This is the Humanist Report with Mike Figueredo The Humanist Report podcast is funded by viewers like you through patreon and PayPal To support the show visit patreon.com forward slash humanist report or become a member at Humanist report.com Now enjoy the show Welcome to the Humanist Report podcast. My name is Mike Figueredo and this is the 197th edition of the program today is Thursday, June 13th And before we start the show I want to take some time to thank all of our newest patreon PayPal or YouTube members We either sign up for the first time to support us this last week or increase their monthly pledge and that includes Aaron Washington Adeline Ramos, Amad Harb, Anthony Tvernia, Brett Yeager, Frank Lambert, Jerry, Holly Latsenko, Jazzy T. Marie, JC, Jeffrey Hyde, Jimmy Cotro, Jonathan Crisp, Jonathan Healy, Joseph Gorg Senior, Kyle Swenson, Mary J, Michael Marino and Slapbox Digital. So thank you so much to all of these kind Individuals if you'd also like to support the show and join the independent progressive media revolution You can do so by going to humanist report.com slash support or patreon.com forward slash humanist report or as usual you can click join beneath any one of our videos and that helps support the show It protects us against YouTube demonetization and you just support the content if you if you like it So this week on the Humanist Report podcast, we'll talk about Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren's student loan debt cancellation plans Tom Perez's decision to reject a 2020 debate on climate change Dave Rubin's embarrassing take on the Crowder, Mazda situation Elizabeth Warren's refusal to support Medicare for All, the Koch brothers infiltration of the Democratic Party, a panel of Iowa voters that love Joe Biden and Donald Trump Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's criticism of the Democratic Party's weaknesses when it comes to the issue of impeachment and Donald Trump Howard Schultz's suspension of his campaign for the summer Bernie Sanders FDR-like speech on Democratic Socialism and Finally we closed the week by talking to 2020 senatorial candidate Sama Hernandez of Texas So that's what we've got on the agenda for today. Hopefully you guys will enjoy the show So about a month and a half ago when I talked about how Elizabeth Warren Revealed that she has a plan to essentially cancel about a half of all existing student loan debt Which exceeds 1.5 trillion overall by the way among 44 million Americans my response was one. This is a fantastic proposal and two Bernie You've got to get on this you've got to do this yourself because this is a plan that will definitely draw in younger voters And those voters may potentially jump ship and go to war and if they're supporting Bernie Sanders Just because this is such a phenomenal plan and guess what Bernie Sanders heard our cries and He listened because as Jillian Berman of market watch reports US senator Bernie Sanders is the latest Democratic presidential candidate to stake out a position on how to address College affordability and student debt, but he's not offering a lot of details yet Our plan forgives massive amounts of student debt Sanders of Ramon independent told CNN's Dana Bash in an interview Sunday that touched on student debt Cancellation his statement was a response to Bash's question about how Sanders plan on student debt Stacks up against those of senator Elizabeth Warren a Massachusetts Democrat Warren unveiled a plan in mid-April that would cancel up to $50,000 in student debt for most of the nation's 44 million borrowers Sanders declined to offer more specifics on his plan For student loan forgiveness during the CNN interview when pressed by Bash He said our plan will cancel a substantial amount of student debt and in some ways probably go further than senator Warren's He added later. I don't have the plan in my pocket right now Warren had said in a previous CNN interview that her proposal to wipe out 640 billion in student debt is bigger than Sanders and goes further than his So it looks like he's currently in the process of drawing up a plan and he's saying my plan is gonna go further than Elizabeth Warren's And Elizabeth Warren is saying actually no my plan goes further than his now I don't know that she's even seen his plan So this is what I said back when I was talking about Elizabeth Warren's plan Since she didn't opt to cancel all student loan debt a hundred percent She is essentially saying let's cancel about half of it. She left Bernie Sanders room to kind of jump in and I guess you could say undercut her in a way and offer something that is better And it seems like he's gonna capitalize on that even if she is saying no my plan goes further than his But this is one of the benefits of having multiple progressives in the race This spawns competition and policy innovation and they're competing with each other to be more progressive This is fantastic. Now. Let me tell you why student loan debt cancellation is crucial to this conversation Let's look at some stats here. So 69% of the class of 2018 Took out student loans and currently student loan debt overall as I alluded to earlier totals 1.56 trillion it affects 44.7 million Americans and 11.5% of student loans are more than 90 days delinquent or in default now the average monthly student loan payment is $393 and the median monthly student loan payment is $222 that is absolutely insane such a huge portion of Your paycheck is going towards student loan debt that you may never pay off like a lot of people assume this debt And they expect to never be able to pay it off They expect to have this when they are senior citizens or potentially until they die.  I took out student loans, but guess what I paid it off Well, there's a reason why it's more difficult for Millennials to pay off their student loan debt in comparison with Boomers because when you compare the cost of college now with the cost of college in the 80s and 90s the difference It's infuriating So when you look at private nonprofit for your institution costs tuition in 1987 cost $15,000 now when you look at tuition for 2017 to 2018 That more than doubled thirty four thousand seven hundred forty dollars This is for a private institution now when you look at public for your institutions back in 1987 to 1988 that school year it cost $3,000 and Going to 2017 2018 it tripled that is insane So we can't keep going in this direction with 1.5 trillion in debt 44 million more than 44 million Americans burden with student loan debt You've got to do something and all of these mealy-mouthed plans that like capping the payment at 10% of your income That's not enough. You have to cancel it So people feel as if they actually are going to be able to pay it off now If you're asking me I'm saying let's just cancel all of it Let's give everyone a fresh start and then make public colleges and universities tuition free So Bernie Sanders can potentially do that it seems like his plan is still in the worst But nonetheless the fact that he's considering this is exactly what I wanted So the fact that him and Warren are competing to be the most progressive is important however with that being said Elizabeth Warren is gaining a lot in the polls And I like that, you know, she keeps