MICHAEL O. ALLEN

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Vermont

Sanders’ October 2010 Filibuster Against Corporate Greed

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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhOAzqfMoms[/youtube]So many people are talking about Rand Paul’s filibuster of John Brennan’s CIA nomination in the U.S. Senate that I thought I would remind people of Vermont’s Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders made a much loved speech on the senate floor that was turned into a book.

It was in Oct. 2010 and the U.S. Senate was considering a budget deal that President Obama made with Republican that was heavily weighted to what Republicans wanted. Sanders spoke for eight hours, stalling adoption of the agreement.

Here is his speech–which is available on C-Span and at other sites, including the Congressional Record–in its entirety:

The Speech*

THE ECONOMY — (Senate – December 10, 2010)
Mr. SANDERS. Mr. President, let me begin by thanking my friend from Virginia for doing what is very important. I think the essence of what he is saying is that today there are millions of Federal employees, people in the Armed Forces, who are doing the very best they can. In many instances, they are doing a great job to protect our country, to keep it safe. And very often, to be honest with you, these folks get dumped on. So it is important that people such as Senator Warner come here and point out individuals who are doing a great job, people of whom we are very proud. So I thank Senator Warner for that.
Mr. President, as I think everyone knows, President Obama and the Republican leadership have reached an agreement on a very significant tax bill. In my view, the agreement they reached is a bad deal for the American people. I think we can do better.
I am here today to take a strong stand against this bill, and I intend to tell my colleagues and the Nation exactly why I am in opposition to this bill. You can call what I am doing today whatever you want. You can call it a filibuster. You can call it a very long speech. I am not here to set any great records or to make a spectacle; I am simply here today to take as long as I can to explain to the American people the fact that we have to do a lot better than this agreement provides.
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March 7, 2013
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. . . or Mexico

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Gaza Is Not Toronto: It Has Been Under Full Occupation For Over 40 Years

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By M.J. Rosenberg – January 10, 2009, 8:57PM

“I ask any of my colleagues to imagine that happening here in the United States. Rockets and mortars coming from Toronto in Canada, into Buffalo New York. How would we as a country react?”

It is hard to believe that the Democratic Senate majority leader would parrot that ridiculous line.

But it is in all the “information” packages that the lobby is distributing, changed to reflect geography. In California, the question is what the people of Chula Vista, CA would do if they were being shelled from Tijuana, Mexico. In Burlington, Vermont, the missiles come from Montreal, Quebec. The info packets can apply the analogy to any two places located on an international border.

And the average Joe is supposed to ignore the huge difference in the two situations. The United States does not occupy Mexico or Canada, If we did, the missile attacks on Buffalo or Chula Vista or whatever might not be considered bolts out of the blue. Millions of Americans would demand that rather than bombing Ottawa or Mexico City, we consider ending our occupation of Canada/Mexico.

Continue . . .

January 12, 2009
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Freyne exits stage right

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Peter Freyne, R.I.P

I am not familiar with Seven Days, the publication that Peter Freyne last worked for, but I don’t believe that’s the paper he worked for when I toiled as a general assignment reporter at the Burlington Free Press from 1988 to 1990. I was always wary of him but, since I did not delve too much into political coverage, he never trained his sight on me. A Vermont friend sent me a message on Facebook that Peter had died. The message included the bit below:

Peter Freyne never missed a deadline in the 13 years he worked for Seven Days. He delivered his political column, “Inside Track,” every Tuesday by 4 p.m. and was never subtle about it. Shortly after emailing his article, Freyne would show up at the office to answer questions, argue, check last-minute facts and, depending on his mood, terrorize our staff. His column was the last thing we squeezed into the paper before sending it to press.

So it’s ironic – not to mention premature and terribly sad – that Peter Freyne left this Earth early on a Wednesday. After battling cancer, seizures and a strep infection that spread to his brain, he died peacefully at Fletcher Allen Health Care at 12:26 a.m. today – six hours after our weekly deadline. Did he have a hand in the timing of his final departure, knowing the news would break just after the paper went to bed? We wouldn’t put it past him to go out with a poke.

Freyne, 59, came out of the bar-stool school of journalism, along with his hero, Chicago newspapermen Mike Royko. He never went to school to learn to be a political columnist, but brought his considerable and diverse life experiences to a fun and informative “Inside Track” that originated in the Vanguard Press, Burlington’s original alt weekly, in the late ’80s. Freyne was the rare reporter who could skewer a politician in print and have a drink with him two days later. Many of his “victims” became his sources – and in some cases, friends.

Freyne gave up drinking and smoking. And Vermont journalism has been a lot less lively since he retired last June. Here’s a video that Eva Sollberger made of Freyne right after that, when Seven Days readers once again named him the state’s “Best Print Journalist” in our annual Daysies survey.

His passing marks the end of an era. He may have planned that, too. Please direct press inquiries to Seven Days Co-editor Pamela Polston.

January 7, 2009
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Bernie Sanders’ note from Denver

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As I sat on the convention floor and watched the television monitors showing CNN and other corporate media outlets, I saw the presidential campaign being treated as if it were a football game, an academy awards ceremony or a beauty contest. That’s unfortunate, because this campaign is not really about John McCain or Barack Obama. It is about the future of our country and the well-being of hundreds of millions of Americans.

The essence of this campaign is pretty simple. John McCain has made it extremely clear that the policies of his administration would follow closely what the Bush Cheney administration has done. So, if you’re comfortable with what’s gone in this country for the last eight years, I suppose a vote for McCain makes sense.

But, if you’re tired of seeing the middle class decline and poverty increase while the wealthiest people have never had it so good you should give thought to voting for Barack Obama. If you think it’s absurd to provide more than a trillion dollars in tax breaks to the wealthiest 1 percent and increase our national debt even more, you should vote for Obama. If you think every American should have health care, vote for Barack Obama. If you want to stop a trade policy that lets corporate America throw workers on the street and move jobs to China, you should vote for Obama. If you think we should strengthen Social Security rather than privatizing it, vote for Obama. If you think we should bring our troops home from Iraq, you should vote for Barack Obama.

August 29, 2008
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Results are in

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Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, (D-NY), scored comprehensive wins in Ohio and Texas. She also won in Rhode Island. Her opponent, Sen. Barack Obama, (D-IL), won in Vermont. The wins helped stanch Mrs. Clinton’

s string of 11 straight losses since her big night on Super Tuesday.

The next ‘fight of the century’

figures to be in Pennsylvania in late April. And, as she did before last night, she may have to sustain another string of losses to Sen. Obama in the race to be the Democratic Party nominee for president of the United States before that primary.

Thus it always is with the Clintons, drama, emotions, whether real or cooked up.

There can be no doubt anymore that the Clintons will do whatever it takes, including damaging the eventual Democratic Party nominee, to win this nomination. For Sen. Clinton, the nomination is destiny. For former Pres. Bill Clinton, it is redemption.They are not about to stand by and let Sen. Obama, soaring rhetoric or not, get in the way of that. What Mr. Obama has to show now is how he fights.

March 5, 2008
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