SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
To donate by check, phone, or other method, see our More Ways to Give page.
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
Vice President Henry Wallace (left) with President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Our government today is of, by, and for the dominant corporations. Such private power dominating our government in so many reported ways was called "fascism" in 1938 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in a formal message to Congress. (Photo: Library of Congress)
Crooked Donald Trump, the erstwhile failed gambling czar and corporate welfare king, is assailing Bernie Sanders for his "radical socialism." How ludicrous given Trump's three-year giveaway of taxpayer assets and authorities to giant corporations - a perfect portrait of crony capitalism.
Others are joining the socialist labeling bandwagon, including corporatist right-wing radio talk show blowhards, themselves freeloaders, profitably using the public airwaves. This pack includes Lloyd Blankfein, former lawbreaking chairman of Goldman Sachs.
Bernie knows, of course, how to rebut this distorted interpretation of "democratic socialism." But will his rebuttals be enough given that the Biden-Bloomberg-Klobuchar wing of the Democratic Party is determined to label Bernie "unelectable" against the boastful Don the Con?
Some suggestions for Bernie and others to use in this upcoming back and forth on "democratic socialism" vs. "corporate socialism" of the super-rich corporations:
The American people of all backgrounds like their public libraries, public local control waterworks, municipal fire departments, police precincts, and public schools. They seem okay with government highways, bridges, public transit, and want their taxes spent to repair and upgrade these vital pieces of our infrastructure. Taxpayers don't want our commonwealth being owned by tax-escaping, gouging corporations.
There are over 1,000 municipal public utilities providing electricity. The "Red" states of Tennessee and Alabama would fight any corporatization of the Tennessee Valley Authority, which 87 years ago, brought electricity to a large poor region that the private electric companies didn't think was profitable enough.
The unfairly maligned Veterans Administration brought free hospitals and health care to millions of veterans. Millions of Americans are favorably disposed to life-saving Medicare and Medicaid and are economically saved by Social Security and unemployment compensation. Hey! There must be a lot of "democratic socialists" out there in "blue" and "red" states. New Hampshirites are mostly okay with state-owned, revenue-producing, hard-liquor retail stores.
At a meeting long ago with top medical officials at the Walter Reed Army hospital, I was told that after learning the second leading cause of hospitalization for U.S. soldiers in Vietnam was malaria, the U.S. Army asked the drug companies to develop remedies. The negative response was that developing medicines to deal with malaria wasn't profitable enough. In response, the Pentagon brought together skilled doctors and scientists and started its own "drug company" inside Walter Reed and Bethesda Naval Hospitals. For less than 10 percent of what the big drug companies say it costs, our government developed three out of four of the leading anti-malarial drugs in the world and made them available everywhere without any patents producing big pharma-like profits.
If the political and corporate Trumpsters and the Clintonite Democrats snort at all this, tell them that they do agree on one thing. Those in both these camps have been eager to have collapsing capitalism, as during the 2008 Wall Street dive, always saved by reliable socialism - aka - trillions of taxpayer dollars via Washington, D.C. funding the bailout of the reckless bankers and speculators.
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Crooked Donald Trump, the erstwhile failed gambling czar and corporate welfare king, is assailing Bernie Sanders for his "radical socialism." How ludicrous given Trump's three-year giveaway of taxpayer assets and authorities to giant corporations - a perfect portrait of crony capitalism.
Others are joining the socialist labeling bandwagon, including corporatist right-wing radio talk show blowhards, themselves freeloaders, profitably using the public airwaves. This pack includes Lloyd Blankfein, former lawbreaking chairman of Goldman Sachs.
Bernie knows, of course, how to rebut this distorted interpretation of "democratic socialism." But will his rebuttals be enough given that the Biden-Bloomberg-Klobuchar wing of the Democratic Party is determined to label Bernie "unelectable" against the boastful Don the Con?
Some suggestions for Bernie and others to use in this upcoming back and forth on "democratic socialism" vs. "corporate socialism" of the super-rich corporations:
The American people of all backgrounds like their public libraries, public local control waterworks, municipal fire departments, police precincts, and public schools. They seem okay with government highways, bridges, public transit, and want their taxes spent to repair and upgrade these vital pieces of our infrastructure. Taxpayers don't want our commonwealth being owned by tax-escaping, gouging corporations.
