To the Editor:
The Massachusetts primary is March 1, and we all have the opportunity to make a difference. One candidate is a visionary. One is a realist.
No question Hillary Clinton is a highly intelligent person with many positive achievements. I agree with many of her positions, but I also believe she is too attached to the political machine and doesn’t have the vision for a more democratic America that Bernie Sanders possesses.
Let’s start with campaign finance reform, the most important overarching issue, since it is large money that obstructs a level playing field, overriding intelligent discussions and decisionmaking in politics. Hillary chose to accept super PAC money because she believed it was the only way to win the election. She turned to the people she is most comfortable with — wealthy citizens. Bernie turned to his constituents — middle- and working-class citizens.
Sanders is for public financing of campaigns, as exists in several countries. It is not panacea, but it is what is required to get money out of politics. Hillary is for making the system “better” by reversing Citizens United, but that doesn’t go far enough. Completely public financing is needed to level the playing field.
Hillary doesn’t think universal health care is realistic even when virtually all major nations already have universal health care at a lower cost per capita than we currently have. We still have 29 million people without health care, and too many have poor coverage. That is not acceptable. We can achieve what other countries are able to achieve.
Why does Hillary think free public colleges are not feasible, when many other countries provide free college education? And why not tax speculative transactions on Wall Street, as Sanders proposes, to finance free public college? Is that Hillary’s pragmatism, or allegiance to, or fear of, taxing Wall Street?
Hillary has been for NAFTA and was for the TPP world trade agreements, but now has changed her opinions. What took her so long?
She voted for the Iraq war. Sanders voted against the war.
Bernie Sanders fought to stop the reversal of Glass-Steagall, which led the way to corrupt mortgage practices, leading to the recession of 2008. Hillary has been late to this position,
Sanders was immediately against the Keystone pipeline. Hillary has been late to this position, as well.
Some are concerned Bernie will face the same pitfalls as George McGovern, but there is one major difference between these two campaigns — the Internet. Communication directly to the populace and within the populace has made all the difference. Democrats historically win with large voter turnout. Republicans win with lower voter turnout. The Internet was critical to Obama’s two wins, and will be a major factor in the Democratic nomination as well as the national election.
And maybe most importantly, Bernie understands that the only way to beat back the Republican obstructionism is by massive public turnouts. Bernie’s achievements, so far, are the result of huge public enthusiasm. He has said he will use that same political leverage to force Republicans to heed public pressure or be removed from their posts through future elections. That is how a democracy works best.
He needs our support to apply that pressure. Be a part of making certain he wins in Massachusetts.
Paul Lazes
Vineyard Haven
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