proposing these plans because she's really forcing Bernie Sanders to step up now I don't know why Bernie isn't able to influence her to step up on Medicare for all I'm not saying that that's the fault of him But it's certainly her pivoting away from any talk about Medicare for all but nonetheless This competition is important But as Elizabeth Warren goes up in the polls the prospect of progressives potentially splitting the vote is Starting to really worry me. Now. Here's one poll that Kind of gave me pause. So this is from the Des Moines register Biden is at 24% and then when you look at Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren Bernie is at 16% Warren is at 15% Now Buddha judges at 14% just behind Warren and Harris is at 7% Everyone else is pretty much polling between zero and two percent now assuming that if Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders weren't in the race and that support would go to the other candidate When you combine them, they're at 31% they would be surpassing Joe Biden already So I'm getting a little bit worried that progressives Could split the vote and this was one of my fears going into 2020. There's so many candidates running so long as there's more Corporate Democrats to split the vote then there are progressives then hopefully we can consolidate our vote and push a progressive to The front but now it seems like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are about even Which I mean Theoretically, it's nice to see, you know progressives sitting at the top of a poll but with that being said I want to win right I want us to win and This is assuming that again if you know Bernie was out or Warren was out All of their supporters would go to the other progressive. You can't necessarily say that with certainty, but I mean Logically you can deduce That they're cutting into each other's support now remember in order to get any pledged delegates They're awarded proportionally. You have to get at least 15% of The vote in a primary in any given state So what that means is that they're cutting into each other and this really worries me because This could lead to a corporate Democrat winning Maybe maybe not necessarily Joe Biden because it seems like his numbers are starting to dip But potentially someone like Pete Buttigieg or Kamala Harris. They're better than Biden But they're absolutely inferior to Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren So at the end of the day, it's good that Bernie Sanders is proposing a student loan debt cancellation plan And I'm glad that him and Warren are competing with that being said. I really hope That they talk to each other about this and they stay in contact and realize that they both have The same goal to defeat Joe Biden and defeat a corporate Democrat and get a progressive at the top of the ticket now I really hope that's Bernie Sanders because if it's Elizabeth Warren, I do worry about her electability Certainly, she's giving us a lot with policy. She's producing policy after policy She's running a pretty good campaign with the exception of Medicare for all But I think that Bernie Sanders just has more anti-establishment appeal And he could really pick up voters that Donald Trump won over in the rest belt in 2016 So we'll see what happens. This is great. Love the innovation. Love the competition But I really really hope that we don't end up splitting votes and paving the way for a corporate Democrat 2020 presidential candidate Jay Inslee who is the governor of Washington. He's basically running on Climate change. That's his number one go-to issue and he's not my number one choice But I do find what he's doing admirable He's trying to draw attention to climate change and he originally floated this idea that we hold an entire debate on Climate change itself now, I wasn't sure how to think about that at first But the more I thought about it the more that I loved it because we have an entire party 50% of elected people in power who deny the reality of anthropogenic climate change so if you got more than a dozen candidates running for president on the stage for more than an hour, I'm assuming and They didn't debate whether or not climate change is happening But they had a real debate on what to do about climate change that really could be an educational Experience for the American people because you're not setting up this false debate between whether or not it exists Or it doesn't you're debating what the best plan of action should be so I absolutely Really like this idea. Although the DNC who sanctions all of these debates They responded and they said no now I Think a lot of people will probably question. All right. Well, they said no, but why not just have the candidates Subvert the DNC and have MSNBC or CNN host a climate change debate Well, you see the problem is that the DNC once again brought back this exclusivity clause meaning that if you participate in a non DNC sanctioned debate you will be barred from participating in future debates So if the DNC says no debates on climate change There will be no debates on climate change if you want to get into future debates now of course since a lot of people namely young people care a lot about climate change this wasn't a very popular decision and Tom Perez was confronted by activists because he shot down this idea So he defended himself Here's what he had to say as Christina Cabrera of talking points memo reports Democratic National Committee chair Tom Perez Told environmental activists that it would be impractical for the party to host a primary debate on climate change according to a Sunday Tampa Bay Times report on Saturday the activists Confronted Perez at a gala in Orlando, Florida and asked him about the party denying 2020 Democratic candidate and Washington Governor Jay Inslee's request to hold a debate for the candidates to discuss solutions to global warming Perez told them that once you have one single issue debate then every debate leads to become a single issue Debate in order to address the concerns We will have issue areas in debates including but not limited to climate But it's just not practical for us to have one debate on democracy reform One debate on voting the chairman said and as someone who worked for Barack Obama The most remarkable thing about him was his tenacity to multitask and a president must be able to multitask Inslee who's made climate change a cornerstone of his campaign expressed disappointment on Wednesday when he announced the DNC's decision The DNC is silencing the voices of Democratic activists Many of our progressive partner organizations and nearly half of the Democratic presidential field who want to debate the existential crisis of our time Inslee said the climate crisis merits a full discussion of our plans not a short exchange of talking points Yeah, so I'm actually siding with Jay Inslee here. I think Tom Perez is wrong and his reasoning is completely bogus He's using the slippery slope argument, which is a logical fallacy Because what he's saying is we'll look if we allow for a debate on climate change Then we're gonna have to allow for a debate on healthcare and a debate on Democratic reform and you know once you open up that door, then it just becomes a little bit too You know a little bit too