https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/bernie-sanders-drops-out-presidential-race-n1155156

I'm saddened by this.

pril 8, 2020, 11:24 AM EDT
By Jane C. Timm and Allan Smith
Bernie Sanders is ending his presidential campaign, he announced on Wednesday.

The Vermont independent senator's 2020 bid started off strong. He narrowly missed first place in Iowa before picking up wins in New Hampshire and Nevada. All the while, his campaign continued to rake in millions in small-dollar donations and pack rallies full of supporters as he ascended to national front-runner status amid a crowded Democratic field.

Running as a progressive insurgent against Hillary Clinton in 2016, Sanders popularized ideas like "Medicare for All." In 2020, however, a number of candidates backed similar policies, and he faced another prominent progressive in Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who was the first to propose canceling some student debt in April.

Sanders followed with a more far-reaching plan of his own in June. Warren surged above Sanders in the fall, right up until he suffered a heart attack in October. That — along with the high-profile endorsement by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., — revived his national polling numbers, and he remained in second place until Biden's dismal fourth-place showing in Iowa, which propelled Sanders to front-runner status.

In his 2020 bid, the senator worked to broaden his support with Latino voters, and his coalition grew more diverse because of it. But despite years of outreach to increase his popularity among black voters, Sanders failed to earn their votes in large numbers. He also lost some of his white working-class supporters to Biden, a fracture of his coalition that cost him crucial votes in states like Michigan.

Sanders also stumbled with women voters, facing accusations of sexism in January after tensions between his and Warren's campaigns spilled out into the open. The two progressives had largely remained allies while campaigning for the nomination, but a series of leaks to the media from aides and supporters of both senators accusing the other camp of dirty tricks and lying culminated in Warren saying in a statement that Sanders once told her he didn't think a woman could win the presidency.

Sanders denied the claim, but he was hit with further criticism of his supporters — dubbed the "Bernie Bros" — after female union leaders in Nevada who spoke out against his candidacy said they were attacked by his fans.

His campaign officially stalled in South Carolina. Fueled by a crucial endorsement from Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., Biden won the Palmetto State decisively. The moderate wing of the party then consolidated around him — Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg both dropped out of the race and endorsed him — and Biden won 10 of 14 states on Super Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Warren dropped out of the race after Super Tuesday, but declined to endorse any candidate.

A week later, on March 10, Biden dominated in five of the six states that voted, including Michigan, one of Sanders’ biggest 2016 victories, to grow his delegate lead over the Vermont senator. Sanders' substantial losses in Florida, Illinois and Arizona on March 17 put Biden on an insurmountable path to the Democratic nomination.

A day after those contests, and with the next voting night weeks away, Sanders' campaign manager Faiz Shakir wrote that the candidate was "going to be having conversations with supporters to assess his campaign. In the immediate term, however, he is focused on the government response to the coronavirus outbreak and ensuring that we take care of working people and the most vulnerable."

In a message to supporters, Shakir was more pointed.

"No sugarcoating it, last night did not go the way we wanted," he said of the March 17 losses. "And while our campaign has won the battle of ideas, we are losing the battle over electability to Joe Biden."

So does this give it to Biden or is there still a chance it could be Cuomo? I wasn’t sure how with a split convention they would be able to nominate someone who didn’t even run... but with Bernie dropping out does that mean for sure it’s Biden?

Biden has to have 1,991 delegates to take the nomination on the first vote. Bernie is staying on the ballot just like all the others. So Biden may very well fall short, which would open the door for just about anything. But unless Biden really messes up or gets sick, he's probably the nominee.

Someone, quick, get OCD some Prozac.

Would prefer quaaludes...

Quaaludes
Sopors
Methaqualone
Reds

You're dating yourself, bro-

Rohrers or Lemmons?

Poor, poor Bernie. He didn't have chance against the crooked Dem party. Now it looks like the senile old man that can't put together two sentences is in. I was hoping for the senile old commie.

714's ftw! Lol. Sopors...is that how you spell it? Haven't heard that since the 70's.

I was more of a looking through the "windowpane" or a "Lucy in the Sky w/Diamonds" guy, but 'ludes/sopors were a change of pace thang.

I love the turn/detour this thread took...

microdots, strawberry barrels, window pane, and triple dip blotter...

lemmon 714...

That was old school partying.

Bunch of hippie ass stoners...

microdot.
Windowpane.


Before we were married, My Wife rented this house on the outskirts of town. It was her first year of employment after she graduated from ONU, and a few short months after we'd met. $50 /mo. She hosted a "wedding reception after the 'official' wedding reception" For Hap & Beth- college friends of hers.

A pal from college days (Louie) drove back to OH to make the date. He drove 1300 miles in a VW Beetle with rotted floorboards so blasted that you could see the road beneath the driver's seat. 100 miles from Ground Zero, Louie started playing with the vial of LucySkyDammit... and spilled it all over his leg.

_________________


I had just started getting close with My Hunny, and had never met any of her college friends. This weekend was my first shot at meeting all those folks she'd talked about. I was working the back end of a double double-back (a rare crap-ass scheduling feature) at the refinery, so I'd visited this ongoing party on Fri eve, Sat aft... and now Sunday aft. (Yes... it was a 3-day plus partaaay...) When I got to the "Wedding reception," there was this new guy. He had a bigass 2"X5" hole in his jeans, just above the knee.

I asked my new hunny: "Whassup with the half-nekkid bro over there?"
That's when she told me about Louie... and how he'd used a pair of scissors to cut up 1/4" squares of 'dot from his jeans.

Some folks got nothing but the brewz and jointz at that gig. Some folks lost they minds for 24 hours. I sucked on a piece of denim for 30 minutes... and got nothing but Louiesweat... lucky me.

Kinda glad I was late to that gig.
Today, my mind still works (for the most part).

I'm not sure how some of those guests ever recovered.

Over the years I've heard people make mention of these things you speak of. They called them purple microdot, gold windowpane and white blotter?

Q: Strawberries came in barrels back then?

Windowpane was the best in my opinion. 4-Way windowpane was popular in our group. No speed. Orange Sunshine was a fun trip. And Mr. Natural was pretty cool, too.

I think others, such as Microdot had too much speed in them and gave one the "jitters." Keep it pure.

Someone really should let him know he was never actually in it.

I mean, they let him play, but his party was absolutely NEVER going to let him go anywhere with it.

We just got pure liquid in vials. No substrate. Y’all a bunch of amateurs.

Sucks for me. Trump 2020 I guess.

All my Dem candidates are hated by the DNC, Tulsi, Bernie.

Well, at least democrats aren't following a liar and Conman.

He’s so ignorant he doesn’t realize he stands against everything Bernie stood for.
My God his stupidity knows no bounds.

No, that guy left office Jan. 20, 2017 after blaming GW for 8 years. Now, the Democrats want to nominate a guy that hides his own Easter eggs. The "blue no matter who" crew...pfff.

Good one... Love your sense of humor... Trump has something like 16,000 lies and mistatements documented..

As for him blaming GW,, WAKE UP,, Look at what your idiot is doing..

It was around. I remember seeing people drop it in their eyes... I remember thinking how effing stupid that was. Plus the dosing was easier our way, bad trips are REAL.

ANY PROGRESSIVE CANDIDATE is never going to be elected as POTUS by corporatists.

