2020 Presidential Election

[Martina]

I don't think most establishment liberals are worried about Bernie losing. They're worried about him winning. The rich really don't want to pay the taxes they would have paid under Nixon.

[BullDog]

Originally Posted by Martina

I don't think most establishment liberals are worried about Bernie losing. They're worried about him winning. The rich really don't want to pay the taxes they would have paid under Nixon.

I disagree. Democrats are worried about Sanders losing to Trump and not taking the Senate back and potentially losing the House.

I also don't think painting all of the rest of us as establishment liberals worried about paying too much in taxes like Sanders and so many of his supporters do is not at all helpful to his cause. Shrug. Maybe you are just saying the rich Democrats, I don't know. I certainly don't think they control everything so I guess I don't exactly know what you mean.

I do agree that Klobuchar dropping out right before Minnesota votes could potentially help Sanders in Minnesota but maybe can help Biden in a lot of other places? Maybe. I'm really happy she is dropping out and endorsing Biden but I also do think it's a bit unfair to her home state voters.

[Kelt]

Another somewhat unrelated thought....at what point will campaign rallies stop being held? All the major presidential candidates are in their late 70s, this Covid-19 virus could inflict some damage on all of them at the same time. It would be utter chaos.

[Martina]

Yeah I meant rich Dems like Silicon Valley CEOs. Seems like every day there's some rich liberal saying he'd rather have Trump than Sanders. And I meant the politicians who serve their interests.

Originally Posted by BullDog

I disagree. Democrats are worried about Sanders losing to Trump and not taking the Senate back and potentially losing the House.

I also don't think painting all of the rest of us as establishment liberals worried about paying too much in taxes like Sanders and so many of his supporters do is not at all helpful to his cause. Shrug. Maybe you are just saying the rich Democrats, I don't know. I certainly don't think they control everything so I guess I don't exactly know what you mean.

I do agree that Klobuchar dropping out right before Minnesota votes could potentially help Sanders in Minnesota but maybe can help Biden in a lot of other places? Maybe. I'm really happy she is dropping out and endorsing Biden but I also do think it's a bit unfair to her home state voters.

[kittygrrl]

I'm fine with either Biden or Bloomberg..i don't hold Bloomberg billions against him..i could care less..i think Biden is a little weak and will need propping up..he will need a younger stronger vice..Klobucher would be a great choice since she is in tune with the Senate and is in the top percentage of effective legislators..she's savvy and smart and yes a little boring to listen to but it obviously does not effect her ability to pass legislation ...also would like to point out..
the Bernie people in this thread want to believe like Trump and his supporters and media that there are conspiracies and such trying to screw him..candidates want to win; can we just not use Trump propaganda play by fair rules and no matter who the winner is support him? Bernie helped to make new rules for brokered convention so no complaints. It's fair.

[A. Spectre]

Katzchen:

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)

Sen. Elizabeth Warren has proposed some of the most robust plans for tuition and student loan debt reform of any of the candidates so far. In April 2019, Warren and her team published a proposal on what she would do to solve these issues:

*Mass student loan forgiveness. Warren proposed forgiving up to $50,000 in federal student loans for all borrowers with a household income of $100,000 or less. Her plan would offer partial forgiveness to those who make between $100,000 and $250,000, and no forgiveness to those who make more than $250,000.

Warren’s campaign website now has an interactive tool that shows borrowers how much loan forgiveness they could receive under her student loan cancellation plan.


Joe Biden, former vice president and former U.S. senator

*Simplify income-driven repayment plans, and allow student loan borrowers who make less than $25,000 to reduce their payments to $0 without accruing interest on their debt. Borrowers who make more than $25,000 annually would pay just 5% of their discretionary income (the current plans cap payments at 10% or more) and be eligible for forgiveness after 20 years.

*Simplify the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program and allow eligible borrowers to get $10,000 in forgiveness annually for up to five years


Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)

*Cancel all outstanding U.S. student loans, totaling $1.56 trillion, regardless of borrowers’ income levels, a move which Sanders says would boost the economy by about $1 trillion over the next 10 years and create 1.6 million new jobs annually. He also says canceling student debt would give millions of Americans the resources they need to buy a home, purchase a car or start a small business.