difficult to manage. So let's just keep it to multi issue debates and that's that except a Slippery slope is a logical fallacy because it almost never comes to fruition In fact, since the DNC is sanctioning debates, you can say Alright, I'll allow it on climate change and then no other debates will be a single issue oriented debate Everything else will be you know various issues, but for climate change We will allow for this one exception But he's saying no and then he says I worked for Obama and he was a fantastic multitasker So if you're gonna be the president you have to be able to multitask that doesn't even make sense Like what does that have to do with talking about climate change? Here's the thing about climate change This issue is unlike every other issue. It's so incredibly important. It's literally an existential threat to humanity It is more important than any other issue. The only other issue that you can argue is Relatively equal in terms of importance is campaign finance reform because it's gonna be difficult to Get climate change Let's legislation enacted if you have these fossil fuel industry Shills and these oil and gas companies bank-rolling politicians But with that being said climate change is such an important issue that It totally makes sense for you to allow an entire debate on this if we put these candidates in front of a national audience and People get to hear them talk about solutions to climate change for two hours Can you imagine the impact that could have it would be really educational? But Tom Perez is shooting it down and he just his reasoning is really bad. It's a slippery slope Okay, but you're the DNC chairman. You can stop that slope from being a slippery slope like it Okay, whatever, but you're not making much sense here Tom Imagine how awesome it would be to see each candidate present different plans as to how they're going to tackle climate change That would be incredibly Incredibly constructive and eventually somebody is going to win and go up against Donald Trump. What's that debate gonna be? It's gonna be about oh, well climate change is real versus climate change is not real When that's not the range of the debate with regard to this issue We need people to see that this is a very serious issue and here's a whole range of Policies that we can address climate change with But you know, it's it's just a missed opportunity, right? It's a missed opportunity If you're looking about This in terms of the broader impact it could have on political discourse with regard to anthropogenic climate change And people acknowledging how important it is then having presidential contenders debate it could do a lot It could raise awareness about this issue, but you know Tom Perez is rejecting it. So I guess we don't get to Debate climate change now will it show up? At the Democratic Party debates. Yes, but will it be given the amount of time that is justifiable? Absolutely not given the scale of this crisis So I support having a debate exclusively on climate change and I hope that Jay Inslee as well as others fight it But um, you know, it's disappointing because this could have been really informative educational and just overall constructive So at this point I've pretty much said everything that I feel like I wanted to say and needed to say About the Stephen Crowder slash Carlos Mazza YouTube situation But now I want to talk about a different aspect of this story and that is Dave Rubin otherwise known as Rave Dubin who did exactly what everyone expected him to do He went on Stephen Crowder show to be the token gay guy to tell Stephen Crowder that everything he's doing everything He did to Carlos Mazza harassing him for two years. That's totally acceptable and we knew that Dave Rubin was going to do this Because that's what he does. He goes on Fox News. He goes on Tucker Carlson, for example, and he tells Tucker. Look, I'm a gay married guy It's perfectly acceptable if a business owner wants to discriminate against an LGBTQ couple because that's just freedom I am gay and married I do not believe that a baker or a florist or any business person ought to be forced to make a cake for a gay wedding Because if the government can force a company to do something for one set of ideals, they can do it for any I'm for gay marriage. I even married a guy. I'm right for legalizing marijuana. I'm pro-choice I'm for reforming the prison system and the list goes on and on as for that specific line I personally wouldn't want the government telling a private business what to do So he's always the token and he's happy to be the token gay guy but what he said was even surprising to me in this discussion that he had with Stephen Crowder because his Justification here and reasoning as to why Crowder should be able to say all of these homophobic slurs and jokes with no consequence It's it's honestly laughable.  It's worse than I thought So here's a little bit of Dave Rubin explaining why it's perfectly acceptable for Stephen Crowder To pretty much harass a gay person like Carlos Mazum.   See what you did there? See? See? Tell me where that's hateful.   They're never going to stop. We need jokes.  Violence, I mean, that's what happens.  We need jokes.   We're creating a society where violence is inevitable Well, here's an example of one of Steven Crowder's quote-unquote jokes Yikes But you see guys we have to let Steven Crowder do that and never criticize him Let him do that without consequence because if not then society will devolve into a violent authoritarian society That's your argument Dave. I mean You could have made it any argument. You could have made any argument and that's your argument really And see here's the thing about hiding behind this facade of being a comedian It's not comedy.   Where's the comedy in that? Where's the comedy in that? I don't get it Now some other things that um Dave Rubin said that are just Completely bizarre.  You make those jokes actually because you know gay people are equal He says this to Steven Crowder except That's not actually true And Dave Rubin lives in California So it may feel like or equal Dave But you wouldn't feel very equal if you were living in Alabama to say that gay people are equal is absurd because gay people very much are not equal both legally and socially LGBTQ employees can be fired in 26 states on the basis of sexual orientation Or gender identity in fact in 30 states lgbtq americans aren't fully protected from discrimination and according to gallup 26 of americans think that same sex relationships should be illegal Illegal all together.  That's a huge portion of the population And lgbt youth compared to their heterosexual peers are three times as likely to contemplate Suicide and five times as likely to attempt it But according to Dave, it's okay because they're equal now If gays weren't equal then joking about them might be a little bit problematic And he alludes to that viewpoint Um a little bit later, but let's just kind of dwell on this for a little bit Gay people are equal.  