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| #Post#: 13599-------------------------------------------------- | |
| 2020 Presidential Election | |
| By: AGelbert Date: September 14, 2019, 6:19 pm | |
| --------------------------------------------------------- | |
| [center]3rd Democratic Debate: Medicare for All as the Bogeyman? | |
| (1/3)[/center] | |
| September 13, 2019 | |
| The third Democratic Party's presidential debate featured all | |
| ten front-runners for the first time. In segment one of our | |
| debate discussion, we take a closer look how candidates | |
| discussed the healthcare issue. Our panelists are Osita Nwanevu, | |
| Helena Olea, and Jacqueline Luqman, with Greg Wilpert as host | |
| [center] | |
| https://youtu.be/wsVwNhuunxk[/center] | |
| [center][font=times new roman]Story Transcript[/font][/center] | |
| GREG WILPERT: Welcome to The Real News Network. I�m Greg Wilpert | |
| in Baltimore. | |
| The ten Democratic Party candidates, who are ahead in terms of | |
| opinion polls and fundraising, held a third presidential debate | |
| on ABC Television on Thursday. It took place in Houston, Texas | |
| at Texas Southern University, a historically black university. | |
| The over two and a half hour debate covered a wide variety of | |
| issues; such as health care reform, racism, gun control, | |
| immigration reform, foreign policy and education reform. Notably | |
| absent were questions on climate change and economic policy. | |
| Here at The Real News Network, we have been providing analyses | |
| of the presidential debates so far with a changing roster of | |
| panelists. Today we have joining us here in the studio, | |
| Jacqueline Luqman. She�s a host and producer here at The Real | |
| News Network as well as the editor of the website Luqman Nation. | |
| Also in the studio is Osita Nwanevu. He�s a staff writer at The | |
| New Republic and a former staff writer at The New Yorker and | |
| Slate. And then remotely, we have Helena Olea joining us. She is | |
| an international human rights lawyer with the Alianza Americas | |
| and she is a Lecturer at the University of Illinois at Chicago | |
| in the Departments of Criminology, Law and Justice. Thanks to | |
| all three of you for joining us today. | |
| JACQUELINE LUQMAN: Thank you. | |
| HELENA OLEA: Thank you. | |
| GREG WILPERT: So we cannot cover everything that was discussed | |
| in this debate. And so we decided not to focus on this horse | |
| race that so many other people focus on. That is, who got under | |
| whose skin or who won the debate? Rather, we want to dig a | |
| little bit deeper into the actual issues that were discussed. So | |
| in this first segment, we start with the topic of healthcare | |
| reform, which has been a persistent issue in this presidential | |
| campaign. | |
| SENATOR AMY KLOBUCHAR: While Bernie wrote the bill, I read the | |
| bill. And on page eight, on page eight of the bill, it says that | |
| we will no longer have private insurance as we know it. And that | |
| means that 149 million Americans will no longer be able to have | |
| their current insurance. | |
| SENATOR ELIZABETH WARREN: Insurance companies last year sucked | |
| $23 billion in profits out of the system. How did they make that | |
| money? Every one of those $23 billion was made by an insurance | |
| company saying �no� to your healthcare coverage. | |
| GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Mayor Buttigieg� | |
| MAYOR PETE BUTTIGIEG: The problem, Senator Sanders, with that | |
| damn bill that you wrote and that Senator Warren backs, is that | |
| it doesn�t trust the American people. I trust you to choose what | |
| makes the most sense for you. | |
| SENATOR BERNIE SANDERS: There�s 150 million people on private | |
| insurance. 50 million of those people lose their private | |
| insurance every year when they quit their jobs or they go | |
| unemployed or their employer changes their insurance policy. So | |
| if you want comprehensive health care, freedom of choice | |
| regarding doctor or hospital, no more than $200 a year for | |
| prescription drugs, taking on the drug companies and the | |
| insurance companies, moving to Medicare for All is the way to | |
| go. | |
| GREG WILPERT: So it seems like one of the main dividing lines | |
| between the candidates are those who like to say, or who would | |
| like Medicare for All� that is, universal health care� and that | |
| they would like it to replace all private insurers. And that�s | |
| basically the position of Sanders and Warren versus everyone | |
| else who would like to expand Medicare or some version of it and | |
| keep private insurance. So let�s start with you, Osita. What�s | |
| your take on this distinction between the candidates on this | |
| issue and how they�re talking about it? | |
| OSITA NWANVUE: Well, this has been front and center, I think, at | |
| just about every debate that�s happened so far. It used to be | |
| the case that when people talked about Medicare for All the big | |
| debate was, �well, how are you going to pay for it? How are you | |
| going to absorb the cost of creating this new government | |
| system?� Now it seems the critics of Medicare for All have | |
| shifted into this debate about whether private insurance gets | |
| kept under the new system, and it�s not a trivial distinction | |
| substantively or politically. | |
| If you look at polls done by the Kaiser Family Foundation and | |
| other groups, most Democrats do support Medicare for All, just | |
| the idea of it in general. But when you ask them, �Do you | |
| support a system in which private insurance will be eliminated,� | |
| numbers start to go down. People who criticize Medicare for All | |
| say that this is inherently an inbuilt risk of advocating for | |
| the program. This means that people aren�t going to be willing | |
| to get on board with the system, the kind that Sanders is | |
| proposing. | |
| I think what�s actually reflected in that number is something | |
| that Sanders and Warren both got at. People don�t really love | |
| Aetna. They don�t really love Blue Cross/Blue Shield. That | |
| number is there because people are worried that a new system | |
| will create a kind of instability. But if Sanders and Warren can | |
| assure people that in the new system everybody�s going to keep | |
| insurance, maybe not their private insurer, but insurance, and | |
| they�re going to be able to go to whatever doctor they want to, | |
| that might be something that reassures people who might be wary | |
| about the private insurance number. | |
| GREG WILPERT: I mean, I think it�s interesting that this issue | |
| doesn�t seem to come out very clearly as to what the debate is | |
| really about. I mean they don�t seem to be able to get that | |
| message across, that this is really the core of the problem. And | |
| then they keep proposing it as if it was a fault in the system | |
| that they�re proposing. What�s your thought on this, Jackie? | |
| JACQUELINE LUQMAN: So the problem with the way the Democrats are | |
| framing their resistance to Medicare for All is very interesting | |
| and it�s based on what Amy Klobuchar actually said. Now, she | |
| referenced the actual language in the bill to make the argument | |
| that Medicare for All, the Sanders� bill and the bill that | |
| Warren backs, will eliminate private insurance altogether. But | |
| according to her own words, that�s not what the bill actually | |
| says. She said that on page eight of the bill that Sanders | |
| wrote, that we will no longer have private insurance as we know | |
| it. | |
| So it�s not that under Medicare for All, private insurance will | |
| not exist anymore. It is that the way we operate in this system | |
| of relying primarily on private insurance for health care | |
| coverage, will not exist as it does now. Because if everyone is | |
| ostensibly covered under Medicare for All, then private | |
| insurance will not be a primary source of coverage. I think | |
| that�s a major distinction, but it�s a fine point that unless | |
| you really listening, you miss. And the Democrats are playing | |
| that up, I think very craftily, but I think it�s one that we | |
| really need to pay attention to. | |
| GREG WILPERT: Helena, I want to turn to you. What do you think? | |
| What do you make of this kind of debate on this particular | |
| issue? | |
| HELENA OLEA: I think it�s very interesting to go back to the | |
| point that workers do not choose their insurance, as it has been | |
| presented. I think that in that element in particular, Bernie | |
| was very good in stressing with the numbers that workers do not | |
| have a choice. It�s really the employer who chooses among plans | |
| and then presents to them, sometimes a limited choice between | |
| two or three insurances at best, in really large employers. | |
| So I think that what we should be discussing here is coverage | |
| and quality of healthcare. The discussion is not about choosing� | |
| As some others have said, no one really cares about your | |
| insurance company. You do not feel you are being well-treated by | |
| your insurance company. And I think that Warren�s point about | |
| the profit that insurance companies make really addresses that | |
