, the president's 4th National Security Advisor and 4th chief of staff, along with NJ Senator Cory Booker. 

I promised  then that I'd devote your Extra Credit to That Guy From Vermont, Bernie 'I'm Not A Democrat' Sanders, and I'm going to do just that, starting with his appearance in the MTP classroom, where Chuck Todd was very fixated on the US Postal Service, like a stamp on an envelope or something. Here are a few of the questions - there were more. 

• What are we witnessing here, legitimate reform of the USPS, or sabotage?

...what you are witnessing is a president who is doing everything he can to suppress the vote, make it harder for people to engage in mail-in balloting at a time when people will be putting their lives on the line by having to go out to a polling station and vote... Look, I happen to think, as you know, that Trump is a pathological liar. He lies all of the time, but I've got to say, I’ve got to admit that the other day he was very honest. He said, "Look, we want to kill mail-in balloting. We don't want millions and millions of people to be able to cast their ballots through the mail, so we'll destroy the Postal Service. We'll defund it. They can't vote." ...And it is an outrage, Chuck, because this campaign is more than healthcare, it's more than education, it's more than the Postal Service. It is democracy and he is sabotaging our democracy.

• Do you really believe Congress can act to hamstring the president here?

We're going to do everything that we can, in every way that we can. And different states may respond differently, but this is an issue. This really is an issue where ideology should not get in the way. I don't care if you're a conservative, moderate, whatever you are. If you believe that people have a right to vote and in a pandemic should not have to put their lives on the line to go into a ballot -- into a polling station, you know what, you have to support the full funding of the Postal Service and make sure that people can participate.

• And give us a preview of your speech, if you don't mind.

 Number one, what I just referred to, is that this is a campaign about whether or not we maintain American democracy...but I'll tell you what else it is. Right now, as we speak, Chuck, and we don't talk about this enough, with 30 million people having lost their jobs since the pandemic, and since those $600 checks have ceased to come, what you are seeing all over this country is people in economic desperation. You're seeing people who today, in America, the richest country on Earth, unable to feed their kids, worrying about being evicted from their homes. You're seeing people who cannot pay their bills, who have no health insurance. What we are looking at is an absolute horror show...

• How do you feel overall about the party platform? And do you feel like you've got enough of your views represented in it?

Well, Chuck, as you may be aware, I am not the candidate, so my views are not the dominant views. But what I will credit strongly the Biden campaign for is that Joe and I talked about this and he and I agreed that we should have task forces dealing with some of the major issues facing this country, including the economy and healthcare, climate change, immigration, education, etc. And the people on those task forces worked very, very hard. And I'm not here to tell you, as a strong advocate for Medicare For All, that we got everything we wanted. We surely did not. But I think if people look at the outcome of those task forces, they'll find the reality that if those task force proposals are implemented, you know what, Joe Biden will become the most progressive president since Franklin Delano Roosevelt. And that, in this moment, is what we need. 

• Kamala Harris - is she a future progressive leader of the Democratic party, in your mind?

...all that I can say is that I think what almost all progressives understand, that in this moment we have got to do everything we can to come together to defeat Donald Trump, who in my view is the most dangerous president in the modern history of this country, and elect Joe Biden. But as I have said many, many times, the day after Biden is elected, we're going to be working with the grassroots in this country, with working people, with people of color, with young people, to stand up and fight for an agenda that works for working families, not just the 1%. And that most certainly includes Medicare For All. So, we're going to rally the American people around an agenda. And I look forward to doing that the day after Biden is elected.

• I just want to confirm that that is not you, sir, that signed a petition in Wisconsin to get Kanye West on the ballot (Mickey Mouse signed, too).

I cannot confirm Mickey Mouse. That I’m not -- don't know about, but I can tell you I certainly did not sign that petition.

And, here are highlights from his visit with George Stephanopoulos in the This Week classroom, where Sanders did even more to promote his agenda than he did on MTP, even though, as he noted, it was not the winning agenda. That's kind of why, for the second convention in a row, he'll be speaking as the non-winner.

• The party has been moving your way on many of the big issues. So will you declare victory tomorrow night? 