That's not comedy. You don't get to hide behind comedy to escape criticism That's preposterous But here's the thing because gay people are apparently equal According to Dave Rubin who lives in california, then it's okay. But here's what he says here. Here's the caveat If gay people didn't have certain rights and then you were constantly going after gay people personally I would have more of an issue with that So that's more reasonable now. Maybe Dave Rubin just doesn't know that gay people aren't equal yet Because again, he lives in a state where legally gay people Have full rights now socially there's still some issues in california, but what he's not realizing is that There are disparities in different states if you live in alabama You're not going to be as equal as a gay american living in california or origan or washington He completely dismisses that and says gays are equal But let me remind you that again he went on tucker crawlsons show And said it's perfectly acceptable For a business owner to invoke a religious defense in order to discriminate against lgbtq couples So if you are a cake baker and you offer wedding cakes to heterosexual couples According to Dave Rubin, it's perfectly reasonable to discriminate against an lgbtq couple You can deny service to A certain type of couple. I mean Do you not agree with the civil rights act Dave? I mean, this is I can't believe that I have to make this argument to a gay person He should know this, but I think he does know this. I think he's well aware that Gay people are not fully equal. I think he's just playing dumb because he wants a paycheck Right now again getting to his point If gay people didn't have certain rights, then he personally would have issue would take issue with uh, Steven Crowder Going after them. Okay. Well, what's another group? Within the lgbtq community that's even Crowder often goes after trans people he literally dresses up in drag and claims that he is parodying trans people by doing that And they're absolutely not equal. He's making fun of them while they're still Very unequal. I mean think about this Dave Trump's transgender military ban just went into effect 2018 was the worst year for violence against transgender women and trans women of color were particularly vulnerable Trump wants to allow doctors to be able to discriminate against patients on the basis of gender identity Most trans people cannot afford Life-saving medical procedures that they need because insurance companies don't often cover them So they have to resort to go fund me and try to take out whatever savings they possibly can and only 19 states offer protections for transgender people when it comes to health care And Steven Crowder is relentless in going after trans people. So by Dave Rubin's own standard here This should be a problem He should be confronting Steven Crowder.  This is why people don't take you seriously Dave.   She's putting her policies front and center So that way people can choose what policy that they care about if they support elizabeth Warren However, as emma viglin points out There's no sign here for medicare for all and emma states Warren is actively pivoting away from campaigning on healthcare and it's really obvious It's a massive blotch on an otherwise perfectly run campaign in my view and to be clear It's not just that oh well, she doesn't have a medicare for all sign So she must be pivoting away from medicare for all. No, this issue goes deeper actually Elizabeth Warren has been very conspicuously moving away from medicare for all Her slogan is I've got a plan for that but It's almost like she goes out of her way to avoid talking About medicare for all and when she touches on healthcare. It's very vague. There's never any policy specifics And to give you an example of that when she did her scene in town hall She was asked about her support for bernie sanders medicare for all bill and watch how quickly she ran away from that You are a cosponsor of senator bernie sanders medicare for for all bill and I understand there are a lot of different paths to universal coverage But his bill that you've cosponsored would essentially eliminate private insurance. Is that something you could support? He's got a runway for that. I think we get everybody together And that's what it is. We'll decide. Um, I've also cosponsored other bills including expanding medicaid is another approach that we use But what's really important to me about this Is we never lose sight Of what the center is because the center is about making sure that every single person in this country Gets the coverage they need and that it's at a price that they can afford We start with our values. We'll get to the right place So make no mistake about it. What you saw there was elizabeth warren running away From her support of medicare for all. Well, you supported bernie sanders medicare for all bill Yeah, but I also support these other ideas Now that's incredibly startling to me because when you go back to 2017 when she cosponsored bernie sanders medicare for all bill And she spoke out about medicare for all and she gave this really passionate defense You know, it assured me that even if she has some flaws as a politician Even if she let us down from time to time She still has the right ideas and she's fighting for what we all want Which is medicare for all however for whatever reason since she launched her campaign She's just going out of her way to avoid even mentioning medicare for all And when you go to her website, there's not even a healthcare section available And for someone who has a plan for everything, I just don't get this Why would you do something like this and not expect us to notice? Now this isn't me trying to release an attack video on elizabeth warren This is me saying What gives what's happening? And i'm not the only one who has noticed this because when you go to jack bin writer tim higginbotham He talks about how she really has gone out of her way to avoid this issue And he writes about how at town halls She really refuses to touch this issue. He states warren had several opportunities in the town hall To address the healthcare crisis instead. She avoided the topic almost entirely Even when discussing issues directly related to healthcare like repealing the height amendment and improving access to hearing aids She neglected to propose a comprehensive policy solution Unfortunately, this was not a simple case of forgetfulness. In fact, it continues a disturbing trend with the warren campaign Check her website in a long and thorough issues page full of bold plans to alleviate american suffering warren makes no mention of healthcare View her campaign materials warren has yard signs dedicated to several of her major policy proposals But not a single one about healthcare follow her campaign appearances You'll hear the usual platitudes health care is a human right everyone deserves access to care But you won't hear her endorse a specific policy warren's avoidance of the issue is shocking healthcare repeatedly polls as the most important issue for voters 80 percent told gallup recently it's extremely or very important to their vote This is no surprise as nearly 30 million americans lack health insurance And those who have it face prohibitive out-of-pocket costs and the ever-present fear that their employer will throw them off their plan The system is a colossal mess and americans are desperate for a solution It's fair to ask why warren who supports bold progressive policies on a number of major issues is avoiding