The Establishment-- the Democratic Party Establishment-- has fallen to new lows. Wall Street growled about cutting DNC, DSCC and DCCC funding because of Elizabeth Warren and BOOM!... Chuck Schumer, the biggest recipient of Wall Street bribes, excluding presidential candidates, in history is on the road to be the new Senate Democratic Leader. The DSCC and DCCC are working full-time to disadvatage-- to put it mildly-- primary candidates against the conservative, pro-Wall Street hacks they're backing. No top Democrats seemed all that thrilled yesterday when Bernie Sanders hinted broadly that he plans to jump into the presidential campaign and challenge Hillary Clinton on 3 major issues: campaign finance reform, climate change and income inequality. The Democratic Establishment does not care about the issues. Apparently they don't even care that the Clintons were using Hillary's position to personally enrich themselves. Democratic activists and Democratic voters care about both, but the Democratic careerist political Establishment? Not even a little-- outside of how issues fit into winning electoral strategies. The Establishment has no interest in dedicated, serious progressives like Bernie Sanders running for president, or Donna Edwards and Alan Grayson running for Senate, or for stalwart progressives like Alex Law (NJ), Jamie Raskin (MD), Jason Ritchie (WA) and Nanette Barragán (CA) running against corrupt conservatives for House seats. Matt Taibbi understands what Bernie is trying to do. The Democratic Party Establishment fears what he's trying to do. So-called "free trade" is one of the points of contention between the Establishment and normal Democrats. Corporate shills-- from Obama and Rahm all the way down into the depths of Wall Street ass-kissers like Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Patrick Murphy (D-FL), Donald Norcross (D-NJ), Isadore Hall (D-CA), etc. With even the overwhelming majority of Republicans opposing Fast Track authority, the White House is on a jihad against Democrats in Congress who are standing up against corporate hegemony in regard to the TPP. It's an ugly mess.Next month, Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) is offering legislation to back up an idea by Warren Buffett that requires importers to provide certificates for the goods and services they sell, a stream of income that could be used to bolster Social Security and Medicare and rebuild U.S. infrastructure and cut middle class taxes. Grayson sees his bill as "the light at the end of the tunnel... It's time to stop digging that hole any deeper. Let's fight back against the scheme that has robbed the Amercian middle class now for decades. Let's fight it and let's defeat it right now while we still can. Let's put our workers back to work earning a decent day's pay for a decent day's work. Let's heal our economy and heal our nation. Let's show our courage, show our unity; let's climb out of that hole. Let's raise ourselves up and let's rebuild the American middle class."
We are activists and organizers trying to build a broad, effective movement for democratic change. We come from different backgrounds, and were inspired by different issues and fights for peace, rights and the planet. Our goal is a government that carries out the will of the people, and not serve to increase the profits of the 1% at the expense of the rest of us.To that end we support Bernie Sanders in his bid to become the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party. We stand firmly behind Senator Sanders as the strongest progressive challenger to Hillary Clinton-- the bold alternative.As a truly progressive candidate for the Democratic Party nomination, Senator Sanders has the chance to inspire millions of Americans with policy proposals that put the interests of the 99%, front and center.Franklin D. Roosevelt called out the “economic royalists” of his day. Senator Sanders is picking up the banner. He answers to “We the People” and not to the corporate and financial sectors. Bernie brings the kind of leadership that is necessary to building a real, living democracy.The initiators of this letter are veteran grassroots organizers of Occupy Wall Street, and are joined by many energized brothers and sisters we have met along the way. In September 2011, our efforts changed the narrative of American politics, helping to focus it on the issues of our time: inequality, surrender to the power of concentrated wealth, the corruption of our democracy by moneyed interests, and the need for solutions as radical as our problems.We are signing as individuals hoping to kickstart a small ‘d’ democratic movement. People For Bernie won’t be a corporate-style, staff-driven, controlled-message, top-down enterprise. It will reflect diverse constituencies from a broad range of movements, which in many cases haven’t seen the Democratic Party as a home for their deepest aspirations. It will reflect our commitment to fundamental change, not just a change of faces at the top of the political pyramid. People for Bernie it will reflect the urgency of more and fiercer grassroots political activity at the base.We call on all other progressive forces to unite behind Sanders so we can have a united front in this important campaign.Winnie Wong-- participant in OWS, @OccupyWallStreetNYC, Organizer, RFW, AFWCharles Lenchner-- participant in OWS, former member of Tech Ops, co-founder, Ready For WarrenHowie KleinNadya StevensAndrew Smith (Rockaway Wildfire, OWSStan Williams (OSA, OWS)Shana East (Ready For Warren)Heidi Chua (Rosa Luxembourg Siftung)Daniel Sieradski (Occupy Judaism)Kim Fraczek (The Peoples Puppets of Occupy Wall Street)Jesse Myerson (Occupy The Ballots)Ethan Young Left Labor ProjectDavid UngerEthan Earle (Rosa Luxembourg Siftung)Kazembe Balagun (Rosa Luxembourg Siftung)Diane SweetGan Golan (MayDay Space)Matt Hopard (OWS)jackrabbit (Interoccupy)Nadine BlochThiaggo de Mello Bueno (OWS)Mark Provost (Us Uncut)Zak Solomon (MayDay Space, Rising Tide NYC)Aly Johnson-Kurts (Teachout-Wu)Robel Tekleab (Ready For Warren)Moumita Ahmed (Ready For Warren)Caleb Michael-Files (Ready For Warren)Angela LinnemanPhillip Anderson (The Albany Project)Lane Hall (Overpass Light Brigade)Lisa Moline (Overpass Light Brigade)Joe Brusky (Overpass Light Brigade)Damien Crisp (member @OccupyWallStNYC)Melissa Byrne (Occupy DC-Mcpherson, Project Springboard)Amber FrostPaul Russell (Occupy Faith, Judson Church)Gabriel JohnsonBhaskar Sunkara, Jacobin MagazineMary ClintonBetsy Avila, Young Democratic SocialistsMaria Svart, Democratic Socialists of AmericaBeth BeckerKelli DaleyJustin Molito
No labor leaders? If you're looking for their names, you haven't been paying attention. Labor leaders whose lives revolve around the Beltway are part of the Establishment. They are overwhelmingly self-serving and will gladly support an outrageous hack like Patrick Murphy, Hillary Clinton, Chis Van Hollen or any repulsive Blue Dog or New Dem before backing someone from the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt wing of the Democratic Party.
