Russell Simmons endorses Clinton, slams Sanders

[ericson00]

Move over, Spike Lee:

Russell Simmons is supporting Hillary Clinton’s bid for president.
The business magnate called Clinton a longtime friend and slammed her rival, Bernie Sanders, as a candidate who is insensitive to African-Americans' hardships and is making promises he can't possible keep.
“I think that Bernie Sanders is overpromising,” Simmons said Friday on CNN. “He’s insensitive to the plight of black people.”
The Def Jam co-founder hailed Clinton as the Democratic candidate with the best chance to win the general election in November and said her policies are realistic.

[Cali_Democrat]

1. He's right. Bernie's 2014 NRR interview:

Bernie's own words:

---------------------

On African-American support for Democrats

Well, here's what you got. What you got is an African-American president, and the African-American community is very, very proud that this country has overcome racism and voted for him for president. And that's kind of natural. You've got a situation where the Republican Party has been strongly anti-immigration, and you've got a Hispanic community which is looking to the Democrats for help.

But that's not important. You should not be basing your politics based on your color. What you should be basing your politics on is, how is your family doing? ... In the last election, in state after state, you had an abysmally low vote for the Democrats among white, working-class people. And I think the reason for that is that the Democrats have not made it clear that they are prepared to stand with the working-class people of this country, take on the big money interests. I think the key issue that we have to focus on, and I know people are uncomfortable about talking about it, is the role of the billionaire class in American society.

http://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2014/11/19/365024592/sen-bernie-sanders-on-how-democrats-lost-white-voters

[scscholar]

3. Wow, so "stand with the working-class people..."

is now a dog whistle that you're against people that society won't allow have jobs. His response and that dog whistle are depressing.

[Hiraeth]

51. and that dog don't hunt either.

such bullshit.

[roguevalley]

96. Simmons is a rich man who bought the bullshit.

[Unknown Beatle]

117. Simmons is a member of the 1%.

To say Sanders is against the black community when his (Sanders) record proves otherwise, just goes to show the level of cognitive dissonance involved on Simmons part.

[Il_Coniglietto]

10. This is the interview that turned me off Sanders

"But that's not important. You should not be basing your politics based on your color."

Easy to say when your color isn't held against you every single day. I like to think he's learned a lot more since 2014, but he's still making the tired argument that economic justice begets social justice. A rising tide doesn't lift all boats to the same level. It maintains the status quo of one group being better off than another. Until you tackle the bigotry itself, anything else is ultimately window dressing.

[Cali_Democrat]

12. "Easy to say when your color isn't held against you every single day"

Exactly!

[Wilms]

18. I think he poorly worded things.

I happen to agree that money is the big factor. Where there are jobs, there are people working. THAT is integration. And where I worked, it was a field leveler. I've worked with many a great AA who were respected and well-paid in accordance.

-on edit-

I think they'd all agree with us that racism IS a problem.

[Il_Coniglietto]

32. I agree that it was poorly worded

But in far too many debates, he's been directly asked about systemic racism and has pivoted back to economic justice benefiting everyone. You can increase the minimum wage, you can create more jobs, but if an employer still tosses out a resume because of the "ethnic" name, what good is any of that? That's what I need to hear from him, and not just one sentence in a speech like it's an afterthought, but all the time and loudly. Fight for it, fight for us.

But at this point in the campaign it's too little, too late.

[Wilms]

54. What can ANYONE do about that??

It's already illegal. No?

I am sure my experience is anecdotal. I am quite sure racism exists. But I also know that with education and increased minimum wages and with infrastructure investment, there will be more jobs and more mixed race environments created. And I believe those environments can lead to a reduction in racism.

But Bernie's not getting good speech-writing counsel and is failing to make his point RELATIVE to the issue of racism.

