Bernie Gets It Done: Sanders' Record of Pushing Through Major Reforms Will Surprise You
One of the biggest claims from both Hillary supporters http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1251&pid=681047 and Republicans is that Bernie hasn't ever gotten anything passed in Congress.
Well.....let's examine this. This article is gigantic and obviously I am only posting a snipet and I'd urge people to take a look at it which actually has many things listed and chartered.
From Alternet.
Bernie Gets It Done: Sanders' Record of Pushing Through Major Reforms Will Surprise You ---- What kind of experience does Bernie Sanders have? Let's take a look.
http://www.alternet.org/election-2016/bernie-gets-it-done-sanders-record-pushing-through-major-reforms-will-surprise-you
The implication was that progressive Bernie Sanders is too far to the left to accomplish anything—all of his ideas are pie-in-the-sky. You have to be able to find the bipartisan, “warm, purple space” as Clinton said earlier this year, to get anything done. Slate's Jamelle Bouie was super-impressed by this rationale, saying Clinton has “skilled use of bureaucratic power.”
The problem with this narrative is that it is completely false. 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.
While Sanders was an amendment king who was able to bring bipartisan coalitions together to make serious changes to laws, he also knew how to be a thorn in the side of the establishment until it offered up something in return. Sanders was able to get the first-ever audit of funds given out by the Federal Reserve, which made transparent over $2 trillion of funds handed out by the secretive organization. This was a cause that Republican congressman Ron Paul (TX) had been pursuing for decades, but Sanders was able to get the votes to do it by forging a compromise that required an audit for the bailout period alone.
When the Affordable Care Act was in danger of not having the votes to pass, Sanders used his leverage to win enough funding for free health treatment for 10 million Americans through Community Health Centers. This gutsy move—holding out until the funds were put into the bill—has even Republican members of Congress requesting the funds, which have helped millions of Americans who otherwise would not have access.
= new reply since forum marked as read
