The Pragmatic Impacts of Sanders’ Big Dreams

[eridani]

http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/04/28/pragmatic-impacts-sanders-big-dreams

As a candidate for mayor in 1980, Sanders focused on economic fairness just as he does today, and then, too, he was dismissed as a fringe candidate. He squeaked into office, winning by just 10 votes. But he was re-elected three times, each time by a larger margin. His accomplishments won over even many of his early opponents, according to professors and authors Peter Dreier and Pierre Clavel, writing in The Nation. And six years into his term, U.S. News and World Report named him one of the top mayors in the country.

When Sanders took office, he quickly became known as a pragmatist. At the time, rising rents threatened to displace lower-income residents. Sanders supported and helped fund the housing groups that later become the Champlain Housing Trust, which, at about 2,800 units, is now the largest, and reportedly the most successful, land trust in the country. The land trust buys and builds single-family homes and apartments, then sells or rents the homes, but holds on to the land so that the homes remain permanently affordable.

Even more than housing, the economy was a major focus of the Sanders administration, and his approach differed from that in most U.S. cities. Instead of competing with other cities to attract big corporations, his administration supported and encouraged local businesses.

The city helped Seventh Generation, a cleaning products company, start up in the 1980s; the company now has $300 million in annual sales.

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The stage is set for a big change, even if Sanders ends his candidacy. His example of working for the common good and his willingness to stand up to corporate interests resonate with Americans, nearly 2 million of whom have contributed to the Sanders campaign. His success shows that an authentic populist can raise money, win races, take office, and, in collaboration with constituents, make real change

[Baobab]

1. Thank you! The contrast between Bernie and Hillary couldn't be larger.

Quite a contrast between Bernie who helps companies that make nontoxic products that replace toxic ones, and Hillary who wants to frack and export till its gone which will paradoxically drastically increase the price of heating and cooling homes, likely leading to massive dislocations in the cities as some huge number of postwar apartment buildings (allegedly) "become 'too expensive' to heat".