[Il_Coniglietto]

84. Technically, yes, it's illegal.

When my mom used her full Spanish name on her resume, the phone barely rang. My mom now uses her married name (which is Irish) and she gets call backs. Can she legally prove that's discrimination? The system is structured to make that as difficult as possible. Not only that, but the idea that one must change their name, change part of who they are (and are proud to be) in order to "fit in"...but at the same time attacked by others for conforming, for "selling out." It's an impossible game to win.

I'm not saying this happens in every scenario, and I completely agree with you on the role that increased diversity plays in challenging these prejudices.

But I guess I've been disappointed that Bernie Sanders has been such a champion in fighting against economic inequality (and I love that he is), but doesn't quite seem to get how hollow that rings without passionately advocating for social justice as well. To his credit, he's taken some huge strides forward since that interview and even since last summer. But I still don't get the sense that it's entirely clicked. Economics feels like priorities #1-5.

As for what he can do? Listen! That's the most important thing. He doesn't have personal experience in this and that's okay! I'm glad he doesn't because it's an awful thing to be treated like you are "less than," to always have to be the bigger person, to take the shots and keep holding your head high. It's exhausting and it's frustrating and yes, it makes you angry as hell.

The other thing? He's a member of Congress! He's got more power to actively do something than the rest of us 320 million Americans and that holds true whether he's president or not.

I'm really hoping that no matter the results of this campaign, he listens, he continues to listen and he continues to fight.

[Haveadream]

104. Fantastic Post

Thank you.

[Gwhittey]

59. See if you where not so fast

to jump on calling him out for being insensitive and take time to learn what he is about you would learn that, he just thinks we need to Fix the crappy way we are being controlled by Big Corps and that is corner stone of fixing social issues. You have to kill the disease before you cure the symptoms. Why do you think GOP cut Obama off at the knees and why really only lip service is being paid to curtail police kill unarmed POC all over country, because money and corruption influences our elected officials to just appease us with speeches and not actually try and change anything because it is hard so let us just do a little at a time, This is oligarchy 101. divide the little people up and then sick them against each other and take in money like mad while the little people fight over scraps.

For him to come out and tell African Americans anything else would be pandering to them because what I understand about him is that he speaks what he believes. And basically post after post on her and Main Stream media all over are saying the same message, "Sanders did not pander to xyz group like a normal politician does to win votes" And people think that is bad thing to just lie about crap. I guess Trump is type of Pres this country deserves because that is what he is doing to those Racist idiots over in GOP.

Now I don't know what Sanders thinks or his attitude but I have read a lot on what he did in past and his work for Civil Rights seemed real good. If I was him I think I would be saddened by all media all the time trying to portray him as anti POC. It just seems that we are trying to make a issue of race on the wrong person, a white man who has been fighting against it for longer than I have been on this Earth.

[Il_Coniglietto]

99. I know quite a lot about him

so I don't think "learning" more will change that. In fact, I think I've given him the benefit of the doubt more often than not.

The disease analogy is interesting because I think we're discussing two different diseases. Medicine for one does not equal medicine for another. You have to treat both or the body still suffers. And I'm not accusing you of this at all, but too often minorities are essentially told to wait our turn while economic equality is given prominence. Equality among races, genders, orientations, religions, etc...those are "wedge" issues. But if we keep waiting, one day we'll get to them!

I'm a bit confused as to how promising free healthcare and free college tuition (both of which I support in theory and would benefit me) isn't pandering, but fighting for social justice as separate from economic justice is? Maybe I'm misunderstanding you.

Sanders and the Civil Rights Movement...*sigh* This is a topic I've seen raised again and again and again. I'll be bluntly honest. I think it's wonderful that he was involved when he was, but he had the privilege to leave it. He got the chance to move away, he got the chance to focus on other things, he got the chance to "base his politics" on something other than his color. POC do not get that chance.

