A GIF so nice, we post it twice!
Mr. White, I've been turned on to Bernie for over a decade, myself. I'm a NH native, for one. Also, Bernie was on Thom Hartmann's SiriusXM program almost every Friday for "Brunch with Bernie", taking calls from listeners and sharing his thoughts on what was going on in politics and policy. This only ended late last year, due to the campaign.
Trump calls Bernie a communist, showing once again Trump's ignorance and/or propensity to lie. Even those lazy folks on the right, and in Hillary's camp, who call him a "socialist", are being dishonest. Bernie calls himself a "democratic socialist", but labels are unimportant.
It all boils down to this. We all should have access to a basic education, regardless of wealth. We should all have access to health care, regardless of wealth. We should all have access to roads and bridges that are safe. We should all have access to emergency services, such as police and fire departments, regardless of wealth. We should all be protected, as citizens of this country, from foreign invasion or attack. We should have insurance programs to protect and support us when we lose a job, become disabled, and when we retire.
So, we have public education. We should have universal health care. We have publicly funded roads and bridges. We have public police and fire departments. We have a military. We have unemployment insurance, disability insurance, and social security.
These are things most human people agree about. Rich or poor, we all benefit from not only having access to these services and protections, but making them available to all of our fellow citizens, as well.
So, we collect taxes to cover the cost of these things. We allow all citizens access to these services, these systems and protections. We ask that all individuals and businesses contribute to the cost via taxes that are based on ability to pay. If a person is successful in business, they must recognize the role others played in their success, as well as the support of infrastructure systems. If someone loses their wealth, due to poor investments, being laid off or fired, getting sick or injured, etc. we help them with a social safety net until they can recover.
I haven’t worked since September 2014, due to a nearly fatal heart surgery fuck up. Two more life-saving surgeries (and a minor procedure next week) haven’t helped. Thank goodness for insurance, but why should someone without insurance either fail to get the care I got or become bankrupt in the process? My brother-in-law has lived his life in a wheelchair. Should we not help him? My brother got laid off. Should he not get unemployment insurance? Many of us lost a good chunk of our retirement savings thanks to Wall Street greed and fraud (and deregulation) in the mid-2000s. Should we not have Social Security?
I don’t understand why anyone would disagree with this. We can differ in our views on trade, abortion, immigration, foreign policy, etc. But does anyone really believe that we should refuse to care for someone who is poor? Are we so certain that we, ourselves, will never become poor?
Bernie was asked, at a recent televised town hall on Fox, where does the right to health care come from.
Bernie’s response… “being a human being.”
BERNIE 2016!
