I am BACK! With the LTEs! And some awesome new graphics by LoneStarMike - and I am NOT LoneStarMike, or LieparDestin, or Don Midwest, or Jalus. I'm just crossposting things that got posted in the comments section over at GOS. (I will be posting the ones I missed later today and tomorrow in separate posts.)

Now that that's out of the way, I now start you off with important voting information for the Wisconsin primary tomorrow, care of Jalus!

Enjoy!

---

Posted by Jalus

Wisconsin Voters Key Information

POLLING LOCATION
Wisconsin has open primaries — Wisconsinites can vote for Bernie Sanders regardless of their registered party.
Polling locations are open from 7AM-8PM across the state. If you're in line by 8PM, you will be permitted to vote.
.
Mail-in registration
You can also register at your polling place on election day by bringing proof of residency and certifying that you've been a resident of Wisconsin for 28 days.
.
ID REQUIREMENT
Wisconsin requires you to present a photo identification in order to vote in person. Click here to learn more about acceptable photo IDs.
.
COLLEGE STUDENTS
If you are a college student not living in your home state, you can vote for Bernie in either your home state or in the state in which you are attending school!
.
MILITARY/OVERSEAS VOTERS
If you are a military voter or a United States citizen living abroad, you are able to request a ballot here.
.
MORE INFORMATION
If you have any questions about voting in Wisconsin you may contact your state elections office for more information.
Wisconsin Elections Office
Phone: (608) 266-8005
.

You don’t have to vote for the lesser of two evils …

You can vote for the GREATER GOOD!

Bernie 2016

---

Posted by LoneStarMike

Current Facebook stats as of 5:00 a.m. CST

Bernie2016/Hillary2016/Senator Bernie Sanders

Bernie Sanders 3,751,591 Presidential Campaign Page

Hillary Clinton 3,105,286 Presidential Campaign Page

Bernie Sanders 3,667,439 U. S. Senatorial Page

Tuesday, Bernie had 643,543 more likes than Sec. Clinton

Today, Bernie has 646,305 more likes than Sec. Clinton

(The gap widens and it’s the highest it’s ever been)

First of today’s graphics:

---

Sanders’ platform on health care, free tuition would benefit U.S.

The Advocate LTE — Baton Rouge, Louisiana

I am responding to a letter to the editor in a recent Advocate that praises the column by Thomas Sowell against presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders and socialism. What Sanders is saying is that in a democracy, the millionaires and billionaires cannot and should not run things because they are interested solely in making money and do not care whether the rest of the world of non-millionaires and non-billionaires, which represents mostly us, survives.

As to offering free education, the Europeans wince at the high fees U.S. colleges and universities charge for tuition and room and board. Why pay so much, they say? In Europe, there is free education, but you have to pay for room and board and other costs, mostly minimal. Why should we not have free tuition? The government will recoup that in the fact of higher employment through taxes for the people who took advantage of the free education in the form of free tuition and higher paying jobs, like the G.I. bill for American military after the war. It paid back double, if not triple.

I think Sanders’ attempt at running for the presidency is premised on the fact of equal opportunity. We need a third party. Period. The stranglehold the Republicans and Democrats have on the country has failed. Sowell says socialism has failed. You ask the average English person if they would want to go back to the old system of paying for health care out-of-pocket. Ask the Israelis and the Scandinavians if they want go back to the older system?

These benefits are natural benefits in a democratic society. Sowell’s contention that socialism has failed is a fallacy.

Norman Thomas, the grand old man of American socialism, was right in his contention that health care in America is a right, not a benefit. Franklin Delano Roosevelt co-opted Thomas’ point of view, and he created Social Security. Social Security has become a basic part of our rights as American citizens. And the same could be said for the Europeans and the Scandinavians. Would they want to go back to the older system?

---

Two jobs just to keep your head above water?

---

Far too many U.S. voters are woefully uninformed

The Buffalo News LTE — Buffalo, New York

The American voter, by and large, is lazy and shamefully uniformed. Many vote the party of their parents, many are one-issue oriented and most are too busy squeezing out as much joy as they can within their allotted existence to pay attention to slick people in business suits who twist the truth for a living.