I dropped acid a few times (probably fewer than 5). The very first time my friend and I took it, we couldn't stop laughing all night and well into the next day. Total euphoria. That feeling was never duplicated again. We tried the same purple microdot tabs from the same stash the following weekend without the same results. Somewhat pleasant reality distortion, but nothing like that first time. I never experienced a bad trip, but witnessed others having them. More recently I've seen GHB, bath salts and K2 really ruin someone's day.

We went to a Pink Floyd concert in Pittsburgh and one of the dudes w/us put a tab of 4-way windowpane in his eye so he could start tripping earlier. That did not end well.

j/c

Dang.......all the stories about drugs. Wow.

I'm no prude, imo, but I've never been high on anything. Never. I drink at times, and have been drunk, no doubt. I guess my fear of drugs has kept me away from them?

Notice most of them are Liberals who think they are cool.

No, we know we're cool and we also know that you have a stick up your butt.

So, doing drugs is cool?

So, belittling others is cool?

Piss off, arch.

Jesus man, we're just having some fun and you gotta bring the personality BS yet again.

Pretty certain I didn't belittle anyone.

Good night, arch.

Good night. I didn't belittle anyone, and have an attorney draw up your will.

I thought I was drunk and getting sassy tonight...lmao, dude relax wow

OR more like guys who didn't spend those young years afraid of everything. Refer madness much?

In the 70s and 80s? Yep, it was what people did. It's not like you're going to find me dropping acid, eating ludes, snorting sopors or coke today. But back then you would have found me doing it now and then. Hell, I don't even drink alcohol anymore. Just a little weed once in a while and I took a 20 year break from that until the last few years.

Nah man, the 'have an attorney draw up your will" was in reference to his post in a different (EE) thread.

j/c It would appear that this thread has taken yet another turn.
I kinda liked the first turn better.
At least it veered where it did without conflict knee-deep in the mix.

That was a fun few posts.

Can't wait to see where it goes next.

j/c

It will go where it goes without me causing any issues.

Here's a twist:

Progressive Youth Activist Groups Send Biden List Of Demands, Previewing Clash Between Two Wings Of Party

Topline: Hours after Bernie Sanders dropped out of the presidential race, handing the Democratic nomination to Joe Biden, the former vice president received a list of demands from seven youth progressive activist groups outlining what he will have to do to earn their vote in November.

• The letter, authored by Alliance for Youth Action, Justice Democrats, March for Our Lives Action Fund, NextGen America, Student Action, Sunrise Movement, and United We Dream Action, is an indication of what’s to come for the presumptive Democratic nominee who will face calls to unite the party with a progressive candidate now missing from the race.
• "Exclusively anti-Trump messaging won’t be enough to lead any candidate to victory,” the letter reads. “We need you to champion the bold ideas that have galvanized our generation and given us hope in the political process.”
• Among the demands from the liberal groups are for Biden to endorse progressive platform linchpins such as Medicare-for-All and the Green New Deal (Biden has refused to back a government-run healthcare program but has warmed to proposals included in the Green New Deal.)
• Sanders, for his part, did not endorse Biden in his live stream message to supporters Wednesday. Instead, the Vermont senator said he would remain on the ballot in upcoming primaries so that he can continue to accrue delegates and have sway at the party’s convention.
• President Trump spent the afternoon seeking to drive a wedge between the two wings of the Democratic party, tweeting that he “can’t see” progressive icon Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez endorsing Biden for president.

What we don’t know: Who Biden will pick as his running mate and whether he will use the pick to unite the party.

Further reading: Thomas Friedman of the New York Times argues Biden should not simply pick a vice president before the convention, but a “unity cabinet.”

“Biden needs to show that he isn’t running to be president of the 48 percent (or less), as Trump is,” wrote Friedman. “He needs to show he’s running to be a majority president, a unity president — but not just unity for unity’s sake, but unity of purpose based on a set of shared values for rebuilding America.”

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackbrewste...y/#2a2addd45c00

AND the open Letter:

Dear Joe Biden, here is how you can earn our support

Anti-Trump messaging won’t be enough to lead any candidate to victory. Young people need someone who will champion bold ideas

Dear Vice-President Joe Biden,

We write to you as leaders from a diverse array of organizations building political power for young people in the United States. We are all deeply committed to ending a presidency that has set the clock back on all of the issues that impact our lives.

While you are now the presumptive Democratic nominee, it is clear that you were unable to win the votes of the vast majority of voters under 45 years old during the primary. With young people poised to play a critical role deciding the next president, you need to have more young people enthusiastically supporting and campaigning with you to defeat Donald Trump. This division must be reconciled so we can unite the party to defeat Trump.

Messaging around a “return to normalcy” does not and has not earned the support and trust of voters from our generation. For so many young people, going back to the way things were “before Trump” isn’t a motivating enough reason to cast a ballot in November. And now, the coronavirus pandemic has exposed not only the failure of Trump, but how decades of policymaking has failed to create a robust social safety net for the vast majority of Americans.

The views of younger Americans are the result of a series of crises that took hold when we came of political age, and flow from bad decisions made by those in power from both major parties. For millions of young people, our path to a safe and secure middle-class life is far more out-of-reach than it was for our parents or grandparents. We grew up in a world where “doing better than the generation before us” was not a foregone conclusion.

Instead, we grew up with endless war, skyrocketing inequality, crushing student loan debt, mass deportations, police murders of black Americans and mass incarceration, schools which have become killing fields, and knowing that the political leaders of today are choking the planet we will live on long after they are gone. We’ve spent our whole lives witnessing our political leaders prioritize the voices of wealthy lobbyists and big corporations over our needs. From this hardship, we’ve powered a resurgence of social movements demanding fundamental change. Why would we want a return to normalcy? We need a vision for the future, not a return to the past.

New leadership in November is an imperative for everything our movements are fighting for. But in order to win up and down the ballot in November, the Democratic party needs the energy and enthusiasm of our generation. The victorious “Obama coalition” included millions of energized young people fighting for change. But the Democratic party’s last presidential nominee failed to mobilize our enthusiasm where it mattered. We can’t afford to see those mistakes repeated.

Young people are issues-first voters. Fewer identify with a political party than any other generation. Exclusively anti-Trump messaging won’t be enough to lead any candidate to victory. We need you to champion the bold ideas that have galvanized our generation and given us hope in the political process. As the party’s nominee, the following commitments are needed to earn the support of our generation and unite the party for a general election against Donald Trump:

Policy:

Climate change: Adopt the frameworks of the Green New Deal and make specific commitments around achieving a just transition to 100% clean energy by 2030 for electricity, buildings and transportation; restart the economy by committing to mobilizing $10tn in green stimulus and infrastructure investments over 10 years that will create tens of millions of good jobs of the future; and commit to take on and prosecute the fossil fuel executives and lobbyists who have criminally jeopardized our generation.

Gun violence prevention: Take an intersectional, comprehensive approach to preventing gun violence with the goal of reducing gun deaths by 50% in 10 years. In addition to the policies laid out in your plan, you should also include the following from the Peace Plan for a Safer America: call for a federal licensing program; hold the gun industry accountable by directing the IRS to probe the NRA’s not-for-profit status. Expand federal funding and resources for community-based violence intervention programs. Adopt Julián Castro’s People First Policing Plan and acknowledge that police brutality is gun violence.