Well, one of the points that I will make is that the progressive movement has been making enormous progress not only in electing candidates to Congress, not only in electing candidates to state legislatures but also electing candidates who are running for district attorney, who are transforming criminal justice in America. And also, George, I think, as you've indicated, on all of the ideas that we have been campaigning, the right to understanding that health care is a human right, the need to raise the minimum wage to at least $15 an hour, the understanding that climate change is an existential threat and that we can create millions of jobs transforming our energy system, you know what, we have made enormous progress in bringing the American people in our direction, especially the younger generation. 

• What's your message to those of your supporters who are not happy with the platform? 

Well, my message is that we're going to continue the fight for Medicare for all. We have a healthcare system today that's dysfunctional; too many people are uninsured; too many people are under-insured; too many people are going bankrupt because of medical bills. We pay almost twice as much per capita as the people of any other country. The function of health care is to guarantee health care to all, not make huge profits for the drug companies and the insurance companies. That fight continues the day after Joe Biden is elected president. 

• Kamala Harris endorsed Medicare for all during the primaries. Do you believe she's an ally in this fight for Medicare for all?  

Well, I believe that Kamala is somebody who is -- I've known for a number of years -- incredibly smart, incredibly tough. And I would not like to be Vice President Pence in a debate with her. I think she's an asset for the Biden campaign, and I think she's going to do great on the campaign trail.

• Your former press secretary says "The contempt for the base here is, wow." referring to the Democratic Platform. What do you say to that? 

Well, I would say that the overwhelming majority of progressives understand that it is absolutely imperative that Donald Trump be defeated, that we have a president who is trying to undermine American democracy, a president who has turned his back on the working families of this country, a president who has done a horrible job in terms of the pandemic, does not believe in science, is not dealing with the existential threat of climate change... A lot of my supporters are not enthusiastic about Joe Biden, you know why? I ran against Joe Biden. But I think there is overwhelming understanding that Donald Trump must be defeated, Biden must be elected, and that the day after he is elected, we're going to do everything we can to create a government that works for all of us and not just the 1% and wealthy campaign contributors. 

And finally, let's see if there was anything different in his CNN State of the Union classroom appearance with Jake Tapper. 

• Did Mark Meadows say anything that reassures you that the election will be free and fair and the way you want it to be conducted? 

Before we get to the post office, I'm glad that he thinks that Kamala Harris is eligible to run for president. And he dismisses it. He said, oh, sure, of course she is. Then why is the president of the United States engaging in a racist, xenophobic attack against her by suggesting she is not eligible? This is what this campaign is about.   

Jake, what we are fighting for here is not just the post office that I want to talk about. It's not just whether Trump will succeed in throwing 32 million Americans off the health care they have. It's not just whether workers will continue to get the $600 supplementary checks they desperately need, when their unemployment -- or the $1,200 checks. It's not just climate change.  

It is in fact whether we're going to have a pathological liar staying in the White House who lies every single day. I think there have been documented there have been some 20,000 lies that is told that have been documented already.  

So, when Meadows says, oh, yes, Kamala Harris, she's eligible to run for president, then maybe you got to talk to the White House of why they tweet out stuff that is terrible and lying. 

• Are you frustrated that these positions will not be represented on the Democratic ticket? And how do you tell your voters to support a ticket that, in their view, might be more moderate than progressive? 

Well, Jake, two things. Our movement, as I'm sure you know, is doing really quite phenomenally well. All across this country, in New York state and elsewhere, in Missouri, we have elected extremely progressive member -- people who will become members of Congress who are going to stand up and fight for working families and take on the 1% and the greed of the corporate elite. 

We are electing district attorney candidates all over this country, people to the state legislature. So, our movement has real momentum. And we are doing just fine. Now, in terms of disagreements with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, yes, of course we do. I ran against Biden. 

And my message -- my message to our supporters is, we have got to do everything that we can to defeat Donald Trump... I view as the most dangerous president in American history. And then what we have to do the day after we elect Joe Biden as president, we've got to rally our people to stand up and fight for an agenda that works for all, and not just a few. And that absolutely includes Medicare for all. I think most working people understand today that health care must be a human right, not simply a job benefit because, if you lose your job, then you lose your health care. That's crazy. That's not what we want. And we have got to take on the pharmaceutical industry... so much higher prices than any other country on Earth, sometimes 10 times more for the medicine that we need.  So, we're going to do everything that we can, A, to elect Biden, and, B, after he's elected, move this country in as progressive a way as we possibly can. 