There are over 1,000 municipal public utilities providing electricity. The "Red" states of Tennessee and Alabama would fight any corporatization of the Tennessee Valley Authority, which 87 years ago, brought electricity to a large poor region that the private electric companies didn't think was profitable enough.
The unfairly maligned Veterans Administration brought free hospitals and health care to millions of veterans. Millions of Americans are favorably disposed to life-saving Medicare and Medicaid and are economically saved by Social Security and unemployment compensation. Hey! There must be a lot of "democratic socialists" out there in "blue" and "red" states. New Hampshirites are mostly okay with state-owned, revenue-producing, hard-liquor retail stores.
At a meeting long ago with top medical officials at the Walter Reed Army hospital, I was told that after learning the second leading cause of hospitalization for U.S. soldiers in Vietnam was malaria, the U.S. Army asked the drug companies to develop remedies. The negative response was that developing medicines to deal with malaria wasn't profitable enough. In response, the Pentagon brought together skilled doctors and scientists and started its own "drug company" inside Walter Reed and Bethesda Naval Hospitals. For less than 10 percent of what the big drug companies say it costs, our government developed three out of four of the leading anti-malarial drugs in the world and made them available everywhere without any patents producing big pharma-like profits.
If the political and corporate Trumpsters and the Clintonite Democrats snort at all this, tell them that they do agree on one thing. Those in both these camps have been eager to have collapsing capitalism, as during the 2008 Wall Street dive, always saved by reliable socialism - aka - trillions of taxpayer dollars via Washington, D.C. funding the bailout of the reckless bankers and speculators.
Crooked Donald Trump, the erstwhile failed gambling czar and corporate welfare king, is assailing Bernie Sanders for his "radical socialism." How ludicrous given Trump's three-year giveaway of taxpayer assets and authorities to giant corporations - a perfect portrait of crony capitalism.
Others are joining the socialist labeling bandwagon, including corporatist right-wing radio talk show blowhards, themselves freeloaders, profitably using the public airwaves. This pack includes Lloyd Blankfein, former lawbreaking chairman of Goldman Sachs.
Bernie knows, of course, how to rebut this distorted interpretation of "democratic socialism." But will his rebuttals be enough given that the Biden-Bloomberg-Klobuchar wing of the Democratic Party is determined to label Bernie "unelectable" against the boastful Don the Con?
Some suggestions for Bernie and others to use in this upcoming back and forth on "democratic socialism" vs. "corporate socialism" of the super-rich corporations:
The American people of all backgrounds like their public libraries, public local control waterworks, municipal fire departments, police precincts, and public schools. They seem okay with government highways, bridges, public transit, and want their taxes spent to repair and upgrade these vital pieces of our infrastructure. Taxpayers don't want our commonwealth being owned by tax-escaping, gouging corporations.
There are over 1,000 municipal public utilities providing electricity. The "Red" states of Tennessee and Alabama would fight any corporatization of the Tennessee Valley Authority, which 87 years ago, brought electricity to a large poor region that the private electric companies didn't think was profitable enough.
The unfairly maligned Veterans Administration brought free hospitals and health care to millions of veterans. Millions of Americans are favorably disposed to life-saving Medicare and Medicaid and are economically saved by Social Security and unemployment compensation. Hey! There must be a lot of "democratic socialists" out there in "blue" and "red" states. New Hampshirites are mostly okay with state-owned, revenue-producing, hard-liquor retail stores.
At a meeting long ago with top medical officials at the Walter Reed Army hospital, I was told that after learning the second leading cause of hospitalization for U.S. soldiers in Vietnam was malaria, the U.S. Army asked the drug companies to develop remedies. The negative response was that developing medicines to deal with malaria wasn't profitable enough. In response, the Pentagon brought together skilled doctors and scientists and started its own "drug company" inside Walter Reed and Bethesda Naval Hospitals. For less than 10 percent of what the big drug companies say it costs, our government developed three out of four of the leading anti-malarial drugs in the world and made them available everywhere without any patents producing big pharma-like profits.
If the political and corporate Trumpsters and the Clintonite Democrats snort at all this, tell them that they do agree on one thing. Those in both these camps have been eager to have collapsing capitalism, as during the 2008 Wall Street dive, always saved by reliable socialism - aka - trillions of taxpayer dollars via Washington, D.C. funding the bailout of the reckless bankers and speculators.