the most important issue to voters It could be a reluctance to attach herself To a rival candidate's signature policy or it could be a way to avoid conflict with the powerful health care corporations In her home state of massachusetts either way It meshes well with a years-long effort by democrats to blur the meaning of medicare for all By gesturing goodwill towards single-payer advocates while attempting to redefine the phrase and apply it to public option Proposals that preserve the private insurance industry by following this playbook Warren is actively supporting the corporate effort to kill the growing medicare for all movement Warren supporters shouldn't tolerate this and i co-signed that 100 percent if you support elizabeth warren I get it. It's like week after week. She comes out with a really bold Innovative policy idea. I mean she was the first in this race. I believe to propose student loan debt cancellation Now she's not canceling 100 percent of student loan debt like other candidates like wane masam But I mean nonetheless for a major candidate to propose this It's it's phenomenal, but with that being said It's odd if you've got a plan for everything if you've been bold on everything else But you're backing away in a very conspicuous way when it comes to a really important issue like medicare for all I can't help but wonder What gives What gives why are you pivoting? Because we all see it. We all realize it So I wish that somebody would ask her about this in mainstream media I've invited her on the program and I heard back from her campaign and then they started ghosting me So that that she's not coming on the humanist report But for a journalist in mainstream media or even an indie media if she goes on to uit again Please ask elizabeth warren why she's very clearly distancing herself from medicare for all after previously supporting it Why is she doing this? If you've got a plan for everything then you can't go out of your way to avoid talking about something That people are concerned about You can't tell us that healthcare is a human right If you don't support the policy That makes it a human right by guaranteeing it by making it free at the point of service now Saying that healthcare is a human right Let's just face it It no longer has any meaning because every corporate democrat including john delaney Who's going out of his way to attack medicare for all will frequently say Healthcare is a human right and I support universal healthcare But these words are meaningless if they don't support medicare for all explicitly And support this idea that healthcare should be free at the point of service meaning If you don't have any money you could still see a doctor They don't believe that healthcare is a human right Because something that's a human right That shouldn't be an exclusionary thing like if you truly believe healthcare is a human right Then a homeless person on the streets who doesn't have a dollar to his or her name Should be able to get access to said Right So I really really hope that elizabeth warnberg versus course because she's gaining in the polls So as you become a prominent contender in this 2020 field And purport to represent the progressive community You can't leave out medicare for all. This is one of our most important issues. So to leave this out It's just incredibly puzzling to me and infuriating. So for the love of god If anybody is able to ask elizabeth warn a question ask her why she is Pivoting away from medicare for all after previously supporting it Because this is A troubling sign of what's to come if she's elected president What else is she gonna pivot away from if she's gonna pivot away from something as important As medicare for all what else is she going to pivot away from we should expect and demand better From politicians who claim to be progressive and elizabeth warn is no exception I also criticize bernie sanders where it's warranted So i'm not gonna withhold criticism when it comes to elizabeth warn if you're gonna claim to be progressive Then you've got to walk the walk and the fact that you refuse to talk about medicare for all is incredibly Troubling so she's got to give us an explanation because when you're running a great campaign and you've got a policy For pretty much everything To exclude healthcare doesn't make any sense and she's got to explain herself here I need everyone to understand that if a politician talks about campaign finance reform But they add the caveat that we need to get dark money out of politics Then you've got to understand that they're not taking this issue seriously. We need to get all money out of politics because money and allowing capital into democracy This destroys democracy what we're witnessing currently is capitalism eating away at our democracy And when democracy is at stake when capitalism has hollowed out our democratic institutions It's time we take action and if we don't it's going to get worse and hey Here's an example of it getting a lot worse because guess what the coke brothers notorious right wing billionaires They just came out and admitted that they're not just going to be buying off politicians who are republicans They're now opening the doors to bankrolling independence And democrats so as brian schwarz of cnbc reports The political arm of the network funded in part by libertarian billionaire charles coke Is turning over a new leaf for the upcoming elections and expanding its engagement to include supporting democrats Running for office in a memo distributed to employees and activists Emily sidell ceo of the coke affiliated americans for prosperity Said the organization is going into the next round of congressional elections Being open to backing democrats in primary fights as long as they support some of the network's proposed policies afp or afp action the group's super PAC will be ready to engage in contested us senate us house And state-level primary races including republican democrat independent or otherwise to support sitting legislators who lead by uniting with others to pass principled policy And get good things done sidell said historically the political network has only backed republicans running for congress so imagine The effect that this would have because they're going after Primary fights right they're targeting vulnerable democrats in primary fights Now if you're on the progressive left You are actively trying to help people like she hid batara mackayla wilks quarry bush All primary and corporate democrats But in the event the coke brothers stepped in and started donating to corporate democrats Can you imagine how detrimental that would be to the cause of brand new congress? Or just as democrats grassroots candidates would Be incapable of competing with Right-wing coke money. It's already difficult to compete with these corporate democrats who outspend progressives Oftentimes 10 to 1 but if the coke brothers stepped in we would have virtually no chance at primarying corporate democrats it's already tough but upsets Like alexandra ocaza-cortez Would become almost impossible If this were to happen So in response to this we need democratic party leadership To scream at the top of their lungs We need nancy pelosi and shuck schumer to denounce this and say any democrat who