| argument, but they do have to present it differently. This idea | |
| that the government is choosing for you, rather than choosing | |
| yourself, has kind of taken over this discussion and it�s very | |
| unfortunate. It�s not the main point. | |
| GREG WILPERT: Yeah, I think that�s a very interesting point. You | |
| want to add� | |
| OSITA NWANVUE: I think I�d just say too, one of the things that | |
| escapes notice in this discussion is that if you look at the | |
| plans that are being offered by the other candidates� you know, | |
| Pete Buttigieg and people who have offered what they say are | |
| more moderate versions of Medicare for All� their plans also | |
| point to a world in which private insurance doesn�t exist or is | |
| radically eliminated. It�s just on the longer timeframe. | |
| I mean, if you look at what Pete Buttigieg says at the last | |
| debate, he says that he prefers a system in which we create a | |
| robust public option, and if the public option really is good | |
| and it�s cheaper than what�s available in the private market, | |
| then most Americans are going to choose that and that undermines | |
| the private insurance system. Well, that�s still � it�s | |
| essentially what Sanders is saying he�s going to do | |
| automatically or from the get-go. Buttigieg just wants to | |
| stretch that out. | |
| And I think politically, if you�re concerned about the Sanders | |
| plan, is that Republicans are going to attack it and | |
| conservatives are going to attack it as something that | |
| eliminates private insurance. I don�t think the Buttigieg plan | |
| fools them into not doing that or reassures people. Once the | |
| message gets out that just like Sanders, Buttigieg or Beto or | |
| whoever�s offering a public option plan, it�s also going to take | |
| us to a world in which private insurance doesn�t really exist. | |
| So I think people should just be forthright and have a | |
| discussion about the role they envision private insurance | |
| playing in the system in terms of what private insurance is | |
| actually supposed to be doing in the healthcare system. Offer a | |
| defense of what Elizabeth Warren talked about. The fact that all | |
| of this profit in the industry is a product of private insurance | |
| companies saying �no� to certain services, �no� to different | |
| treatments. Offer a defense of that or debate the issue more | |
| directly than just scaremongering about the Sanders plan because | |
| I don�t think I really serves anybody very well. | |
| GREG WILPERT: Yeah, I mean that�s really interesting, the things | |
| that they leave out. I mean, and just as Helena mentions, the | |
| fact that there�s also no choice. And the other thing that seems | |
| to me that is being left out of this discussion is kind of the | |
| class dimension. What I mean specifically is that if you keep | |
| private insurance, then you�re going to have a system I guess | |
| where the people who can afford the private insurance or who | |
| want doctors who charge way more than they would under the | |
| public option or the Medicare option, have offered a different | |
| kind of service, a different level of service with much higher | |
| premiums, with much higher basically insurance, but also higher | |
| charges for themselves. So then you have a very differentiated | |
| system in the end in terms of service. What do you think? | |
| JACQUELINE LUQMAN: I mean truthfully, that�s exactly what we | |
| have right now even if you are an employee and you receive your | |
| insurance through an employer. You select your plan, if you have | |
| a choice of plans based on how much you can afford to pay out of | |
| pocket for each plan. And there are different levels for these | |
| plans. This is for people who have full-time jobs, who have | |
| full-time employee benefits, who get a choice in, allegedly, of | |
| what kind of insurance they can select. So if you�re a single | |
| person, you can choose the least out of pocket, the plan that | |
| gives you the least amount of coverage or the basic coverage for | |
| the least out of pocket expense for you. | |
| But what if you have a family or what if you have some health | |
| issues or you just want more to be covered in your plan, then | |
| you would opt to pay for a higher level of coverage. You know, | |
| it�s the basic, it�s the gold, it�s the platinum level of health | |
| insurance plans. We already have that among one class of insured | |
| people and that�s full-time employed people. But then there are | |
| people who are not full-time employees, who are part-time | |
| employees, or who are unemployed and they�re on a different type | |
| of insurance or they have access to a different type of | |
| insurance. So we already have a class stratified health care | |
| coverage system in this country. Medicare for All really does | |
| seem to address that. | |
| So the idea, I think, and this is the problem I had with what | |
| Pete Buttigieg said, that Sanders doesn�t seem to trust the | |
| American people to choose, but if we�re not giving American | |
| people an actual choice in whether they�re going to be fully | |
| covered or whether they have to worry about if they can afford | |
| decent healthcare coverage, how can the American people trust | |
| any of them with providing what�s supposed to be a choice or | |
| not? And I think it�s clear that Americans don�t. | |
| GREG WILPERT: Another issue that hasn�t come up in this | |
| particular debate, but that�s very closely related and came up I | |
| think in a previous one, which is the issue of whether or not | |
| non-citizens, particularly undocumented immigrants, should be | |
| covered. And that gets to the issue � a human rights issue, | |
| right? And so I wanted to ask you, Helena, what do you think of | |
| the fact that this has been left out and you�re a human rights | |
| lawyer? | |
| HELENA OLEA: Well, I think that we should also underscore the | |
| point that it�s incredibly positive and this is a great | |
| evolution in the United States that we are having a discussion | |
| about the right to health, that health care is a top element in | |
| the discussion of the presidential debate is an important gain. | |
| As of today, most Americans are even skeptical of the concept of | |
| the right to health. They still believe that it�s a service that | |
| you purchase in the market, so we are moving ahead and I think | |
| that that�s very important. | |
| And I did miss from the discussion any mention whatsoever about | |
| ensuring access to healthcare for undocumented persons in the US | |
| and it�s interesting. I was wondering whether this was done on | |
| purpose, whether those who raised the point very strongly in the | |
| last debate decided that perhaps this was not going very well, | |
| and so they decided to retreat a little bit in this point, but | |
| we have the videos. It�s documented there, so we�ll see whether | |
| we observe it again. I�m sure the Republicans are going to try | |
| to throw it back at the Democrats as we move ahead in the | |
| election process. | |
| GREG WILPERT: So we�re going to conclude our first segment here | |
| on the third Democratic presidential debate. I urge everyone to | |
| join us for the next segment where we�ll take up more on the | |
| issue of immigration, but also inequality and racism. Thanks for | |
| joining us here at The Real News Network. | |
| https://therealnews.com/stories/3rd-democratic-debate-medicare-for-all-as-the-b… | |
| #Post#: 13600-------------------------------------------------- | |
| Re: 2020 Presidential Election | |
| By: AGelbert Date: September 14, 2019, 6:23 pm | |
| --------------------------------------------------------- | |
| [center]3rd Democratic Debate: Education, Inequality, and Racism | |
| (2/3)[/center] | |
| September 13, 2019 | |
| Our panel on the 3rd Democratic presidential debate takes a | |
| closer look at how the candidates look at and overlook crucial | |
| issues related to inequality and education in the United States | |
| [center] | |
| https://youtu.be/lzAKc5Vre0g[/center] | |
| [center][font=times new roman]Story Transcript[/font][/center] | |
| GREG WILPERT: Welcome to The Real News Network. I�m Greg Wilpert | |
| in Baltimore. | |
| This is our second segment on the Democratic Party�s third | |
| presidential debate, which took place last Thursday in Houston, | |
| Texas. Joining me here in the studio to analyze the debate are | |
| Real News host and producer Jacqueline Luqman, and New Republic | |
| staff writer Osita Nwanevu. Joining us remotely is human rights | |
| lawyer and University of Illinois-Chicago Professor Helena Olea. | |
| Thanks again to all three of you for being here. | |
| JACQUELINE LUQMAN: Thank you. | |
| OSITA NWANEVU: Thank you. | |
| HELENA OLEA: Thank you. | |
| GREG WILPERT: So in this segment, we�ll take a closer look at | |
| the how the candidates discussed inequality, racism, and | |
| immigration. | |
| SENATOR KAMALA HARRIS: I have, as part of my proposal, that we | |
| will put $2 trillion into investing in our HBCUs, but also� | |
| LINSEY DAVIS: Thank you, Senator. | |
| SENATOR KAMALA HARRIS: But this is a critical point. If a black | |
