A Bernie Sanders Presidency Could Revolutionize Bipartisanship

[Ferd Berfel]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rich-rubino/a-bernie-sanders-presidency-revolutionize-bipartisanship_b_9249508.html



Instead of working through the center, Sanders could effectuate coalitions of the progressive left and the Tea Party Right. The opposition would come from the center-left and from the center-right in both parties.

Conventional wisdom dictates that should Bernie Sanders overcome all electoral hindrances and assume the presidency, much of his agenda would not get through the U.S. Congress. Since Sanders comes from the left wing of the political spectrum, it would be nearly impossible for him to persuade moderate Republicans to vote for his proposals.

Traditionally, presidents shepherd legislation through the Congress by consolidating the votes of members from their own party, then by siphoning off the votes of enough moderates from the opposing party to get legislation passed. This is how Lyndon B. Johnson got Medicare through in 1965, how Ronald Reagan pushed his tax cut proposal through in 1981, and how George H.W. Bush won approval for the the Persian Gulf War Resolution in 1991.

Along these lines, many of Sanders's major proposals would have a near impossible chance of passing without major changes to temporize the legislation. The Republicans are likely to maintain control of the House, and while there is an outside chance they could lose the Senate, the chances are de minimus that the Democrats will hold a 60-vote filibuster-proof majority.
-------------

An END to status quo, business as usual? Excellent!

[BlueCaliDem]

1. Yeah...because he's done it so well in the 25+ years he's been in Congress. Oh wait!

[Jarqui]

3. As a matter of fact, he has

Bernie Gets It Done: Sanders' Record of Pushing Through Major Reforms Will Surprise You

..... Not only has Sanders gotten a lot more things done than Clinton did in her own short legislative career, he's actually one of the most effective members of Congress, passing bills, both big and small, that have reshaped American policy on key issues like poverty, the environment and health care.

The Amendment King ....

As an independent, he was a bit of a nomad. He bargained for caucusing with them in exchange of sitting on some committees and getting involved. The bills he sponsors are ignored. He co-sponsors and does amendments and got a lot done that way - working with Republicans as well.

[Ferd Berfel]

6. Tx - Beat me to it!

But... Hillary wouldn't have a chance. The Reich will obstruct her just like Obama

[Rosa Luxemburg]

41. Bernie is able to work with all in congress

[BlueCaliDem]

8. Should I do as Bernie supporters do, and dismiss those "accomplishments" since it's coming from

a pro-Bernie site? I mean, that's what Bernie supporters do whenever a Hillary supporter has the temerity to post anything positive - and based in FACT - about her, coming from a pro-Hillary site. Turn about is fair play?

The Amendment King merely tells me he's a follower, not a leader. I'm still not impressed.

Choosing to be an Independent (and which he's running as for his 2018 senate re-election, so I have to wonder what kind of Democrat he is) is his choice to be an outsider. He LIKES to be an outsider. Gets him more attention than being a Dem or a Repub, doesn't it?

And if the bills he sponsors are being ignored, can you imagine how any of his ideas that he's selling on the campaign trail will be welcomed in Congress if he becomes president? Can you say "lame duck"? Unless, of course, he bows and compromises with both Republicans and Democrats, and that would damage his rep as a man of integrity, wouldn't it?

You can support him all you want. As a Democrat, I'll support the Democrat - the one President Obama supports as well.

[Jarqui]

12. When the GOP want to build a multi billion dollar weapon, Bernie

gets money to help the poor pay for heating oil, help women get protection/medical help, help the incarcerated, get kids food or education or healthcare, etc - added to that bill - totally unrelated to the weapon.

The amendments are like pork but they're often to help the poor or something that contributes to "his" causes. He's been kind of like a legislative Robin Hood.

And you say that isn't leadership? All of this stuff he's fighting for are progressive issues representative of at least the left of the party.

I think Obama has been the best president. But I still have a mind of my own.

I supported Obama because he represented change. Obama got bogged down without a mandate after two years.

Bernie represents change. We've got to also get him a mandate which we might not be able to do but we have a chance.

Hillary doesn't represent change and she's too unpopular with Republicans and Independents to deliver a 60+ seat Senate and control of the House - no mandate. Hillary represents four more years like the last six - Republican obstruction with corporate money owning the government.

Bernie gives us a shot at the first two Obama years.

[BlueCaliDem]

18. You need to read up on Lockheed Martin's F-35 that's cost taxpayers, not billions but TRILLIONS

to the tune of $1.5 trillion and growing, and how Bernie supports throwing more good taxpayer money after bad. The F-35 program is the Pentagon's biggest wasteful expenditure...and Bernie supports it. But he'll toss a few crumbs to the hungry people to continue to claim he's Robin Hood. Uh huh. I'm not that gullible.