accepts money from The coke brothers network and americans for prosperity. They're cut off. You're not getting money From the dnc or the d triple c Because that is a bridge too far. We already let you guys do what you want We already are letting you all slide to the right, but if you take money From the coke brothers that delegitimize. There's the aggregate party and we just can't accept it So that's what we need nancy pelosi and shuck schumer to do because this is Really an existential threat to democracy because think about this If coke brothers start bankrolling corporate democrats too Every election will be a victory for them. They win every single election Because they have their cronies in office And if you don't think that money from the coke brothers is corrosive Look at what it did to dav rubin. He worked for the young turks He got his career start on the young turks was seemingly progressive and then all of a sudden His show teams up with learn liberty Which receives a large portion of funding from the coke brothers and all of a sudden He's espousing these same tired right wing talking points as all the other right wing hacks are doing So you saw what it did to dav rubin imagine It having that effect On lawmakers in congress. They're already corrupt, but imagine if steny heuer started taking coke brother money He would be indistinguishable from a republican Not just moderate republicans like susan collins, but the average republican, which is a far right extremist So this is something that absolutely should not be tolerated And I really hope that democratic party leadership think of the optics and how this will hurt Their image among the democratic party base But will they do that? I doubt it. I doubt they'd condemn this because they are In that leadership position specifically because They are prolific fundraisers. So why would they do anything to jeopardize their fundraising? Look, here's the thing be very vigilant if a democratic party lawmaker Takes money from A coke affiliated network That person is not your friend Just because they have a d next to their name doesn't make them your friend They are your enemy and they are actively fighting against the things that you want implemented So i'm always fascinated in these voter panels that cnn does because I think it really does give you some good insight Into what some voters are thinking now. It's just anecdotal evidence It may not necessarily be as useful as aggregate polling data But nonetheless, I do find these fascinating Although this one here that I have up on the screen. It's a poll of Iowa voters some of which support joe biden some of which support donald trump And I wanted to talk about this But I can't just do a traditional segment because i'm gonna need to pause this like multiple times Because there's so much to respond to here that it's just It's mind-blowing So with that being said, let's listen How many of you just raise your hand are considering voting for donald trump? Four and how many of you are considering voting for joe biden? For these 10 voters in damoyne, iowa campaign season is already in full swing Republican frank miran voted for trump in 2016 and plans to again The economy is booming where I just feel as though everything that i've been wanting to have done is being done Heather, why do you okay? Let's just stop right there. The economy is booming So you hear all this news about the stock markets and um simultaneously wages aren't increasing Wages aren't increasing Normal americans aren't doing any better since trump was elected So to use the economy that just tells me that this individual he just he doesn't read past the headlines The economies have improved in a number of countries in europe and elsewhere It's a global trend So to credit trump, I mean, here's the thing that people don't get is that presidents have Not very much control over the economy they can steer it to an extent but with that being said The economy isn't good because of donald trump And when you look at the effect of donald trump's tax cuts that helped rich people just gave rich people more money So what are you talking about unless this guy is a billionaire or a millionaire? I don't get What he's talking about but let's continue donald trump. He's working on Border control, which I think is really important. This why is border control important? How are you personally affected? By immigration.  This is not a real issue. It's not a real issue How do you not see that you've been played and I just ripped out my ear uh earbud But let's continue if long independent voter is also supporting trump. I vote for somebody who's going to protect and defend the constitution Protect and defend the constitution How incredibly ignorant is that? How incredibly ignorant is that? He's in violation of the emoluments clause. He's breaking the law. There were 10 instances of obstruction of justice in Mueller's report You think this guy cares about the constitution or law and order There's a number of anti bds laws trump has had said anything about that trump gutted the johnson amendment which allows religious organizations to engage in political activity That is obviously a violation of the first amendment And it violates the principle of the separation of church and state But because trump says I support the constitution This guy just says oh, well, he says it so that must suffice. You've got to go beyond the rhetoric and look at what he's doing You have to look at what he's doing. He bombed syria. Did he get congress's approval for that? The first time or the second time he increased the drone wars by 432 Did he get congress's approval for that waging in war? Unilaterally without congress's approval is an explicit violation of the constitution But I mean trump says I love the constitution. So they take him at his word They take him at face value and it's just it's frustrating because these people are misinformed So as an independent you're not considering voting republican at all. Oh, no Of the democrats and independence in this group only one is already sold on joe biden despite his front-runner status he can do a good job of Bringing the country together if we can move past rhetoric and we can uh bring someone who's more respected worldwide I think we can have a better country from that. I what does that even mean? He can bring the country together He was the vice president for eight years Are we any more united? Were we any more united back then?  He's about essentially Doing what right wingers want. He's essentially a republican. So I don't even know what that means I've heard other voters in these types of panels say that too.  What does that even mean? Here's the thing if you get in someone who is not trump but is very much responsible For creating the grim conditions that ultimately facilitated the rise of a demagogue like donald trump I've got bad news for you.   