Interesting. I listened to a financial program this AM that discussed how, under Bush's new tax code, hedge fund mgrs now take their income in the form of CAPITAL GAINS. In that way, these hedge fund mgrs, who make millions of $$$, pay a capital gains tax rate of 15%. Meanwhile, their secretaries who make $25-40K a year, are taxed at a rate of 25%.
In that way, one can easily see how concerned George W Bush is with strengthening the middle class and helping to lift poor kids out of poverty...

Why aren't the Democrats talking like this?

I know, I know-- there's no money in populism. And besides, if you win on a platform like that, you might actually have to deliver. They'd rather be Republican-lite and in the minority than populist and in the majority.

[...] Watch Video [...]

oh, you know about the new hedge fund, with the new hedge fund rules, it will cost the govenrment 2 billion dollars in lost revenue, and the hedge fund will only benefit 25 people. that is right, gov.t will loose 2 billion dollars a year so that 25 people don't have to pay anything. also, the estate tax will only benefits the top one percent, because you can already save up to 1 million and get no tax on it, but that wasn't good enough for the elitlist.

I live in the Quad City area of Illinois and Iowa, and I have watched the political career of Jim Nussle fall because of his support of the Bush family. As you could see, he bobbed and weaved the question about the inheritance tax, while he appears quite affable. Iowans bought into it for a while, but they got tired of it and voted him out. The problems with thes hearings is that, as Mr. Nussle correctly stated, no matter who gets nominated, they are going to follow the Bush directives. So, the choices are really down to 2: confirm this lackey (or any other lackey they put before the Senate) and understand that their motives are strictly anti-middle-class, or shut down the confirmation process for the next 17 months and wait for a Democratic president.

What we have for now with this Economy is the Buffets, Bushes, Gates, Murdochs and Wall Street.

(Snip and Clip)
The rest of us below that are now the fiftyish and sixtyish imagining their lives turning into a black-and-white documentary in which nattily dressed men stand in line at a soup kitchen.

And the young folks who want a “flexible work schedule,” a job that “requires creativity,” a job that “allows them to have an impact on the world.” (Kids surfing and snazzing up their Web sites at work)

And the illegal immigrants to do the inflexible uncreative stuff that simply needs doing right now.

The Republicans have renamed the "Inheritance Tax" to the "Death Tax". Most Americans now refer to it as the "Death Tax". Do you know why? I didn't think you did.

The "Inheritance Tax" was put in place to limit the ability of wealthy families from passing all of their wealth from one generation to their next generation. If there was no limit, then within as little as 4 generations, there would be 10 families in the United States that have 99.9% of the wealth of the United States just within those families. The remaining 350 million Americans would be left with 1% of America's wealth.

It is so sad to see these poor Americans get on TV and complain about having to pay a "Death Tax'. Oh how unfair it is. In reality these Americans pay no Death Tax. You have to have at least 2 million dollars to even begin to pay the Inheritance Tax. Only in their dreams would they ever pay the tax.

These poor American, yes including you, just parrot the Republican Talking Point about having to pay the Death Tax, even using the Republican terminology. American don't even know what it means or if it even applied to them.

Americans have been dumbed down and now only know how to parrot Republican Talking Points. It is hard to listen to a lady on CNN who has only two teeth in her mouth complain that we need to get rid of the Death Tax.

When you have the top 10 families in America owning 99.9% of the wealth, you no longer call America America. You call it Mexico or Saudi Arabia.

This is what has become of America.

Don't you guys understand that it's the wealthy that make this country what it is? If we take care of them, they'll take of us.......it's all about trust.

In fact, don't be jealous; if you work hard enough, you too can be wealthy. For example, if you make $10 per hour, all you have to do is work 100,000 hours per year and you're a millionaire!

Quit your whining and get to work!

rduke @ 5:

Which is yet another reason why the Dems make me physically ill...

I just don't understand how so many of my like minded friends on the left ...keep falling for their bullshit...??

They are making FOOLS out of us...