I won't speak for others beyond that, but as a Latina, seeing how Dolores Huerta was treated by some after the Nevada brouhaha hurt. Whatever actually happened that day barely matters anymore. What matters is how quickly and easily some discounted the decades of blood, sweat and tears she shed fighting for the rights of farm workers, Latinos, women and all Americans. She doesn't get the chance to focus on other issues, to base her politics on something else because when she walks out the door in the morning, she's not seen by society at large as Dolores the person, she's not even just another American. She's a Latina, first and foremost. In a country where Republicans want to shame us for fighting for our rights as human beings and as Americans, just being proud of who we are is a form of protest. Compound that with folks who claim to be on your side tossing your concerns aside in an instant--and, ultimately, for what?--is brutal.

I don't want anyone to think I'm attacking Bernie for this because I'm not. It's just incredibly frustrating to see "he marched with Dr. King" mentioned all the time, as if we don't march for ourselves every damn day. We don't get the choice.

[Lucinda]

129. Great post.

[BreakfastClub]

112. Sanders supporters routinely say you shouldn't base your politics on gender.

So what's the difference? You don't think women face discrimination every single day? They do, and they do all over the world.

[Ken Burch]

116. That isn't true. Bernie does NOT say that economic justice BEGETS social justice

What he does say is that it's not really possible to get social justice WITHOUT also getting economic justice. That you need both, and that there is an intersection and a relationship.

The Nineties and the Obama era prove that you can't effectively fight racism without also fighting corporate control of life.

These days, grassroots racism among working-class whites is largely driven by the belief that life is "zero-sum"-that is, that any gains for POC are going to mean losses for working-class whites.

This means that, if we WANT to end grassroots racism(as we all do), we need to restructure the economy so that everybody knows that things like open housing and affirmative action aren't going to mean that the working-class whites of today know they won't lose anything through the triumph of social justice. It's wrong for anyone to be racist, but you can't beat grassroots racism just by saying "racism is wrong". That simply doesn't work. Working-class whites don't hold racist views out of simple meanness-they hold them largely out of fear, misguided fear, that a non-racist society means they will end up in poverty. And this fear is deliberately instilled by corporate power because it knows that, if working-class whites can move past racism, corporate dominance of life will not survive.

This is simply the natural insight anyone who was involved in civil rights work in the Sixties and who saw what actually drove the white backlash(a backlash that was not unavoidable, but was deliberately created by the corporate leadership of the day) would have.

All he is really saying here is that we need economic justice(in addition to the fact that we should have it because we'd be a better society with it)in order to make sure that racial backlash dies out.

That does not equal believing that "a rising tide lifts all boats" at all. Nor does it equal the belief that racism no longer matters.

[Gwhittey]

14. Ok

Can you explain to me what is wrong with that? Are you saying POC should vote based on race? Should a African American vote for Ben Carson over Hillary? If I have misread what you mean I am sorry but it seems you are this is reason Sanders is insensitive to POC?

[JaneyVee]

29. By that logic, we can overcome SEXISM by electing a woman Prez!

[Hiraeth]

43. and by that logic we should have already overcome racism by electing Obama. oh wait.

[JaneyVee]

44. Bernie said it!

[Hiraeth]

56. Bernie said it!! I say IT every damn day and I want my whole damn dollar for saying it.

[monicaangela]

69. Listen to the entire speech

or read the transcript, it explains what he is talking about and why. He is not talking as a democratic presidential candidate, he is speaking as an independent that appears to be fed up with the BS. His comments on the African American community as you have placed them are out of context:

INSKEEP: When you say the working class, are you thinking about the white working class specifically?

SANDERS: I'm thinking about the working class in general. When you talk about unemployment, do you know what real unemployment is? In counting those people who have given up for looking for work and are working part-time, when they want to work full-time. For African-American kids, it is 30 percent. Who is fighting for these folks?

INSKEEP: Here's why I ask about the white working class. Of course, President Obama has assembled a coalition that depends heavily on minority voters. You have argued in the past that Democrats are losing too much of the white vote. There were states in Senate races in November where Democrats couldn't even get 25 percent of the white vote.

SANDERS: That's correct.

INSKEEP: Why have you been focusing on that?

