Battle Of The Water Cooler – Two Political Candidates Showcased By Rival Supporters

The whole country is already focused on the election of 2016. The Republican Clown Car has been entertaining us with regularity and the players diligently trying to see who can be the most outrageous. So far Donald Trump has been winning the race to the bottom of the vile cesspool of misogyny, but Ben Carson seems to have pulled out all the stops and is dusting off stories from his crime-fighting past defending the integrity of his fried chicken to keep our attention.

In the back room of a liberal news outlet (that would be here at Liberal America), there are always conversations around the water cooler about who the best political candidates are. Most of our folks are pretty calm, but we do have our share that are adamant about their candidates. Two of the most outspoken have been Autumn Alston and Liz Lee.

Autumn is a Hillary Clinton fan to the death.

Liz is a Bernie Sanders fan to the death.

The other day during a discussion about the upcoming debate and who was going to wipe the stage with who, the management decided to send them to their desks to write about their passions. The assignment was to create a primer for someone that might be undecided going into the debate tonight. The writers were to “convince” us why their candidate is the one to watch. I can’t say that hilarity ensued – it was a pretty good old-fashioned knock-down drag-out word brawl. We decided to publish their responses in one article for our readers.

Without further ado. . . I did a coin toss to select which point of view is listed first below, trying to stay as unbiased as I could. Sanders won the toss. Please read both and comment on Facebook.
 
 

Liz Lee on why you should vote for Bernie Sanders:

With the debate looming before us, it’s a perfect time to sit down and think about what matters to me, to you, to our nation. We’re at a point that we have everything to lose if a Republican makes it to the White House. So much relies on picking the right person for the job.

I’ve supported Sen. Bernie Sanders since the day he announced, much to the dismay of everyone around me. I was told he had no chance. I could only say, “I got a feeling.” Can someone cue some Black Eyed Peas for me? He surprised us all. As his campaign has grown, I’ve become increasingly confident that this is the right person for the job. Change is in the air, and a revolution for the good of America is on the brink. Many question how that change can be brought to reality. Many claim that what Sanders proposes is unrealistic. There is a plan, however.

1. My Opinion

I’m going to provide my opinion more in-depth to begin with. I feel that each one of our voices is important and should be heard first and above all.

This is not about Democrats vs. Republicans. This is not about Hillary vs. Bernie – nor should it be. This is about having the common decency and courage to say, “No more,” and reach out to those who need help most of all. This is about making America a decent place to live for those who are far from wealthy. It’s about giving them their dignity back. It’s about providing the best education to our children to ensure a stable future in which we may retire, and they may have their own families. Children are meant to grow up with a limitless amount of hope in their hearts. Too many children are victims of a rigged political system that no longer serves their concerns and needs. The American dream is no longer viable under the present conditions and atmosphere of America. We are no longer that great nation that inspired so many immigrants to cross an ocean to come here for citizenship, something they would cherish much more than we ever have. This comes down to putting our trust into one person to lead our country to (hopefully) better and happier times. It’s about choosing the person who we can most identify with, so that they may understand our needs most. This is about each of our voices outweighing corporate entities and greed. This is a fight to make possible the impossible. We’ve come far, but we have much further to go.

I believe that one person is Senator Bernie Sanders. I feel that he speaks to all Americans – young, old, veterans, men, women, white, black, Hispanic, immigrants, the poor, the middle class – he represents them all. He’s done so consistently throughout the entirety of his life and political career. He’s been able to reach out to a generation of Millennials who had grown despondent and disgusted with a political system that is broken. This obscure man reached thousands of men and women, and he has given them hope and the motivation needed to bring about real change. He has an understanding of the change that a majority of Americans truly want but are no longer convinced they can have. I believe he is one of the few out there who truly stand for their beliefs and fight for the common good of all Americans with nobility.

