{"id":5239,"date":"2011-06-28T02:06:51","date_gmt":"2011-06-28T09:06:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=5239"},"modified":"2011-06-28T02:06:51","modified_gmt":"2011-06-28T09:06:51","slug":"action-alert-bernie-takes-the-floor-keith-covers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2011\/06\/28\/action-alert-bernie-takes-the-floor-keith-covers\/","title":{"rendered":"Action Alert: Bernie Takes the Floor; Keith Covers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Following up on his letter to Obama<\/a>, Bernie Sanders took the floor of the Senate yesterday, taking his case for Democrats to stand against Republican blackmail to the American people.  Later, Keith Olbermann interviewed him.  Because he is standing up for us, it is imperative that we stand with him.<\/font><\/p>\n

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\"28Bernie-Sanders\"<\/a>Rarely in history has a U.S. Senator spoken so much truth is such blunt language as did Bernie Sanders when the Vermont independent on Monday warned in a remarkable speech on the Senate floor<\/a> that: "Unless the American people by the millions tell the President not to yield one inch to Republican demands to destroy Medicare and Medicaid, while continuing to provide tax breaks to the wealthy and the powerful, I am afraid that is exactly what will happen<\/strong>."<\/p>\n

Speaking not just to the Senate — and the president — but the great mass of Americans, Sanders offered a new narrative with regard to addressing debt ceilings, debts and deficits.  Rejecting the absurd claims of Republican legislators and their amen corner in the media, Sanders urged Obama and his fellow Democrats to draw a political line in the sand and declare that some compromises need not be made — and will not be made.<\/p>\n

"In my view, the President of the United States of America needs to stand with the American people and say to the Republican leadership that enough is enough. No, we will not balance the budget on the backs of working families, the elderly, the sick, the children, and the poor, who have already sacrificed enough in terms of lost jobs, lost wages, lost homes, and lost pensions," declared Sanders.<\/a> "Yes, we will demand that millionaires and billionaires and the largest corporations in America contribute to deficit reduction as a matter of shared sacrifice. Yes, we will reduce unnecessary and wasteful spending at the Pentagon. And, no we will not be blackmailed once again by the Republican leadership in Washington, who are threatening to destroy the full faith and credit of the United States government for the first time in our nation\u2019s history unless they get everything they want<\/strong>."\u2026 [emphasis added<\/em>]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Inserted from <The Nation<\/a>><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s here\u2019s Bernie\u2019s interview with Keith on Countdown<\/a>.<\/font><\/p>\n