*** Information above is NOT what these candidates will do for present and future school loan holders. Hope this helps you and the others vote for what is in your personal interest.

[dark_crystal]

Originally Posted by A. Spectre

Katzchen:

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)

Sen. Elizabeth Warren has proposed some of the most robust plans for tuition and student loan debt reform of any of the candidates so far. In April 2019, Warren and her team published a proposal on what she would do to solve these issues:

*Mass student loan forgiveness. Warren proposed forgiving up to $50,000 in federal student loans for all borrowers with a household income of $100,000 or less. Her plan would offer partial forgiveness to those who make between $100,000 and $250,000, and no forgiveness to those who make more than $250,000.

Warren’s campaign website now has an interactive tool that shows borrowers how much loan forgiveness they could receive under her student loan cancellation plan.


Joe Biden, former vice president and former U.S. senator

*Simplify income-driven repayment plans, and allow student loan borrowers who make less than $25,000 to reduce their payments to $0 without accruing interest on their debt. Borrowers who make more than $25,000 annually would pay just 5% of their discretionary income (the current plans cap payments at 10% or more) and be eligible for forgiveness after 20 years.

*Simplify the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program and allow eligible borrowers to get $10,000 in forgiveness annually for up to five years


Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)

*Cancel all outstanding U.S. student loans, totaling $1.56 trillion, regardless of borrowers’ income levels, a move which Sanders says would boost the economy by about $1 trillion over the next 10 years and create 1.6 million new jobs annually. He also says canceling student debt would give millions of Americans the resources they need to buy a home, purchase a car or start a small business.

*** Information above is NOT what these candidates will do for present and future school loan holders. Hope this helps you and the others vote for what is in your personal interest.

This is why i stayed with Sanders. I have more than 50k in loans and more than 100k in (household) income

[Martina]

The new polls show that Biden got a huge bump from Klobuchar and Buttigieg leaving. He might get Texas now. That's all fair. I'm not whining, but CNN and the Press this morning just can't contain their delight. And that pisses me off.

[Kätzchen]

Originally Posted by A. Spectre

Katzchen:


Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)

Sen. Elizabeth Warren has proposed some of the most robust plans for tuition and student loan debt reform of any of the candidates so far. In April 2019, Warren and her team published a proposal on what she would do to solve these issues:

*Mass student loan forgiveness. Warren proposed forgiving up to $50,000 in federal student loans for all borrowers with a household income of $100,000 or less. Her plan would offer partial forgiveness to those who make between $100,000 and $250,000, and no forgiveness to those who make more than $250,000.

Warren’s campaign website now has an interactive tool that shows borrowers how much loan forgiveness they could receive under her student loan cancellation plan.


Joe Biden, former vice president and former U.S. senator

*Simplify income-driven repayment plans, and allow student loan borrowers who make less than $25,000 to reduce their payments to $0 without accruing interest on their debt. Borrowers who make more than $25,000 annually would pay just 5% of their discretionary income (the current plans cap payments at 10% or more) and be eligible for forgiveness after 20 years.

*Simplify the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program and allow eligible borrowers to get $10,000 in forgiveness annually for up to five years


Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)

*Cancel all outstanding U.S. student loans, totaling $1.56 trillion, regardless of borrowers’ income levels, a move which Sanders says would boost the economy by about $1 trillion over the next 10 years and create 1.6 million new jobs annually. He also says canceling student debt would give millions of Americans the resources they need to buy a home, purchase a car or start a small business.

*** Information above is NOT what these candidates will do for present and future school loan holders. Hope this helps you and the others vote for what is in your personal interest.

Thanks!

Here is the problem that is I see with all their so-called remedies: That Loan Forgiveness piece? There is no such thing as getting your loans forgiven under the long-held remedy of working for a company that offers to have your loans forgiven if you work X amount of years and make timely payments during those X amount of years. I've spoken with a number of call centers with loan servicers who service my 6-figure school loans and all of them confirm that there is no such remedy, which used to be a remedy offered to people who took jobs in the government sector (which paid low wages, yet offered health benefits you ordinarily can not get with the standard American employer).

