Update: BERNIE WINS MICHIGAN! Proving he can attract disenfranchised voters in a big diverse state, Socialist Bernie Sanders won the Michigan primary. He even split the younger black vote with Ms. Clinton who is counting on the black voting bloc to beat back the rising challenge from the populist left. On to Ohio and another win there will be the start of a seismic shift in support for fundamental social change. Res ipsa locquitor!
08/03/16 The candidates are in Flint MI to 'feel the pain' and hopefully talk about some effective policy proposals to stop the slow poisoning of 'Merica after four centuries of capitalism:
5:13pmPST Good point, Senator Sanders. Most of America's problems can be fundamentally traced to a skewed set of national values. The war machine-national security state is swallowing our tax revenues which need to be spent elsewhere such as rebuilding our civilian infrastructure.
5:20PST Effective enforcement of existing federal laws may have prevented the state of Michigan from switching water sources without installing the necessary and required corrosion protection for a system full of lead pipes.
5:22PST Senator Sanders brought F-35 jobs to Vermont, but that is not a solution to America's joblessness. The war machine is not enough to create a vibrant economy. Tax incentives for corporate America to ship manufacturing jobs overseas to low-wage regions has to stop. The tax subsides handed out to rich corporations like oil and aerospace companies has to end. Free trade agreements that force 'Mericans to compete with third-world workers for wages cannot be tolerated.
6:25PST Detroit's property tax base has been essentially destroyed. The state of Michigan must explore ways to replace the needed tax revenues to support the school system. The federal government can help in this process.
5:26PST The Wall Street bail-out is the worse example of crony capitalism this country has ever experienced since Tea-Pot Dome.
5:28PST The 2009 bailout of the Detroit auto industry was not the first one. Mitt Romney was against rewarding an inefficient industry. He was right. Incidentally, Sanders did vote to save Detroit jobs in another bill that did not include the infamous Wall Street aid package! Senator Sanders is offering a different vision of this country, not just tinkering with the status quo.
5:32PST Prove it, Ms Clinton. Release your records! Can you really accept $100,000 checks with one hand and pass tough financial regulation to prevent another meltdown with the other? Will you break up the banks to big to regulate?
5:36PST Capitalism is not in the business of social wage scales. That is why US Person says the profit motive is socially inadequate because it creates a society of unfair subsidized competition, not beneficial efficient cooperation.
5:41PST Are you talking about companies in socialist countries, Secretary Clinton? You can bet your bottom dollar those companies bear a lot more in social costs than American companies do. Germany's major corporations are prime examples of social capitalism.
5:50PST Abigail might have been spared suffering if guns were not destroying our society due to a historic misinterpretation of the Second Amendment. Guns R US because of the profit motive. Gun manufacturers need to be held accountable as well as those who misuse their product. The nature of our gun crime tells us what is fundamentally wrong with the system: multiple casualties in shootings made possible by high-volume military weapons in the hands of deranged or criminal individuals. These types of inherently dangerous weapons have no place in a modern mass society full of irresponsible people and schoolchildren. 'Merica is no longer the wild west or the colonial frontier. If you must shoot a deer to feel fulfilled use a bow and arrow, a shotgun, or a bolt-action rifle. The deer will respect you more. If you think you need a revolver to defend yourself, then register it with the local police so it can be easily traced if used in a crime.
6:03PST Madame Secretary, do you think corporations should be building and staffing prisons for a profit? The sad fact is law enforcement and security has become another big business in 'Merica
6:16PST You seem fond of the word "stalker" too, Madam Secretary.
6:19PST Stop taking credit for the dot-com boom! It was new technology and the financial enthusiasm for it that made the 90s prosperous, and fueled by the deregulation of the financial markets begun in your husband's administration (repeal of Glass-Steagall Act; Commodity Futures Modernization Act). The rest is unfortunate history!
6:28PST Detroit's property tax base has been crippled by the city's mismanagement and bankruptcy. These taxes support the local school system. Ways have to be found to reinvigorate Detroit's economy so working and tax-paying people return to the city. The state of Michigan must step in to help in this process, as should the federal government.
6:30PST We spend trillions on weapon systems like the Navy's Littoral Combat Ship that we do not really need. In contrast, Germany, a nation that was totally defeated and largely destroyed in war seven decades ago offers its citizens free university education.
6:39PST A carbon tax is the right way to go. Even Yale University says this. For better or worse a lot of our social policies are implemented using a complex system of tax incentives and disincentives. Fracking is ripping up our western landscapes causing more seismic activity and polluting our underground water supplies. Its not a good thing.
6:44PST Why waste valuable air time talking about the immature loony tunes on the other side? They can't talk about policies because they are controlled by the plutocracy; so they talk about the size of the Donald's physical endowment. To change a corrupt system, you cannot be a part of a corrupt system because just when you think you are out of it, they drag you back in.
6:53PST Why is the victory gap so large? Because the distinction is even more stark between a member of the plutocracy and an 'alleged' communist. The Cold War is over, and so is McCarthyism. Donald does a passable impression of insult artist Don Rickles or Benito Mussolini, take your pick; he would make a disastrous president.
Nebraska Democrats voted for Bernie; they are some of the most conservative voters in the United States, but they also have a strong populist tradition. They understand what Bernie promises: it takes a political revolution to take down a corrupted political system.