• If Wall Street breathes a sigh of relief with Kamala Harris being named to the ticket, what does Bernie Sanders do?  

So, what Bernie Sanders is going to do is do everything that I can to defeat Donald Trump, to elect Joe Biden. And after the Democrats have control of the Senate and the House, and Joe is the president, we're going to do all that we can to mobilize people for a progressive agenda. But this is not a complicated issue. Donald Trump must be defeated. Biden must be elected. And after that election, we're going to do all that we can for a progressive -- to fight for a progressive agenda.

I don't know about you, but it sure seems like Bernie Sanders is going to do exactly the same thing the day after the election, no matter who the winner is. He's going to push his agenda, a twice-losing agenda, whether the Democrats like it or not. 

And I guess I'm the dumb one, because I kind of thought that maybe he would realize that his extreme positions are not mainstream positions in the Democratic party, yet. Maybe they will be after all of those progressives take over all of the local and state offices, but they aren't, yet. 

I only hope that he can convince his supporters, who are already whining about the platform, that starting somewhere is better than ending up nowhere, and that they'll make sure they work to pass legislation that moves us in the right direction, rather than holding out for their version of perfection. If not, we're screwed. 

That's your extra credit, and my mini-rant, for this week.  See you around the virtual campus.

Wondering on Wednesday (v204)

Ready... Set... Wonder!

Let's get right to the wondering, shall we, first off, on those stimulus checks.

• What, I wonder, other than megalomania, narcissism, delusions of grandeur, would compel a president to put his name on checks that are returning our own money to us as part of one of the coronavirus pandemic stimulus packages? Whether he suggested it himself, or if someone else suggested it, a reasonable president would say that it was a bunch of hooey and turn down the offer.  Now, we know that the same guy who's doing this is the one who demanded - or allowed - his name to be the same size as the name of our country on the sign on the new embassy in Jerusalem, so I'm guessing that he is likely the driver behind this effort. Either way, no need to wonder - it's ridiculous.

• Staying on the stimulus, there are multiple memes floating around wondering if #NeverTrumpers like me are going to refuse the stimulus checks because "they're from Trump" - which of course, they're not - as noted above, it's our money. Because that's where the government gets money -- from us. But now I have to wonder, will the Trumpeters keep the check, you know, frame it or something, like businesses do with their first dollar? 

• And lastly, on this topic, I wondered out loud on social media whether anyone had gotten their check yet.  After a few hours, it's almost dead even: 50.8% of respondents had gotten their checks, 49.2% had not (including my husband and me). Two people tried unsuccessfully to check the status of theirs on the new IRS website; one person got less than expected, for as yet unknown reasons; one changed banks last year and so will have to wait for the paper check - and one person said the check would be returned to the government. 

Let's see, what else...  Anyone wondering who will be the next person to endorse Papa Joe Biden, now that That Guy from Vermont and Barack and Elizabeth have come around? Are there any other endorsements still out there that will be meaningful, or any that might be unexpected? I'm not thinking of anyone off the top of my head, but let me know if you've got any ideas.

If you're wondering, I'm not going to go there on the whole question of 'authority' and 'permission' and whatever on earth we've been hearing about who can do what to whom when it comes to reopening America. I'll save that for later. 

I will wonder, though, whether you think it's true that Mitch McConnell (R-White House) has been suggesting older conservative judges consider retiring, so that more slots can be filled by, you know, all those Gen Y kids selected by the good folks at the Heritage Foundation, on the chance that either he or the president doesn't win reelection. I know that's month-old news, but I didn't catch it earlier. Thoughts?

And now, for the good news. I don't really wonder all that much about this stuff, other than to think what will happen when we're back to (ab)normal? Will the good stuff continue? Will people keep talking about it? Or will it fall by the wayside?