Second problem: Every year I apply for an Income Driven Repayment plan, especially since that horrid person took office in the WH, loan servicers (FedLoan, Navient, US Dept of ED, etc) -- each agency used to have reliable inter-office communication practices whereby each agency used the same set of data stored on file, but now they don't. It's like none of them talk to each other like they used too all along. Now you have to print off three or more copies of the same document and ship them out to each loan servicer so they can all be on the same page, yet they are not on the same page.

It's like some mind boggling chess game they play with student loan borrowers, hoping to trip the levers that spell: Default, whereby then? They raid all of that person's earnings and leave no earnings for the loan borrower to survive on, even if they are lucky to have an extra job or several 'side hustles' to earn extra money to live on. It all spells serious trouble, if you ask me.

I have six figures in Student Loans. I earn less that the imaginary amount of $50K. None of the plans offered by *any* presidential contender stand out to me as a plan that will go into effect IF they are elected to be POTUS.

What is said, is not always what goes down. That's my experience.

I think the last lines of your post A. Spectre state it perfectly because it is exactly the experience I have been experiencing for the past several years (see quote below):

Information above is NOT what these candidates will do for present and future school loan holders.

This is why I am having trouble believing any of the 'promises' any contender uses as their party-line platform to attract voters.

None of their plans work. Not of those plans ever worked in the past.

It's maddening and terribly frustrating and I find it insulting that they think student loan borrowers (with all our yearly issues of hurdling paperwork by any loan servicer) cannot connect the proverbial dots as to whether their plan will work or not.


But thanks my friend, I appreciate you.

[BullDog]

Super Tuesday Is Here!

I'm so nervous and excited at the same time. I'm sure happy for the last few days. What I'm looking for:

Biden: There are strong indications that he is getting a huge bounce since South Carolina. I believe it will be evident in the results, despite all the early voting. As long as he is fairly close to Sanders in delegates after this I will be happy. I honestly don't know how close he needs to be but most of Sanders best states are today and more favorable states for Biden coming up.

We actually probably won't know for sure where things stand due to all of the mail-in votes in California, which can take days if not weeks to count. I think Sanders will win California but Biden will hold his own. There are plenty of moderates and more conservative voters in the state. Also, early voting is huge in California but looks to be down by quite a bit this year and a lot of it seems to be with people over 50.

Sanders: We keep hearing about massive turnout - especially the young and new voters. We haven't seen it yet - well we saw massive turnout in South Carolina but it wasn't those people. If it doesn't happen today then when will it? The theory from Sanders and his followers seems to be that he is the best to go up against Trump since he will have the biggest voter turn out in history based on the youth and new voters loving Sanders. I am HIGHLY skeptical of this. I'd rather take my chances with a fired-up base, and Obama campaigning hard for Biden than risk me and my country's fate on unreliable voters - especially when there is no evidence that Sanders is doing this.

He does have rabidly loyal followers, a strong ground game, and overall is running a good campaign. The bottom line is I do think Sanders does have a definite ceiling that isn't enough for him to legitimately win the nomination. Maybe 25-30% at most of the Democratic Party voters want him. The rest do not.

The best bet for any change at all is to keep or expand our majority in the House and win back the Senate. Without that, nothing passes.

Bloomberg - I hope he bombs bigly. He has donated a lot of money to help Democrats get elected, and on issues that I care about, but he is now running a vanity campaign that is just hurting Biden. Based on a recent interview he thinks he can "horse trade" at the convention even if he has significantly fewer delegates. No. I don't believe he has purchased any advertising beyond Super Tuesday, so maybe he will drop out after today. Or if he does stay in he has less than a week to advertise for the next states coming up and that seems unlikely to be effective.

I don't want the message to be that billionaires can buy elections. Not all will be as "benevolent" (not really sure how much he is at this point) as him. I want him to fail big time.

Warren - I don't know that she will do very well compared to Sanders and Biden but it will be interesting to find out.

p.s. I really would like a diverse ticket if Biden wins the nomination but I loved Klobuchar's endorsement speech - yes a lot was re-worked from her campaign speeches and debates - but I do think she would be a great Vice President and ready in case something happened to Biden. And her campaigning in the Midwest could really help against Trump. So I do agree with kittygrrl on Klobuchar.

Wow, so much rambling from me. I'm nervous, lol.

[Kätzchen]

For easy reference, here is tonight's live stream from the Democratic National Convention 2020 home page over at YouTube.