If you’ve already chosen who you support, I probably won’t convince you otherwise. However, if you are undecided, I urge you strongly to read the next several points I’ve included. Most come from his very own website and contain some of my insight. I’ve tried to be as objective as possible. This is about the future of America, our future, and our children’s future. This is too important for us to mess up simply because of playground behavior and popularity contests. It’s time to do the right thing to save America. And Bernie Sanders is the man who I think can save this great nation.

2. Income And Wealth Inequality

Sanders’ campaign surrounds the issue of income and wealth inequality. The income gap has grown disproportionately, and honestly, it’s frightening. The disgusting part is that America is the richest country in the world. A quote by Pope Francis stands out to me regarding this issue:

“How can it be that it is not a news item when an elderly homeless person dies of exposure, but it is news when the stock market loses two points?”

Regardless of your feelings on the Pope, we care more about an imaginary entity we’ve given enormous power to more than our fellow man and woman.

Sanders proposes taxing the wealthy and corporations their fair share. He aims to put an end to jobs being outsourced and profits being placed in offshore accounts by creating an estate tax on the top 0.3 percent who inherit more than $3.5 million. He would also tax Wall Street.

He is a major supporter of the $15 an hour wage. Many think this would never happen and would obliterate our economy. However, the increase would be over a four-year period. To further fund these extraordinary proposals, he would raise the tax cap to $250,000.

The one proposal he puts forth that I am truly excited by is investing $1 trillion over five years to rebuild our infrastructure. By doing so, we would improve the infrastructure of America and also create jobs for 13 million Americans. This is doable. We’ve done it before. Look to history. This is clearly inspired by Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Second New Deal. With the creation of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) to provide jobs for the unemployed. FDR’s Second New Deal was the breath of fresh air America needed to begin repairing its broken economy and broken spirit. Change did not come overnight, but it did come.

A few more proposals by Sanders:

• Reversing trade policies with China and push for manufacturers to create products here in America, not overseas.
• Create a youth jobs program to fight youth unemployment rate.
• Fight for the Employee Free Choice Act, which would allow workers to join unions more easily.
• Break up the big financial institutions that have had a hand in our economy’s collapse.

Roosevelt once said:

“The forces of ‘organized money’ are unanimous in their hate for me–and I welcome their hatred. I should like to have it said of my first Administration that in it the forces of selfishness and of lust for power met their match, [and] I should like to have it said on my second Administration that in it these forces have met their master.”

Sanders could be that same person if we put him in the office where he belongs.

3. Education

Sanders is a champion of making education accessible to all Americans regardless of income. In a nation where funding for education has been cut, this seems completely unattainable.

He’s called for tuition to be made free at public colleges and universities. As insane as it sounds, it’s a reality in other countries such as Germany, Finland, Norway, Sweden, and more. In fact, this was previously a reality in America. The average tuition in the 60s was $243. I have $12,000 in school loans (and I never finished). I’m fairly positive I paid $243 for a textbook.

So, the big question is how? How do we make something so unrealistic a reality?

• Sanders proposes disallowing government from profiting off the backs of students as they take out loans. Money gained from student loan programs would be used to lower student loan interest rates to 2.37%. Right now, the interest rate is 4.29%. This would take us back to 2006. Coincidentally enough, that is the year I graduated from high school with many hopes and dreams (many of which did not come to fruition). You can see why this is a key factor in the support that young men and women hold for Sanders.
• Under Sanders, he would aim for students to have the choice of refinancing at lower rates.
• Sanders would require institutions of higher education to support the financial needs of the lowest-income students by 100%. Those that could never dream of college right now would have federal, state, and college financial aid to cover their needs for education expenses to boarding. The federal work-study program would also be enlarged.

Ultimately, it also comes down to this. Sanders would impose a tax on a percentage of Wall Street speculators. Yes, this is possible. Over 40 countries worldwide have a similar tax.