If Hillary is too unpopular with Republicans (who isn't?) and Independents (depends on what "independents" you look at - the Rand Paul types? That's a badge of HONOR) then can you imagine the attacks by the same Republicans and Rand Paul "independents" he'll get from them in the G.E. should Democrats help Bernie to win the primaries?? You can begin practicing "President Trump" - and yes, I do believe he'll be the nominee.

Do you have any idea why Rand Paul donors are donating to Bernie2016 - for which the FEC has cited the campaign for receiving excessive donations exceeding FEC limits? RAND PAUL donors are donating to Bernie, too. Do you believe it's because he's such a great socialist and they agree with him? Or do you believe their rodent-procreating? You decide.

[Jarqui]

21. The facts don't bear you out. Today:

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/latest_polls/
http://www.democraticunderground.com/12511262800#post5
Trump - Sanders does 5 pts better than Clinton
Cruz - Sanders does 13 pts better than Clinton
Rubio - Sanders does 13 pts better than Clinton
Kasich - Sanders does 12 pts better than Clinton
Bush - Sanders does 11 pts better than Clinton

[BlueCaliDem]

35. Polls had Bernie winning from Hillary in Iowa by EIGHT points. How did that work out?

Trump, with all that dirty money and the complete backing of the GOP money machine, will pull the dirtiest ads you've ever seen, and Sanders' 25+ years in Congress - especially those questionable votes - will be on billboards all across the south.

Just today I listened to a GOP strategist who doesn't believe those polls, either. He said that Hillary is easy to run against but that Bernie is the one they really want to run against, and mentioned the socialist and communist past. They will eviscerate him.

[Jarqui]

36. Those darn facts ...

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/ia/iowa_democratic_presidential_caucus-3195.html
Clinton +4 in poll of polls

[BlueCaliDem]

38. Yeah. Those darn facts...

http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/21/politics/iowa-poll-hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders-donald-trump-ted-cruz/index.html


I guess it depends which poll you want to believe, huh?

[Jarqui]

45. Oh dear, more unfortunate facts for you:

1. That CNN poll is on the link I provided
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/ia/iowa_democratic_presidential_caucus-3195.html

2. There were 13 polls done after that. It was way beyond the range of polls they did to calculate the average for the poll of pols. They do that for a accuracy reasons.

Clinton +8 Emerson
Sanders +3 Quinnipiac
Clinton +3 DM Register/Bloomberg
Clinton +3 NBC/WSJ/Marist
Clinton +8 PPP (D)
Clinton +11 Gravis
Clinton +5 Monmouth
Sanders +3 ARG
Sanders +4 Quinnipiac
Clinton +6 FOX News
Sanders +1 CBS News/YouGov
Clinton +9 Emerson
Clinton +9 KBUR
Sanders +8 CNN/ORC
Clinton +29 Loras College
Clinton +2 Iowa St. Univ./WHO-TV
Clinton +21 Gravis
Clinton +6 PPP (D)
Clinton +2 DM Register/Bloomberg
Sanders +3 ARG

3. You cherry picked an outlier - the highest poll for Sanders since September. Sorry, that's not going to cut it. It's silly and no one's buying that.

[BlueCaliDem]

47. I didn't "cherry pick" anything. I gave my opinion based on the poll I saw.

I also mentioned - maybe you've overlooked it - that IT DEPENDS ON WHICH POLL YOU WANT TO BELIEVE.

So keep your accusations to yourself, mkay? Good.

By the way...have you read what Rep. Luis Gutiérrez has written for Univision? It looks as if Sanders will get the exposure his supporters said he wasn't getting. I've been saying for months, be careful what you wish for.

Let the vetting begin...

[Jarqui]

49. ignoring all the other polling isn't a great moment for your argument.

When there are a battery of polls done for Iowa and RealClear, Pollster.com and 538.com all use recent averages. They never cherry pick the highest poll taken in four months and try and say that is meaningful because it ignores all the other evidence.

If you want to ignore a lot of the evidence and cherry pick, that's your prerogative but most folks are going to buy it.

[Jarqui]

30. Bernie is generally against military spending

Every time they want a star wars or fancy stuff, he's up on the floor with statistics about the poor, fighting for his causes or making them feel guilty if they don't, etc

This history of pieces they developed for this goes back to the 80s. When the 1994 authorization passed, it got a big majority. Lockheed spent millions on lobbyists and campaigns. Bernie declined their money.