Obama is speaking, at the moment.

Not sure if Kamala Harris has taken the stage yet, but I think it won't be long before she does.

But, wow. Obama's message comes from a place of genuine concern and care and to help people truly understand what is at stake. Like many, I am so grateful for Obama's statesmanship, his keen sense of duty and his conscience. Long live the Obamas. Our country is so blessed by their continued presence and how they advocate for the very best for American's, near and far.

[~ocean]

Originally Posted by Kätzchen

For easy reference, here is tonight's live stream from the Democratic National Convention 2020 home page over at YouTube.

Obama is speaking, at the moment.

Not sure if Kamala Harris has taken the stage yet, but I think it won't be long before she does.

But, wow. Obama's message comes from a place of genuine concern and care and to help people truly understand what is at stake. Like many, I am so grateful for Obama's statesmanship, his keen sense of duty and his conscience. Long live the Obamas. Our country is so blessed by their continued presence and how they advocate for the very best for American's, near and far.

I couldn't say it better than u did Katzchen good post !!

[GeorgiaMa'am]

Kamala Harris did a good job of introducing herself to the nation. I wanted to hear more about her and Joe's platform, but maybe that's something that's better left to Joe. She made several strong points, and I was glad I got to hear her.

But Wow! Barrack Obama's speech was wonderful. He didn't pull any punches when talking about Chump. I was reminded how smart and thoughtful Obama is. He made a heartfelt and strong appeal to people to vote. I miss him so much.

[Orema]

Harris' chief of staff Karine Jean-Pierre on how a Biden win could deliver LGBTQ gains

Jean-Pierre, the first Black person and first out lesbian to serve as a vice presidential chief of staff, says she’s “looking forward” to the Harris-Mike Pence debate in October.


Karine Jean-Pierre on Jan. 17, 2020, in New York.Gary Gershoff / Getty Images file

Aug. 19, 2020, 10:43 AM PDT
By Tim Fitzsimons
Karine Jean-Pierre, senior adviser to the Joe Biden-Kamala Harris campaign, has a clear picture in her mind of the kind of impact the two could have on LGTBQ equality if they were to win the election.

“The sun was setting and the lights got much more prominent,” Jean-Pierre said, thinking back to late June 2015, when she watched the White House lit in rainbow colors to mark the historic Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. “People had signs and people were crying, and there was just so much joy.”

“I remember thinking how proud I was of this administration, that I had worked for that,” Jean-Pierre, an Obama campaign and former White House staffer, said. “It really brought together, in that one moment, how important LGBTQ rights were and how much that administration fought for our rights.”

Come November, she hopes a win for the Biden-Harris campaign will lay the groundwork for similar moments for LGBTQ people like herself.

Jean-Pierre joined the Biden campaign in May and began serving as Harris' chief of staff last week.

A seasoned political adviser who worked her way from campaign staffer to the White House, she is the first Black person and first out lesbian to serve in this role.

She said she “couldn’t be prouder” to be working for the Biden-Harris campaign.

An alumna of the campaigns of John Edwards, Martin O’Malley and Barack Obama, Jean-Pierre is also an author and a lecturer at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs.

She said that, if elected, Biden and Harris would “continue the work that Joe Biden and Obama did” by supporting LGBTQ rights and “continuing to put forth policy that protects the community.”

Jean-Pierre said the contrast between the Trump administration and the Biden-Harris campaign on LGBTQ issues will be on display during the Oct. 7 vice presidential debate. Harris, a former prosecutor, has made a name for herself as a talented cross-examiner since becoming a U.S. senator in 2017.

“She will be ready,” she said. “If I were Mike Pence, I’d be worried!”

Jean-Pierre said the excitement surrounding Harris joining the Biden campaign has been particularly meaningful for her as a mother.

"What's amazing about it, being a Black woman myself with a daughter, now she’s able to look at the TV and say, ‘Oh, wow, when we win in November, the vice president is someone who looks like me, is someone who I can aspire to be one day, to help run the country one day,’” she said.

“Now we have this ticket that’s diverse, that meets the moment, that’s a winning ticket, and that's also making history. You can feel the energy.”

___________________
It’s a fluff piece, but still worth posting.

[homoe]

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