| child has a black teacher before the end of third grade, they | |
| are 13% more likely to go to college. If that child has had two | |
| black teachers before the end of third grade, they are 32% more | |
| likely to go to college. | |
| SENATOR CORY BOOKER: My kids are not only struggling with racial | |
| segregation and housing and the challenges of underfunded | |
| schools, but they�re also struggling with environmental | |
| injustice. If you�ve talked to someone who�s a parent of a child | |
| who has had permanent brain damage because of lead, you�ll know | |
| this is a national problem because there�s over 3,000 | |
| jurisdictions in America where children have more than twice the | |
| blood lead levels of Flint, Michigan. | |
| LINSEY DAVIS: Thank you. | |
| SENATOR CORY BOOKER: And so if I�m President of the United | |
| States, it is a wholistic solution to education� from raising | |
| teacher�s salary, fully-funded special education, but combating | |
| the issues of poverty, combating the issues of racial | |
| segregation, combating the issues of a criminal justice system | |
| that takes� | |
| LINSEY DAVIS: Thank you, Senator. | |
| SENATOR CORY BOOKER: Parents away from their kids and dealing | |
| with environmental justice, is a major pillar of any climate | |
| policy. | |
| LINSEY DAVIS: In a conversation about how to deal with | |
| segregation in schools back in 1975, you told a reporter, �I | |
| don�t feel responsible for the sins of my father and | |
| grandfather. I feel responsible for what the situation is today, | |
| for the sins of my own generation, and I�ll be damned if I feel | |
| responsible to pay for what happened 300 years ago.� You said | |
| that some 40 years ago, but as you stand here tonight, what | |
| responsibility do you think that Americans need to take to | |
| repair the legacy of slavery in our country? | |
| FORMER VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: Make sure that we bring in to | |
| help the teachers deal with the problems that come from home. We | |
| bring social workers into homes with parents to help them deal | |
| with how to raise their children. It�s not that they don�t want | |
| to help; They don�t know quite what to do. Play the radio. Make | |
| sure the television, excuse me, make sure you have the record | |
| player on at night. Make sure the kids hear words. A kid coming | |
| from a very poor school or very poor background will hear 4 | |
| million words fewer spoken by the time they get there. | |
| GREG WILPERT: Okay, so there�s quite a bit to unpack here, but | |
| let�s take it from the top. And Jackie, I want to turn it to you | |
| to talk about specifically Kamala Harris�s a proposal on the | |
| HBCUs. | |
| JACQUELINE LUQMAN: You know, the HBCU discussion is really | |
| interesting in political discourse because people focus solely | |
| on providing more funding to HBCUs that�s going to unilaterally | |
| help every black kid who goes to college. And I preface what I�m | |
| about to say by saying that it�s not that HBCUs do not deserve | |
| and need additional federal funding� they do. The issue is that | |
| most black kids who go to college don�t actually attend an HBCU. | |
| Most black kids who go to college attend predominantly white | |
| institutions. So while additional funding for HBCUs is critical | |
| to continue the mission that HBCUs have to be a safe and robust | |
| and culturally relevant educational environment�Even though, | |
| yes, HBCUs produce almost every black doctor in this country, | |
| it�s also true that for most black students, they�re learning on | |
| the campuses of predominantly white institutions, so where is | |
| their assistance coming from? Where are they getting help if � | |
| not if, but when HBCUs are getting additional assistance? | |
| That�s a real issue that I think certainly plays well on a | |
| debate stage at an HBCU, but when you look at the reality of the | |
| statistics, it raises questions about how genuine these | |
| politicians really are in closing every gap in inequality or | |
| every gap in quality of education between black and white | |
| students on college campuses, all of them across this country. | |
| GREG WILPERT: This also raises the issue, I think, or is related | |
| to the issue of reparations in a sense because, of course, some | |
| have proposed that it would go specifically towards higher | |
| education for particularly the African American population in | |
| the United States. Now, I�m just wondering though, what do you | |
| make of this, Osita, this debate, and particularly also how it | |
| might relate to reparations, which came up very briefly? We | |
| don�t have a clip of it, but Beto O�Rourke did mention that he | |
| supported that, at least in a very general sense. Of course, | |
| nobody�s specific about it. What do you think of that? | |
| OSITA NWANEVU: Yeah, the non-specificity is very important I | |
| think across the entire� I mean, the HBCU thing, HBCUs, as was | |
| just said, are absolutely wonderful institutions, but it�s a | |
| very narrow discussion. It�s a discussion narrow enough in fact, | |
| that the Trump administration has made a lot of gestures towards | |
| HBCUs over the past couple of years just because it�s such a | |
| non-controversial, kind of very small part of the education | |
| situation in this country. | |
| If you want to deal with structural inequities that really | |
| impact most African Americans in the education system, you have | |
| to look at sort of the root alignment, the root structural | |
| systems that define education funding in this country. And | |
| that�s something that presidential candidates have often | |
| struggled to talk about in any kind of serious way because in | |
| this country, education is a state responsibility. A lot of the | |
| policy is set up at state and local level, so people can come | |
| out on the national debate stage and say this and that, but most | |
| of what you get in policy are sort of incentive programs from | |
| the federal government to get schools to adhere to certain | |
| standards. They�ll put out these carrots for federal funding, | |
| but that doesn�t actually change the fundamental aspects of | |
| education in this country. | |
| It doesn�t change the fact that we become a country that�s | |
| re-segregated a lot of its schools. That�s going to take a lot | |
| more structural attention, and I think it ties into the | |
| reparation discussion too because in the exact same way, you | |
| have to think a lot bigger than the candidates are willing to | |
| really think right now and willing to talk about openly. I don�t | |
| know how anybody could oppose studying the issue. My suspicion | |
| is that when you study the issue, it�s going to become very | |
| obvious, empirically, as it�s become obvious to a lot of people | |
| that reparations make a lot of sense to close the racial wealth | |
| gap. The question then becomes what do you actually do? What | |
| kinds of sweeping proposals do you actually put forward? How do | |
| you make them work politically? | |
| But everything is happening at the surface-level discussion | |
| where people are being more forthright about the history of | |
| racism in this country, that legacy of slavery, all the | |
| structural inequities. People talk with the right kind of talk, | |
| but the solutions are still very limited. You see that in | |
| education. You see that to the extent to which people are | |
| talking about reparations. It�s still a kind of inchoate policy | |
| conversation. | |
| GREG WILPERT: Yeah. This goes also to the issue of, like you | |
| mentioned, the economic issue of inequality, which as I | |
| mentioned in the beginning in the first segment, it didn�t come | |
| up directly at least, and certainly not in the context of | |
| overall economic policy. Helena, I�m wondering what do you think | |
| of this lack of discussion of economic policy and how to address | |
| that in a larger, structural sense? | |
| HELENA OLEA: I think that that�s a very good point because when | |
| we are discussing a number of issues such as healthcare, for | |
| instance, we are in a way kind of tapping on economic policy, | |
| but we are really not discussing it in deep. I think that that�s | |
| a crucial element of the debate and I think it�s related to the | |
| format that was used as well. I would like to point out a couple | |
| of things in this regard. It�s interesting that their choice was | |
| to bring the Latino journalist to ask questions about | |
| immigration, as if that was only an issue that affects Latinos, | |
| where it affects the population from all over the world. | |
| Similarly, when we�re talking about education, everyone is | |
| thinking about racial segregation and discrimination against | |
| African American students, and we should be thinking of | |
| education and discrimination from a wider stance. | |
| And so just as equally as it�s important for African American | |
| kids to have African American teachers, it�s equally important | |
| for Latino children to have Latino teachers, and we should be | |
| able to look at these issues from a broader perspective. I think | |
| we�re leaving that element out in this discussion. We are | |