When defense votes came up, typically he'd vote no. But with it already approved and moving forward, when it came time to decide which state was going to get the billions to build them, Vermont was a candidate. It was a choice of several states and Bernie helped Vermont win a hunk of the business. When the tidal wave of momentum for it couldn't be changed, he got what he could for his state. What a terrible, evil congressman, right?

And it isn't just a matter of cancelling it and saving dollars because of cost overruns. That's naive. Other countries have invested in the R&D so they'd probably have to give that money back. And they have sales of about 800 of them already at ~$1 mil a pop and they probably got some deposits to return. That's rougly $800 billion of business they'd be walking away from ($450 billion profit). And all the American jobs that would be lost. They also need new jets so they'd be back to the drawing board - big money there. As well, they wouldn't wind up with a product that the can attract some future sales. It's not a simple decision of our panties are in a knot so just cut costs.

I don't know Rand Paul donors. I don't why they would donate. I don't know how many are donating. And quite frankly, I could care less. That's a red herring.

[BlueCaliDem]

37. Okay. If that's what you need to believe.

I don't know Rand Paul donors. I don't why they would donate. I don't know how many are donating. And quite frankly, I could care less. That's a red herring.

It's the writing on the wall. I've said it many times before, the GOP are helping Bernie, and you might not care or even tacitly approve because it will help your preferred candidate, but you also need to ask yourself why they're supporting Bernie against Hillary. What is their game plan?

[Jarqui]

42. I agree that Republicans and Independents like Bernie more. They

have for months and that's the biggest reason right now that he does so much better nationally against the GOP candidates than Hillary does.

If he's getting Rand Paul supporters who are going to vote for him as it appears, that's great. That's part of what good candidates do. Obama got about 8 or 9% of Republicans when he ran. I didn't see any hand wringing then. That's about the same percentage who seem to like Bernie. Nothing wrong with it.

As for PACs, Priorties USA just bought half a million in adds in each of Nevada and South Carolina for Hillary.

So if Karl Rove or some GOPer PAC who hates Hillary runs some ads, maybe that even things up a bit.

Their game plan is to drag things out. If Hillary falls behind, they might help her.

[jillan]

32. And Hillary is not trying to halt the production of F-35s either. Infact, she is trying to sell them

to foreign countries.

[BlueCaliDem]

40. But she's a hawk, remember? Bernie is the anti-war candidate, right? RIGHT? He's against

Wall Street - OOPS. Lockheed Martin trades on Wall Street, too! Fancy that.

[MrMickeysMom]

39. Wow...

You mean you wouldn't have had any desire to even ask the person above to explain HOW, in those examples of previous administrations they managed to push those decisions through the legislature?

[Persondem]

24. The "Amendment King" thing is nonsense. I actually looked at the amendments he sponsored.

Over half never even got to a vote. A good chunk of them were procedural and the upshot was that he got about 3 amendments passed per year.

Apparently it doesn't take much to be a "king" these days.

[workinclasszero]

48. Ikr? smh

The original post is the funniest crock of **** I've ever read on DU.

Do people actually believe the hardcore teahaddists in the house are going to do what a president Bernie tells them?
Largest tax increase in history president Burnie? Sure thing!

WOW!

[mikehiggins]

2. Actually, IMHO, it would be easier for Sanders

Firstly, the GOPukes don't start out hating him personally. They may think he is sort of a joke, or he may not live to run for reelection, or he kind of resembles Willford Brimley, everybody's grandpa or any other reason.

Second, if he does get into the White House it will prove to the pols (canny, cunning people all, according to Trump) that his positions are NOT so bad. Remember those Tea Party signs about keeping government hands off our Social Security? Medicare for all? College education for all? Kicking Wall Street in the balls? All programs that could be grudgingly supported, or allowed, without alienating many of the voters who would benefit from them.

And of course, if he does win, he'll have demonstrated that the US people really are pissed off.

A couple of serious primary challenges later, and a liberal majority on the Supreme Court, and lo! The political revolution will be upon us without one guillotine being needed.

Yes, we can.

[Ron Green]

4. What Republican could be against Main Street?

Small business, mom-and-pops, entrepreneurs, local start-ups, worker-owned co-ops (well, maybe not so much that one)... all the employment models that American towns, cities and neighborhoods need for prosperity and that would flourish in a new economy ought to be favored by Republicans, if they're not too busy with wedge issues.

[JudyM]

5. Strange bedfellows. They may end up liking him. Nt

[Ferd Berfel]

7. They could be some of the cross over votes for Bernie

[JudyM]

29. Absolutely.

I had an Iowan Rand Paul supporter on the phone a few weeks ago who was torn between voting for Rand or voting *vs* Hillary... Bernie was his 2nd choice candidate even without the benefit of a vote vs Hillary, and Hillary was the last person he wanted to see win the election.

