Republicans

[L'Emmerdeur]

Not surprising to see Forty Two basically regurgitating parts of a New York Post "Sanders is a COMMIE!!!" attempted smear job which was largely debunked by the conservative Hudson Institute.

First, Sperry [in the New York Post] notes that Sanders joined the Young People’s Socialist League while a student at the University of Chicago. He correctly identifies it as “the youth wing of the Socialist Party USA.” YPSL, as historians of the left know, was highly anti-Communist and its affiliated adult wing was led by the most famous Socialist of the day, Norman Thomas. Thomas’ group had a strong record of fighting the Communists on a regular basis, opposing the Soviet Union, and backing the West in the Cold War. Indeed, Thomas even helped the CIA destroy Communist unions in Europe by arranging the funneling of money through groups affiliated with his party.

Had Bernie Sanders been a Communist, instead of joining YPSL, he would have joined the Labor Youth League, or its successor, the DuBois Clubs. Both were the official youth arm at the time of the Communist Party USA. Indeed, the DuBois Clubs organizing conference was held in Chicago.

Second, Sperry notes that Sanders organized for the United Packinghouse Workers of America (UPWA), which he says was being investigated by the House Un-American Activities Committee. That is misleading. There were Communists in all the CIO unions, some in the leadership and others hired as low-level organizers. There certainly were Communists in the UPWA, and some were influential. But as this accurate account in Wikipedia explains, Philip Murray, head of the CIO, expelled all the Communist-led unions for violating the Taft-Hartley Act. The UPWA was not among those expelled. It certainly had a militant history of waging strikes, and took a leadership role in aligning itself with Martin Luther King, Jr. and the civil rights movement. This is no evidence for including it as a Communist union.

Turning to Vermont, Sperry documents Sanders’ well-known shift to the far left. (This has been written up before much more carefully by Stanley Kurtz in National Review.) The gist of Sperry’s arguments come down to asserting that Eugene V. Debs was a supporter of the Bolsheviks and Lenin. Evidently, Mr. Sperry knows little about the history of American socialism. He even writes that Debs was “jailed for espionage.” Actually, Debs was jailed for speaking out against World War I in a speech in Canton, Ohio, which the Wilson administration saw as “sedition” that would harm domestic morale. He was exercising his First Amendment right of free speech. When President Warren Harding freed him from jail before Christmas Eve in 1921, he wrote a friend that Debs had done nothing wrong and should never have been imprisoned.

After the Bolshevik Revolution, the real Communists had their own party, and were affiliated with the Third International that Lenin created. Debs at first thought the Socialists should affiliate, but when he saw the conditions demanded by Lenin to join the Comintern, he quickly changed his mind. It is true that in the early days, he and the Socialists thought the Bolshevik Revolution was part of the worldwide movements of the left that they supported. Ultimately he rejected the Communists’ demands, saying that his party “did not need a Pope in Moscow” telling them what to believe. As James Weinstein, a historian of American socialism, writes, “The Socialist Party gravitated slowly toward anti-Sovietism.”

[Svartalf]

except trump has been constrained by his own side, sanders might have gotten the dems to cooperate with him... maybe.

[pErvinalia]

They should be called "Republicants" because they can't seem to get shit done.

Amiright?

Republicunts.

[Tero]

Bannon goes after Republicans who do not vote Trump ideas 100% and challenge Mitch McConnel. Fischer only supported 92%. He wants to replace sitting republicans with other more antigovernment/racist types.

The news website FiveThirtyEight, which tracks political polls and other statistics, says Fischer so far has voted with Trump almost 92 percent of the time.

Like many Republicans, she’s faced some backlash from constituents lately, particularly over health care and over her support for Trump’s nominee for education secretary, Betsy DeVos.

Lincoln City Council member Jane Raybould, a Democrat, plans to challenge Fischer in the general election.

Nebraska Democratic Party Chairwoman Jane Kleeb said she thinks Bannon’s words are more than idle threats.

“There are enough Republicans that have ambition in our state that would go for it,” she said.