Immigration: Commit to immediate executive actions to expand Daca and other policies to protect people from deportation and hold Ice and CBP accountable. Executive actions must also close the vast and cruel web of detention camps and not replace it with a practice of tagging people with electronic monitors or surveillance sold by big-money corporations. Commit to ending the collaboration between local police and Ice and the use of racial profiling by deportation agents and local police that pulls people into the deportation pipeline. Commit to providing guaranteed access to counsel for all while making immigration courts independent and free of political manipulation. Commit to repealing the 1996 immigration reform laws and creating citizenship pathways for all undocumented people without harmful provisions. Amid the current Covid-19 pandemic, it is clear that all people, including undocumented immigrants, must be included in any healthcare reform as viruses do not discriminate on the basis of immigration status.

Healthcare: Champion comprehensive reform of our criminal legal system. Incentivize states to cut their incarcerated population by 50% while supporting massive investment in housing, drug treatment, diversion, education and health programs. End the war on drugs and support the equitable legalization of marijuana based on proposals laid out by Senator Booker, Senator Warren, Senator Sanders, Secretary Castro and others.

Education: Support free undergraduate tuition for public colleges, universities and vocational schools for all students, regardless of income, citizenship status or criminal record. Provide economic relief to 45 million Americans and stimulate the economy by addressing the student debt crisis and canceling the entire $1.7tn in student loan debt.

Wealth tax: Support an annual tax on the extreme wealth of the wealthiest 180,000 households in America who are in the top 0.1% based on proposals laid out by Senator Sanders, Senator Warren and Tom Steyer.

Foreign policy: Commit to seek congressional approval on any authorization of war and support repeal of 2001 and 2002 Authorization for Use of Military Force.

Democracy: Support the elimination of the filibuster and the expanding of the supreme court. Call for the adoption of strong anti-corruption reforms laid out by Senator Warren and Senator Sanders. Champion a voting system that works for all Americans. Every citizen should be automatically registered to vote, get to cast their ballot in a secure, accessible way that fits their needs, and never have their right to vote taken away for any reason. Get big money out of politics and make the passage of HR 1 a top priority.

Personnel and future administration: Commit to appointing progressive elected officials who endorsed Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren as transition co-chairs, such as representatives Ro Khanna, Pramila Jayapal, Ayanna Pressley or Katie Porter.

Pledge to appoint zero current or former Wall Street executives or corporate lobbyists, or people affiliated with the fossil fuel, health insurance or private prison corporations, to your transition team, adviser roles or cabinet.

Appoint a trusted progressive to lead the White House presidential personnel office to ensure that the entire administration is free of corruption and staffed with public servants committed to advancing a progressive agenda.

Commit to put trusted voices on issues of importance to our generation on your campaign and transition team’s policy working groups, such as Governor Inslee’s policy team on climate; Senator Warren’s policy team on financial regulation; Aramis Ayala, Bryan Stevenson and Larry Krasner on criminal justice; Bonnie Castillo of National Nurses United and Dr Abdul El-Sayed on healthcare; and Mary-Kay Henry, Sara Nelson and Senator Sanders’ policy team on jobs and the economy.

Commit to appointing advisers, such as Joseph Stiglitz, to your national economic council and office of management and budget who believe in the principles of the Green New Deal and a rapid transition to a 100% clean and renewable energy economy.

Appoint a national director of gun violence prevention in the White House who will oversee the policy platform, coordinate across agencies and incorporate a survivor-centered approach. Commit to appointing an attorney general who will re-examine the Heller decision.

Appoint a DHS secretary committed to holding Ice and CBP agents accountable and dismantling Ice and CBP as we know them.

Create a White House commission to represent the voices and needs of immigrants who can work together to ensure that executive actions and legislative solutions address the needs of immigrant communities.

Create a taskforce on young Americans at the White House focused on the many issues unique to the next generation’s health, wellbeing and economic stability. The leadership of the office should directly report to the president and work regularly with the domestic policy council, national economic council and office of public engagement. Taskforce representatives from each agency should be appointed by and report to respective secretaries and taskforce leadership and focus on policy and administrative action that directly affects every aspect of young people’s lives. This office should engage directly with young people across the country and ensure representation from youth movement leaders in its ranks.

In addition to these policy and personnel commitments, you and your campaign must demonstrate a real passion and enthusiasm for engaging with our generation and its leaders. It’s not just about the policies and issues, but also about how you prioritize them, how you talk about them and how you demonstrate real passion for addressing them. You must demonstrate, authentically, that you empathize with our generation’s struggles.

Calling for solutions that match the scale, scope and urgency of the problems we are facing is not radical. If nothing else, this moment of crisis should show that it is the pragmatic thing to do. We want results and we’re leading some of the movements that will help deliver them.

The organizations below will spend more than $100m communicating with more than 10 million young members, supporters and potential voters this election cycle. We are uniquely suited to help mobilize our communities, but we need help ensuring our efforts will be backed up by a campaign that speaks to our generation. Our generation is the future of this country. If you aim to motivate, mobilize and welcome us in, we will work tirelessly to align this nation with its highest ideals.

Signed,

Alliance for Youth Action

IfNotNow Movement

Justice Democrats

March for Our Lives Action Fund

NextGen America

Student Action

Sunrise Movement

United We Dream Action

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...-bernie-sanders

These are the people who Biden MUST now win over to win in November, period.

What happened to anyone but Trump?

That isn't me talking, that's all those radical socialist extremist commies the centrists dems pointed out... If Biden wants to beat Trump, this is now his only path to victory. The centrist can rig primaries but progressives can rig (determine) the victories...

Biden took notice but this is his response so far:

Joe Biden called for letting more people get Medicare right after Bernie Sanders dropped out of the Democratic primary

• In a shift left, Joe Biden has unveiled a proposal to make people eligible for Medicare when they turn 60.
• Biden has mainly advocated in favor of expanding Obamacare by providing people with higher subsidies and giving people the option to enroll in a government plan.
• The idea doesn't go as far as the "Medicare for all" plan from Bernie Sanders, which would enroll everyone in the US into a government plan.

Former Vice President Joe Biden unveiled a proposal Thursday to let people enroll in Medicare starting at age 60.

The move marks a shift left for the presumptive Democratic nominee, whose healthcare plan has focused on building on Obamacare and giving all adults the option to buy into a new government plan that would be similar to Medicare.

Biden released his idea just a day after his "Medicare for All" rival Bernie Sanders suspended his campaign. Sanders wanted to mostly outlaw private health insurance in favor of enrolling everyone living in the US into a single government plan that would offer more benefits than Medicare does currently.

The battle over how far to extend the government's role in paying for healthcare became one of the leading feuds in the Democratic primary, and "Medicare for all" gained the support of former presidential hopefuls Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, Elizabeth Warren, and Kirsten Gillibrand.

Biden said in a post on Medium that he was calling for lowering the age that people can sign up for Medicare as a direct response to the coronavirus pandemic. Expanding eligibility, he said, would "help people find more secure footing in the long term once we have emerged from this crisis."

"It reflects the reality that, even after the current crisis ends, older Americans are likely to find it difficult to secure jobs," Biden said in his announcement.

The highest proportion of people who are uninsured in the US are between the ages of 19 and 34, but older Americans who don't qualify for Medicare yet have had the hardest time finding affordable health insurance because they can be charged three times more than younger beneficiaries. At the same time, the inclusion of older beneficiaries in the markets also make costs rise for younger beneficiaries, who tend to have fewer healthcare needs.