| tapping onto it. | |
| Similarly, I also want to point out that when we�re talking | |
| about reparations, it�s interesting also to consider where are | |
| we cutting the line? Are we only going to refer to slavery, or | |
| are we also going to address the continuous discrimination that | |
| has affected African Americans in the US until today? I think | |
| that the issue is much more complex. We definitely need a wide, | |
| open and long debate on this issue. So I agree absolutely with | |
| Osita, with the political correct point of saying, �Yes, I | |
| agree,� but that is a very empty comment. We really have to | |
| grapple with the basic and most important elements of this | |
| discussion on reparations. | |
| GREG WILPERT: I want to turn now to the other part of the clip | |
| that we saw, which was particularly the one of Biden where he | |
| talks about the need for a different kind of education at home. | |
| What do you make of that, Jackie? | |
| JACQUELINE LUQMAN: Okay, I have to breathe. Biden�s comment came | |
| in response to a two-part question that was asked of him. One, | |
| that he had to � what was his response to his previous comments, | |
| which were problematically racist, about the role that America | |
| has to play for addressing the legacy of slavery. And two, what | |
| does he see now 40 years later after his initial comments, how | |
| does he feel about that now? His response was that America has | |
| to basically help poor, black families raise their children | |
| because they don�t know how to. In a nutshell, in a nutshell, | |
| that is what he said. He said we need to send social workers in | |
| to help people raise their kids because it�s not that they don�t | |
| want to raise their kids, they just don�t know how, and they | |
| need to have the record player on at night so the kids can hear | |
| words. | |
| And people don�t quite know what that is in reference to, but | |
| it�s in reference to a 40-year-old debunked study� �study,� I | |
| say that in quotes� that I think University of Kansas | |
| researchers did where they went to 42 families and followed | |
| their children from the ages of 16 months to 18 months for four | |
| years. And they came up with this bizarre conclusion that rich | |
| families, the children of rich families were exposed to hearing | |
| 30 million more words over that four years than the children of | |
| poor families did� the 42 families they�d studied over four | |
| years. That study has since been debunked for a number of | |
| reasons: because it didn�t account for all of the different | |
| people outside of parents that children have around them in | |
| different perspectives, didn�t account for different cultural | |
| environments where language is different and words may be | |
| different, didn�t account for the time spent with children and | |
| parents based on economic situations where wealthier families | |
| may have more time. | |
| So it didn�t account for a lot of things, but Joe Biden is still | |
| relying on this idea that poor families just don�t talk to their | |
| kids. And especially in the context of this question, poor black | |
| families. That�s his idea of addressing the legacy of slavery. | |
| So that is the contrast that we are facing in dealing with this | |
| legacy of slavery and racial injustice, where you have one | |
| candidate, Beto O�Rourke, who rightfully does mention I support, | |
| if I�m president, I am going to sign HR 40 into law, and HR 40 | |
| does exactly what you say. It documents this history of not just | |
| slavery, but also, Helena, the continuing discrimination that is | |
| endured after slavery. But then at the other end of the | |
| spectrum, you have Joe Biden who is the so-called frontrunner | |
| who still believes that one of the problems of slavery is that | |
| black people don�t know how to raise their children. | |
| GREG WILPERT: I also thought it was interesting that he seems to | |
| have this idea that you can fight poverty with social workers, | |
| but what do you think, Osita? | |
| JACQUELINE LUQMAN: Yes. | |
| OSITA NWANEVU: This is what�s so interesting about this primary. | |
| I mean, across all kinds of issues, there�s been a breathtaking | |
| series of sweeping proposals advanced not just by Senators | |
| Sanders and Warren that you would expect to be the most | |
| ambitious, but even the moderate candidates have moved well left | |
| on a lot of different issues. Even Joe Biden on an issue like | |
| climate puts out a respectable plan. But when it comes to this | |
| core issue of antipoverty policy and in dealing with some of | |
| these inequities you�ve been talking about, the party still | |
| doesn�t exactly know what to do. It hasn�t matched the level of | |
| ambition that we�ve seen in other policy areas. | |
| Biden�s answer was something that you would have expected | |
| somebody like him to say in the 90s. It�s obviously important to | |
| read to your kids and spend time with them. That�s not the | |
| reason why we see all these inequities. We know, given social | |
| science research, that even black parents who do everything | |
| right and kids who work hard at school, they�re still suffering | |
| from the same inequities that we see across the racial spectrum | |
| for them. We know that African Americans who are high-income or | |
| higher income than lower income white people, will often live in | |
| neighborhoods that are still underfunded, that still lack | |
| certain resources. There are racial components of inequity in | |
| this country that we haven�t really taken seriously outside of | |
| academia. | |
| So as far as this idea that you�re going to solve those | |
| inequities by sending social workers into these communities and | |
| teaching parents how to raise their kids right, if you want to | |
| look at the most ambitious thing somebody said on poverty on the | |
| stage last night, it was actually Andrew Yang, Andrew Yang�s | |
| UBI. The idea of doing a universal basic income gives all | |
| Americans a certain level of income. They can use it to pay | |
| rent. They can use it to pay for childcare, whatever they find | |
| most necessary in their lives. That is a more serious solution | |
| that would help more black people than the Joe Biden�s idea of | |
| lecturing black parents that they�re not doing things right. | |
| Give people material resources and they will have the power to | |
| change the things in their life that they find the most | |
| burdensome. | |
| Now Yang is not offering reparations specifically for African | |
| American people. There�s a narrowness to what he�s saying, but I | |
| think that the core idea that the thing that is hurting people | |
| the most is structural inequity that can be solved by improving | |
| people�s material situations. That is what the party has to dial | |
| into, just the way that it�s dialed ambitiously into the | |
| healthcare situation or the healthcare reform proposals. There | |
| needs to be some kind of commensurate interest and really | |
| rethinking antipoverty policy in this country, really | |
| reinvigorating the welfare state in a big way. | |
| GREG WILPERT: I mean, just turning also to a clip that we saw | |
| from Corey Booker. I mean, what I thought it was interesting | |
| about his clip is that he did address the issue of inequality, | |
| of systemic inequality. He didn�t provide any solutions or | |
| answers in so far as I know his platform doesn�t really either, | |
| but at least he raised it as the core of the issue. That�s | |
| something that, at least in this debate, hardly anyone else | |
| really did. Although I would say that Sanders and Warren | |
| probably come closest to actually offering some solutions or | |
| some responses to that issue. I want to turn to you, Helena, | |
| what do you think of that? What was your reaction to Cory Booker | |
| and the possibilities of addressing this topic of inequality? | |
| HELENA OLEA: Well, I do believe he deserves to be acknowledged | |
| for trying to understand education from a broader perspective | |
| and not giving the simple answer that we heard from many on the | |
| stage about teacher�s salaries. You know, that�s it. Education, | |
| teacher salaries, and we�re done with the topic. I do appreciate | |
| considering other factors and so I think he must be praised for | |
| that. I appreciate the inclusion of environmental justice, which | |
| I think is an important element and also including � it�s an | |
| interesting way to also mention criminal justice reform, which I | |
| think is also a plus in this aspect in particular. I think it�s | |
| the beginning of new conversations that we should be having on | |
| how to really address the needs in terms of education. | |
| We should also move, hopefully in the future debates, to | |
| addressing access to higher education. More than that broader | |
| promise of �we�re going to eliminate all loans,� but something | |
| more concrete. How can we ensure that our college students do | |
| not have to work at least 40 hours a week? Because it�s | |
| impossible to obtain an education of quality when you have other | |
| burdens. How do we protect our students who are also parents at | |