They treat us worse then a owned servant/mistress... cause they have us broken down to a level where most of us for most of the time do not even understand that we are indeed slaves...

People keep voting for them because the Republicans are even worse, the Republicans are truly evil and are quite open about it. There just are no good leaders in this country anymore--all sold out to the corps.

Ok, I'll ask the question...

Why does Bernie Sanders hate America...??

ooppss...thats Walton Family......fuck em.....32 BILLION dollars should go into the system,they should be glad they get to open stores in this country...period

votingvet @ 9:

It's refreshing and sad to hear Bernie speak out. Refreshing because what he says makes so much sense you wonder why it isn't just common knowledge, and a common cause. Sad because no one other than Bernie -- in the Senate anyway -- really give a damn about it. We're so far down the road to third worldhood, where a small bunch of aristocratic-greedy families control the wealth of the country and allow just enough to trickle down to the rest of the population to leave a false hope in the air, so far down I doubt if even Bernie could successfully reverse the course. I'll vote for any Democrat just to get the current crop of lying, greedy, murderous buzzards out of power; but I'm not harboring any real hope that Hillary-Barack will be able to change anything -- or that, truth to tell, either of them really, deep down in their hearts, gives a good god darn. Short of an out an out revolution, the younger generation in this country is not going to have a pleasant journey through life -- unless they're born to wealth or can demonstrate the talent and luck needed to make in entertainment.

Exactly, the U. S. democracy is so over and now we're just a third world country killing ourselves on Chinese imports.

L.A. Confidential @ 25:

JR @ 16:

Don't you guys understand that it's the wealthy that make this country what it is? If we take care of them, they'll take of us.......it's all about trust.

In fact, don't be jealous; if you work hard enough, you too can be wealthy. For example, if you make $10 per hour, all you have to do is work 100,000 hours per year and you're a millionaire!

Quit your whining and get to work!

Exactly. Unless they close the plant In Ohio and shift production to a factory in Guangdong province you got nothing to worry about.

Did you mean..Gottalongdong province......

You heard Sanders mention the word Priorities. See the links below:

http://www.sanders.senate.gov/news/record.cfm?id=270347

http://www.sanders.senate.gov/news/record.cfm?id=270348

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Floor Statement by Sen. Bernard Sanders on the Introduction of the National Priorities Act -- 03/08/2007