SANDERS: Well, I am focusing on the fact that, whether you're white or black or Hispanic or Asian, if you are in the working class, you are struggling to keep your heads above water. You're worried about your kids. What should the Democratic Party talking about, Steve? What they should be talking about is a massive federal jobs program. There was once a time when our nation's infrastructure - roads, bridges, water systems, rail - were the envy of the world. Today, that's no longer the case.

INSKEEP: Haven't Democrats been raising some of these issues...

SANDERS: Yes.

INSKEEP: ...And weren't they raising them in the election that they just lost?

SANDERS: Some candidates did raise some of these issues. But I don't think you see the kind of forceful development of this idea and forceful need to raise the issue about job creation that we should be talking about. I would say, if you go out on the street and you talk to people and say, which is the party of the American working pass - class - people would look to you like you're a little bit crazy. They wouldn't know what you're talking about, and they certainly wouldn't identify the Democrats.

INSKEEP: Help me understand what's going on here though because you have mentioned the white vote in the past. The African-American working class has been voting for Democrats. If you looked at single women, who were often working class...

SANDERS: You're going into this - Steve, you're going into this demographic stuff, which I reject. That's not my cup of tea.

INSKEEP: Although, you talked about it.

SANDERS: Yes. Well, here's what you got. What you got is an African-American president. And the African-American community is very, very proud that this country has overcome racism and voted for him for president. And that's kind of natural. You got a situation where the Republican Party has been strongly anti-immigration. And you've got a Hispanic community, which is looking to the Democrats for help. But that's not important. You should not be basing your politics based on your color. What you should be basing your politics on is, how is your family doing?

There is lots more, but this kind of clarified the statement for me.

[TM99]

109. It is a lot easier to smear

a person if you take the words out of context.

[Lizzie Poppet]

79. Thank you for posting that brilliant, truthful statement.

Much appreciated...

[Cali_Democrat]

86. Check out Bernie's numbers with African Americans

how's he doing with the most reliable Democratic voters?

[Lizzie Poppet]

89. It's not about party for me.

I don't care about how he's doing with Democratic voters, reliable or otherwise. I'm not a Democrat. I'm a progressive. I care about electing a progressive, which is not something I consider Hillary Clinton to be. Unless the eventual President-Elect is someone with whom I share progressive viewpoints, whether or not they have a "D" behind their name is irrelevant to me. To party-first people, it's everything...and while I don't hold that position, it's their perfect right to have that priority. It's just not my priority.

Don't get me wrong: I rejoice in the fact that African Americans can be voters, at all. That's been the case for my entire life (too young for the Civil Rights era), but I know plenty of people who have first hand experience of the time when it wasn't, at least not for many. But any voting block that votes oppositely from me can't logically be considered to be my political ally. One reason (among many) I'm for Bernie is his young voter turnout. However, his ending up the candidate might lower black turnout...and that sucks .I truly mean that. But if this heartbreakingly frustrating division among Democratic voters has to exist, any rational person would favor their political allies over their non-allies.

[platitudipus]

111. Well stated! n/t

[Number23]

113. So, you're basically saying that black people are not your political allies?

But young people (who constitute every race) are? Just to make sure that I've got that bit clear.

I rejoice in the fact that African Americans can be voters, at all.

You are so kind.

[Lizzie Poppet]

118. Nope.

I'm saying anyone who votes oppositely from me isn't a political ally. That's a pretty simple (and unavoidable) logical conclusion. Some (but by no means all) of those people will be black. *shrug* I suspect at least a slight majority of white males aren't my political allies, either: they're the most-represented demographic among conservative voters.

[Number23]

119. Well considering that black people are the backbone of the Democratic Party

and black women are the most loyal and consistent Democratic voters, your comments are especially... interesting.

[Lizzie Poppet]

121. As I said previously...

...I'm not a Democrat. I'm a progressive (an independent socialist, to be specific). I usually vote for Democrats because they're the liberal choice in a lot of races. The Democrat branding is irrelevant to me. If the Republicans were the more-liberal party, I'd be voting for their candidates, instead. I don't like the Democratic Party's slow slide to the right one little bit.