| the same time? There are other issues on the table that I think | |
| we�re leaving out. | |
| GREG WILPERT: Well, unfortunately, we can�t take up every issue | |
| in this discussion either, but we�ll continue to cover it as | |
| best we can. So this concludes our second segment on the third | |
| Democratic presidential debate. Join us for the next one. We | |
| will take up the issue of foreign policy and socialism. Thanks | |
| for joining The Real News Network. | |
| https://therealnews.com/stories/3rd-democratic-debate-education-inequality-and-… | |
| #Post#: 13601-------------------------------------------------- | |
| Re: 2020 Presidential Election | |
| By: AGelbert Date: September 14, 2019, 6:26 pm | |
| --------------------------------------------------------- | |
| [center]3rd Democratic Debate: Foreign Policy Continues | |
| Imperialist Tradition (3/3)[/center] | |
| September 13, 2019 | |
| While most Democratic candidates are finally shifting the debate | |
| on Afghanistan, 18 years after the war began, the discussion on | |
| other issues, such as Latin America, continues in the same old | |
| imperialist vein as before | |
| [center] | |
| https://youtu.be/103mQcm7kKY[/center] | |
| [center][font=times new roman]Story Transcript[/font][/center] | |
| GREG WILPERT: Welcome to The Real News Network. I�m Greg Wilpert | |
| in Baltimore. | |
| This is our third segment on the Democratic Party�s third | |
| presidential debate, which took place last Thursday in Houston, | |
| Texas. Joining me to analyze the debate are here in the studio, | |
| Real News host and producer Jacqueline Luqman, and New Republic | |
| staff writer Osita Nwanevu. Joining us remotely is human rights | |
| lawyer and University of Illinois-Chicago Professor Helena Olea. | |
| Thanks to all three of you for joining us again. | |
| JACQUELINE LUQMAN: Thank you. | |
| HELENA OLEA: Thank you. | |
| GREG WILPERT: In this segment, we will take a closer look at | |
| foreign policy. | |
| SENATOR ELIZABETH WARREN: We need a foreign policy that is about | |
| our security and about leading on our values. The problems in | |
| Afghanistan are not problems that can be solved by a military. | |
| We need to work with the rest of the world. We need to use our | |
| economic tools. We need to use our diplomatic tools. We need to | |
| build with our allies. And we need to make the whole world | |
| safer, not keep troops bombing in Afghanistan. | |
| DAVID MUIR: Senator Warren, thank you. | |
| MAYOR PETE BUTTIGIEG: We have got to put an end to endless war. | |
| The best way not to be caught up in endless war is to avoid | |
| starting one in the first place. And so when I am president, an | |
| authorization for the use of military force will have a built-in | |
| three-year sunset. Congress will be required to vote and a | |
| president will be required to go to Congress to seek an | |
| authorization because if our troops can summon the courage to go | |
| overseas, the least our members of Congress should be able to do | |
| is summon the courage to take a vote on whether they ought to be | |
| there. | |
| FORMER VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: I was opposed to the surge in | |
| Afghanistan. The whole purpose of going to Afghanistan was to | |
| not have a counterinsurgency, meaning that we�re going to put | |
| that country together. It cannot be put together. Let me say it | |
| again. It will not be put together. We don�t need those troops | |
| there. I would bring them home. | |
| GREG WILPERT: This debate on Afghanistan, or actually the | |
| comments that the different presidential candidates made about | |
| Afghanistan, I thought it was rather interesting. It did seem to | |
| signify a certain amount of departure from the way it had been | |
| discussed, at least under President Obama, and of course under | |
| President Trump. One thing that wasn�t mentioned in this | |
| discussion, though, is the fact that, of course, there was | |
| supposed to be a peace agreement between the US Government and | |
| the Taliban, which was scuttled in the last minute, and nobody | |
| commented on that it seemed. | |
| I just want to turn to you, Helena, first about what you think | |
| of this debate and the turn that it has taken in terms of, first | |
| of all, Warren talking about the need for diplomacy. That seemed | |
| like a significant shift within the Democratic Party and even | |
| Biden�s talk about him being opposed to the surge, which I think | |
| is actually one of the things that was accurate. Although, I am | |
| very skeptical still to what extent he actually favors | |
| diplomacy, considering that he actually favored the war in Iraq. | |
| What do you think, Helena? | |
| HELENA OLEA: I think the aspect of foreign policy was debated | |
| in a very particular way. The first thing that we should say is | |
| that only three topics were mentioned under it. It began with | |
| trade, but somehow trade ends up being separated from the rest | |
| of the discussion of foreign policy, which I think is | |
| unfortunate. Then they only refer to Afghanistan in tangent, | |
| they referred to Iraq, and I think it was also a result of | |
| Biden�s comments that it ended up being part of the discussion, | |
| but that was not the intention of the questions. Then Venezuela | |
| was mentioned shortly. I think that this is very schematic, but | |
| we are definitely observing an evolution. Public opinion is | |
| shifting to the point where they believe that the troops should | |
| � cannot continue in Afghanistan and we need to find a way out. | |
| GREG WILPERT: Osita, what do you think? Does this signify an | |
| important shift in the Democratic Party, as regards at least to | |
| the war in Afghanistan? Perhaps not in other areas because we�ll | |
| get to those in a moment and we�ll see that that might be | |
| different, but at least on the issue of Afghanistan? | |
| OSITA NWANEVU: I think that we see a wider shift in foreign | |
| policy, both on that debate stage, in Congress and really, even | |
| to some extent, across both parties. I think that there�s a wide | |
| public impatience with �forever wars,� as Pete Buttigieg called | |
| it. We�ve seen, obviously, moves against the United States� | |
| involvement in the war in Yemen. All of this is of a piece with | |
| I think a broader public mood that is turning against these wars | |
| and doesn�t really see them as fruitful anymore. | |
| It�s become clear that to the extent that we believe that there | |
| was an interest in going there after 9/11 to strike against the | |
| Taliban, we�re now trying, I guess, to meet with the Taliban. | |
| There�s a sense, I think, even if people aren�t willing to admit | |
| it openly that we overreacted in the last 20 years to the threat | |
| of Islamic terrorism, and engaged in a lot of conflicts that we | |
| had no real sense of how we were going to end them, I think that | |
| the public�s realization of that now is producing a sea change | |
| in American politics� not just within the Democratic Party, but | |
| more broadly outside of it. | |
| GREG WILPERT: What do you think, Jackie? | |
| JACQUELINE LUQMAN: I think the candidates� responses were | |
| definitely a reflection of what both of you said� the public | |
| distaste for endless war now. But I think it�s also the | |
| Democratic Party�s response to the candidate that wasn�t on the | |
| stage, that I think in this issue of war that they most don�t | |
| want their message to come out, and that�s Tulsi Gabbard. I | |
| think it was sort of a surprise, a little bit, that it was | |
| another military veteran, Pete Buttigieg, who sounded so similar | |
| to what Gabbard would have said. I think that was probably a | |
| shock, a little bit, to the DNC because that�s the kind of | |
| message � that we need to end endless wars. And we need to even | |
| further, what Buttigieg and Warren said, we need to not have | |
| them. The best way not to have an endless war is to not enter | |
| into a war. | |
| We know that the defense lobby is an enormous contributor to | |
| both parties, so I�m sure Buttigieg�s comments and Warren�s | |
| comments on not even getting into wars made the defense | |
| benefactors of the DNC quite nervous. For the American people, | |
| both of their comments, and most of their comments at least on | |
| Afghanistan, because I agree also that they were very measured | |
| in how they talked about military engagement and war and the | |
| wider issue of imperialism in the United States and around the | |
| world. They were very careful to pick and choose where they | |
| would say, �Okay, we�ll stop doing this, but we have a different | |
| perspective on what should be done over here.� I do agree it�s a | |
| reflection of how this country is seeing our military | |
| differently in what it does around the world. | |
| GREG WILPERT: I want to turn to the next clip that we have, | |
| which is on Venezuela. Let�s run that now. | |
| JORGE RAMOS: You admit that Venezuela does not have free | |
| elections, but still you refuse to call Nicolas Maduro �un | |
| dictador,� a dictator. Can you explain why and what are the main | |
| differences between your kind of socialism and the one being | |
