I am new to this site. I found it through comments in a "Bernie" diary. One of the reasons I am here now is the toxicity over at Daily Kos. I put this diary up giving my family's reasons for supporting Bernie Sanders. I actually got jumped on by a Hillary supporter for my using Kissinger in one of the reasons saying it was nothing but a red herring. I'm staying there mainly for Street Prophets as I can not in good conscience leave it all to Ojibwa to do so much by himself. Later when I feel up to it I'll write an introduction to who I am but right now I just want to say thank you and I am a grateful new member here.

What My Family Is Looking For In A President

Come Tuesday we have seven family members voting in the North Carolina primary. We represent three age groups. I'll be 68 at the end of the month and Reid just turned 60. Bernie and her husband are in their 40s. The three young ones are 22, 20, and 18. All seven of us are voting the same way. Here is what I am looking for in a President.

1. Single Payer Health Care. I am a 24/7 caregiver to a brittle diabetic who lost his leg and is now in a wheelchair. We are drowning in medical bills. All we have to live on is Social Security and Social Security Disability. They want $15,000.00 for an artificial leg and we had to make arrangements for 20% before they would even begin to build it.

The trips to the hospital and to all the Doctors last year has taken a toll on my back and health but I don't have time to care for myself because there is no one to care for Reid. I had pneumonia last month and couldn't afford to go to the Doctor.

The costs of medicines is astronomical. They wanted $780.00 for a 30 day supply of pain medicine for his neuropathy. We had to say no. We couldn't afford it.

We need health care for all. We need to lose the cap on Social Security. The poor pay social security all year long why shouldn't the rich?

Everyone should have good healthcare not just the rich.

2. Education has to be a priority. The United States continues to slide in education. I have a grandniece and grandnephew working tables trying to get enough money to go back to school. Kayla excels in nanotecnology. Tristen excels in computers. We have to get our young people educated. Their parents are drowning in school debts for their own degrees. They are not rich enough to send the children to a top school. We need these young brains to be educated. There is so much that needs to be discovered but lacks the funding to do so. Tax the off shore monies and educate our children.

3. Raise the standards of living for the poor and middle classes. I have to juggle every month to try and pay bills, get medicine, keep a roof over my head, and eat. You can't get ahead if debts are breathing down your back. Congress decided we didn't need a raise in our social security this year. That didn't stop retailers from raising their prices. No one should have to juggle the cost of paying for a bottle of medicine or eating dinner that evening. It is time that the rich and the corporations start paying their fair share of taxes. The poor and middle class have carried them on our backs for far too long.

4. If it comes to the choice of war or peace go for peace. I watched Vietnam destroy my older brother. I saw the cheerful and optimistic young man come back bitter and rage filled. He took to drink. He became an extreme tea party believer. I saw how hard it was for his parents, his siblings, his only daughter, and his three grandchildren to watch him deteriorate.

Henry Kissinger and Richard Nixon prolonged a war that could not be won and the victims in this country were people like my brother. Mike ended up as a Bronze Star winner for bravery lying on a bathroom floor with a broken back and blood and feces surrounding him.

5. AIDS took too many friends. When I was running my convention we had the late Ray Sharkey as a guest. He had been diagnosed as having AIDS and would die not too long after the convention ended. I had pins for my people that said "You Can't Get AIDS From A Hug". As he was leaving Ray gave me a big hug and thanked me for having him as a guest. I worked on the AIDS Quilt square for him.

I remember friends dying and no one in the Government was doing anything about it. The President laughed and made AIDS jokes. Over 20,000 deaths would occur before he would even say the word AIDS. Ronald and Nancy Reagan failed in the war against HIV/AIDS.

I want a President I can trust. I want one who will tell the truth. I want one who believes is us. My family will be voting for Bernie Sanders.