[Number23]

123. Your posts are definitely... someting

Black people are such a consistent Democrat-voting block because the Democrats are the most progressive. Your posts make no sense and just seem like some seriously bizarre posturing.

If the Republicans were the more-liberal party, I'd be voting for their candidates

Um, yeah. Right. The Democrats are the "more liberal party" and yet, here you still are, complaining and maligning its most consistent voting block. Like I said, some seriously bizarre posturing.

[Lizzie Poppet]

124. Um...okay.

We're seriously talking past each other at this point, with no real sign of understanding (and zero likelihood of agreement on a couple foundational points like the relative progressivism of the current Democratic Party establishment). Can't see any benefit in continuing this.

Be well.

[Number23]

125. You're absolutely right. No chance of us agreeing on anything at all.

[Thinkingabout]

2. Thanks, another endorsement to join many others, we appreciate all.

[pdsimdars]

4. Another person I really respected who has lost his way. Too bad.

[oasis]

24. "Lost his way". Yup, Hill's realistic policies have lead him astray.

I wonder how he ever got rich in the first place.

[shenmue]

101. Under the bus he goes!

[NurseJackie]

5. THIS: "... and said her policies are realistic."

The Def Jam co-founder hailed Clinton as the Democratic candidate with the best chance to win the general election in November and said her policies are realistic.

Go, Hillary! We love you!

[BernieforPres2016]

6. Of course somebody described as a business magnate

would call Hillary a longtime friend and favor her over Bernie. He doesn't want to see his taxes go up.

[Cheese Sandwich]

7. Where are russell simmons clothes made? Phat Farm? Probably makes his money by slaves or something

[sufrommich]

22. You realize Spike Lee has a long and profitable

relationship with Nike,right? Careful where you throw those stones.

[auntpurl]

38. You think Russell Simmons owns slaves. RUSSELL SIMMONS.

It is staggering the things I read on DU these days.

[Cheese Sandwich]

42. He probably doesn't OWN them. I'm just asking questions here...

Does Russell Simmons benefit from cheap exploited labor, borderline slavery, sweatshops somewhere in the world? Maybe that's why he supports Hillary. Because she is the candidate for that. Just asking questions.

[sufrommich]

46. Did you really just accuse Russell Simmons of owning slaves?

[auntpurl]

52. I genuinely can't believe some of the things I read on here these days.

I really thought living through the '08 primary, I'd heard it all.

Amazing.

[Cheese Sandwich]

61. Let's stick to the topic: Russell Simmons' sweatshops

[Cheese Sandwich]

60. No. I asked where his clothes are made. Particularly Phat Farm?

I implied Russell Simmons might be an exploiter if his clothes are made by slaves.

And I said if you are going to own slaves, you should at least feel guilty about it.

But Russel Simmons most likely does not OWN slaves.

[sufrommich]

65. "Russel Simmons most likely does not OWN slaves"

Most likely?

[Cheese Sandwich]

70. Depends what you mean by OWN and what you mean by SLAVE

If he owns the BRAND label that makes clothes in a third world sweatshop about one inch from slavery, I guess you can say he doesn't technically own slaves but it would be pretty damn close.

[zappaman]

120. That hole you keep digging can't get much deeper.

You should probably quit while you're behind.

[bravenak]

126. I don't know about that, we should just wait before we speak on it

We never know.

[wobble]

75. oh?

Russel Simmons' relationship with Phat Pharm was that of a Founder.

Spike Lee's was that of a designer.

I think more than a few people on this forum might posit that both Phat Pharm and Nike might not be paying a proper labor rate for their production due to some free trade treaties which were supported by someone with whom you may agree.

I am not going to try and defend Cheese Sandwich's insinuation. I am under the impression that firms in the United States trade with only countries which pay wages, albeit small wages. Outright slavery will not enter our labor pool until passage of the TPP, barring amendments to the TPP which outlaw this sort of trade, of which I must admit I am ignorant.