| imposed in Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua? | |
| SENATOR BERNIE SANDERS: First of all, let me be very clear. | |
| Anybody who does what Maduro does is a vicious tyrant. What we | |
| need now is international and regional cooperation for free | |
| elections in Venezuela so that the people of that country can | |
| create their own future. In terms of democratic socialism, to | |
| equate what goes on in Venezuela with what I believe is | |
| extremely unfair. | |
| FORMER VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: In Venezuela, we should be | |
| allowing people to come here from Venezuela. I know Maduro. I�ve | |
| confronted Maduro. | |
| JULIAN CASTRO: Sure. Thank you, Jorge. I�ll call Maduro a | |
| dictator because he is a dictator. What we need to do is to, | |
| along with our allies, make sure that the Venezuelan people get | |
| the assistance that they need, that we continue to pressure | |
| Venezuela so that they�ll have free and fair elections. And | |
| also, here in the United States, offer temporary protected | |
| status, TPS, to Venezuelans. | |
| GREG WILPERT: Okay. Well, this topic could potentially open up a | |
| can of worms because there is perhaps substantial disagreement | |
| about the nature of Venezuela, although not on that stage, but | |
| perhaps among our panel here. We�ll see. Let me turn first to | |
| you, Jackie. What do you think of Sanders�s response, especially | |
| considering that all of them that we saw, or that spoke to | |
| Venezuela, didn�t say anything about the United States, but | |
| specifically did zero-in on Venezuela? What do you make of that? | |
| JACQUELINE LUQMAN: This is where the Democratic Party is | |
| extremely weak and it is extremely complicit in US imperialism | |
| around the world. Sanders, his response about free and fair | |
| elections and even the question was deeply, deeply problematic, | |
| but the issue that Democrats, any of them, are saying that we�re | |
| going to ensure free and fair elections in Venezuela when they | |
| can�t even ensure free and fair elections here in the United | |
| States, that�s a serious problem. Then, there�s also this talk | |
| of the evil that Maduro does, and this is not to say that Maduro | |
| is a good guy, but that�s not the point. The point is that | |
| Venezuela is facing the economic issues it�s facing because of | |
| US intervention and sanctions, primarily. There�s certainly the | |
| other arguments and discussions to be made about decisions that | |
| Maduro and Chavez made, of course, but primarily the issue now | |
| is sanctions that the United States Government has implemented | |
| against the elected leadership of that country. | |
| Then that�s the other issue, that the elections in Venezuela are | |
| continued to be framed by Republicans and Democrats as | |
| fraudulent, and that Maduro was not elected by the people, but | |
| six million people did vote for him. None of the candidates� | |
| certainly not Sanders, he was guilty of this also� also didn�t | |
| bring up the fact that nobody voted for Juan Guido. There are | |
| lots of issues with the way the Democratic Party frames this | |
| particular discussion because, in my estimation, the Democratic | |
| Party is just as pro-imperialist as the Republican Party is. I | |
| don�t think there�s much modulation between the two on this | |
| particular issue. Even given whatever legitimate arguments | |
| people have for or against Maduro as a leader of his country, | |
| all of their answers on this particular issue, and even the | |
| question itself, were a big problem. | |
| GREG WILPERT: I think the contrast between the answers that they | |
| gave to Afghanistan and the answers that they gave to Venezuela | |
| is quite telling. That maybe the shift that I was talking about | |
| earlier with regard to Afghanistan is not as big as we might | |
| think, considering how willing they are to endorse this idea | |
| that the US should be involved in Venezuela. I want to turn to | |
| you next, Helena. What do you think of that? Is this� especially | |
| what Sanders, Castro and Biden said in this context? | |
| HELENA OLEA: Yes. I agree a lot with Jacqueline. I think that | |
| the question was terrible and we really have to begin right | |
| there. It�s a personal feud that the journalist has with Maduro, | |
| which we understand, but I think that that was not the way to | |
| frame the issue. Element number one. I do believe that the point | |
| made about who elected Guido is quite important. There are a | |
| number of questionings about Guido and how � where he�s getting | |
| the funding, who�s helping him. There are very recent | |
| accusations that he is receiving paramilitary aid from Columbia. | |
| I do think that this is much more complicated than how the | |
| candidates understand it. I think it�s not a matter of how we | |
| label or not label Maduro. The real issue should be what should | |
| be the role of the US. Sanctions are very important. | |
| The other element also is that the US withdrew aid to Central | |
| American countries to give it to Guido and the opposition in | |
| Venezuela. That was not mentioned there, which also reflects | |
| that they are very badly informed on this topic. Finally, there | |
| was no mention of the six million Venezuelans who are abroad, | |
| mostly everywhere in the Americas, trying to start a new life, | |
| just a brief mention of granting TPS for Venezuelans by Julio | |
| Castro. I think that the issue is much more complex than that, | |
| and so it did reflect this very limited view. I think that it�s | |
| a great shortcoming in terms of their foreign policy. They | |
| talked about human rights as a prescription that should be | |
| considered, particularly Elizabeth Warren mentioned it. Then | |
| what does human rights translate into, and how do we consider it | |
| and understand it from all of the topics? They could have | |
| connected that to the US migration policy, and they also failed | |
| to address that in their response. | |
| GREG WILPERT: Yeah. I find it pretty amazing that they didn�t | |
| mention at all the issue of sanctions against Venezuela, which | |
| are absolutely crucial, especially in the context of the people | |
| leaving Venezuela, of course, and the problems, economic | |
| problems that the country has. I�m wondering what do you make of | |
| this, particularly the way these candidates are treating that | |
| particular issue, and does that mean that they�re still wedded | |
| to imperialist politics, as Jackie says? | |
| OSITA NWANEVU: I think that to a large extent the Democratic | |
| Party obviously is. I don�t think that the American people and | |
| Democratic Party specifically have given a lot of thought to the | |
| United States� history in South and Central America. The record | |
| of intervention is something that you know about it only if | |
| you�re very well read on the left. It�s not something that gets | |
| talked about in the media and its history is part of the reason | |
| why we have this situation in Venezuela now. I don�t think that | |
| there�s a very serious discussion on the Democratic primary | |
| debate stage or within the primary on that particular issue. | |
| Hopefully, Bernie Sanders and the other progressives in the | |
| field raise public awareness of what�s been going on. | |
| I do think that it�s very hard for me to understand why this | |
| comes up as an issue time and time again in these debates when | |
| the only people who I think respond to the kind of | |
| fear-mongering that the moderators are trying to do about | |
| Venezuela and socialism are people who already watch Fox News | |
| and are not Democratic primary voters. I don�t really think that | |
| resonates with anybody. I don�t think that people, for better or | |
| for worse, are very clued into what�s going on in the country at | |
| all. I think there�s an education, there�s the public education | |
| aspect of what needs to go on here as far as Latin American | |
| policy is concerned. Hopefully, this sort of positive energy | |
| we�ve seen on other foreign policy issues eventually migrates | |
| over to that sphere of the world, and people begin taking the | |
| situation not only in Venezuela, but across the litany of states | |
| America has intervened in over the past couple of decades. | |
| Hopefully, people started taking those foreign policy questions | |
| more seriously. | |
| GREG WILPERT: The issue that you raise, of course, of the | |
| socialism is one that came up and that�s a perfect segue to the | |
| next clip that we have, which is particularly Bernie Sanders�s | |
| response to that question, and also an ad that ran for the | |
| Republicans attacking Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, where she is | |
| being portrayed as a socialist and being equated with the Khmer | |
| Rouge in Cambodia. Let�s run that clip. | |
| SENATOR BERNIE SANDERS: What I believe in terms of democratic | |
| socialism, I agree with what goes on in Canada and in | |
| Scandinavia guaranteeing health care to all people as a human | |
| right. I believe that the United States should not be the only | |
