It’s a battle of organized money vs. organized people.
–Zohran Mamdani
I heard a term the other day for the first time: Corporate Democrat. It was defined as a Democrat that serves the corporations that fund their campaigns rather than their constituencies. I think back to the 2016 Presidential election and Bernie Sanders, whose platform has been unwavering since that time. Bernie *could* have, *would* have, if the Democratic National Convention hadn’t refused to endorse him as the candidate.
Bernie and others who are refusing to accept corporate bribes/payoffs are doing the best they can, but when their own parties act against them, something is horribly wrong.
What are we going to do about Corporate Democrats?
I like what happened in NYC with the Governor Primary. It has ranked voting, and it enabled a worthy candidate to be given a chance to be elected. Was it ranked voting that made it possible?
Our local Dem Party has ranked voting speakers coming in to tell us more about it.
I watched Robert Reich on Democracy Now! last week. The recently retired professor plans on continuing teaching us. Here’s an excellent essay he wrote on Mamdani and what his win means.
John Holton is the host of Writer’s Workshop. John gave us 6 different options to write about. I chose:
What does nobody want to talk about, but really should?
Tao Talk 
Yes, there needs to be a grand spring clean.
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I so agree with what Paul said here, Li! Thanks for sharing this. I’m driving but will listen when I get planted!
❤️
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Say what you will about Bill Clinton, but it was during his administration that the National Debt actually came down for the only time in the past 50 years AND he named Robert Reich as Secretary of Labor.
Some people naively thought that using the term “Democratic Socialist” would get rid of red-baiting. The reaction to Mr. Mamdani winning the primary certainly proved that wrong. If the sky hasn’t fallen with the bozo in the White House, a socialist mayor in NYC certainly won’t make that happen. Anyone old enough to remember the Sewer Socialists in Milwaukee remembers that it was the best run city in the US in those days.
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Steve, gotta give Billy Boy credit for those things. He’s a choir boy compared to bozo (which is a kind term for what sits on the golden throne.)
“Sewer Socialist” is a new term to me. If you write any posts on them, please let me know. I think socialist is a trigger word that makes people forget about all of the socialist services they already enjoy (fire/police, roads/bridges/parks, street lights, sewer/water treatment and piping to carry it, etc.) Did you watch the YouTube? I had to laugh when one of them said current Mayor Adams was proposing removing trash bins to address the rat problem.
What are your thoughts on ranked voting? I have to at least consider that it had something to do with Mamdani winning the primary?
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I thought I’d written a post on the Sewer Socialists. I checked and it was just a brief mention. I guess I’ll have to work up a post. Yes, people hating socialism but loving their publicly-funded services give me a laugh, like when the Tea Party wanted to keep government out of Medicare.
Ranked-choice voting sounds like the most viable chance of eliminating the stranglehold the two current parties have. And maybe we wouldn’t have two parties moving to the right. With one party representing the extreme right now in control, the center moves rightward.
I haven’t watched the interview yet. If removing trash bins doesn’t solve the problem, maybe NY can hire the Pied Piper.
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Ranked voting definitely made it possible. (K)
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Good to know. I know you weren’t a fan of it before. After this primary has your opinion shifted?
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No I was always very much for it. Four years ago people didn’t know how to use it which is why Adams won the primary by 5000 votes over Kathryn Garcia. Many people still only voted for one candidate. This time it really worked as it should. People voted for the candidates they were OK with, putting their favorites first, and NOT listing people they did not want at all. Mamdani was not my first choice, but he ended up getting my vote because my first choices fell off the ballot after several rounds. I wish it existed for all elections.
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Kerfe, GOOD TO KNOW info from someone who is in the midst of it in practice. We need it desperately and, like anything, forces of evil will try to find a way to rig it, but it might be what saves us if we can put it in place for all elections.
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They are doing their best to make sure the opposition doesn’t/can’t vote.
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