4. Getting Big Money Out Of Politics

A major concern of Americans is our own government. We feel the hands of big money has corrupted the government that was meant to serve and answer to us, the regular people. We no longer feel our voice can be heard over the laughter of greed. Sanders wants to put a stop to that. The actions he has taken to remove corruption from government include:

• 1. Introduced the Democracy Is For People constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United.
• 2. Voted for the DISCLOSE Act to light the avenues of corruption between the fat cats and the politicians.
• 3. He will not nominate a Supreme Court Justice unless they are committed to do away with Citizens United.

5. Racial Justice

Sadly, this past year has seen major setbacks in race relations throughout the United States. Black men and women no longer trust white police officers, and honestly, they have a good reason. We’ve seen an increase in hate-group admissions. Thanks to the Internet, racists feel free and safe to come forward and voice their disgusting beliefs. Yea, I know. Free speech is to be allotted to every citizen, but it doesn’t make their ideas any less revolting. We’ve seen a young man walk into a historical church and kill only because of the color of his victims’ skin. Black mothers are scared to see their children walk out the door because they may not return thanks to the hand of corrupt police officers. Our justice system makes black men and women targets through biased searches, convictions, and labeling as “thugs.”  I don’t mean all police officers mind you. I love our good cops, and they do a wonderful job.

But, why? Why should black men and women across this nation trust the white people in office and positions of powerful authority?

I don’t have an answer. This is something that will not change overnight and will always exist in society. It doesn’t just exist in any one part of our society. It exists in all corners. Discrimination is prevalent in politics, economics, legal, and physical violence. No. We are not a post-racial society. These past few years will go down in history books as another injustice America has allowed to go on for far too long. A day after the interruption of an in event Seattle, Washington by Black Lives protesters, Sanders introduced his plan for combating racial inequality to a crowd of over 20,000. It includes:

• Demilitarize the police.
• Get officers into the community and working within the community to foster a trusting relationship and a safer neighborhood.
• Diversify the police forces.
• Establish new police training programs at the federal level with input from organizations like Black Lives Matter.
• Federally fund and require body cameras.
• Ensure the Justice Department investigates and prosecutes police officers who break the law.
• Require public reports from police departments on police shootings and deaths that take place in custody.
• New rules on the use of force and training on how to interact with those with mental illnesses.
• States that do well and improve will receive more grant money. Those that do not will receive less.

Along with allowing violence to carry on for far too long, we’ve allowed our politicians to abuse the system and take away the rights of many African Americans to vote. Sanders wants black men and women to have a voice again in politics. He proposes:

• Restore Voting Rights Act so that protections are available to minority voters and expand it so that EVERY American can vote freely.
• Allow those who have committed a felony to vote. This would give a voice back to more than two million African Americans. Black men and women are three times more likely to be searched during a traffic stop, twice as likely to be arrested, and four times as likely to experience the use of force.
• Make Election day a federal holiday.
• Make early voting possible for those who work or study.
• No-fault absentee ballots for all Americans.
• EVERY individual over 18 years old automatically registered to vote.
• Put an end to discriminatory laws and removal of names from voting rolls in minority communities.
• More polling places and workers.

The War on Drugs has allowed our justice system to put a disproportionate amount of black men and women in jail. To begin the rectification of this, Sanders believes we should:

• Ban private prisons as they encourage arresting and jailing men and women.
• Do away with the monumental failure that is the “War on Drugs.”
• Invest in drug courts and medical/mental health interventions for addicts. Rather than prison, they receive treatment.
• Invest more in programs that will help individuals adjust to life outside of prison.
• Do away with civil asset forfeiture.

Regarding the economy, Martin Luther King Jr. said this:

“Do you know that most of the poor people in our country are working every day? And they are making wages so low that they cannot begin to function in the mainstream of the economic life of our nation. These are facts which must be seen, and it is criminal to have people working on a full-time basis and a full-time job getting part-time income. Now our struggle is for genuine equality, which means economic equality. For we know that it isn’t enough to integrate lunch counters. What does it profit a man to be able to eat at an integrated lunch counter if he doesn’t earn enough money to buy a hamburger and a cup of coffee?”