Would Mr. Simmons continue to produce if the labor rates paid were commiserate to the labor rates in the economies where the Phat Pharm or his other two clothing lines products are sold? I don't think Mr. Simmons is alone in this conundrum, but it shows how well the capitalist is served by Mrs. Clinton's future policy.

Would Mr. Lee continue to design shoes for Nike if their labor rates were increased to that of the economy into which they are selling their goods? I would assume, given the opportunity, a designer would design for a firm regardless of their labor rates.

Capitalism seeks cost minimization. Free trade expands the labor pool to contain individuals who do not reside inside our country. These people can be employed for a miniscule cost by a firm, and then the firm can sell their product at no discount to our market because of our relatively high wage rate.

Russel Simmons is a capitalist. Capitalists like free trade. Hillary likes free trade. Russel Simmons likes Hillary.

He is endorsing/voting in his self interest, something which more people should seek to do.

[auntpurl]

30. Really.

In May 2009, Simmons was appointed Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Slavery Memorial at the United Nations to honor the victims of slavery and the transatlantic slave trade by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

[AzDar]

8. His Children's Stepfather is Goldman-Sachs Banker Embroiled in SCANDAL...

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/malaysian-1mdb-scandal-who-goldman-sachs-dealmaker-extraordinaire-tim-leissner-1544429

And seems Russell Has Had BANKING scandals of his own:
http://www.essence.com/2015/10/26/russell-simmons-debit-card-company-under-investigation-after-glitch-leaves-thousands



Oh, What A Tangled Wall St Web We Weave...

[KoKo]

49. K&R

[jillan]

50. Very interesting! Very, Very interesting.

[smiley]

72. Kicking

for this post….

[Enrique]

127. he sounds like he could use a sympathetic president

I don't think Bernie would be likely to help him out.

[That Guy 888]

9. Someone with an estimated net worth of $325 million endorses Clinton?

I'm shocked, shocked to hear that millionaires are in favor of Secretary Clinton.

[Hiraeth]

15. IOKIYAB

[Autumn]

16. I'm shocked also, shocked that there's gambling going on here

[That Guy 888]

20. Your winnings, sir.

[dana_b]

31. Lol.. yeah... next!

Next multi millionaire up!

[TM99]

110. Not only very wealthy

but embroiled in several financial scandals and investigations.

I love how this rich and dishonest 'business mandate' lectures us on how Clinton and he understand the plight of minorities better than Sanders.

[Duppers]

131. Exactly! nt

[UtahLib]

11. K&R

[Chelsea2032]

13. Russell and Killer Mike should debate

[Hiraeth]

17. and Nina Turner should mediate

[Chelsea2032]

21. She is great.

That would be fabulous.

[Hiraeth]

33. Love her

I want my whole damn dollar!

[SidDithers]

19. DU rec...

but he's no Killer Mike.

Sid

[Chelsea2032]

25. Great Debate

It would be fireworks.

[UglyGreed]

23. Whatever

[Chelsea2032]

27. Powerful Picture

Hard to deny Bernie's passion.

[UglyGreed]

37. indeed

[Darb]

28. Is that Bernie?

He's a dirty butt!

[Darb]

41. Mine was a goof.

I think there is a substance you can smoke that restores ones sense of humor.

[Hiraeth]

45. then smoke it dude. I am ahead of you already. none goofier around here.

[Darb]

55. Peace.

[Hiraeth]

58. peace

[bunnies]

64. Be careful next time your joking around with someone.

You were actually alerted on for this.

[Hiraeth]

66. not surprised. at. all. will self delete it. thanks for telling me.

[bunnies]

68. Glad you survived.

[Hiraeth]

73. thanks for telling me. makes me wonder what all posts are mine are alerted and survive and I

don't know it. curious is all. because I know there are plenty of heavy handed alerters around here.

[bunnies]

76. It would be cool if there was a spot on our 'my posts' section that told us.

Yeah - people are more than a little alert crazy right about bout now.