I'm just glad that he's participating in politics and voting But when you say he wants to bring people together really think deeply about that And ask yourself What does that even mean because he's not going to be as divisive as donald trump? There's other candidates every single candidate is not going to be as divisive as donald trump in the democratic party primary None of them even the most corporate democrat, of course, they're not going to be as divisive. There'll be more polite but ask yourself What change with regard to policy Will be different And if you want to bring people together, wouldn't it make more sense to implement policies That are universal policies that are largely popular like medicare for all Raising the minimum wage. I just I don't think these people thought very long and hard about their positions Not as big a fan of joe biden. Uh, I would probably say I support uh, pete buddha judge No, see he gave me hope. He's like, okay. I'm not a fan of joe biden and then he goes to buddha judge What about buddha judge? Do you like name one policy that you think sets him apart from the rest of the field? What is he proposing? What's he running on? You don't know because he's not running on anything. It's all about platitudes cliches and just I'm a wonk Vote for me and then you'll get the policies later. Why?  Exactly, okay This is kind of a bright spot in this because I don't get how more people Aren't bothered by this like it was a scandal for like a week and then it just was largely swept under the rug But if you're a democratic party voter, I thought that you said you cared about misogyny I thought that you said you were outraged at the way in which donald trump treats women and his misogyny But for joe biden, he gets a pass really I mean to me as someone who absolutely demands My personal space be respected when I see these videos of joe biden Whispering in the ears of women and little girls it makes me cringe It makes me fucking cringe and he clearly hasn't learned his lesson because he was doing this again To a 10-year-old girl like last week.  No, but he doesn't know how to respect boundaries He's incapable of it and then he minimizes it and makes a joke out of it when you know Um, he's called out. It's just it's embarrassing. It's embarrassing Publican voter hailey ledford will be voting in her first presidential election and plans to support trump for now Would you ever consider not voting for donald trump given some of the things that He has said about women or his attitude towards women. Um, if there was a republican candidate who Represented my personal morals and beliefs Yeah, I would choose them over donald trump if they're a strong candidate Okay, so what that tells me she kind of just gave it away And revealed all of her cards here Morals and beliefs whenever a republican says that that's code for i am pro life quote unquote pro life And i'm against LGBTQ rights and trans rights. I mean i'm assuming right But mostly if I had to guess I'd say that abortion is her number one issue.  So let me ask you this I hope you're outraged at the fact that donald trump is giving saudi arabia the bombs that they're using to commit genocide in yemen They're dropping bombs on school buses in yemen. So if you're pro life, this is Something that should concern you you should be calling this out You should be calling this out every single day at the top of your lungs But a lot of pro life people support donald trump turn a blind eye to all of the warmongering that he's doing The very first raid that he greenlit When he became president in yemen ended up resulting in the death Of an american girl an american girl Nawar ala laki I don't ever hear any of these pro life people Speaking out against that They're just one dimensional one trick ponies who are duped by republicans by this one wedge issue People realize they hired a uh a wealthy guy that's common to have a supermodel on his arm That's his lifestyle. That's him. That's actually irrelevant. It's about how they're gonna defend our constitution Okay, I get that if you want to overlook donald trump's misogyny and just Dumb fuckery in general because you think his policies are good, but then you pivot back to oh well He wants to defend the constitution You haven't demonstrated sufficiently how he's defending the constitution How is he defending the constitution? I'm assuming he'd say oh well second amendment. Okay. That's one amendment There's quite a bit of amendments. I mean he's not defending the first amendment it just Ah, this is so crushing I'm yelling. I'm sorry And our borders and our sovereignty And tell us the truth even if it's rough laced with cuss words We don't want the political correct message. We want the truth. We don't need the smoke blowing up our skirt I I don't know how you can possibly paint that broad of rush and just say not only are republicans But just americans are pleased with who we have as a woman it is Frustrating depressing and frightening to hear people just brush aside The misogynistic things that donald trump has done.  He has a message that can um Restore the unity that we're looking for I think as a veteran too. He would um, he would represent us well um across the world this day Ah It's like this is why This video is so soul crushing somebody will say something that you like and you'll be like, okay a reasonable person And they'll say why like peep buddha judge Why do you like peep buddha judge? What is it about him? Oh, he has a unifying message and he is a veteran So he can represent us around the world early Because if you buy into that you'd have to accept that other countries around the world are 100 okay with us imperialism I don't know that that they would agree with that.  It's just it's irrelevant. It's not germane to your qualification as a presidential candidate It makes no sense. Let's continue here and see what this lady says Cratig voter likes elizabeth warren. She's smart She gets things done. I also like the fact that She's not a middle-aged white guy So she was kind of iffy about voting for joe biden at first and she says why like elizabeth warren? She's smart.  I mean if you objectively believe that elizabeth warren is the better candidate then fine But to exclusively vote on the basis of identity. I mean would you have supported John mccain back in 2008 over brock obama because he chose sarah palin as a running mate. Would you support carly fiorina? Over a democrat because she's a woman. I mean think about this The difference between someone like bernie sanders and elizabeth warren Is that he supports medicare for all she's running away from that when you think about all of the health care disparities when it comes to trans rights lgbtq rights women's health care disparities To vote exclusively on the basis of identity. I mean it makes sense that you want representation I think we all want to increase representation because if women represent 50 of the population Then it only makes sense that 50 of congress is Occupied by women that should reflect society at the same time Substantive representation doing what will benefit women is more important than just getting women in congress Descriptive representation versus substantive representation. They're both important. But at the end of the day what matters is policy not the identity While many in this group have a long way to go in deciding those supporting trump are dug in heather Does it bother you that the president lies? I think a little. Yeah, I mean yes It does but that doesn't make you want to vote for it. It doesn't or it doesn't change my vote for him And randy joins me now So i'm gonna stop that there.   