Does anybody really think the voters of the Deep South ever became informed about Bernie Sanders before voting so heavily for Hillary Clinton? The need to be informed as a voter is borne out by the differences in the outcomes of the recent caucuses and primaries.

In a caucus, the potential voter spends three hours or more among other citizens who express their concerns and opinions about the candidates, and after a period of deliberation they coalesce around the candidate of their choice and cast their vote.

In a primary, the potential voter can be in a bar, take a shot, go across the street to the polling place and pull a lever, then come back and swallow his beer chaser before the burn of the whiskey has dissipated.

It is no anomaly or accident that after intelligent conversation and discourse in the caucuses, Sanders beats Clinton by enormous numbers while she benefits from large numbers of the lazy and predetermined voters in primaries. Even in the Republican caucuses, Ted Cruz performs much better against Donald Trump than in the primaries.

So we should not cast our anger toward Trump, Cruz, Clinton or Sanders. We should look to ourselves and the many around us who turn a blind eye to the reality of the times. Vigilance is our strongest weapon against tyranny, for in the end, we all get the government we deserve.

If I may quote Pogo: “We have met the enemy, and he is us.”

---

More jobs, not jails

---

Bernie and the bird

The Torch — Lane Community College Eugene Oregon

This article was written by someone who attended the recent Portland, Oregon rally. (lat part of the article)

I’ve had my doubts, but perhaps a revolution is possible. I think we’ve become so complacent in anticipating that politicians do not have the people’s best interests at heart, that we continue doing the same thing over again in the name of tradition. Much like Daylight Savings, like why do we still do that?

Sanders is a well-seasoned politician and activist; an independent until 2005. He has served as mayor in Vermont, and held seats in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. He was arrested during college in Chicago for being involved in an anti-segregation protest. He is for equal rights, liveable wages and affordable secondary education.

Since the Portland rally, Sanders has won caucuses in Washington, Alaska and Hawaii, a feat many didn’t see coming, especially after Hillary Clinton’s large wins in Arizona and Florida . In a country where we are still dealing with extreme levels of poverty, overwhelming student debt, depletion of the environment, racial tensions and hate, it’s time to reevaluate what we want the future to look like.

I am for fundamental human rights. I am for integrity. I am for the greater good. I am for Bernie Sanders.

---

Hanging on by a thread?

---

Can't forgive Clinton; voting for Sanders

The Billings Gazette LTE — Billings, Montana

Yes, Hillary Clinton now admits that NAFTA, and invading Iraq, were "mistakes." Or at least that's what she's telling us, now that they've proven to be very unpopular political liabilities (I believe that's called “triangulating”), and hoping we’ll believe that she's somehow "evolved," and forgive her those “mistakes,” which 1) destroyed America's economy and middle class, and 2) destroyed a whole country, killed maybe half a million people, and created ISIS.

Frankly, I'm not in the mood to be real forgiving about those things. In fact, I'm so unforgiving that I'm voting for someone who voted against both of those things, who’s fighting for the working poor and middle class, is not a recipient of the 1 percent's corporate largess, with $250,000-a-pop Wall Street bribes (er, "speaking fees"), who’s not a war-mongering American-adventurist, miring us in foreign invasions and overthrows because his heroes and mentors were human ghouls like Henry Kissinger and Madeline Albright.

No, I want a president with better instincts before they must regain political popularity by “admitting to” mistakes that destroyed two countries, America’s economy, and literally uncountable soldiers’ and civilians’ lives, plus created the very enemies that now threaten innocents worldwide; who fights for the U.S.; who isn’t part of the 1 percent, and just coming around to some recently triangulated epiphanies born of focus-group electioneering.

For 40 years, Bernie Sanders has led that fight for justice and equality, while Clinton’s triangulating flip-flops only epitomize a favorite saying: “The people are on the march, and I must follow, for I am their leader.”

---

Bernie makes us jump for joy!

---

Wyoming Dems should rally around Sanders

Wyoming Tribune Eagle Op-Ed — Cheyenne, Wyoming

Bernie Sanders touts campaign finance reform, universal health care, privacy rights and a resurgence of the middle class. He opposes corporate welfare, income inequality, racial discrimination in the criminal justice system and losing young American lives in Middle East wars.