[UglyGreed]

36. Yup Bernie

he's bad bad man

[Darb]

40. Agreed.

Bernie is cool. Walks the walk for sure.

[whatchamacallit]

53. Yes, he's been just awful with POC

This is what wealth and power can do to a heart and mind.

[desmiller]

57. Simmons' just thinking about his money. Hillary in the White House will keep his money

untouched.

[UglyGreed]

62. Susan Sarandon

mentioned that those connected to Hollywood and such do want to be shamed by others in the business. Peer pressure is real and we never grow out of it. Of course the Nader slander will be placed at Susan's feet because of this reply

[desmiller]

63. Indeed.

[Darb]

26. Under the bus you go, bro.

Oh well.

[Hiraeth]

39. well at least it is a nice bus. after all millionaires buy the best.

[grossproffit]

47. He gets it.

[Octafish]

71. He sure does, with a net worth of $325 million.

A regular guy, he is.

http://www.therichest.com/celebnetworth/celeb/rappers/russell-simmons-net-worth/

Votes to raise his taxes all the time, but nothing ever happens for some reason.

[whatchamacallit]

74. Conscience-free rich assholes

[desmiller]

48. Not Surprised.

[ismnotwasm]

67. K&R

[Scruffy1]

77. Surprise. A multi millionaire endorses Clinton. N/T.

[riversedge]

78. rec

[Lizzie Poppet]

80. A multimillionaire business magnate endorses the corporate candidate? How shocking.

Oh, and he's also a lying sack of shit:

"He’s insensitive to the plight of black people."

Go fuck yourself, Russ.

[Iliyah]

81. K & R

Go Hillary!

[jillan]

82. Russell Simmons? The same one that is being sued for ripping off people with his pre-paid visa cards

Oh looky here, another Bankster endorses Hillary.

Me thinks it has more to do with her ties to the banksters than it does with the color of his skin.

RUSSELL SIMMONS SLAPPED WITH CLASS ACTION SUIT OVER RUSHCARD SCANDAL
http://www.centrictv.com/news-views/business-finance/articles/2015/10/26/russell-simmons-slapped-with-class-action-suit-for-rushcard-scandal.html

http://www.theroot.com/blogs/the_grapevine/2015/10/rushcard_users_file_a_class_action_lawsuit_against_russell_simmons_company.html

I know he said it was a boo-boo but it's not the first time he ripped off consumers....
http://madamenoire.com/110180/russell-simmons-rush-card-under-investigation-for-hidden-fees/

[whatchamacallit]

83. He's getting mauled on Twitter

Rightfully.

[jillan]

87. This is what happens when you endorse someone and slam the other opponent on hearsay.

If he endorsed Hillary and said I endorse her over Bernie because I like her plans to improve the ACA better than Bernie's then great. But to make it about race?

I have no words!

Never in my life have I seen so much race - baiting with the exception of when President Obama was running - and that came from the repugs.

[whatchamacallit]

88. Exactly how I felt too

I thought "Why not just endorse her without regurgitating divisive garbage memes about Bernie's insensitivity to AAs?".

[4Q2u2]

85. I am sure it has nothing to do with this

The banking industry, which makes a huge sum of money through fees for its services, would be strongly opposed to the firm regulations Sanders proposed on Tuesday. But in his speech, he hinted that he’s not only aware of this, but embraces it: “Will they like me? No. Will they begin to play by the rules if I’m president? You better believe it.”

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/01/bernies-big-plans-for-consumer-finance/422790/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/10/29/bernie-sanders-has-a-pretty-revolutionary-idea-to-change-americas-post-offices/

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/03/dnc-chair-lends-a-hand-to-payday-lenders.html

Rush Card also has pay day loans.

[NWCorona]

90. Tim Black says it better than an I can

[4Q2u2]

91. MAN

That is one ATOMIC ELBOW from the top rope.

[NWCorona]

92. I feel it is definitely on the extreme

But I agree with him. The black community has been dealing with this crab mentality for awhile now and nothing new. It's not like Russ is an elected black official who has an working relationship with Hillary. Dude couldn't even articulate his position when called out.