Biden provided few specifics Thursday other than to say he was directing his team to develop a plan to lower the age of Medicare eligibility. Currently, people are allowed to enroll in the program once they turn 65. Some people with severe health needs, including people on dialysis or people with Lou Gehrig's disease, can also qualify.

The latest idea adds to Biden's former proposal, which he frequently billed as a "build on" Obamacare, formally known as the Affordable Care Act. As he fought for his party's nomination, he frequently accused Democratic rivals of wanting to "get rid of Obamacare" by pushing "Medicare for all."

The government plan he pushed for instead, often called a "public option" would be available to people as an alternative to private health insurance, rather than having the government become the sole payer for healthcare services.

Biden's plan would let people stay on private insurance they get through work if they choose, or be on Obamacare or the public option.

The portion that would pay for people to enroll in Medicare at age 60 would be financed out of general government revenues rather than the Medicare Trust Fund. That specification is presumably to address criticisms about Medicare's solvency. According to the Social Security and Medicare Trustees report, the part of Medicare that pays for inpatient hospital and hospice care will run out of full funding in 2026. Unless Congress fixes the financing, the program would pay a diminishing amount of reimbursement for medical costs.

https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-wants-to-let-people-enroll-medicare-age-60-2020-4

Of course Biden's little give was nowhere near enough:

'Why the Unnecessary 6?': Medicare for All Advocates Warn Biden That Lowering Age to 60 Solves Nothing

"These policies are what I would expect from Republicans. This is not a 'big overture' by any stretch of the imagination."

Progressives on Thursday were quick to call foul after it was reported that Joe Biden, now the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, put forth a pair of policy proposals—one lowering the Medicare age to 60 and the other a student debt relief program—purportedly designed to win over supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders who instead saw the plans as woefully insufficient.

"We have to do more to ease the economic burden on working people," Biden said in a tweet announcing the plan. "So today, I'm adopting two new policies to help deliver relief."



"That he's willing to shift on these issues after telling us they were 'pie-in-the-sky' indicates that we can go further," tweeted Briahna Joy Gray, Sanders' campaign press secretary.



Gray's optimism, however, was not shared by everyone on the left. In a lengthy Facebook essay reacting to the proposals, CUNY professor Corey Robin questioned how Biden could hope to pass anything approximating his plans through Congress.

"The rule of politics is you never get 100% of what you want," said Robin, adding, "Our sense of political time is not keeping up with actual time, and I find the euphoria of complacency and incrementalism totally mystifying."

Greg Sargent and Paul Waldman of the Washington Post broke the story Thursday, reporting that Biden was announcing the shift in policy as a way to show Sanders supporters that what he now supports is "significantly more liberal than what he supported when he was vice president."

As Sargent and Waldman explained, the policy proposals show that Biden and his campaign are acknowledging the political reality that Sanders and his movement have changed the national conversation around domestic politics:

There will, of course, be many Sanders supporters who will see these proposals as insufficient, and there's a reasonable case to be made for that position. But you could also see them as a validation of Sanders' entire strategy.

Sanders ran for president not just to win, but also to get his ideas in wide circulation and pull the Democratic Party to the left. And that’s precisely what's happening. The party is going to nominate a candidate with establishment roots and centrist instincts, but that candidate is adapting his policy agenda to move in Sanders' direction.

In an email to the Post, Economic Policy Institute director of research Josh Bivens said the overtures were further proof that the Sanders effect on the party was real and making a difference.

"Both of these ideas represent really welcome U-turns from what was damaging conventional wisdom even in big swaths of the Democratic Party for years," wrote Bivens.

But other progressives were skeptical, at best, of the content of Biden's proposals, calling the Medicare age rollback in particular a transparent attempt to placate concerns over the former vice president's commitment to single-payer healthcare that would benefit the private insurance industry more than taxpayers.

"These policies are what I would expect from Republicans," tweeted anthropolgist and political activist Michael Oman-Reagan. "This is not a 'big overture' by any stretch of the imagination."

In a tweet, healthcare advocacy group Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP) wondered sarcastically if Biden had added an unnecessary "6" to the eligibility age—a reference to Medicare for All's immediate eligibility at birth.



PNHP president-elect Dr. Susan Rogers, in exclusive comment to Common Dreams, said that Biden's so-called "big" gesture is simply not sufficient to address the healthcare crisis in the country, especially now that the coronavirus outbreak has paralyzed the economy and thrown millions out of work—and off of employer-provided insurance.

"One of the main benefits of Medicare for All is that it uncouples health coverage from employment, which is even more urgent now as our system of job-based private insurance is crumbling beneath our feet," said Rogers. "Reducing Medicare eligibility to age 60 does not resolve the underlying problem for the vast majority of working Americans and their families."

Only Medicare for All, added Rogers, packs the cost-saving punch to solve both the healthcare and fiscal crises now facing the country.

"By cutting out the waste of private insurance, Medicare for All could save nearly $600 billion a year while covering everybody for all medically necessary care," said Rogers.



Jean Ross, a registered nurse and president of National Nurses United, the nation's largest nurses, union welcomed Biden's proposal as an improvement over his previous opposition to expanding Medicare and credited labor organizers and others for pushing Medicare for All to the forefront of the national conversation.

"Lowering the Medicare eligibility age to 60 is a beginning step, and nurses and other activists will continue to press toward the essential goal of guaranteeing health care for everyone, regardless of age, ability to pay, race, gender, national origin, or immigration status," Ross told Common Dreams in an email, adding that Biden's proposal "also goes in the direction of the two current Medicare for All bills in the House and Senate sponsored by Rep. Pramilla Jayapal and Sen. Bernie Sanders that both begin by lowering the Medicare age to 55."

The growing movement and popular support for Medicare for All, said Ross, "is a tribute to years of hard work by nurses and other activists evidenced by the exit polls in every primary state that showed up to two thirds support of Democratic primary voters for replacing the present profit based system with a Medicare for all type alternative."

With the current COVID-19 pandemic acting as a "reminder of the failure of our present system"—including the millions who have lost their health care in the present crisis—Ross said that it's important more than ever "to press for the fundamental achievement of a more humane, patient centered recognition of health care as a human right for all."

Others pointed out that simply lowering the age by five years will not be enough to substantially solve the outrageous costs and wastes found in the for-profit system.

"The net effect of Biden's Medicare expansion would be to slough the most expensive patients off private insurance rolls and instead put them into government-subsidized, extremely profitable privatized Medicare Advantage plans," said healthcare activist and author Timothy Faust. "Some overture."

Sanders aide David Sirota was among those pointing out that the Biden proposal is less ambitious than one defeated in the Senate by former Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) in 2010.

"For reference, lowering Medicare to age 60 is actually a retreat from Senate Dems' own push 10 years ago to lower it to age 55," Sirota tweeted.

Meanwhile, as Gray noted, the student debt relief aspect of the plan has very narrow, means-tested prerequisites.



The cost of offering all students relief, Gray added, is the equivalent of tax cuts for the rich pushed through Congress by President Donald Trump and his Republican allies in 2018.

"Cancelling ALL student debt only costs $1.6 trillion—that's about the same as Trump's tax cut, which helped no one but the rich," said Gray.

Ultimately, the question is who should be taken care of, Gray tweeted.