| major country on Earth not to provide paid family and medical | |
| leave. I believe that every worker in this country deserves a | |
| living wage and that we expand the trade union movement. I | |
| happen to believe also that what, to me, democratic socialism | |
| means is we deal with an issue we do not discuss enough, Jorge, | |
| not in the media and not in Congress. You got three people in | |
| America owning more wealth than the bottom half of this country. | |
| You�ve got a handful of billionaires controlling what goes on in | |
| Wall Street, the insurance companies, and in the media. Maybe, | |
| just maybe, what we should be doing is creating an� | |
| MODERATOR: Thank you. | |
| SENATOR BERNIE SANDERS: Economy that works for all of us, not | |
| one percent. That�s my understanding of democratic socialism. | |
| MODERATOR: Secretary [inaudible], you wanted to� | |
| ELIZABETH HENG, REPUBLICAN CAMPAIGN AD: This is the face of | |
| socialism and ignorance. Does Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez know the | |
| horror of socialism? My father was minutes from death in | |
| Cambodia before a forced marriage saved his life. That�s | |
| socialism: forced obedience, starvation. Mine is a face of | |
| freedom. My skin is not white. I�m not outrageous, racist, nor | |
| socialist. I�m a Republican. | |
| GREG WILPERT: We can see here this incredible contrast between | |
| the way the Republicans are portraying socialism, and the way | |
| Bernie Sanders is portraying democratic socialism. Of course, | |
| this is going to be a major issue, one presumes, especially if | |
| Bernie Sanders were to become the candidate. But I imagine that | |
| even if not, we know that Obama was regularly being accused of | |
| being a socialist. Let me turn to you first, Osita. What do you | |
| think? Do you think that this will become like �the� campaign | |
| issue and how can Democrats deal with it? | |
| OSITA NWANEVU: I think that�s going to be an issue even if | |
| Biden�s nominee. The Republicans, this is the button that they | |
| push in every election. The fact that they lost the House in | |
| 2018 doesn�t seem to have dissuaded them that this is a | |
| reasonable strategy, but it�s what they�re going to do. It�s the | |
| only trick that they�ve got. I don�t think that it really | |
| resonates with people. People in the country, broadly speaking, | |
| there�ve been numbers or polls showing that socialism has gone | |
| up in public estimation over the past several years. It�s still | |
| kind of underwater compared to when you ask people about | |
| capitalism, but that hasn�t really sunken Bernie Sanders�s | |
| popularity with the American people, broadly speaking. Maybe | |
| they have certain apprehensions about socialism, but he does | |
| just as well as any of the other candidates when you do look at | |
| these head-to-heads against Donald Trump. The election has yet | |
| to happen, obviously, and we don�t know how things would change | |
| in certain ways, but I think if you�re a Republican, you have to | |
| wonder about the extent to which this is actually something that | |
| is going to be effective. | |
| I think it�s important that in the 2016 presidential election, | |
| Trump did not win by calling Hillary Clinton a socialist. In | |
| fact, he adopted a kind of populist rhetoric, he talked about | |
| the fact that the system was rigged, and that certain wealthy | |
| people controlled it. It was really like superficially similar | |
| to what people on the left said, and it resembled left rhetoric | |
| more close and it resembles these attacks on socialism we see | |
| now, the attacks on socialism we heard under Mitt Romney�s | |
| candidacy and John McCain�s candidacy. The one thing that�s | |
| actually won them is turning away from that kind of rhetoric and | |
| they don�t seem to have gotten that. They don�t seem to have | |
| internalized that fact at all. I think it�s going to be a real | |
| point of Republican messaging through the election. I don�t | |
| think it�s going to matter very much, but it is what we can, I | |
| think, pretty reliably expect them to harp on. | |
| GREG WILPERT: Helena, let me just turn to you quickly. What�s | |
| your interpretation of the importance or significance of the | |
| issue of socialism in this particular campaign? | |
| HELENA OLEA: I agree very much with Osita�s point. I think that | |
| he�s quite on point on a number of these issues. I think that it | |
| reflects a great ignorance and I also think that Republicans are | |
| failing to understand how faded in the American public the Cold | |
| War is right now. When you talk to the younger generations that | |
| were not a part of it, they really do not understand what you | |
| are referring to, and I think that this is a big mistake on | |
| their part, and socialism doesn�t scare the American people | |
| anymore. I think that they have to understand that, but they are | |
| so much scared that they produced ads like the one you showed. | |
| It�s very interesting to see them playing with the issue, | |
| portraying a non-white American attractive woman with long hair, | |
| dark hair like Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, saying �there is another | |
| face to it,� and playing to these scare-mongering tactics of the | |
| past. I think that it�s in the back of the old Republicans, it�s | |
| not in the mind of the American people anymore. | |
| OSITA NWANEVU: I actually want to jump in at that point because | |
| I think it�s extremely, extremely interesting and important that | |
| the person whose face was burning in that ad was not Bernie | |
| Sanders, but Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. That is no accident. I | |
| think the Republicans have been much friendlier to Sanders over | |
| the past couple of years, even though he is this socialist | |
| candidate who�s actually won millions of votes, than they have | |
| been to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who�s just this random | |
| Congresswoman. Why is she the focus of all these Fox News | |
| segments? Why is she the focus of all of this attention online | |
| and not Sanders, who is ostensibly the greater threat to the | |
| country as a socialist? | |
| I think it has to do with the fact, as Helena said, that she is | |
| a non-white person, she�s a woman and, like the other members of | |
| the squad� Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar� these are the things | |
| that Republican voters find threatening. They look at Bernie | |
| Sanders, they understand he�s a socialist, but he also looks | |
| like them and that�s something that doesn�t register the same | |
| fear triggers that putting up a picture of Alexandria | |
| Ocasio-Cortez might. I think that�s an extremely important thing | |
| for us to notice and understand. It is not an accident at all | |
| that she is the focal point of all of this anxiety about | |
| socialism, and not the actual socialist candidate for president | |
| who millions of people in this country have already voted for. | |
| GREG WILPERT: Right. Jackie? | |
| JACQUELINE LUQMAN: Yeah. There are so many interesting angles to | |
| what Sanders said and the ad. I think what Sanders said is the | |
| perfect counter to the messaging of the evils of the bogeyman | |
| socialism as we�re moving. He moved the discourse from this, as | |
| Helena said, this outdated Cold War kind of rhetoric to, �This | |
| is the answer to our current economic crisis that we are all | |
| facing. And by the way, guess what? Other countries have already | |
| done it, so it can�t be that bad.� The interesting thing about | |
| what Sanders said is that when he mentioned other countries, he | |
| was careful to mention Canada and Scandinavia, but did not | |
| mention Cuba and Venezuela. If you�re looking at Venezuela, | |
| whatever issues you have with Maduro, Venezuela just completed a | |
| housing project where they built three and a half million units | |
| of free and affordable housing for working people. | |
| We have an exploding homelessness crisis in this country and in | |
| California alone. That is a socialist success story to me, but | |
| it�s interesting that that wasn�t mentioned. Cuba routinely | |
| sends the best doctors in the world around the world to respond | |
| to disasters. Why? Because the people don�t go into debt | |
| becoming doctors in Cuba and the government pays for research. | |
| Those are socialist success stories, but just as it is | |
| intentional the way the Republicans used a woman of color to | |
| demonize socialism in their ad, I think Sanders and his team | |
| were very careful to use the same kind of imagery of socialist | |
| success stories as a counter, and not bringing up these kinds of | |
| problematic countries of color where socialism is successful and | |
| working for the people, but the government of this country has | |
| problems with the leaders. I think that�s intentional too, but I | |
| think that again, like we�ve said, the discourse on those issues | |
| around those countries is so surface-level, we may not see it. | |
| We may not understand it�s there, but it�s definitely. I don�t | |
| think his choice of words was accidental either. | |