Mr. President, this month the Senate will begin its deliberations on the Fiscal Year 2008 Budget Resolution. It is my strong belief that this Senate must pass a budget that will expand the shrinking middle class, reduce the enormous gap between the rich and the poor, keep our promises to our nation's veterans, reduce our record-breaking national debt and lower the poverty rate. In my opinion, the best way to accomplish these goals is to repeal the President's tax breaks for the wealthiest one percent, eliminate waste, fraud and abuse at the Pentagon and use this revenue for the many unmet needs of this country. The bill that I am introducing today, the National Priorities Act will accomplish these vital goals. A budget, after all, is more than just a long list of numbers. It is a statement of our values and priorities. It's about taking a hard look at the needs of our people and prioritizing the budget in an intelligent and rationale way. Mr. President, what is the state of the American economy? Let's take a look: Since President Bush has been in office, more than 5 million Americans have slipped into poverty, including over one million children. Not only does the United States have the highest rate of poverty of any major country in the industrialized world, we also, shamefully, have the highest rate of childhood poverty in the industrialized world. Mr. President, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, the childhood poverty rate is nearly 18%. According to data from the Luxembourg Income Study Group, the childhood poverty rate in the U.S. is even higher: 21.9%. How are other countries doing on poverty? In Germany, the childhood poverty rate is 9%; in France, it's 7.9%; in Austria, it's 6.7%; in Sweden, it's 4.2%; in Norway, it's 3.4%; and in Finland, the childhood poverty rate is only 2.8%. And, while Britain made a commitment to end child poverty in its country and has reduced the child poverty rate by over 20 percent since 1999, child poverty in the United States increased by about twelve percent over the same time period. Mr. President, let's look at health care. While health care costs are soaring, the number of Americans without health insurance rose to a record high of 46.6 million in 2005, an increase of 6.8 million since 2000. While the President continues to cut taxes for millionaires and billionaires, the lack of health insurance kills many more Americans each year than September 11th and Katrina combined. In fact, the National Academy of Science estimates that 18,000 Americans die each year because they have no health insurance. Healthcare isn't just a human rights issue, it isn't just a moral issue, it is an economic issue as well. Small businesses cannot survive if they are forced to pay huge increases in healthcare premiums each and every year. Even large businesses like General Motors and Ford are struggling like they have never struggled before to pay for the healthcare of their employees. Right now, we spend twice as much per person on health care than any other industrialized nation, yet we have a lower life expectancy and higher infant mortality rate than Canada, Japan and most of Europe. In fact, the United States is the only country in the industrialized world that does not have a national health care system. In addition to our health insurance crisis, we also have a dental crisis. The Surgeon General has reported that tooth decay has become the single most common chronic childhood disease - five times more common than asthma and seven times more common than hay fever; Surveys have shown that dental problems cause children to miss more than 51 million hours of school and adults to miss more than 164 million hours of work each year. In terms of education, millions of middle class American families are finding it increasingly difficult to afford the escalating cost of a college education with average tuition and other costs increasing by more than $4,300 at four-year public universities and over $8,000 at four-year private colleges since 2001. Amazingly, child care fees today are higher than college tuition at a four year public university in 42 states in this country. Last year, 35 million people in America, the richest country on the face of the earth, struggled to put food on the table. And, the Agriculture Department recently reported that the number of the poorest, hungriest Americans keeps rising. Mr. President, we have crisis in affordable housing in which millions of working Americans are paying 50 to 60 percent of their limited incomes to put a roof over their heads; while other families are sleeping in their cars or in fact out on the street. Last year, there were 1.2 million home foreclosures in this country, an increase of 42 percent since 2005. The cost of energy has rapidly risen since President Bush has been in office. Oil prices have more than doubled and gasoline prices have gone up by 70 percent since January of 2001. This is putting a real strain on the paychecks of working people- especially in rural states like Vermont where workers are often forced to drive long distances to their jobs. In America today millions of American workers are working longer hours for lower wages and median income for working-age families has declined for five years in a row. Today, incredible as it may seem the personal savings rate is below zero which has not happened since the Great Depression. In other words, all over this country working people and people in the middle-class are purchasing groceries and other basic necessities and, in the process are going deeper and deeper in debt. Over the past six years, we have lost three million manufacturing jobs, including 10,000 in my State of Vermont. Many of the new jobs that are available to those displaced workers pay lower wages and have lower benefits. Today, 3 million fewer American workers have pension coverage than when President Bush took office and half of private-sector American workers have no pension coverage whatsoever. Throughout our country American workers, who now work the longest hours of any other people in the industrialized world, are finding it harder and harder to get jobs which provide them with a decent amount of vacation time. Mr. President, while the middle class is shrinking and poverty is increasing in our country, there is another reality that is taking place. And that is that the