"If we can bail out Wall Street," Gray said, "we can bail out students."

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/0...-solves-nothing

Peogressives are planning to cast every progressive vote they can muster in the remaining primaries for Bernie while centrists Biden supporters stay home thinking Joe has the nomination in the bag. Bernie suspended his campaign, he didn't end it, thereby allowing him to continue gaining delegates until the delayed convention. At that time, if the convention is contested or Bernie catches up or passes Bidens delegate count, Bernie would still be in the running. However the most important reason and far more likely is that every delegate gives Bernie and the progressives more internal say over the rules of the democratic party and the foundations of it's platform.

It might all be pie in the sky dreaming, but at least they have a plan. That's probably more than can be said for team Biden as they wake up to the reality that they need the progressive vote to win.

Common bro ...Not picking a fight here but we need to get on board, it’s going to take every vote to beat trump. We’re going to need 5 million more votes then the GOP’ers since they have the electoral rigged. I get it, Sanders supporters and all. But trashing Biden in the process is what I expect from a trumpian GOPer.

Pushing Joe left oughta help out immensely with the independents ... ..

He could end up pushing both independents and the socialists (progressives ... ) away ... good luck Joe ...

Not me bro, I already said I'll vote for Joe. I'm just posting facts on the ground so don't kill the messenger. I'm sure Pit will do that when he gets here.

A lot of those Independents supported Bernie.

My question is, why would Biden listen to them? I suppose getting that list of demands out there is better than not, but did they really expect any real movement on his part?
The only way they were going to push through any part(s) of their agenda was through voting, and that has failed. I do think Bernie has been screwed (again) by the DNC, but he also just didn't get the votes. I don't even want to get into who's right and wrong (other than the DNC being crooked), but all of the opposition just conceded to Joe freakin' Biden. I mean, if that doesn't tell them that their opinion doesn't matter, they're just never going to get it.

He just can't help himself. To lose with any sense of grace seems to be an attribute he does not possess.

Predicted this. Typical centrist BS.

People can read. You say you will support Biden on one hand and then keep posting your BS on the other hand. Speaking of typical....

I think he's just showing that a bunch of others who typically support the party - won't. They feel like their voices are constantly silenced (I'm not saying that's true or false). They're fed up with a corrupt process and leaders that pay them lip service without changing anything.

He said he would support Biden a few posts up^.

If he says he plans to support Biden it's time he steps up to the plate. Bernie did.

My senior year in HS, 4 of us skipped school for a day. Someones parents went on vacation so.... Someones older brother bought us 2 bottles of 151. We all smoked cigarettes back then. We were throwing back shots at will. The 151 coupled with.....



.....ended when someone smoking happened to light some spilled 151 on his moms new wooden top coffee table. We were able to extinguish it but, as fate would have it, the coffee table didn't look new anymore.

Oye vey.

OMG.....the things we did.

NO. I said I will vote for him, not support him.

Bernie did .... i haven’t heard an endorsement yet ... did i miss it? ... i may have ... but at his “I’m a quitter that’s gonna hold u hostage” presser the nicest thing he could say about him was he was a good man ...

I heard way more ... me me me than i did go joe go ....

But hey ... u got your shot in at ocd so good job ...

So undermining the candidate you plan to vote for makes so much sense. But I'm sure from a Bernie Bro. perspective that makes perfect sense.

And you're hear commenting on something you don't even care about just trying to start BS. Typical of you.

Well Biden bros have no balls, so somebody has to speak up.

You only say that kind of stupid BS on the internet. That doesn't make you brave.

If you lived next door, I'd show you how wrong you are. I have no problem saying anything to anybody ever. And apparently you can heap it on but can't carry it yourself.

Let me refresh your memory: radicals, extremist, socialist, commies, Bernie Bros, lefties, not normal or regular people...

No you wouldn't. Once again, you're playing keyboard commando on the internet.

Reading your posts as of late, irregularity may be the the cause of your tyrannical behavior. I've heard it causes extreme irritability.

So now I'm full of crap. I just think you are too thin skinned to be in opposition to somebody you consider a friend. It's ok, we can have different views. If you were a carbon copy of me we wouldn't get along.

And when you start dropping labels like radical extremist, you can expect me to question your testicular fortitude...

I expect you to say and question a lot of things on the internet.

See, there is a difference between a Republican and an extremist right winger. A republican, while I disagree with them on certain policy issues, stand on their principals. Then you have what I call right wingers who feed on things like Jade Helm, Pizza Gate and the birther movement.

Now I don't consider extremists on the other end of the spectrum quite the same. They simply have poor math skills in believing you can give everything away for free.

Even Bernie admitted he had no idea what all of his programs would cost.

Now if you don't believe that the right would have attacked Bernie for being a socialist and several other of his flubs, you have at that.

As I said, I expect you to question a lot of things on the internet. But as of now all you are doing is undermining the only choice you have to defeat Trump in a public forum.

That's not testicular fortitude.

And you are also guilty of the very same thing you seem to hate that the right does. And Bernie did as well.

"The 1% is evil!"

Some of them may be described that way if that is your choice of words. But that is the exact same stereotyping that the right uses which you seem to hate so much. If you want to get right down to it, with Bernie owning three houses, he is one of the very 1# you claim to oppose.

But that's the type of idiocy one falls into when they stereotype.

There are people like Warren Buffet who are great people who use their wealth for good. He agree they should be paying more in taxes. But you have fallen into the very same trap you hate when others do it.

You claim to be against the 1# but supported a candidate who is the 1#.

There is a reason why the Bern didn't get the votes. He was too far left. Mainstream majority America is Center right.

"Now I don't consider extremists on the other end of the spectrum quite the same. They simply have poor math skills in believing you can give everything away for free."

See it's your ridiculousness that starts these arguments! How do you measure the cost of investing in the people with a strong safety net, good education, good healthcare, and a guaranteed basic existence? Do some not deserve a roof? or food? or education? And how do you measure the return on those things? We can spend trillions on wars, how we paying for that? We can spend trillions on bailouts for billionaires and big businesses, how did we afford that? This is where you and I differ, I believe the party of the people should do for the people and not be GOPer light.

Nobody is looking for handouts, they just want a more equal system where people are all treated with decency and everyone has the opportunity to succeed. How many great inventions have we missed out on because education is a privilege? How many people suffer needlessly because healthcare is for the rich? GMAB

j/c:

Can we talk about drugs again?

Keep dreaming,,, being center right gets you pulled farther and farther, and you wind up in a tea party hat railing against social security, even though you get a check.

It's the way you go about this "equal system" that is the problem. I notice you skipped my point about Bernie even saying he had no idea what all of his programs would cost? Do you honestly expect people to vote for a blank check?

You can cut college costs by a huge margin without making it "free". If you actually wish to debate how to do that I'll be glad to post it but I already have several times.

Medicare for all is a great concept. One most agree with as long as it isn't forced on them. Forcing people into a government program will not get you elected. We both agree that a profit free system will be more cost effective for everyone. So build the program and as time goes on, everyone will move to it due to it being the best system. And don't say that won't work because "it will take everyone on it to work". Nations much smaller than ours, with far less people than our population make it work all the time.

I could go on. But it's not that our end goal is so much different. The main difference is that I understand you can't mandate and force feed things to the American people. I guess what you should have done is convince voters who preferred Joe over Bernie. Because the people spoke loudly and it isn't just me who disagreed with you.