| GREG WILPERT: Okay. Unfortunately, we�re going to have to leave | |
| it there. We�ve run out of time, but I think this was a very | |
| interesting discussion. This concludes our third segment of the | |
| third Democratic presidential debate. Again, I was joined by | |
| Real News host and producer Jacqueline Luqman, and New Republic | |
| staff writer Osita Nwanevu. And joining us remotely was human | |
| rights lawyer and University of Illinois in Chicago Professor | |
| Helena Olea. Thanks again to all three of you for having joined | |
| us today. | |
| JACQUELINE LUQMAN: Thank you. | |
| OSITA NWANEVU: Thank you. | |
| HELENA OLEA: Thank you. | |
| GREG WILPERT: I�m Greg Wilpert and thank you for joining The | |
| Real News Network. | |
| https://therealnews.com/stories/3rd-democratic-debate-foreign-policy-continues-… | |
| #Post#: 13604-------------------------------------------------- | |
| Re: 2020 Presidential Election | |
| By: AGelbert Date: September 14, 2019, 8:42 pm | |
| --------------------------------------------------------- | |
| [center]Bernie Sick of Republican Talking Points Against | |
| Medicare for All[/center] | |
| 2,829 views�Published on Sep 13, 2019 | |
| [center] | |
| https://youtu.be/513dZO7DIxs[/center] | |
| Thom Hartmann Program | |
| 171K subscribers | |
| Why are the media and even other Democratic presidential | |
| candidates using Republican talking points against medicare for | |
| all? | |
| Bernie Sanders sets the record straight on medicare for all on | |
| the Thom Hartmann program. | |
| Senator Bernie Sanders, fresh from the TV debate, joined Thom on | |
| the program live today. | |
| What did Joe Biden ask Bernie Sanders? Listen to the answer. | |
| Bernie Sanders has strong views on healthcare and Medicare for | |
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| Sanders shared his views on the debate, watch what he has to | |
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| [center]📽️ WATCH NEXT: How Bernie Sanders Will | |
| Pay For Medicare For All - | |
| [/center][center] | |
| https://youtu.be/rgumGgBhWLg[/center] | |
| #Post#: 13638-------------------------------------------------- | |
| Re: 2020 Presidential Election | |
| By: AGelbert Date: September 17, 2019, 4:45 pm | |
| --------------------------------------------------------- | |
| [center] | |
| https://ci6.googleusercontent.com/proxy/7Iwt1Obw1A9OF4rmgyl-UYRo4MEJDf68gFtbGNW… | |
| Make Nexus Hot News part of your morning: click [i]here | |
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| September 17, 2019 | |
| [center]Top candidates (excluding Senator Sanders 👍) to | |
| skip MSNBC climate forum 👎, fifth IL coal plant to | |
| shutter, & more | |
| https://mailchi.mp/be18fbe8333a/top-candidates-to-skip-msnbc-climate-forum-fift… | |
| #Post#: 13669-------------------------------------------------- | |
| Re: 2020 Presidential Election | |
| By: AGelbert Date: September 19, 2019, 10:05 pm | |
| --------------------------------------------------------- | |
| [center]BLACK BEAR NEWS 9.18.19 Climate change & media[/center] | |
| 1,035 views�Published on Sep 18, 2019 | |
| [center] | |
| https://youtu.be/E_-LHdbeZ_g[/center] | |
| Black Bear News | |
| 2.41K subscribers | |
| Sanders to attend latest climate forum while Biden and Warren | |
| pass | |
| https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2... | |
| Greta Thunberg to Congress: �You�re not trying hard enough. | |
| Sorry� | |
| https://www.theguardian.com/environme... | |
| The Incredible Belief That Corporate Ownership Does Not | |
| Influence Media Content | |
| https://www.commondreams.org/views/20... | |
| Friday Gas Strike | |
| https://www.facebook.com/events/21614... | |
| Twitter @BlackBearNews1 | |
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| Red Llama Music | |
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| Category People & Blogs | |
| #Post#: 13693-------------------------------------------------- | |
| Joe Biden's 'Gaffes' Are Much Bigger Problem for Democrats Than | |
| Embarrassment | |
| By: AGelbert Date: September 22, 2019, 2:36 pm | |
| --------------------------------------------------------- | |
| [center]Joe Biden's 'Gaffes' Are Much Bigger Problem for | |
| Democrats Than Embarrassment[/center] | |
| 8,270 views�Published on Sep 22, 2019 | |
| [center] | |
| https://youtu.be/_oe4oVZj27A[/center] | |
| The Real News Network | |
| 352K subscribers | |
| Joe Biden�s off-the-cuff comments aren�t playing well to | |
| audiences any more. Is this an indication of a too-long | |
| political career finally declining, or is this a sign of a much | |
| bigger problem for the Democratic Party in 2020? Jacqueline | |
| Luqman talks with The Week contributor Ryan Cooper | |
| Subscribe to our page and support our work at | |
| https://therealnews.com/donate. | |
| Category News & Politics | |
| #Post#: 13768-------------------------------------------------- | |
| Naomi Klein: Establishment Democrats may RUIN it for Progressive | |
| s causing a Trump win! | |
| By: AGelbert Date: September 26, 2019, 10:45 pm | |
| --------------------------------------------------------- | |
| [center]No Is Not Enough, How Can We Stop Trump and Take Back | |
| Our Country? - [/center] | |
| [center] | |
| https://youtu.be/brBNKktYDPw[/center] | |
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| https://d188rgcu4zozwl.cloudfront.net/content/B07P56CC82/resources/1253588059[/… | |
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| https://www.youtube.com/user/thomhart... | |
| #Post#: 13829-------------------------------------------------- | |
| 📢 This is our first television ad ✨ of the campai | |
| gn 🧐 | |
| By: AGelbert Date: October 1, 2019, 5:50 pm | |
| --------------------------------------------------------- | |
| [center][img | |
| width=200] | |
| https://ci3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/AZeM6CRUZ6wVH0XSVpZLyEMVRMb1PkRHOe6n1Nr… | |
| October 1, 2019 | |
| Anthony, | |
| Shortly after reporting a record-setting number of individual | |
| donations for any presidential campaign at this point in the | |
| race, we made another important announcement: | |
| [img | |
| width=60] | |
| http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-210614221847.gif[/img… | |
| />We are ON THE AIR in Iowa. | |
| http://renewablerevolution.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/1/3-120… | |
| This is our first television ad of the campaign, and we wanted | |
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| something very important in helping to make sure others see it | |
| as well. | |
| Watch our new ad "Fights for Us" and share it with your friends | |
| today: | |
| [center] | |
| https://youtu.be/BZ5TW07ff2o[/center] | |
| [center] | |
| http://renewablerevolution.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/1/3-111… | |
| All my best, | |
| Faiz Shakir | |
| https://act.berniesanders.com/go/Fights-for-Us | |
| #Post#: 13844-------------------------------------------------- | |
| Sanders has heart stent surgery after chest discomfort | |
| By: AGelbert Date: October 2, 2019, 2:23 pm | |
| --------------------------------------------------------- | |
| [center]Sanders has heart stent surgery after chest discomfort | |
| [img | |
| width=50] | |
| http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-311013201604.png[/img… | |
| Source: Politico | |
| Bernie Sanders experienced chest discomfort during a campaign | |
| event on Tuesday and had two stents inserted to address a | |
| blockage in an artery, his campaign announced. | |
| �Sen. Sanders is conversing and in good spirits. He will be | |
| resting up over the next few days," senior adviser Jeff Weaver | |
| said in a statement. "We are canceling his events and | |
| appearances until further notice, and we will continue to | |
| provide appropriate updates.� | |
| Read more: | |
| https://www.politico.com/news/2019/10/02/sanders-has-heart-stent-surgery-after-… | |
| I feared this greatly. [img | |
| width=30] | |
| http://renewablerevolution.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/2/3-310… | |
| />Now the 🐘 Repukians and the pseudo-left Democratic Par | |
| ty | |
| Leadership will use this against Senator Sanders to try to | |
| destroy his presidential bid. | |
| http://renewablerevolution.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/1/3-120… | |
| /> | |
| http://renewablerevolution.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/1/3-210… | |
| I'm sure 🦀 Trump and his 🦕🦖 Hydrocarbon | |
| Hellspawn enablers are all celebrating. | |
| http://renewablerevolution.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-13041… | |
| [center][img | |
| width=190] | |
| https://media.tenor.com/images/926c7a7fd37a2d72b10bc8e1252980b5/tenor.gif[/img]… | |
| [center][img | |
| width=240] | |
| http://renewablerevolution.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/1/3-270… | |
| [move][font=courier]The future is looking brighter and brighter, | |
| for Tardigrades.[/font][/move] | |
| [center][img | |
| width=340] | |
| https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/8f/53/a0/8f53a09c9eaa9565e80341dfc9c7… | |
| [center] | |
| ***************************************************** | |
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