This story is about a wonderful kid, a friend of my nephew's, who passed away a few days ago. We know that it's not possible to have 'normal' funerals, if that's the right word, where people gather and share stories and hug and cry on each other's shoulders and what not. But all is not lost, as his school and his friends showed - all is not lost.

And this one's from a sibling's adopted hometown, where the teachers did the parade thing, driving by every student's house.  Said sibling was, for a time, stuck in the parade, which made it more entertaining. 

And finally, if you're a movie fan or a Tom Hanks fan, you'll remember the piano dance scene from the movie 'Big'. Well, here's a much more complicated example, with four players, from a couple of years ago. So no, it's not specifically from this age of social distancing, but it sure did put a smile on our faces!

Got a good news story to share? Drop a note in the comments! And if you're willing to share your go-to hand lotion, let me know!

Email of the Week (v15)

And the second not unexpected email of the week?  The one from Papa Joe to his supporters about Bernie. 

Unfortunately, there's not a lot here about That Guy from Vermont's supporters, who will be critical as things turn towards the general election. I was hoping there would be something to share with friends who are Sanders supporters, to give them a sense of hope or esprit de corps or something, but I don't see it. 

Honestly? I think Biden blew this one. No need to ask me for money - not just once, but twice - in this email when it should have been all about bringing everyone back under the tend.  But anyway - here's the message.

Sue,

I’ve had a chance to get to know Bernie over the years. We were in the Senate together before Barack and I took office, and of course, I had known him from his work in the House. What I liked about Bernie was that he said what he believed, no matter who was in the room. I admired his passion. I liked his convictions. I thought people who failed to take him seriously would prove to be sorely mistaken. And, as it turns out, I was right.

Bernie suspended his campaign today, but while you can suspend a campaign, you can’t suspend a movement. Bernie and his supporters have taken issues which had been given little attention and brought them to the center of the conversation. Bernie gets a lot of credit for his passionate advocacy for the issues he cares about. But he doesn’t get enough credit for being a voice that forces us all to take a hard look in the mirror and ask if we’ve done enough.

Jill and I can’t wait to work with him and Jane on building a more progressive future.

Bernie has often said that his campaign was not about him. It was about “us.” That goes for me, too. And now more than ever, that rings true. This primary is over -- but this campaign is just beginning. And it’s a campaign bigger than whose name is on the ballot. It’s a campaign about people like us coming together to not only defeat Donald Trump, but to ensure that America lives up to its founding promises once we do.

We will not defeat Donald Trump by being like Donald Trump. We won’t win with division, cruelty, or appealing to the worst in us. We’ll win with compassion, humanity, humility, and joy. We’ll win by being a campaign that brings Americans together -- a campaign that shows decency, but also determination. A campaign that shows humanity, but also grit. And in the end: we will show the country that a better future is possible. And we’ll show that it is possible because of people like you. You’ve built this campaign, and believed in us -- always.

So I’m going to ask you, in the spirit of gratitude, at this pivotal moment: can you pitch in $5 to this campaign?

Around this country right now, there are people stepping up to the call of a crisis. Nurses with nothing but garbage bags to protect them -- but they go into work anyway. Environmental Services workers -- like the one Jill spoke to just this morning in Chicago -- keeping our hospitals safe without attention or little appreciation -- but they work around the clock anyway. Teachers leading classes remotely, while balancing their own families at home -- but they teach anyway. There are grocery store workers and food delivery people paid far too little for the work they do - but they do it anyway.

It’s amazing who we are. I have talked a lot in this campaign about the Soul of America. Well -- we are seeing the soul of the nation on display every day in this crisis. Courage. Bravery. Selflessness. A commitment to something bigger than ourselves. That’s who we are. And it makes me so damn proud of America. And those are the things that make me so damn proud to be our party’s nominee.

So, yes: we’re going to defeat Donald Trump. But once we do that, we’re going to tackle the climate crisis head-on. We’re going to make health care accessible and affordable to everyone. We’re going to take on the NRA, and we’re going to relieve a generation of the crushing burden of debt. We will not win just the battle for the soul of our nation. We’ll transform it as well.

We can’t wait to get started on doing it -- together. And I hope you’ll pitch in to get us going.