wealthiest 1%, the people at the very top of the economic ladder, have never had it so good since the 1920s. According to Forbes Magazine, the collective net worth of the richest 400 Americans increased by $120 billion last year to $1.25 trillion. The 400 wealthiest Americans are worth $1.25 trillion. Sadly, Mr. President, the United States today has the most unfair distribution of wealth and income of any major country and the gap between the very wealthy and everyone else is growing wider. Today, the wealthiest 13,000 families in America own nearly as much income as the bottom 20 million and the wealthiest one percent own more wealth than the bottom 90 percent. According to a December 2006 report by the Congressional Budget Office, the average after-tax income of the richest one percent of households rose from $722,000 in 2003 to $868,000 in 2004, after adjusting for inflation, a one-year increase of nearly $146,000, or 20 percent. This represents the largest increase in 15 years, measured both in percentage terms and in real dollars. The rich are getting richer, the middle class is shrinking, and the gap between the rich and the poor is growing wider. Mr. President, I've given this outline of the economy in order to place the debate about the budget in context. The question, then becomes, what do we do? The President has given us his answer. He has told us in his budget that we don't have enough money to meet the health care needs of this country - so his response is to inadequately fund the Children's Health Insurance Program; and to cut Medicare and Medicaid by $280 billion over the next decade. We don't have enough money for our veterans, so the President's response has been to deny an estimated one million veterans access to health services at the VA. We don't have enough money for child care, so the President's response is to reduce the number of children receiving child care assistance by 300,000. We don't have enough money for dental care. We don't have enough money for special education. We don't have enough money to seriously address global warming. We don't have enough money to make sure that qualified students have access to a quality education without going deeply into debt. We don't have enough money to fully fund Head Start. We don't have enough money to expand the Earned Income Tax Credit. But, somehow, the President believes that we have enough money to provide $70 billion in tax cuts for the wealthiest one percent and we don't have to worry about reforming waste, fraud and abuse at the Pentagon. These upside down priorities have got to stop. The bill that I am introducing today will begin to turn our national priorities right side up. The National Priorities Act will repeal tax breaks for the wealthiest one percent in 2008; and eliminate $60 billion in waste fraud and abuse at the Pentagon and use this money to do the following: 1. Provide health care services for over four million Americans by increasing investments in Federally Qualified Centers and the National Health Service Corps by $625 million. 2. Expand access to dental care by providing $140 million for the workforce, capital and equipment needed to establish or expand oral health services at community health centers (and other community-based sites) across the country. 3. Provide health insurance to over eight million children who aren't covered by expanding the Children's Health Insurance Program by $15 billion. 4. Make sure that all veterans receive the health care and other benefits they were promised without being put on a waiting list. 5. Ensure that working families with children have access to affordable child care by increasing investments in the Child Care Development Block Grant by $2.2 billion. 6. Allow every qualified child to receive early education, nutrition and health services by fully funding Head Start. 7. Lower property taxes by keeping the federal commitment to provide 40% of the cost of special education costs for about 7 million children with disabilities. 8. Provide an additional 330,000 students with Pell Grants and increase its purchasing power for over 5.4 million other students by doubling the maximum Pell Grant. 9. Instill low-income high school students with the skills and opportunity they need to go to college by increasing the TRIO and GEAR-Up education programs by 50%. 10. Create more than 200,000 jobs by increasing investments in renewable energy, energy efficient appliances, public transit, and high-speed rail. 11. Create 180,000 jobs by constructing, preserving and rehabilitating at least 150,000 affordable housing rental units. 12. Reduce taxes between $400 to $1,134 per year for 10 million American workers and families with children by expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit. 13. Reduce the deficit by $30 billion. In other words, Mr. President, the bill that I am introducing today says that the former CEO of Home Depot who recently received a $210 million golden parachute, does not need another tax cut. It is more important to substantially increase financial aid for low and middle class families so that every American, regardless of income, can receive a college education. This legislation says to the former CEO of Pfizer who received a $200 million compensation package, sorry, you can do without another tax break. It is more important to substantially increase funding for child care so that working families can find affordable and quality care for their children. This legislation says to the former CEO of Exxon-Mobil, who managed to get a $400 million retirement package, your tax break is rescinded. Instead, we will keep our promises to the veterans of this country who now find themselves on waiting lists to get the health care they need. Mr. President, if, as a nation, we are serious about addressing the long neglected needs of the working people of this country and creating a more egalitarian society, we have got to invest more federal resources in education, health care, housing, infrastructure, sustainable energy as well as many other areas. We also have to reduce our national debt. Given that reality, Congress must develop the courage to stand up to the big money interests and roll-back the tax breaks for the wealthiest one percent, eliminate waste, fraud and abuse at the Pentagon and demand that the wealthy and powerful rejoin American society.