Fact. Black children make up 18 percent of preschoolers. However, they account for 48 percent of all out-of-school suspensions before kindergarten. According to the Department of Education, African-American students are more likely to suffer harsh punishments. Primarily black schools have less experienced teachers. Seven years ago, African Americans were hit hardest by the economic collapse. Sanders’ plan includes these actions:

• Giving children, regardless of race or income, an equal chance at college. Free tuition would make this possible.
• Invest in the youth employment program to employ young people including the young black men and women who are victims of higher unemployment rates.
• Pay equity for women to further protect black women.
• Prevent the discrimination of applicants based on criminal history by employers.
• Offer quality affordable childcare for working families.

6. Fighting For Women’s Rights

Gender equality is still a very real issue in America. It doesn’t pay to be a woman. Our bodies are governed by a government mostly made up of men who think women are the lesser creature. These men would deny women access to abortion. Despite abhorring abortion, they fight to restrict access to birth control methods. We can’t win on either front. However, Sanders is an advocate of women and major supporter of women’s rights. As the nation’s commander in chief, Sanders would:

• Call for pay equity.
• Expand and protect reproductive rights of women.
• Only nominate Supreme Court Justices who support Roe V. Wade.
• Quality childcare and pre-k available.
• Increase minimum wage to $15. Women make up two-thirds of all minimum wage workers. This would help close the gender wage gap.
• Raised the tipped minimum wage to $15 by 2023. The current federal minimum wage has been $2.13 since 1991. Two-thirds of tipped workers are women. I’ve always worked in restaurants primarily made up of female employees. This would again help close the gender wage gap.
• He calls for two weeks of paid vacation, twelve weeks of paid family leave, and one week of paid sick days for American workers. We are the only major country that does not guarantee paid leave. Mothers are forced to leave their infants much too soon to head back to work because they must work. My husband was lucky enough to have paid leave for six weeks to help me when we had our son. I had to undergo a c-section. I was allowed time to heal. As a first-time mother, I wasn’t left alone to figure it out. I had an extremely hard time with post-partum depression. I cannot imagine what it would have been like had he went straight back to work. The women who pull this feat off daily have my utmost respect and deserve respect from everyone. Women should not have to trust blind luck when it comes to help, support, and ease. Women deserve it.
• Expand WIC. Sanders lead the effort in the Senate against attempts to cut funding for the WIC program. He would increase this funding so that every low-income mother and child receive the sustenance they need.
• Healthcare would be made a guaranteed right. Women would benefit. We’re told we need breast exams, pap smears. We have higher medical costs. Universal healthcare would benefit women the most.
• Expand Social Security, increase cost-of-living adjustments in relation to medical and prescription costs, and expand the minimum to lift seniors out of poverty. Too many times I saw elderly widows come into the doctors offices I worked at, worrying about how much their co-pay for Medicare would be. The co-pay was $16.95 (a number I will never forget). That was seven years ago. That’s not including the yearly deductible tacked on they were responsible for paying. I watched a woman pay off her deductible monthly. She chipped away at it with $10 along with paying her co-pay. By the time it was paid off, it was the next year and time for the next deductible (which had increased). I know for a fact it has been over ten years since my mother had a preventative examination. I have to hope blindly nothing goes wrong, so I can have my mother around for the longest time possible. Despite having insurance (thanks to ObamaCare), she still worries about the cost and foregoes the exams.

7. Sanders Cares About Our Veterans

Last year, Sanders wrote a law that strengthened the Veteran’s Administration health care system by funding the construction of 27 facilities and allow funding of $5 billion to hire more medical personnel such as doctors and nurses to care for the many veterans returning from a war they were sent to by our government to protect our safety and freedom. The bill was created to make it easier for veterans to see private doctors. God help you if you weren’t near a VA facility and needed a doctor in the past. The approvals and paperwork I saw veterans deal with, just to get the care they deserved, was shameful.

In Vermont, the National Guard provides outreach programs to provide support to family members and service members. It provides health care, mental-health counseling, family assistance, transition assistance, and other benefits needed.