Change by force simply won't work in this country.

The center right is a term for the most liberal of republicans. But it's a term some people have decided to use for common sense democrats.

And I sort of think that's a good thing. A common sense democrat gets called liberals by the right and center right by the left.

That's how you know you've struck the perfect balance.

jc

So apparently I need to make something clear about me and most progressives I know. We are done with the democratic party. I no longer consider myself a dem. The party has proven itself to be dismissive of my views and values. The establishment treats progressives like second class citizens, then expects our vote to be automatic for the candidate they shove on us. That's no longer going to happen. Our votes have to be earned.

We can't change the two party system overnight, but we can change the power dynamics within it.

As for 2020, I will 100% be voting for Joe Biden even though I don't like him. But this is because I hate Trump not because of some BS dem loyalty or because Biden deserves it in any way. This is not a vote in support of dems, this is a vote against Trump.

So if you see me bashing Biden or bashing Trump, it's because neither represent me or my views and nothing to do with what you might believe. And that's all I wanted to say, and said that much for a friend.

How ironic.

In 2016, I voted for Trump over hillary, for the same reason. Be prepared. If Biden wins, you'll catch hell and be labeled a Biden boy, and you'll get blamed for anything and everything bad, or even close to bad, that happens.

I get that. My question is do you still feel Trump is the better option after all the things he's done?

Well, it's not time to vote now is it?

But yeah, I do. Biden's been a senator for what, 40 years give or take? What's he done? Other than become very wealthy?

Joe has earned his money mostly from book royalties and speaking engagements instead of tax breaks and investments. He's not among the really wealthy Senators according to Forbes.

https://ballotpedia.org/Net_worth_of_United_States_Senators_and_Representatives

Furthermore he HAS released his taxes unlike 45.

https://www.businessinsider.com/joe-bide...h-assets-2020-1

The 77-year-old has touted himself as "Middle-Class Joe" for decades — but he and his wife, Jill, have a net worth of $9 million, according to a Forbes estimate from July 2019.

The couple's fortune is mostly tied to public speaking engagements and book royalties, according to tax returns and financial disclosures released by the Biden campaign and published on the campaign's website.

Bernie and Joe live now talking about the pandemic:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BN-cUKsR0nA

Bernie just endorsed Joe. He's asking his followers to vote for Joe in a joint live broadcast to their followers.

At this time in our nation, I think it's more important than ever before to not only unite in voting for Joe, but to endorse him.

Joe wasn't my fist choice, nor my second choice. Hell, not even my third choice. But I know just how important it is to get Trump out of office.

Well he just said he wants/think we need the most progressive administration in history now. Says he wants Bernie to help him do that. So I'll vote for him like I said and IF he follows through and is truly progressive, then I'll support him. That's the best you get from me and I'm not going to hold my breath or my criticism until I see it.

So you're going with the "guilty until proven innocent" theory. Nice...

You get dizzy always spinning like that? I said what I meant, no need for you to interpret.

I was just summarizing.

FDR set a damn high bar for the most progressive administration in US history and I should take Biden at face value that he will be more progressive? lmao smh

If he surprises me I'll heap the praise on him but until then I'm not buying into the BS.

You do realize this would mean getting a Bernie's agenda PLUS admin without Bernie on the ticket...

A good start would be making Katie Porter his VP, since he wants a woman.

So it's exactly as I said it is. Thanks.

No idea what you are trying to lay on me now. I'm sure it's some more centrist hysteria, but I'm in no mood to play your games. Again, I said exactly what I meant. What part of that don't you understand?

I understood you perfectly.



Guilty until proven innocent. Even Bernie can't get you to do the right thing. If you won't even listen to Bernie, you sure as hell aren't going to listen to anyone else.

Unlike you, I don't blindly follow anyone including Bernie. That's a Trump supporter thing IMHO. You and Biden can pretend I'm Missouri and SHOW ME.

I'm not pretending anything. You're willing to publicly undermine the very candidate Bernie is endorsing. Biden was never my candidate either until it became clear that he was the inevitable nominee and the only chance to beat Trump. I mean you do understand you have to actually become the nominee in order to win the election, right?

At that point I put all the other pettiness aside.

Well I guess that makes you special.

I didn't sell my soul to the effin dems. I'm a progressive. You just can't wrap around that. I don't CARE who you endorse or support. I don't CARE what you think I should be doing. You're not my daddy bro, You're not my mentor, You're not even progressive... get off my ass.

Now, now, now. No need to be so abrasive.

I'm pointing out what you are saying and how you are acting. I'm an independent voter so I'm certainly not a Democrat. But I'm smart enough to understand what a danger Trump is and refuse to undermine the candidate who is running against him.

That's not really about my "wants and wishes". That's about stepping up and doing what seems right to me given the serious situation we all face moving forward.

I'm simply pointing out you don't share that view. It's either your way, with the only candidate you want or you will publicly undermine your only chance to beat Trump. It's a matter of priorities.

And we can see where yours are. I'm sorry if that upsets you.

This is what is so funny posting on PP - I'm a registered independent too. I'm fiscally conservative but believe in much stronger Fed support to assist those at the bottom... I defended some of the Obama stuff and I have been ubber critical of Trump because, well seriously, he deserves every ounce of it and more.

BUT - criticize Trump and you get labelled a socialist, a pansy, a libtard, anything and everything. I've even seen some of the intelligent right leaning posters getting labelled liberals for not being hardline Trump ... hard to believe but that's where we are.

One of the problems/issues with criticizing trump on EVERYTHING (and he deserves some criticism on some things) is this: Read, listen to the 2 or 3 videos of Fauci himself speaking. Read the quotes he said.

https://techstartups.com/2020/04/12/publ...t7ynYCHqsCRdyd4

Yet, people are blaming Trump for not acting sooner.........and today, they're saying he should've listened to Fauci sooner.

For those that can't or won't take 2 minutes to read, and 2 1/2 minutes to watch: "On January 21, 2020, when asked about how deadly the virus is and if Americans should be worried, Dr. Fauci responded: “This is not a major threat for the people in United States, and this is not something the citizens of the United States right now should be worried about.”

" In an unearthed audio from January 26, Dr. Fauci assured Americans that the coronavirus is nothing to worry about. “The American people should not be worried or frightened by this. It’s a very, very low risk to the United States,” Dr. Fauci said on The CATS Roundtable John Catsimatidis. Dr. Fauci added:“It isn’t something that the American public needs to worry about or be frightened about.” Notwithstanding what Dr. Fauci had said, U.S. President Trump decided to issue a travel ban five days later."

But, you don't see that reported anywhere, hence the techstartups link. Never heard of that site in my life, but the audio, and video of Fauci is right there.

And we have the haters on here, been hating for well over 3 years and blaming Trump for anything and everything......and they'll ignore this, and continue to bash.

Ya, its hard to believe that people that want FREE HEALTH CARE for everyone .... FREE EDUCATION for everyone .... FORGIVING DEBT ..... MORE GOV’T CONTROL over our lives are deemed socialist ... INCREDIBLE .. we’ve lost our minds 40 ... what r we thinking ...

That’s why you are a socialist ... its not a label .. its a FACT ...

I’’ll go ahead and put lipstick on your pig for u ... democratic socialist ... ...