What’s not to like about that agenda? Mr. Sanders, who trails former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, is unquestionably the candidate Wyoming Democrats should get behind when they hold their county caucuses April 9.

Mr. Sanders has been a U.S. senator from Vermont for 10 years, and before that he represented Vermont in the U.S. House. His first political office was mayor of Burlington, Vermont.

[...]

Other Western states like Utah and Idaho – which are similar to Wyoming in their political conservatism and other ways – recently gave overwhelming victories to Mr. Sanders at their Democratic caucuses.

There’s no reason why the Equality State shouldn’t do the same because Mr. Sanders embodies the principles of equality. He wants elections to be decided by average voters, not billionaires who give obscene amounts to gain access to politicians.

I like the sound of “President Sanders,” and I like what he has to say. The more you get to know what he stands for, you will too.

More at the link. What I quoted was the intro part, and the concluding part. There’s a lot more in between.

---

A Mind is a Beautiful Thing to Waste

---

Yes, Bernie Sanders' ideas are practical. Ask Western Europe

The Oregonian LTE — Portland Oregon and statewide

More for our tax dollars: In his March 31 letter to the editor supporting Hillary Clinton for president, Mr. Anthony Plumer declares that Bernie Sanders supporters are naive and that Sanders' policies are impractical, promising "the sun, the moon and the stars." For decades, college tuition, health care and day care have been alive and well in Western European democracies. These are not "the sun, the moon and the stars" but real benefits that citizens enjoy through their own tax dollars. Sadly, the lion's share of my tax dollars go for war and do not benefit our own people.

My niece died in Georgia this year because of the high cost of health care; she did not go to the doctor in time and died of lung cancer. Her children did not go to college; they felt they could not afford it. These are real and avoidable consequences of the poor policy decisions by our "leaders." Mr. Plumer needs to wake up to the possibilities and not be satisfied with a few crumbs of benefits that we get here in the U.S.

Gov. Kate Brown wants to support Hillary, who voted for the war in Iraq and destabilized Syria and Libya, which costs us all dearly. Almost a million people are dead and several thousand of our soldiers, as well. My own brother-in-law died in Vietnam for a lie. Our family knows well the bitter consequences of paying for wars. Is Mr. Plumer OK with this use of his tax dollars? This is why we don't have the same benefits as Western Europe, my friends.

---

Posted by Don midwest

Great interview of Michelle Alexander with Chris Hayes

She is not endorsing any candidate for president, but has presented a devistating case against the Clinton’s legislation and its effect on minorities and the poor.

To be true to dailykos, a warning is needed because she says that BOTH parties are not working for the people. In the past bringing that up led to getting flagged. But since she is saying it, I am not worried that the flag police will descend on me….

A tweet from Glenn Greenwald led me to this link and it seems that Glenn has been rehabilitated here on dailykos in recent years. For the longest time the biggest criticism of him was that he was all ego…. But as one of the premier young journalists he survived his thrashing here on daily kos and his twitter feed is now up to about 650,000.

Extended interview with Michelle Alexander Michelle Alexander: , legal scholar, human rights activist, and author of a recent essay in the Nation titled, “Why Hillary Clinton Doesn’t Deserve the Black Vote,” joins Chris Hayes to talk about the presidential campaign, criminal justice, race, and the Democratic ..

---

Tax Time: How Corporations Are Cheating Schoolchildren

Corporations are a creation of the state. The state has been taken over in a corporate coup d’etat. Only a change of government can control the power of the corporations. And we know which candidate for president is raising this issue.

From the article

Many of the largest U.S. corporations aren't paying the state taxes that should be funding our schools. Kids are the victims. So are the average Americans who are forced to pay higher property taxes, sales taxes, and excise taxes to meet educational budgets. Government and media sources would have us believe there's no alternative, for in a market-driven world it's heresy to make demands of big business, even when the companies are flagrantly avoiding their taxes.

ALEC has been working for as I recall 40 years to take over state governments with their “model” legislation.

One of the excerpts from Thomas Frank’s new book in Salon noted that Bill Clinton framed his change efforts as the power of change, globalization, that could not be resisted. In that excerpt Hillary was quoted as saying that given the scope of the needed change. friends needed to be attacked. So when Bill signed NAFTA, it was noted that he was tough to take on the unions.