Sanders has already accomplished these actions:

• Authorized the Veterans’ Access, Choice and Accountability Act to improve care and increase accountability at the VA.
• Co-sponsored the Post-9/11 GI bill that allowed a new generation of veterans, soldiers, and dependents to go to college.
• Co-sponsored the Women Veterans Access to Quality Care Act. This ensured VA facilities met the needs of female veterans and required all VA medical centers to have obstetricians and gynecologists.
• He has introduced legislation to restore all cuts to military pensions.

As President, he will do more.

• He will fully fund and expand the VA so that veterans receive the care they have earned and rightfully deserve.
• Improve the processing of Veterans’ claims for compensation.
• Expand the VA’s Caregivers Program.
• Expand mental health service. This is something I consider one of the most important of all.
• Fund comprehensive dental care at VA centers.

8. Lower Prescription Drug Costs

Several years ago, after a breakdown, I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. I was at the very end of my rope and at the lowest point of my life I had ever experienced. Hearing a diagnosis and being given a prescription provided me some sort of hope that I would be able to enjoy life again. Imagine my dismay when I called a pharmacy and was told one of my prescriptions (Lamictal to be exact) was around $100 to 200 (I can’t remember exactly). I called every pharmacy locally. Every pharmacy told me the prescription was over $100. At the time, we did not have insurance. We were fortunate that my husband had a very good job; however, he did not have insurance, and that was too much monthly.

Despite the tears and the hopelessness, I became hyper focused on finding the cheapest price somewhere. I knew the $4 lists at Walmart. I knew they had a limited amount of mental-health medication (and at the time I believe only one mood stabilizer). I searched the Internet for hours and was finally starting to look into Canadian pharmacies when I stumbled onto an article on an obscure blog. It was an article about the comparison of drug prices between CostCo and all other major pharmacies. For whatever reason, that one article listed Lamictal as an example. The cost of Lamictal at CostCo was only $20. I called to verify even. I cried on the phone when she confirmed it. I went the next day.

The only issue was the nearest Costco was an hour and a half away from where I lived. The upside, however, was that I owned a car that got 37 mpg highway. At the time, it only cost about $20 to fill my car up. One tank of gas just about covered the entire trip. For $40 and three hours of my time, I was able to get the medication I was prescribed. Could I have asked for a cheaper one? Sure. However, Lamictal has worked for me since the day I started taking it (in conjunction with Prozac and Wellbutrin). What if other options had not worked? I have since taken the medication for years and been mostly stable. I do have phases where depression is severe. But, I can actually function and am mostly stable.

This is a story too many Americans know. I doubt many had the blind luck I had to find an obscure article on the Internet that listed the price. I also am sure there are plenty out there who live much farther away from Costco than I did.

The fact that Americans (especially the elderly) have to choose between groceries/bills or medication is criminal. The fact that one little nimrod of a CEO can jack up the price of a cheap HIV drug taken by countless people is a disgrace to America. If there is a hell in this universe, I’m fairly sure that little guy has a seat there waiting for him.

In response to the little nimrod of a CEO, Sanders and Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.) sent a letter asking for information on “total gross revenue from sales… prices paid for all sales; the prices in foreign markets; and the identity of company officials responsible for setting the price.”

Can you tell this is one important issue to me? Here’s what Sanders would do if he were president:

• Negotiate better deals by requiring Medicare to bargain with RX drug companies for better prices (this is actually banned by law right now). This would allow not only a reduction of drug prices for seniors but would save Medicare billions of dollars. This is something a vast majority of Americans are in support of.
• Allow individuals, pharmacists, and wholesalers to import RX drugs from licensed pharmacies in Canada. The US spends nearly 40 percent more than Canada per person per year on RX drugs. In fact, Sanders was the first Congress member to travel via bus with Americans across the US-Canadian border to purchase prescriptions. Again, a vast majority of Americans support this. He wants to prohibit the US from international trade deals that would raise RX prices or allow a monopoly on brand-name drugs with no generic available. He also wants to suspend the government’s authority to destroy imported drugs at the border until new legislation is passed allowing the import of safe drugs from Canada.
• Sanders wants to extend discounts to low-income seniors and close the Medicare Part D loophole that requires seniors and those with disabilities to pay for medications despite already paying premiums. This would end in 2020, but Sanders wants to end it in 2017. Sanders’ plan would save $103 billion over 10 years.
• Currently, brand name drug companies are allowed to pay off (“pay-for-delay”) generic drug companies to delay the company from introducing a generic into the market. This means drug costs stay high and access to that particular medication is limited. Sanders wants to prohibit these practices. According to the Federal Trade Commission, “pay-for-delay” costs consumers and taxpayers at least $3.5 billion in higher drug costs yearly.
• Drug companies are allowed a monopoly period. Under Sanders, however, drug companies convicted of fraud would lose this exclusivity. Why is that a big deal? A majority of pharmaceutical companies have been convicted for civil and criminal fraud. Though they are fined heavily, drug companies simply pay them like any other expense. No big deal.
• Sanders would require drug companies to become transparent to the public. They would be required to report certain price information including all their expenditures on research and development and clinical trials, as well as drug development expenses offset by tax credits or covered by federal grants. He would also require companies to submit the price, profit, and sales information from other countries where the same drug is sold. Eighty-six percent of Americans support this idea. Even better, 82 percent of REPUBLICANS support this too.

9. Sanders On War

For years now, we’ve talked about war. We’ve fought failed wars and seen too many sons and daughters be shipped off to never return home. Sanders realizes this. He also realizes war, at times, is a necessary evil that is unavoidable. If it can be avoided, it should be avoided. This is where he stands:

• Emphasize diplomacy and make the decision to go to war the absolute last resort.
• He wants to ensure that any military action taken will have clear goals, limited in scope, and provide support to allies in the region whenever possible.
• He wants to close Guantanamo Bay, limit the National Security Agency, do away with torture, and “remember what truly makes America exceptional: our values.”
• Promote fair trade, address global climate change, provide humanitarian relief and economic assistance, defend the rule of law, and promote human rights.

10. Climate Change

If you aren’t a Bible-thumper screaming from a street corner then you most likely agree climate change is very real and very dangerous for the future of the entire Earth. That’s just science, guys. Sanders believes in climate change, and he has addressed and wants to address it further.

He’s addressed it by:

• Introducing the standard for climate change legislation to tax carbon and methane emissions.
• He staunchly opposes the Keystone XL pipeline and has since the beginning.
• Secured $3.2 billion in the economic stimulus package for grants to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, in a program that has funded upgrades for more than 86,000 buildings and installed almost 10,000 energy systems.

Autumn Alston on why you should vote for Hillary Clinton:

There are many reasons to support Hillary Clinton. Here are the top ones that everyone should think about before the debate and when they actually go to vote.

1. She’s a Woman:

NO! I don’t think we should just vote for any woman. I would never support Sarah Palin or Carly Fiorina. But, Hillary is qualified and has a record of public service. Her being a woman just ADDS to the excitement and to her experience. And I ask, if not now, then when?

2. The Donations “Problem:”

Bernie supporters bring this up often. It is overblown. So many Bernie supporters bring up donations as a reason to support Bernie. They often promote this meme around the web:

However, this is misleading. First, anyone can donate to the campaign. If you are a janitor at Goldman, it will go down as a Goldman contribution. The truth is, 98% of Hillary’s donations came from individuals in the above graphic. Whereas the vast majority of contributors to Bernie were from PACs. And the NEA which is shown as  a top contributor to Bernie, has endorsed Hillary for President. So what does that really mean? Most of Hillary’s contributions come from the average person so to say her donation list versus his is a good reason to not support her, doesn’t really make sense.