That's where you get me wrong. I love Bernie, but I was never married to Bernie as a candidate. It's all about the progressive agenda for me, period. I want to live in a people first country that gives everybody a fair shake. That's not that hard to understand. Education, Healthcare, a strong social safety net are the big things I want to see before I die. Global Warming Resolution, Clean Energy, Criminal Justice Reforms, Immigration Reforms, Legal Weed, Women's Pay Equality, Livable Wages, and Infrastructure are high priorities too.

You have to take that lipstick off first...

I mean I don't know if you don't speak the truth because it's a deliberate lie or because you are ignorant. However - I'm happy to correct you and set you straight.

I've never said I am for free education.
I've absolutely never said I am for student debt forgiveness and I am against it.

I don't know about others but I expect there are many that you'd label with that who never expressed or agree with it.

Finally - Germany has free healthcare for all. It has free education for all. They don't have debt relief (can you work out why?) .... and they are still a Capitalist society ! Wow. Who knew!

Trump doesn't deserve criticism for everything. He has done some good things. Not many but some.

As for what Fauci said on that date .... I'd bet a million bucks he was told to say that from Trump. No way to know and maybe we'll never know, but damn it's a particularly odd thing for an actual expert to say. . . .

Bro it's the latter.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/dr-fauci-was-correct-more-importantly-he-was-humble

Washington Examiner is far right of the political spectrum ... and they are defending Fauci and those comments you just quoted.

Common throughout Fauci’s piece were sentences such as these: “The extent, if any, to which such transmission might lead to a sustained epidemic remains an open and critical question. So far, it appears that the fatality rate of 2019-nCoV is lower than that of SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV; however, the ultimate scope and effects of the outbreak remain to be seen. ... The trajectory of this outbreak is impossible to predict.”

So, no, Fauci wasn’t predicting a pandemic. But he also wasn't saying there would be no pandemic. He was expressing uncertainty about a new and mysterious disease and warning that it could become really bad.

Everybody is wrong sometimes. The key is that when we speak about the future, especially, we should acknowledge the possibility we may be wrong.

The statements that have looked the worst (Trump early on, HuffPost writer Nick Robins-Early, that bad Vox tweet, and many others, such as Trish Regan's) all conveyed a misplaced certainty about what was going to happen. They spoke from ignorance with confidence, when they should have spoken, like Fauci, with humility.

You'd bet a million that what he said, he was told to say?

A guy, with his reputation on the line, would lie, when has has no reason to? His job, but he's changed his opinion since, and his job is still on the line. Having been in his position as long as he has been, he doesn't need the 'job'.

Nah, he wasn't told to say that. It's just your opinion and view. Biased and slanted.

Trump was in full "down play this thing" mode... I am sure he was given direction. Yep -my opinion. I didn't claim anything else. Thanks. No doubt your "biased and slanted" opinion continues to think Trump handled this well, despite a mountain of evidence to the contrary.

AND ... if ypu read the f/u post... Fauci appears to have been quoted inaccurately and out of context. Go figure.

So, you are dismissing the actual quotes, and audio video of Fauci saying what he said, and going with an opinion piece by a writer?

Got it.

First, I never have said trump handled this whole thing well. What I HAVE said is he hasn't handled nearly as poorly as you, some others on here, and the msm, have said.

And, when I posted the article, AND the video of Fauci saying what he said.........VIDEO......you're going to say he was quoted out of context, and inaccurately?

How precious.

Except it's not "video" it's a series of edited 20 second clips.... not the whole thing. Doesn't that make you a little suspicious?

And when the interviewer in the first clip loads is question with - "so nothing to worry about - right?" -- and Fauci clearly doesn't agree and talks about taking it seriously ....

Yeah - I'll dismiss your link as a hatchet job. Thanks

The opinion piece I found was from a far right Trump supporting media site ... interesting they are sticking up for Fauci? No?

Perhaps you would be interested in listening to Fauci himself, once again? In his own words? From today?????? Once again, I repeat, once AGAIN, these are his own words, on video, with audio:


Now, how are you going to argue that?

I don't want to read all the insult trading posts, but I watched this last video that arch posted and his comments on it.

Will someone please tell me what the argument is? If so, I will try and respond on how the video relates to the said argument.

So are you saying the 20 second clips are verified by your new clip?

Or are you saying that he isn't doing this because of direction from Trump? He's talking about an interview with CNN this weekend. His response at the end was about him doing the interview and "correcting" perceived criticism of Trump ... which caused Trump to tweet that Fauci should be fired!

It's entirely possible that the January interview was not influenced by Trump to calm things down ... and it's entirely probable that the entire interview was much more cautious than the 20 second "gotcha" moment you are trying to make important.

And yes - I know you have said Trump isn't perfect, though I don't recall any actual specific criticism. My comment there was in reaction to your comments about a biased and slanted opinion....

It's not an argument, it's a discussion. lol It goes way back, but suffice it to say some on here want to blame trump for not listening to his advisors.

I posted a link, with quotes and video, from Fauci. That was then downplayed as "he had to say what he said", and I then posted the last video of Fauci himself, once again, stating the exact opposite of what the trump haters have stated. Period. The only rebuttal was an article, written by a newspaper writer.

I've posted quotes, video, audio, and yes, my last post, yet ANOTHER video of Fauci himself saying exactly the opposite of what the 'blame trump for everything' crowd has been saying.

I'm saying listen to what the guy said!!! Period. End of discussion, you lose.

I listened .... and what is the point that you are trying to prove? I don't lose ... I am trying to find out how you are trying to frame this thing. But ... you know, claim victory if it makes you feel good.

Back to the 20 second clip and the quote that implied Fauci was telling the world this was no big deal back at the end of January .... I will continue to say with supporting anecdotal evidence = His comments are clipped to a 20 second sound bite and out of context. I will also believe, without supporting media, his public speaking on this subject would have been influenced by the direction of Trump.

And if anecdotal evidence is good enough to support a wild unproven medicine to fight CV it should be good enough to support my comment that his words are out of context!

FWIW: I think Fauci comes across as credible. There a lot of "got you" moments in politics and the press. There are a ton of things said when these guys are trying to figure things out. Not everything is correct.

I would take Fauci at his word though and I don't think he is lying to protect Trump.

I just showed you a video of him denying everything you just said.

My dear Lord Jesus, are you ..........

This is why intelligent conversation can't happen on here. Haters gotta hate, despite hearing and seeing and reading exactly what was said, by Fauci.

And the only comeback you have is "...20 second clip..."

Dude, the first link had 3 audio/video links of him. There is no mistaking his own self, saying his own words!!!

The next link I provided was him speaking for over 2 minutes - his own words. And he said exactly what he wanted, and also exactly what you can't comprehend, apparently.

Sad.

No you didn't. You showed me a video from this weekend of him refuting the CNN interview from this weekend that was interpreted as him criticizing Trump and he walked that back.

The second video had ZERO connection or correlation to your 20 second clips (all 3 of them) which are trying to present that he was down playing the virus as a threat to the USA from the end of January. There is no agenda or hate. Your just throwing crap out there as if it proves something but it doesnt. The problem is how you want this to mean some fabulous gotcha moment.

I think it's going to come down to who Joe chooses as his running mate. Make a bad choice and Trump wins. Make a good choice and I think he wins.

