Sunday, December 12, 2010

A Genuine Folk Hero

...Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who talked for nearly nine hours on the floor of the Senate Friday against the Obama administration's decision to continue the Bush era tax cuts to millionaires -- and make them worse.

By Friday night, Sen. Sanders was at the top of Twitter's "trending topics," the true mark of post-modern buzz.

What did Sen. Sanders say?

"You can call what I am doing today anything you want. You can call it a filibuster. You can call it a very long speech. I am not here to set any great records or to make a spectacle. I am simply here today to take as long as I can to explain to the American people the fact that we have got to do a lot better than this agreement provides....

"Mr. President, in the year 2007, the top 1 percent of all income earners in the United States made 23.5 percent of all income. The top 1 percent earned 23.5 percent of all income -- more than the entire bottom 50 percent. That is apparently not enough. The percentage of income going to the top 1 percent has nearly tripled since the 1970s. In the mid-1970s, the top 1 percent earned about 8 percent of all income. In the 1980s, that figure jumped to 14 percent. In the late 1990s, that 1 percent earned about 19 percent.... [Figures subsequently verified by PolitiFact, just incidentally]

[The top 1 percent say...] " 'How can I get by on one house? I need five houses, ten houses! I need three jet planes to take me all over the world! Sorry, American people. We've got the money, we've got the power, we've got the lobbyists here and on Wall Street. Tough luck. That's the world, get used to it.' Rich get richer. Middle class shrinks....

"It has been a very long day. I do believe that if the American people stand up … I think we can defeat this proposal. I think we can come up with a better proposal which better reflects the needs of the middle class."

12 comments:

Brushfire said...

I love this guy.

Henery said...

He's a mensch! Compared to most other Dem Senators, he's a model of honest advocacy. I don't believe Bernie Sanders can be bought.

No Compromise said...

Henery, nice try trying to give the Dems the credit, but Sanders is an independent.

Henery said...

Gosh, No Compromise, I'm so pleased to have you watching out over the Democratic brand. Of course I know that Bernie is not a registered Democrat, but he's actually more democratic than many of our Democrats. Which is the point I was trying to make. And which I suspect you understood. You were just looking for ANYTHING to find objection to.

why can't i be anonymous? said...

Yep. Good ole Socialist Bernie....a hero to the watchers! What can be more democratic than a Socialist, right?

At least it brings out the truth from some of you.

lefty motto "tax the other guy and spend the money on us!"

Good luck with that!

BikerBard said...

Righty Philosophy:
I want government to provide me with goods and services WHILE I get to keep ALL my money. Screw everyone else!
Let the peons pay!

No Compromise said...

Nice try, Henery, trying to cover up your lack of knowledge. But when you say something like, "Compared to most other Dem Senators, he's a model of honest advocacy" makes me believe that you believe that he is a Dem.

Henery said...

No Compromise,
Personally, I'm glad you're not in charge of a drawbridge, cause you'd drop it only after the knights were in the moat. You are sooo dumb.

No Compromise said...

Henery, you must be a college professor--believing you're always right and never wrong.

Henery said...

No Compromise,
Is that your gig? Feeling resentment toward anyone more educated than you?

To answer your question, no, not a college professor, though I tried to teach school once upon a time. I would have loved a college job, but I didn't have enough education. At least I'm able to admit it.

How long are you going to allow an inferiority complex to rule your life. (They probably don't call it that any more, but when I took psychology, they called it an inferiority complex.) It can turn you bitter and make you hang out, making pot shots, on a blog like this one.

No Compromise said...

Henery, I see you're using the ol' "If you can't argue with logic, then resort to personal attacks."

No Compromise said...

Henery said, "but I didn't have enough education. At least I'm able to admit it." FYI, Henery, I have a master's degree, and was accepted to a Ph.D. program with a full scholarship, but turned it down, and never regretted it. Somehow, I don't think that qualifies me as having an inferiority complex.