Before I get to Thomas Frank, I went to ALEC’s web page for the first time and saw how they are using innovation to frame their attack on state governments. Recall that Bill Gates has spent possibly a billion dollars to change K-12 education. Here is the overall strategy of ALEC.

And who can be against innovation and progress???

Whether improving processes, creating products or developing new ideas, the application of technology can enable real changes in how state government works, both in quality of services delivered to constituents, cost savings and quality of life.

States have the opportunity in our national balance of government power, to address policy challenges through innovation and experimentation, to lead by being the “laboratories of democracy.” Most of the challenges are not easy, but innovation is often the way through, and states are best equipped for this challenge. Confronting challenges in these “laboratories,” and taking the risks to create a better tomorrow provides a best practices blueprint for other states and the federal government. States are the incubators of solutions. But even when the creative goes astray, the experience provides valuable insight for other states as they grapple with their challenges.

Solving real problems with relevant solutions is the key to any successful public policy agenda. In other words, innovation is just as much about identifying the problem as it is about creating the solution. The secrets of America’s success at invention are flexibility, the willingness to experiment and learn from mistakes, an inherent love of risk taking, adventure, discovery, entrepreneurship, the internal drive that gives permission to imagine and invent, the freedom to succeed and the freedom to fail…and a sensible government that stays out of the way of the magic. This is innovation.

Thus trashing democracy is as American as Apple Pie from the mouth of ALEC

www.alec.org/…

Back to Thomas Frank book excerpts on salon.com

This is the one that has the Hillary quotes about attacking our friends to bring about the needed change (which I characterize as the way that they trashed the New Deal) which for me has been a real eye opener.

Bill Clinton’s odious presidency: Thomas Frank on the real history of the ’90s Welfare reform. NAFTA. The crime bill. Prisons. Aides wondered if Bill knew who he was. His legacy is sadly clear.

and the more recent article on salon.com which was also posted on bill moyers site

What’s the matter with Dem? : Thomas Frank talks Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and everything in between While Republicans devour each other whole, Democrats face an identity crisis of their own. Thomas Frank explains.

This one describes the emphasis on the professional class rather than the working class.

---

Bernie talks about criminal justice reform

A neighbor is a Columbus Oh police officer

I rang his doorbell with my Bernie T shirt on

He would not vote for Bernie because of his stand on criminal justice

From WA Post today

Law enforcement took more stuff from people than burglars did last year

We hear all the time about cops murdering people but not enough about their theft.

---

Must address war to make major change in the country

We spent trillions on wars started by W Bush and continued today

A couple of days ago I made a comment that the Obama military budget would lock in military spending until 2030. The oligarchs are well connected to the military in many ways.

The new war with ISIS is framed like the new Cold War needing increased military budgets.

Is the Obama telling the truth about wars like they were telling the truth about spying on all of us?

In short, no they continue to lie and the corporate media, another tool of corporations, continues to sell the terrorism story.

Intel Analysts: We Were Forced Out for Telling the Truth About Obama’s ISIS War:: The growing scandal over cooked ISIS intelligence just got much worse. Now, analysts are saying they’re being forced out for not toeing the Obama administration’s line on the war.

---

Scandal is what has been legalized

A new column just published by Glenn Greenwald on the parallel between Snowden’s NSA documents and the Panama Papers

A Key Similarity Between Snowden Leak and Panama Papers: Scandal is What’s Been Legalized

The Bernie movement is standing up to corrupt political systems

Successfully proving that certain behavior is “legal” does not prove that it is ethical or just. That’s because corrupted political systems, by definition, often protect and legalize exactly the behavior that is most unjust. Vital journalism does not only expose law-breaking. It also highlights how corrupted political and legal systems can be co-opted by the most powerful in order to legally sanction atrocious and destructive behavior that serves their interests, typically with little or no public awareness that it’s been done.

In such cases, as Jaffer put it, “the deeper scandal is what’s legal, not what’s not.” The key revelation is not the illegality of the specific behavior in question but rather the light shined on how our political systems function and for whose benefit they work. That was true of the Snowden leak, and it’s true of the PanamaPapers as well.