[4Q2u2]

95. Extreme No

I should have noted that it was a Righteous Atomic Elbow. The actual truth can never be extreme.
It does make one wonder, what does Sanders have to do. He put his actual Butt on the line, risked harm and stood shoulder to shoulder in the struggle for Equality.

When Walking down a dark alley, if you want to know who true friends are, look left and look right. Those standing next to you are the ones.

[NWCorona]

98. Agreed! I only say that as even tho I don't

Some might have a problem with one word he says. I happen to think it's fitting in Russ's case.

I like the WWE reference by the way!

[greymouse]

94. who's russell simmons? do I care?

[shenmue]

102. Look it up

Man's been in music for 40 or so years.

[bec]

97. Oh Russell Simmons

The guy who screwed people out of money with his pre-paid debit card. Yeah, he's better off with Clinton.

[Phlem]

100. You mean the rich guy's for Clinton?

Didn't see that one coming?

[sarge43]

103. Who could have guess?

Have to wonder how much he'll put in Clinton's war chest and what he expects in turn.

[retrowire]

105. I stopped reading at

"The business magnate...".

Got it.

[gregcrawford]

106. My respect for Simmons...

... just took a nosedive.

[Shadowflash]

107. Haha

[Cleita]

108. Lies about Bernie Sanders being insensitive to AA hardships and the rest as well.

If this is the kind of support she's getting she can have it. If he really wanted to make Hillary look good, he should have praised her good qualities. The fact that he can't seem to find any and has to smear Bernie instead says lots about Hillary's inadequacies as a candidate.

[Number23]

114. I don't even care about this endorsement but I'm recing for all of the idiotic comments in this

thread.

Especially the folks accusing a black man of owning slaves, hollering that he's only "smearing Bernie and not endorsing Clinton" when even in your short snip it clearly states his reasons for supporting Clinton, and the folks screaming "who?" at one of the founding pioneers of hip hop. You know that music genre some folks here keep pretending that Killer Mike is such a big name in.

[Bluenorthwest]

115. Russell got hit with a bad report card on Tuesday from the CFPB

The RushCard Fiasco Exposed The Danger Of Unregulated Banking

"On Tuesday, however, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — which is investigating what happened — released a report offering some evidence about how many consumers struggled under the RushCard outage.

CFPB’s latest monthly complaint report looked at complaints sent to the agency between November and January, with a particular focus on prepaid debit cards. It found a 62 percent increase in complaints about these products compared to the same time period a year before, with a total of 238 complaints. That comes on top of the previous complaint report, which found a staggering 233 percent uptick in complaints about prepaid products between October and December, or 459 total. As a press release from the CFPB notes, “The report shows that consumer complaints about prepaid products spiked in recent months as an increased number of customers complained of being frozen out of their accounts.”

And the most recent complaint report makes it clear that RushCard is to blame for that big spike in issues. By far the company that was cited the most was Empowerment Ventures LLC, the parent company of RushCard. There were an average of 241 complaints lodged against the company per month between September and November; the company with the next-highest number of average monthly complaints came in at 19."
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2016/03/02/3755711/rushcard-cfpb-complaints/

This is happening now, the giant complaint report is current, released Tuesday of this week. Russell has stuff on his mind....
http://ecreditdaily.com/2016/03/consumer-complaints-mount-on-fast-growing-prepaid-card-accounts/

[Enrique]

128. he might be right about Bernie being insensitive to his plight

Someone with his kind of problems could use a president like Hillary.

[Fearless]

122. Who?

Oh right " business magnate".

That's all I need to hear from "I've got mine I don't care about you."

[madfloridian]

130. He called Bernie first about an endorsement.

Then when Bernie didn't go along with his vegan agenda, he turned to Hillary and publicly attacked Bernie.

http://jackpineradicals.org/entry.php?288-Russell-Simmons-called-Bernie-first-Bernie-said-no-to-his-vegan-agenda