But former state Republican Party Chairman J.L. Spray said Fischer has broad support among Republicans in the state.

“I’ve never really heard anybody on our side be dissatisfied by Sen. Fischer,” he said. “It’d be hard to run to the right of her, I think.”

[Forty Two]

Not surprising to see Forty Two basically regurgitating parts of a New York Post "Sanders is a COMMIE!!!" attempted smear job

All the items I posted were factually true, and your response did not suggest otherwise. The gist of the response was that the items were true, but that doesn't make Sanders a Communist. Certainly, that's an arguable and defensible point. However, the main thrust of my post was that he was a Socialist, which he himself admits.

[Forty Two]

except trump has been constrained by his own side, sanders might have gotten the dems to cooperate with him... maybe.

I have no doubt that he would have gotten strong support from the Democrats on "free college" and Medicare for All. He would get resistance on nationalizing the oil industry and such.

[Forty Two]

Bannon goes after Republicans who do not vote Trump ideas 100% and challenge Mitch McConnel. Fischer only supported 92%. He wants to replace sitting republicans with other more antigovernment/racist types.

I thought the sitting republicans were antigovernment and racist types. And, don't forget, all white people are racists anyway.

Oh, and is Bannon an outcast, stripped of all influence today, or is he a bordeline regent, holding the true power behind the throne? I keep forgetting.

[Tero]

He’s a pirate. Him and Newt. Trump was a pirate too, before he was elected. Pirates only wield money. They can buy senators.

[Forty Two]

The Dread Pirate Bannon.

[Tero]

:laugh:

[L'Emmerdeur]

Not surprising to see Forty Two basically regurgitating parts of a New York Post "Sanders is a COMMIE!!!" attempted smear job

All the items I posted were factually true, and your response did not suggest otherwise.

You claimed that the United Packinghouse Workers Union was 'a communist front organization.' The article I quoted specifically refuted that claim. Having some communist members doesn't make an organization a 'communist front.'

[Forty Two]

Not surprising to see Forty Two basically regurgitating parts of a New York Post "Sanders is a COMMIE!!!" attempted smear job

All the items I posted were factually true, and your response did not suggest otherwise.

You claimed that the United Packinghouse Workers Union was 'a communist front organization.' The article I quoted specifically refuted that claim. Having some communist members doesn't make an organization a 'communist front.'

That's the only "arguable" one. However, the article did not "refute" it, but merely made the argument that it wasn't rife enough with Communists to be a "communist front" organization. That was by no means "established." That being said, we can withdraw the reference to the UPW and the guy is still an avowed Socialist, who thinks we should nationalize healthcare, not just insurance, and we should nationalize the oil and other energy industries, and we should nationalize college (free college for all), and we should nationalize all local utilities.

Is he, strictly speaking, a "Communist" - he's never been a party member, but he sure as shit holds to a significant amount of Marxist Socialist views.

[L'Emmerdeur]

Your claim regarding the United Packinghouse Workers Union is bullshit. If it were accurate you'd be able to cite a reputable source rather than resorting to the evasive tactic of calling it 'arguable.'

Moving on, you called Sanders an 'organizer' for the American People's History Society, which you assert is 'a Marxist propaganda group.' Again, bullshit; the American People's History Society was a non-profit company started by Sanders and his neighbor Nancy Barnett. They made educational film strips and at least one short documentary film. The subject of the film was Eugene Debs, but that in itself doesn't make the American People's History Society 'a Marxist propaganda group.'

[pErvinalia]

The first rule of Marxist Propaganda Club is don't talk about Marxist Propaganda Club.

[Tero]

Trump tax plan too good for Trump and pals

That’s a big political problem for Republicans who want their plans to rewrite the tax code focused on helping the politically all-important middle class. They know voters take a dim view of cutting taxes on the rich, and want to fend off inevitable attacks from Democrats that the GOP’s tax plans amount to a giveaway to millionaires and billionaires.

Republicans have already rewritten their plans to avoid giving so much to the wealthy. They’ve dropped plans to cut taxes on capital gains, and they’re considering a to-be-determined higher tax bracket on the rich.
Politico