Bernie Sanders
 Bernie Sanders     | |||||||||||||||||
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 Bernie Sanders upstaged by a bird in Portland[1] | |||||||||||||||||
| Born | Bernard Sanders 8 September 1941 Brooklyn, New York City | ||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | Brooklyn College, University of Chicago | ||||||||||||||||
| Religion | Jew | ||||||||||||||||
| Children | • 1 • 3 step-children • 7 grand-children | ||||||||||||||||
| Spouse | Deborah Shiling | ||||||||||||||||
| Party | Liberty Union, Independent, Democratic | ||||||||||||||||
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Bernard "Bernie" Sanders (born 8 September 1941) is an American politician and US Senator from Vermont, and is a candidate for the Democratic Party nomination in the 2016 US presidential election.
On 8 April 2016, speaking at a waterside rally near to where he was born in Brooklyn, Bernie Sanders called on New Yorkers to vote for him in great numbers and stage nothing less than a grassroots political revolution.[2] Sanders' victory in the Wyoming caucus the following day marked his 7th consecutive win over frontrunner Hillary Clinton. If that winning streak continues and he takes the 247-delegate New York primary on 19 April 2016, Sanders could clinch the Democratic nomination.[3]
Independent politician
Bernie Sanders became a member of the Democratic Party in 2015, having been the longest-serving independent in US congressional history, though his caucusing with the Democrats entitled him to committee assignments and at times gave Democrats a majority. Sanders became the ranking minority member on the Senate Budget Committee in January 2015 and had previously served for two years as chair of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee.
Social Democrat
Sanders favours policies similar to those of social democratic parties in Europe, particularly those of the Nordic countries, and has built a reputation as a leading progressive voice on issues such as campaign finance reform, corporate welfare, global warming, income inequality, LGBT rights, parental leave, and universal healthcare. Sanders has long been critical of US foreign policy and was an early and outspoken opponent of the Iraq War. He is also outspoken on civil liberties and civil rights, particularly criticising racial discrimination in the criminal justice system as well as advocating for privacy rights against mass surveillance policies such as the US Patriot Act and the NSA surveillance operations.[4]
Tax evasion
Hillary Clinton pushed through the 2011 Panama Free Trade Agreement but Bernie Sanders was strongly opposed, warning that it would strictly limit the government’s ability to clamp down on tax evasion by wealthy Americans and large corporations stashing their cash in offshore tax havens. Now with the release of the Panama Papers it appears Sanders was right. They show that over 214,000 offshore companies are using Panama to evade taxes. That is unacceptable, and that has got to change.[5]
On 6 April 2016, The Independent reported: "The longer this scandal is kept alive the more beneficial will be for Sanders. And if any more skeletons in the Clinton closet see the light, it will parachute Bernie Sanders into the White House."[6]
In the course of their televised debate in Brooklyn on 14 April 2016, Bernie Sanders accused Hillary Clinton of being in hock to big finance and receiving $25,000 each time she speaks to Goldman Sachs.[7]
Love trumps hate
At an April 2016 Bernie Sanders campaign rally, attended by more than 16,000 people at St Mary’s Park in the South Bronx, actress Rosario Dawson explained to Democracy Now! why she supports Sanders for President over Clinton:
'Like, millions of people marched against the Iraq War before it happened. That’s historical. Millions of people marched against the bailout. Millions of people, students, walked out in 2006 against immigration reform. They texted each other and walked out of their high school classrooms. Like, we keep seeing these mass movements of people going, 'This is not the way things should be done,' and it gets ignored. The thousands of people who have been marching across America for Bernie, that doesn’t get any press coverage, because, Gil Scott-Heron said, 'The revolution will not be televised.' But it’s time for it to be televised. And thank you so much for televising it, because we need people to know how beautiful this moment is. No matter what, look at this. This is incredible. And we have a Jewish man who’s talking about Palestine. Like, do you know what I’m saying? Like, this is a really, really remarkable, huge moment, and we cannot gloss it over. You’re doing a disservice to people by doing so. This is something really beautiful. I’m doing this because love trumps hate, not because I need to vote against somebody, but because love trumps hate. This is a love movement. I’m so excited![8]
References
- ↑ "Bernie Sanders upstaged by a bird in Portland"
- ↑ "Bernie Sanders Holds Rally in Greenpoint, Brooklyn"
- ↑ "Bernie Sanders Wins Delegate-Rich Wisconsin: He Has Now Defeated Clinton in 7 of the Last 8 Delegate Battles"
- ↑ "Bernie Sanders Biography"
- ↑ "Bernie Sanders on tax havens"
- ↑ "The Panama Papers could hand Bernie Sanders the White House"
- ↑ "Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton turn Brooklyn debate into slugfest"
- ↑ "'It's a Revolution': Actress Rosario Dawson on Why She Supports Sanders for President Over Clinton"