Thanks for always keeping the faith,
Joe

Email of the Week (v14)

The long-anticipated email ending the campaign of That Guy from Vermont, Bernie Sanders, and how he expects his movement to continue. 

Friends -

I want to express to each of you my deep gratitude for helping to create an unprecedented grassroots political campaign that has had a profound impact in changing our nation.

I want to thank the hundreds of thousands of volunteers who knocked on millions of doors in the freezing winters of Iowa and New Hampshire and in the heat of Nevada and South Carolina – and in states throughout the country.

I want to thank the 2.1 million Americans who have contributed to our campaign and showed the world that we can take on a corrupt campaign finance system and run a major presidential campaign without being dependent upon the wealthy and the powerful. Thank you for your 10 million contributions – averaging $18.50 per donation.

I want to thank those who phone banked for our campaign and those of you who came together to send out millions of texts. I want to thank the many hundreds of thousands of Americans who attended our rallies, town meetings and house parties from New York to Los Angeles. Some of these events had over 25,000 people. Some had a few hundred and some had a dozen. But all were important. Let me thank those who made these many events possible.

I want to thank our surrogates, too many to name. I can't imagine that any candidate has ever been blessed with a stronger and more dedicated group of people who have taken our message to every corner of the country. And I want to thank all those who made music and art an integral part of our campaign.

I want to thank all of you who spoke to your friends and neighbors, posted on social media and worked as hard as you could to make this a better country.

Together, we have transformed American consciousness as to what kind of country we can become, and have taken this country a major step forward in the never-ending struggle for economic justice, social justice, racial justice and environmental justice.

WE HAVE WON THE IDEOLOGICAL BATTLE
As many of you will recall Nelson Mandela, one of the great freedom fighters in modern world history, famously said; "It always seems impossible until it is done." And what he meant by that is that the greatest obstacle to real social change has everything to do with the power of the corporate and political establishment to limit our vision as to what is possible and what we are entitled to as human beings.

If we don't believe that we are entitled to health care as a human right, we will never achieve universal health care.

If we don't believe that we are entitled to decent wages and working conditions, millions of us will continue to live in poverty.

If we don't believe that we are entitled to all of the education we require to fulfill our dreams, many of us will leave school saddled with huge debt, or never get the education we need.

If we don't believe that we are entitled to live in a world that has a clean environment and is not ravaged by climate change, we will continue to see more drought, floods, rising sea levels and an increasingly uninhabitable planet.

If we don't believe that we are entitled to live in a world of justice, democracy and fairness – without racism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia or religious bigotry – we will continue to have massive income and wealth inequality, prejudice and hatred, mass incarceration, terrified immigrants and hundreds of thousands of Americans sleeping out on the streets of the richest country on earth.

Focusing on that new vision for America is what our campaign has been about and what, in fact, we have accomplished. Few would deny that over the course of the past 5 years our movement has won the ideological struggle. In so called "red" states, and "blue" states and "purple" states, a majority of the American people now understand that we must raise the minimum wage to at least $15 an hour; that we must guarantee health care as a right to all of our people; that we must transform our energy system away from fossil fuel, and that higher education must be available to all, regardless of income.

It was not long ago that people considered these ideas radical and fringe. Today, they are mainstream ideas – and many of them are already being implemented in cities and states across the country. That's what you accomplished.

In terms of health care, even before the horrific pandemic we are now experiencing, more and more Americans understood that we must move to a Medicare for All, single-payer system. During the primary elections exit polls showed, in state after state, a strong majority of Democratic primary voters supported a single government health insurance program to replace private insurance. That was true even in states where our campaign did not prevail.

And let me just say this: In terms of health care, this horrific crisis that we are now in has exposed how absurd our current employer-based health insurance system is. The current economic downturn we are experiencing has not only led to a massive loss of jobs, but has also resulted in millions of Americans losing their health insurance. While Americans have been told, over and over again, how wonderful our employer-based, private insurance system is, those claims sound very hollow now as a growing number of unemployed workers struggle with how they can afford to go to the doctor, or not go bankrupt with a huge hospital bill. We have always believed that health care must be considered as a human right, not an employee benefit – and we are right.

