[Peace-discuss] PDA: Help Elect Progressive Jamaal Bowman To Congress

[J.B. Nicholson]

Robert Naiman wrote:
> This is far and away the most plausible progressive Dem insurgency against
> Pelosi-Hoyer right now. Justice Democrats and Working Families Party just
> dropped 500 K on Bowman. The NY primary is June 23.

The Justice Democrats congressional reps added $5T to the economy in overwhelming (if 
not unanimous) support for the CARES Act which was basically a big business bailout 
bill that contributed highly to the wealthiest individuals and businesses and did not 
include repeating cash payments to individuals (a UBI), did not include Medicare for 
All, and did not include a national jobs program -- three things that could have 
helped most Americans in the midst of a pandemic where many have lost their jobs (and 
thus whatever healthcare was tied to their employment). It's not clear how they'll 
pay rent and other bills.

It only would have taken one Senator to put a hold on the CARES bill and use that 
time to inform the public about the ramifications of that bill, but no Senator did 
that, not even Justice Democrats-endorsed Sen. Bernie Sanders. Sanders later joined 
the rest of the Senate voting for the CARES bill. Generally, Sanders' latest run for 
POTUS seems to be a repeat of his sheepdogging 2016 run (see 
https://blackagendareport.com/bernie-sanders-sheepdog-4-hillaryfor more on that) in 
that both times he talked up some interesting points (not including his foreign 
policy) and then abandoned all of that talk and endorsed the DNC's preferred 
neocon/neolib candidate (then Hillary Clinton, now Joe Biden). Biden has announced 
that he'd veto any Medicare for All bill that cross his desk as President.

The House Democrats even supported a voice vote to better hide a clearer indicator of 
how they voted. Some, like Ilhan Omar (D-MN) admit they voted for that bill even 
after listing so many reasons why that bill was known to be inadequate for the 
public, others like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) say vague things like how she 
doesn't 'support' that bill. But if you listen to the voice audio recording of the 
voice vote in the House, it's clear that the 'no' votes came from men (perhaps 2 
men). None of the Justice Democrats apparently have the strength to go up against 
Nancy Pelosi. AOC, for instance, voted for making Pelosi Speaker of the House despite 
that Pelosi is a known opponent of Medicare for All. AOC's choice helps AOC keep her 
Congressional appointments and make arm-waving speeches vaguely 'supporting' Medicare 
for All but never bringing a Medicare for All bill to the floor of the House for a 
vote. AOC and the other Justice Democrats have a big problem in that they are 
Democrats. It's not at all clear that Bowman will do anything differently or that 
that party is worth supporting at all.

Recently Justice Democrat AOC said that "the Green New Deal does leave the door open 
for nuclear" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRU8K402OK8) and that she's backing Joe 
Biden thus putting to rest any notion that she's anti-war or standing behind what she 
said in a previously delivered (well prior to endorsing Joe Biden in his 2020 POTUS 
race) speech (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZM_AxFH7bQ):

> Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: Sexual assault is not a crime of passion. It is about 
> the abuse of power. And that is precisely why it is one of the most serious, 
> serious allegations anyone who cares to be a public servant can be accused of. 
> Sexual assault is about the abuse of power. It is always women who are 
> marginalized, it is the young, it is the interns, it is the immigrant, it is the 
> trans. They are always most at risk, because society listens to them the least. 
> And that is why a man believes that an elite education, a high income and his
> rich friends can get away with sexual assaults. That is why I want to thank every 
> survivor that is here today that is allowing themselves and everyone in this 
> country to be re-traumatized over and over, because people and people like Dr. 
> Anita Hill, I mean people like Anita Hill and Dr. Ford have to sit there in front 
> of panels of eleven men. Could you imagine if Brett Kavanaugh had to sit in front 
> of a panel of eleven women of color, deciding his fate? Could you imagine? Could 
> you imagine?

Here are some relevant critiques of AOC & other Justice Democrats from Jimmy Dore who 
has done a good job pointing out how the system works and the Democrats & Republicans 
have the same funders, so are effectively one party:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4P4YLxzXwk -- "AOC's Subservience To Pelosi & Party 
Exposed"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhO4p5BoDjM -- "AOC Defends Party & Ignores Voter 
Suppression"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLo8GtAjIFo -- "AOC's Theatrics Hide Her Obedience to 
Pelosi & Party"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRU8K402OK8 -- "AOC Now Open to NUCLEAR Green New Deal?"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lwiP6JT3mQ -- "AOC Fails to Challenge Pelosi on New 
Stimulus Bill"

David Johnson pointed to 
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/23/us/politics/joe-biden-democrats-2020.html which said:

> The New York Times reported that Biden was paid $200,000 to speak at a rally in
> Benton Harbor, and he and the GOP were successful in their efforts, as incumbent
> Fred Upton edged Democrat Matt Longjohn by four points.
Jimmy Dore's reaction to that (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGeKIf8Sojc) also adds 
credence to why we ought not take any Democrats seriously.

 From the aforementioned New York Times article:

> But Mr. Biden's appearance in Michigan plainly set his lucrative personal 
> activities at odds with what some Democrats saw as his duty to the party, linking 
> him with a civic group seen as tilting to the right and undermining Democrats' 
> effort to defeat Mr. Upton, a powerful lawmaker who in 2017 helped craft a bill
> to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
Which means Joe Biden was helping someone work against legislation passed in Biden's 
administration when Biden was Vice President; legislation liberals would have us 
celebrate even though it did nothing to prevent 30 million people from receiving the 
healthcare they needed and does not get us closer to Medicare for All.

This should quell any notion that the public should vote Biden into the presidency 
and then wait to pressure him on better legislation such as Medicare for All. Biden 
apparently goes where the money goes which means supporting HMOs when they draft 
legislation (such as the Affordable Care Act aka "ObamaCare") and when HMOs don't 
make enough money under the ACA Biden makes money working with those who want to 
repeal the ACA. Making Biden the "standards bearer" of the Democrats (to quote DNC 
lawyer Bruce Spiva) gives one clear reason to not trust the entire party.

There's more discussion of Democrats' fecklessness and unresponsiveness to public 
needs in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_8BM7o1crI which is the latest CrossTalk in 
which Margaret Kimberley (from BlackAgendaReport.com), particularly at the end of the 
discussion (last 10 minutes).

-J