3. She has a more complex and specific understanding on the issues:

On climate change, for example, she wants half a billion solar panels installed nationwide by the end of her first time. She is NOT a friend of Corporate America and the rich like some may make her out to be. And by the way, in case you forgot, the Citizens United was ABOUT Hillary. They didn’t want to stop her and tarnish her career because she’s such a huge big-money gal. And she gets the economy. She has made a central theme of her campaign to be raising incomes. She wants to help cut down on inequality by encouraging companies to better share profits with their employees.Bernie’s campaign seems a lot like “free this, free that” but how will he pay for it? And why do rich people need free stuff too?

4. Endorsements:

About 56 percent of Democratic Governors and Congressmen support her already. And we are still far away from the election. Perhaps the most telling endorsement is that of Rep. John Lewis. He is a HUGE figure in politics and civil rights. These endorsements help build the party, but they also show that those in charge of actually making policy, trust her. If the people who have worked with you don’t want to hire you for the main gig, that says something bad about you.

5. Criminal Justice Reform and Race:  

She talked about race and justice in a way that shows she understands the complexities involved better than anyone. She wants to phase out private prison, and Deray (an activist who met with her) said on Twitter that her method would primarily be by defunding. She also wants to do more for those battling substance abuse and alternative ways to deal with low-level offenders. Hillary has yelled “Black Lives Matter” numerous times and has met with activists on different occasions. She did this last year. Bernie said he wouldn’t apologize to Black Lives Matter protesters, something that many felt showed he doesn’t quite get the problem.

6. Hillary is a doer-not a talker:

Hillary has been fighting her entire life. She IS for the people and her record of action shows that. Here are some examples of how. Fighting for the right to vote by creating the “Count Every Vote Act” of 2005.  She worked to stop the school-to-prison pipeline in NY by working with the 100 Black Men organization to open an all-boys school to help inner city boys. It now has over six schools and a graduation rate of 95 percent. While she recently supported marriage equality out loud, she co-sponsored a bill to provide benefits to federal employees. Many people don’t know, but as a young lawyer, Hillary has said she worked to help give more legal aid to prisoners. So much for political expediency.

7. She is the best for Women and Families:

NOT JUST BECAUSE SHE IS A WOMAN. She worked to expand the Children’s Defense Fund and provide education for tons of children with disabilities. Who can forget her monumental Women’s Rights Speech in China in 1995? She co-sponsored the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act  and advocated for the rights of women and girls worldwide as Secretary of State. Now, Hillary is the only candidate really taking on the issue of sexual assault. She also wants an amendment to the U.S. Constitution guaranteeing equal rights to women. She obviously has a unique perspective as a woman, but she has clear pathways to create a more equal society too.

8. She is the best on gun control:

We have seen too many mass shootings. After Newtown, many of us were convinced that change was coming. But it hasn’t. Hillary has a stern record on supporting reasonable and effective gun control measures. She defended the Brady Bill which would have provided national background checks and a waiting period for purchases, Bernie opposed it. She also voted against prohibiting lawsuits against gun manufacturers, Bernie opposes this idea.

9. Foreign Policy

Hillary was Secretary of State. She has a vast understanding of the complex world in which we live. What experience does Bernie have? They both have “hawkish” votes that one can point too, but at the end of the day, I trust Hillary as Commander in Chief more.

10. Hillary Can Actually Win

Bernie Sanders is a self-identified Socialist. Or I guess now, Democratic Socialist. Either way, America will not vote for that. Just last Sunday on Meet the Press, Chuck Todd asked Bernie if he was a capitalist and Bernie said: “No. I’m a Democratic Socialist.” This may be great! It certainly appeases the far left. But not most of the country which is what you need to win-clearly. In a recent Gallup poll on presidential characteristics, being a “socialist” was the least acceptable characteristic tested. People would vote for a woman, a Morman, even an Atheist before they voted for a Socialist. Most Americans, like it or not, still identify with Capitalism. They want to think that they have a shot at the American Dream, whether they do or not. A vote for Bernie in my view, would most likely be a vote for a Republican, and I can’t do that.

 

 

Featured image courtesy of PoliticusUSA.com