Please also appreciate that not only are we winning the struggle ideologically, we are also winning it generationally. The future of our country rests with young people and, in state after state, whether we won or whether we lost the Democratic primaries or caucuses, we received a significant majority of the votes, sometimes an overwhelming majority, from people not only 30 or under, but 50 years of age or younger. In other words, the future of this country is with our ideas.

THE CURRENT CRISIS

As we are all painfully aware, we now face an unprecedented crisis. Not only are we dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, which has taken the lives of many thousands of our people, we are also dealing with an economic meltdown that has resulted in the loss of millions of jobs.

Today, families all across the country face financial hardship unimaginable only a few months ago. And because of the unacceptable levels of income and wealth distribution in our economy, many of our friends and neighbors have little or no savings and are desperately trying to pay their rent or their mortgage or even to put food on the table. This reality makes it clear to me that Congress must address this unprecedented crisis in an unprecedented way that protects the health and economic wellbeing of the working families of our country, not just powerful special interests. As a member of the Democratic leadership in the United States Senate, and as a senator from Vermont, this is something that I intend to be intensely involved in, and which will require an enormous amount of work.

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

That takes me to the state of our presidential campaign. I wish I could give you better news, but I think you know the truth. And that is that we are now some 300 delegates behind Vice President Biden, and the path toward victory is virtually impossible. So while we are winning the ideological battle, and while we are winning the support of young people and working people throughout the country, I have concluded that this battle for the Democratic nomination will not be successful.

And so today I am announcing the suspension of active campaigning, and congratulate Joe Biden, a very decent man, on his victory.

Please know that I do not make this decision lightly. In fact, it has been a very painful decision. Over the past few weeks Jane and I, in consultation with top staff and many of our prominent supporters, have made an honest assessment of the prospects for victory. If I believed we had a feasible path to the nomination I would certainly continue the campaign. But it's not there.

I know there may be some in our movement who disagree with this decision, who would like us to fight on to the last ballot cast at the Democratic convention. I understand that position. But as I see the crisis gripping the nation – exacerbated by a president unwilling or unable to provide any kind of credible leadership – and the work that needs to be done to protect people in this most desperate hour, I cannot in good conscience continue to mount a campaign that cannot win and which would interfere with the important work required of all of us in this difficult hour.

But let me say this very emphatically: As you all know, we have never been just a campaign. We are a grassroots multi-racial, multi-generational movement which has always believed that real change never comes from the top on down, but always from the bottom on up. We have taken on Wall Street, the insurance companies, the drug companies, the fossil fuel industry, the military industrial complex, the prison industrial complex and the greed of the entire corporate elite. That struggle continues. While this campaign is coming to an end, our movement is not.

Martin Luther King, Jr. reminded us that "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." The fight for justice is what our campaign was about. The fight for justice is what our movement remains about.

And, on a practical note, let me also say this: I will stay on the ballot in all remaining states and continue to gather delegates. While Vice President Biden will be the nominee, we should still work to assemble as many delegates as possible at the Democratic convention where we will be able to exert significant influence over the party platform and other functions.

Then, together, standing united, we will go forward to defeat Donald Trump, the most dangerous president in modern American history. And we will fight to elect strong progressives at every level of government – from Congress to the school board.

As I hope all of you know, this race has never been about me. I ran for the presidency because I believed as president I could accelerate and institutionalize the progressive change that we are all building together. And, if we keep organizing and fighting, I have no doubt that our victory is inevitable. While the path may be slower now, we WILL change this country and, with like-minded friends around the globe, the entire world.

On a very personal note, speaking for Jane, myself and our entire family, we will always carry in our hearts the memory of the extraordinary people we have met across the country. We often hear about the beauty of America. And this is an incredibly beautiful country.

But to me the beauty I will remember most is in the faces of the people we have met from one corner of this country to the other. The compassion, love and decency I saw in them makes me so hopeful for our future. It also makes me more determined than ever to work to create a country that reflects those values and lifts up all our people.

Please stay in this fight with me. Let us go forward together. The struggle continues.

In solidarity,

Bernie Sanders