He said it will be a woman and at one point said he would be open to a republican, so it might be Hillary. He could unite the left by picking Bernie but that makes way too much sense.

Oddly enough, I'm worried about getting Trump out, but IMO, the most pressing need is to take back the senate and retain the house..

With no protections, Trump might actually have to settle down or take his chances with an impeachment that can go a hell of a lot further..

Right now I am leaning toward Trump, BUT if Biden gets a good IMO Vice Presidential candidate I Could vote for him, as I don't really want Trump or Biden to be President.

There's really nothing to argue here if you actually listen to what he said.

"first time he and Dr. Deborah Birx made a formal recommendation"

It does not say they hadn't told Trump he should do it before that date. It doesn't say they didn't tell him this would be the smart and wise thing to do before this date.

It states it was the first time they made it "a formal recommendation."

Sometimes watching what someone does not say and does say makes all the difference.

Well said.

Ya ... brilliant ... not an ounce of truth to it ... but brilliant anyhow ... ...

You're a pretty funny guy. Yang wanted to give every American $1000 dollars a month. He failed miserably. Next you had both Bernie and Elizabeth Warren who were the most liberal of the remaining candidates. They both fell by the way side.

The moderate Democrat won. No "giveaway programs". Yet you and your kind keep repeating the same lies over and over again. And you complain about the math skills of others.

There is an ounce of truth to it... perhaps even 2 ounces.

I've never been called a liberal until the past couple months. There was once on here, and a couple times IRL. Long story short... I never thought I'd see the day....

Our political divide is such that you're either team Blue or team Red, with nothing in between. I find both of those groups largely repulsive, so being lumped in with either is not ok by me.

What name(s) would you consider as a good candidate, and why?
Inquiring minds wanna know, bro-

Well, we already know it's going to be a woman because he has a lot of people to appease.

We already know it's going to be a woman because he already said it was going to be a woman.

But you're right. It's just a question of how far will he go to appease? Will it be a far left progressive woman or a moderate woman?

I mean Pence isn't the vice president because he and Trump had so much in common.

I’ve never lumped u ... i have no clue what your politics are ... for 888 to claim he’s not a socialist is a joke on every level ...

OCD, 888 and many other on here are for FREE .. FREE .. FREE .,

They are the very definition of what a socialist is ... they didn’t get labeled BY ME for blasting trump ... i do it almost daily to my sane friends ...

My post wasn't to fingerpoint at any one person in particular (you or anyone else). But to fingerpoint at everyone (and I include myself).

I think Pence is Vice President because nobody else wanted the job.

Which is the appeasing part...

I agree with the getting labeled part .. crap ... I’m a white hood wearing cross carrying member of the kkk, i stick up for child molesters, i am a brainless sheep that has no clue how to think on my own and a parrot of Trump ....

I agree with u on the label part ... that’s a two way street ... but 888 whining about being called a socialists is a joke on a good day ... ... the difference is ...

I’m a racist because i want a wall (sorry one dead person is to many for me)

Those guys are actually socialists .... they fit the definition ... some of the other names they get aren’t right and i agree with y’all ... but on them not earning the socialists moniker ... ...

I don’t agree with on much ooob .. but your a fair dude with a level head ... u ever wanna have a real convo ... pm me ... no shot it gets done in here ...

I’m out ...

LOL. You can call me what you like Diam.

As for the labels - You'd need to please supply a single post where someone said you were a member of the KKK, that you stick up for child molesters .... or is that simply more made up schtick that you invented?

As for socialism or being a socialist ... you have no clue bro. Zero. Not only do you not understand my politics, you don't understand that countries in EU who have the "socialist" policies you are so afraid of are capitalist countries. . . Oh well. Ignorance is bliss - you must be very happy.

Keep on crying about being labelled while name calling and labeling those you don't agree with it's the same hypocrisy you bring to PFF.

Please - show me where I said anything other than healthcare should be a free right for citizens of the USA.

Oh. . . . you can't. But heck - don't quit complaining about being labeled while you invent lies about what other posters say while labeling them

What's funny - you like to post in an aggressive, blunt way with lots of scornful emojis .... as soon as someone responds to you in the same way you get very offended!

And yet, I show you video of someone saying something, and you dismiss it.

Your interpretation of the video and the conversation that ensued .... little to do with labeling. But if you want to rehash it. Tell me what Fauci's comments in January have to do with his presser from this Monday? And are you still trying to say that the three 20 second video clips accurately reflect the concern Fauci had at that time and his message was "this is nothing for the USA to worry about?"

I've shown. You prefer to deflect. That's fine.

You have reading issues. When did you see me say Free free free? Because I think we should all pay into a social safety net? You don't think I include myself in that? lmao.

You have a lot of damn gaul to say all I want is free free free! The only money I've EVER taken from the government is military pay. I'd lay odds you can't say that.

My mind must be inquiring too because I want to know also I really have not narrowed that down because

1. It's a waste of my time at this point because I have no clue who he is going to choose and I am no Miss Cleo.

2. I have been to disgusted by both parties because they left us with CRAP to choose from AGAIN.

I do know I would want him/her to be somebody who is way, out of the left side. I prefer somebody who leans more toward the middle, and who is not an embarrassment to our country.

But you’ll stick with the present embarrassing POS in the oval no doubt.

And you stick to insulting others who don't agree w/your political beliefs multiple times per day. Jesus man, you are always so freaking miserable. Lighten up just a bit.

Plenty of that goes around and comes around in here, hard to single anyone out for it.

Yeah, there are a ton of insults. But man, that guy is always so demeaning and dark. It's truly like he is always miserable.

Political differences are a thing, but man, it seems odd to be so miserable over people disagreeing w/your own political views.

Maybe I am out of bounds, but I always kind of feel sorry for him---------and his family. That can't be fun.

Well I try my best to get along but I get in moods with this crap too where the level of stupid just finally sends me over the edge and I unload. When we are all supposed to be the american people with the same american values yet the differences are really night and day it gets frustrating. Then you add in one side not believing in facts or science... smh

I think there is a difference to getting irritated and being perpetually angry and disdainful. But, I am going to let this go because my posts are coming across as insulting and that wasn't my intent.

I don't think they are coming across bad in anyway other than singling anyone out. Perfect has never been that way with me, but he has a low tolerance for the opposition. And it wasn't always like that, he used to try to have rational debate with them but beating your head on the wall gets old.

Only if you have a cut somewhere. That way I can rub salt in the wound

They've already said they were cutting entitlements after the election. If you think Trump is not going to do that because the economy went south, you probably better think again. Weigh that against your other single issue when you pull the lever... I won't tell you how to vote.

Like I said I don't want to vote for either side the way things stand now. It is going to come down to who Biden chooses as a running mate before I make my choice.

I’m shocked u put so much credence in a VP ...

I sure hope Joe picks one better for the country than he was ...

I don't think Old Joe's mind is going to last 4 1/2 more years. If he wins IMO there is a good chance the VP will become the POTUS.

.

Joe wont be the president from the jump ... he’s a puppet just like Mueller was ...

Yeah, that damned Republican Mueller! Oh I forget about that deep state thing. Like pizzagate, Jade Helm and that birther thing.

You mean Mueller the Republican who led an investigation initiated by Republicans? That guy? The guy that has a life of exemplary servitude to his country that Trump and his cronies tried to trash when they felt threatened? That guy?

Yep.
That very guy.