CEO compensation in this country is also a joke. Since when is one man worth 400 times the average of his workforce (more in one day than a worker makes in one year)?

Average salary of CEO in Standard & Poor 500 = 14.78 MILLION

Number of companies under investigation about stock option grants = 257

Average CEO to average worker ratio in 1980 = 42:1
Average CEO to average worker ratio in 2005 = 411:1

Average CEO severance pay in weeks 2006 = 170
Average worker severance pay in weeks 2006 = 2

CEO's of both Home Depot and Pfizer left in 2006 with golden parachutes worth more than 200 million each. Both companies had underperformed during their tenures.

If you really want to get pissed, read up on Unitedhealth Group former CEO Dr. William McGuire who left the company in 2006. This one man had amassed 2.1 BILLION in stock options (helped by being allowed to pick the lowest price of the year to exercise his grant). Guaranteed pension of 5.1 million per year and free lifetime health insurance for his family. Oh, and this year the company was forced to restate the previous 12 years earnings, reducing them by 1.13 billion.

Compare and contrast 2007 to 1929. Can you see a crash on the horizon? I know I can.

Representative Democracy?

No, the United States is a Corporate Republic.

The United States is not the nation our forefathers intended to build.

I hate everybody!

[That's nice. Do you want to comment on the topic at hand? Consider this a gentle reminder]

i subscribe to guns and ammo, i got guns and ammo

Forgot these tidbits on Dr McGuire of Unitedhealth.

2005 compensation breakdown:
Salary: 2.2 million
Bonus: 5.8 million
Stock Options: 48.9 million
Long Term Incentive Payout: 2 million
Other: .7 million

Total 2005 compensation = $59,625,444

While retired he also gets an executive office, secretary and free use of company jets.

All this for a company that provides no real service or product to a single person, but depends on not providing service to it's customers. I have been in the workforce for 22 years and just equaled his "other" compensation for my entire life's work (avg. 32K/yr for 22 years - not bad I thought).

Is it possible to cause an economic depression by allowing a handful of people to control all of the wealth (I mean money) leaving nothing for the rest of economy (I mean people)? Can an economy be collapsed by depriving it of money? (rhetorical question of course)

I believe this is what an unfettered free marked inevitably does. Only a government can counter this tendency. Unfortunately our current government is encouraging and facilitating wealth concentration.

A mixed economy is the only way. Pure socialism and pure capitalism both lead to impoverishment.

"This democracy is committing suicide".
buzzflash editorial

Looks like murder to me.

My son, 22 years old and is in the Navy is passionate, absolutely passionate about repealing the inheritance tax. He makes about $25K per year and my estate certainly won't be subject to the tax. Nevertheless any argument or explanation as to why we have this tax in the is met with "but it's not fair".

I argue that everyone should work and contribute to society, even the children of the rich. I argue that the tax is on dead people, and they don't care anyway. I argue that if we cut this tax we would have to cut services or raise taxes on everyone else. Finally I argue that we should tax people at a rate which reflects the benefit they receive and which does not discourage them from working and contributing. He refutes none of this. He simply insists that "it's not fair to rich people".

I just sent this to Senator Sanders

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Dear Senator Sanders,

Thank you very much for acting like an adult and caring about the citizens of your country. We, as you know, are living in a nightmare of loss of soverignty.

Our constitution has been ripped to shreds and the sociopathic leadership of our president and his neocon crew is driving us towards a 3rd world national reality.

Why isn't there an uproar in congress about the National American Union meeting on August 20th and 21st in Canada where an 18 mile perimeter to keep out the citizens and media has been established? Is no one going to ask who authorized this union...the people certainly didn't.

Is job security really more important the the constitution and our freedom? You might want to look into this:

http://www.abovetopsecret.com/pages/camps.html

or this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyunoKE3Ar8

or even this:

http://www.gospelgrace.com/nwo_un/denver/denverairport1.htm

and especially this:

http://tinyurl.com/ygabga

Thank you for your time sir and once again, it was very refreshing to here some real government in action rather then the cowering and posturing we usually see and hear.