[MrMickeysMom]

50. I noticed the same hierarchy of how Iowans were thinking...

Lots of "undecided"s who were for sure not going to vote for HRC.

Nevada is harder to judge this way, because the phone calls that I'm making now include R's.

[Kip Humphrey]

13. Bernie has at least one advantage: republicons are not his #1 enemy.

[JudyM]

27. Right... What a sad state of affairs in this country. Nt

[Mnpaul]

44. It might happen

Bernie is gold

[Cosmocat]

9. This writer and anyone who actually believes this

Are either living in a complete alternate reality or are lying to themselves.

There is not a single republican in congress who will work with a democrat POTUS.

None.

N O N E.

Much less TEA PARTY Republicans would work with him?

Jesus.

[onehandle]

10. Too bad Obama didn't think of that.

Probably because it's unicorn fueled bullshit.

[MohRokTah]

11. .

Thanks for the laugh!

[geek tragedy]

14. Tea Partiers in Congress are not going to vote for Socialism. nt

[Ferd Berfel]

16. No, BUt they probably will vote to

cut the military budget
Break up big banks - End TOO Big to Fail
Income Inequality
Probably many other issues

[geek tragedy]

17. yeah, good luck with that nt

[Ferd Berfel]

20. He's done pretty well so far - and very often with Republicans

[geek tragedy]

22. how many of those 206 passed while Republicans controlled the House or Senate? nt

[LiberalLovinLug]

33. Keep moving those goal posts.

You forgot to add the "But but but but.." before your reply.

I don't know why you Bernie bashers are so hellbent on raining on the idea of finding ways to work with some Republicans to pass legislation. Isn't that what Obama's goal was? and Hillary looks like she will also follow this Republican lite strategy. Like her husband, who was called the best Republican President the Democrats ever had. The only problem with that is that, like what happened with Obama, the GOP were still butt-hurt by Bill making them look like fools in that he regularly out-Republicaned them before they had a chance. (Three strikes..Glass Steagall...). So when Obama tried to capitulate on core traditional Democratic values in order to make a deal, they stomped their feet and said NO. The same will happen to Hillary. They will not let another corporate floozy upstage them. THEY want to be the prime corporate floozies.

That's why Sanders could leap frog. Because he does not share the competition with the corporate masters the way the Third Way Democrats have been doing, very successfully, since Bill's run.

[geek tragedy]

34. The #1 lesson from Obama's presidency is that YOU CAN'T WORK WITH REPUBLICANS

He tried to work with them and it almost ruined his presidency.

[LiberalLovinLug]

52. That is exactly my point

I do not believe Hillary will learn from that lesson. She will continue to repeat the failed strategy of bending over for Mitch McConnell, perhaps even offering even more up on things like SS, Keystone, TTP, etc.. just to say she "gets things done". The Third Way seems to be about just keep piling the goodies on the table (ie. hard fought civil rights and benefits, tax breaks for the wealthy, ignoring Wall Street crimes, and even young soldiers lives) until the Repubs will FINALLY will throw the Dem President a "victory" by agreeing to a heavily Repub pork infested bill.

Sanders would come at it from a different direction. He would target just enough more maverick libertarian Republicans on single issues that they agree on, like breaking up the banks for instance. I would also hope that Bernie would work immediately on campaign finance reform to weed out corruption in the democracy in future.

[Cosmocat]

19. comical

And, so bizarre it pretty much defies response ...

[Buzz cook]

15. Sweet Jezuz

You can't really believe that.

[bigtree]

23. ugh

...we've seen how cooperative tea party republicans can be.

[uponit7771]

25. What planet is this writer from?

[Persondem]

26. Sure, like that bipartisan way he helped kill immigration reform in 2007.

He really worked well with the GOP on that.

[UglyGreed]

28. SHH as Hillary

and her supporters say, If the republicans win they will do as they please. If Hillary wins she is a progressive who gets things done. If Bernie win he will never do anything at all........

[Betty Karlson]

31. I'm all for it. eom

[brooklynite]

43. I see - Sanders is going to get Tea Party people to support taxes to pay for Single Payer

Let me know how that works out.

[one_voice]

46. Yeah. Whatever.

I remember what the tea party right said about Obama, both professionally & personally. I remember the mobs they pandered to. The things they said....

Best thing we can do is get them out of office. Not a decent one in the lot.

[ladjf]

51. The Establishment has a gigantic padlock on the controls of our Government.

That padlock must be cracked open.