EJ Doyle

Thanks ejdoyle for sending that to Sanders. He's a helluva good American.

jimbo @ 44:

My son, 22 years old and is in the Navy is passionate, absolutely passionate about repealing the inheritance tax. He makes about $25K per year and my estate certainly won't be subject to the tax. Nevertheless any argument or explanation as to why we have this tax in the is met with "but it's not fair".

I argue that everyone should work and contribute to society, even the children of the rich. I argue that the tax is on dead people, and they don't care anyway. I argue that if we cut this tax we would have to cut services or raise taxes on everyone else. Finally I argue that we should tax people at a rate which reflects the benefit they receive and which does not discourage them from working and contributing. He refutes none of this. He simply insists that "it's not fair to rich people".

" Estate taxes are assessed on the net worth of an individual at death. There is no tax on the first $675,000, and under current law that exemption is to rise to $1 million by 2006. (Farms and family businesses already enjoy the $1 million exemption.)"

Let your son know that some of the people who vehemently oppose the lifting of the estate tax include William Gates Sr, William Gates Jr, George Soros and Warren Buffet.
Gates Sr says that since America has given him the chance to become so wealthy, it is only fair he and others who have been blessed with tremendous fortune ante up some payback at death.

Here's an interesting article for him to read.
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines01/0214-01.htm

It could have went like,

Please Mr Nussle do you think you could talk to the President and possibly have him talk to his base (The haves and the haves more). And see if they could trickle some crumbs off the table............

Especially the ones that say they hate Government and taxes but gorge out at the Government trough.

Mr. Sanders friendly banter with this pig was driving me up the wall. They all pat each other on the back and talk about what "good guys" these nominees are even though their words and actions reflect a character that is far from "good". They could give less than a damn about the real condition of the American people. They could care less that 300,000 people in this country make more than the other vast millions. They are totally insulated from the realities of their "fellow" citizens. How can Sanders be so courteous to this devil. A devil knows he's wrong but speaks beninely about it. I wish the American people would stop being so stupid and realize that we are being taken for a ride. Its time to stop acting like serfs and patseys. We have to insist on election campaign finance reform. Stop shopping for unnecessary goods, worshipping these self-styled "royals", stop selling out, spit in their soup, never give them a moments peace in their gated communities and help one another. We have to make an industry out of opposing them. They can't have what they do without us. And we need to insist that our "representatives" stop making "nice-nice" to these cold blooded ...I've had it!

Bernie Sanders `08. Pelosi `07.

$32 BILLION to the Walton family alone, but we couldn’t come up with federal funds to fix the bridge in MN?

Sanders was talkin’ about the repeal of the inheritance tax- repeal!- and Nussle starts referrin’ to this repeal as a tax increase! Bullshit!

They're both bullshit. $32 billion to the Walton Family? Isn't that just as dishonest as calling the opposite a tax hike? The government isn't giving money to the Waltons, it just isn't taking (as much) away.
I'm not completely familiar with the responsibilities of the budgeting office, does it have anything to do with tax policy? What does his position on the estate tax have to do with his fitness for this role?

THANK YOU, for showing one of the only good people in congress. Do it more often, please!

One of the all-time greatest speeches ever given:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yk4lpTZtWO4

Bernie Sanders is not a Democrat. Bernie Sanders is the opposite of a Democrat. Bernie Sanders believes in fairness and the rule of law.

The Democrats believe that the their job is to support the President is his war in Iraq and in his war against the Constitution.

Too tough? Then explain Reid and Pelosi's Herculean effort to fund the war in Iraq a couple months ago, or their incredible effort to destroy our privacies by supporting George Bush's efforts to increase his power to wiretap without a warrant.

I used to believe that Bush needed to be arrested, sent to The Hague, tried for war crimes, convicted, and hanged.

I now believe that only if every Democrat were tried as well would justice be served.

A pox of both parties.

Bernie is a good man.

Bernie Sanders is a socialist (he admits to it). In other words, unlike the Democrats, he is well aware of THE root problem in this country: class warfare. Why Crooksandliars is so rabid in their support for the Democratic Party while they turn a blind eye to the socialist undercurrents in this country is beyond me.

Most Democrats are just as beholden to big business and the upper class as the Republicans are, yet we (this blog) continue to interpret it as Democrats being "cowardly" or "caving in." Real economic and social justice is not going to have a corporate face to it.

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/11/08/1457245

So much blood on the hands of the Walton family.

Of course, they don't see it this way.

They're such "good" Christians, you see. And always care about the "least" in our society and around the world, just like Jesus Christ would have wanted. They never let anything get in the way of their "compassionate conservatism," not even huge tax cuts and massive profits.

Oh, wait, I must be thinking of some other family.

Maaaybbe, the Bush family? Nope. Cheney family? Nope. Scaife, Leininger, Murdoch families? Nope. Nope. Nope. The Rove family? Hahaha.

Anymore "compassionate conservatives" like this bunch of deceitful and conniving crooks, and I might begin to believe that our democracy is in grave, grave danger.

Oh, wait, we're already in grave, grave danger. Bridges collapsing. Wars being started. Illegal surveillance. Bleeding dry our nation's and state treasuries.

Who needs enemies when we have so many "compassionate conservatives" out to help...er, well, that is, help themselves to as much as they can lay their greedy hands on in our society?

I'm from Iowa and I absolutely cringe at the thought of Nussle weaseling his way back into politics. Iowans gave him the boot because he is a Bush loyalist, period. He is another republican who could care less about the welfare of others.

I forgot to point out how squealer reminds me of Karl Rove and George Bush, whereas Napoleon is like Dick Cheney.

I am so grateful Bernie Sanders was elected to the Senate. Thanks, Vermont!

Media Concepts @ 77:

"Rips into?" Sanders asked tough questions, citing statistics to demonstrate the Bush Administration's economic failures, but he did anything but "rip into" Nussle. Their banter was rather friendly, and Sanders smiled and laughed a couple of times. As Sam #70 wrote, Sanders asked his questions "without vituperation." I daresay that the C&L writers once again have gotten a bit overzealous.

Sanders is a humanely commonsensical human being. He handled this doomed interview with professionalism without the aid of a vomit bag. He exposed Nussle for what his is.

He made my heart ache a bit for Vermont, bitching cold place that it is, Sanders makes it safe as long as he's there.

The difference between Mr Sanders and Mr Lieberman is Mr Sanders REALLY is an independent (although I believe he is more on the side of a socialist but just doesn't necessarily carry the label anymore last I heard) while Lieberman is a total rightwing political partisan hack who doesn't do anything independent. The only reason why I think Lieberman didn't run as an indie is because he would've lost some democratic voters probably in CT and the republicans already had a nominee and I don't think they could've replaced Lieberman over the other guy.

[...] Senator Bernie Sanders asks some great questions about the current state of the US economy and the question is truly which group are you in?  Are you one of the 300,000 or are you one of the 150,000,000?  Video is here [...]

$32 BILLION to the Walton family alone.

That is ONE of the reasons I don't trade with WalMart (ChinaMart), They don't get one red cent of my money.

JR @ 16:

Don't you guys understand that it's the wealthy that make this country what it is? If we take care of them, they'll take of us.......it's all about trust.

In fact, don't be jealous; if you work hard enough, you too can be wealthy. For example, if you make $10 per hour, all you have to do is work 100,000 hours per year and you're a millionaire!

Quit your whining and get to work!

First off, you dumb wang, theres only 8760 hours in a year. You're talking about working every second of every day for 11 and a half years. Secondly, that type of attitude is why a whole generation of adults have no idea who their kids really are, have gone through multiple divorces and end up having multiple massive heart-attacks before they hit 60.I'd like to close by reiterating the fact that you are, in fact, a wang.

Yes. Yes they are.