What are we doing? Really take a step back And look at what led to donald trump. You had mass disenfranchisement with the establishment people Just feeling depressed and disenchanted with the political system that catalyzed the rise of a demagogue Who exploited their concerns? Don't you think that we should get someone who is the antithesis of donald trump? Who can actually Undo some of the things that facilitated the rise of trump in the first place Look, it's why the title of this video um Seems so, um I don't want to say hyperbolic, but it's so crushing right because it's like You think that people get it you think that people get it We have a reality television star as our president That is absolutely A sign that we need to step back and reevaluate what we've been doing But apparently people Are willing to do that Okay, but um If you opt for another corporate democrat Like pete buddha judge or joe biden Well, we just tested out how well a corporate democrat fares against donald trump in 2016 If you if you want to try that again have at it But don't complain then If we get another supreme court appointee by donald trump That will be devastating, but i mean We're kind of fucking ourselves over guys by continuously allowing these corporate democrats To rise to the top of the crop when they should be ashamed and ostracized and marginalized in this primary They should be getting zero pull whatsoever Bernie sander spoke at george washington university and he gave a speech about democratic socialism now when i initially learned That he would be speaking about democratic socialism I assumed that he'd be saying largely the same thing he said in the past You know i'm a democratic socialist in the sense that i believe we need a strong social safety net We need to make sure that people have political and economic rights But what we got here Was much more than that certainly he touched on touched on that but what bernie sanders delivered here was by far The most comprehensive Profound speech i think he's ever delivered like this might literally be The best speech he's ever given Because not only did he describe what he means by democratic socialism, but what he did is He talked about the way and really the history Of socialism and how it's been used as a boogeyman To scare the masses and get them to not support policies that are in their best interests And on top of that he explained how His version of socialism is different than donald trump's Version of socialism because donald trump supports socialism. He just supports corporate socialism And what he did that i think was really important was he tied democratic socialism To combating the rise of fascism because during the great depression what f dr. Did to fight extremism and fascism Due to economic desperation was he implemented these policies that are social democratic So what bernie sanders is saying is We're seeing this again right now and if we truly want to stop fascism and curtail radicalization and desperation We need to guarantee people a set of basic rights a second bill of rights So what this speech is about is him essentially laying out what f dr. Did to stop the rise of fascism and how it relates to now And he's basically pledging to continue f dr's vision Now this speech is over 40 minutes long And i can't possibly play all of it for you and i will show you a clip But with that being said before i play a clip for you I have a pretty long clip. It's like 10 minutes long. So you're watching a quarter of it I would highly highly encourage you To watch the entire speech. It's that good. I found it very difficult To kind of prepare a version that was more condensed because what he's saying here every word of it Is extremely important. So i'll link to the full speech down below I would encourage you to watch that as opposed to the more condensed version But i'm going to play a clip for you 10 minutes long if you've already seen it you could fast forward pass that But when we come back i'm going to talk about the implications here Across the globe the movement toward oligarchy runs parallel to the growth of authoritarian regimes Like putin in russia Chi in china mohammed bin salman in sordia arabia Rodrigo deterte in the philippines hair bolsirano in brazil and victor orban in hungary among others These leaders meld corporates corporatist economics with xenophobia and authoritarianism They redirect popular anger about inequality and declining economic conditions Into violent rage against minorities Whether they are immigrants Racial minorities religious minorities or the lgbt community And to suppress the set they are cracking down on democracy and human rights In the united states of course we have our own Version of this movement Which is being led by president trump and many of his republican allies who are attempting to divide our country up And attack these very same communities Today we are all rightly repulsed By the site of neo nazis and clansmen openly marching In charlottesville vijinium And we are horrified by houses of worship being shot up By right wing terrorists But on february 20th 1939 Over 20 000 nazis held a mass rally Not in berlin Not in roam, but in madison square garden In front of a 30-foot banner of george washington bordered With swastikas in new york city new york city But back then those american extremists could not replicate The success of their authoritarian brethren across the ocean Because we in the united states, thank god, made a different choice than europe did In responding to the errors social and economic crises We rejected the ideology of musselini and hitler And we instead embraced the bold and visionary leadership Of franklin delano Roosevelt then the leader of the progressive wing of the democratic party Together with organized labor Leaders in the african-american community and progressives inside and outside The democratic party Roosevelt led a transformation of the american government and the american economy Like today the quest for transformative change was opposed by big business By wall street by the political establishment by the republican party and by the conservative wing of fdr's own democratic party And he faced the same scare tactics Then that we experienced today Redvading xenophobia racism and anti-semitism And roosevelt concluded and i quote Never before in all our history Have these forces been so united against one candidate as they stand today They are unanimous in their hate for me And i welcome their hatred President roosevelt was reviled by the oligarchs of his time Who berated these extremely popular programs as socialism similarly In the 1960s when president linden johnson Brought about medicare medicaid and other extremely popular and important programs He was also viciously attacked by the ruling class of this country And here is the point It is no exaggeration to state That not only did fdr's agenda improved the lives of millions of americans But the new deal was enormously popular politically and helped defeat far-right extremism Today We have a demagogue in the white house Who for cheap political gain Is attempting to deflect the attention of the american people Away from the real crises that we face and instead Is doing what demagogues always do And that is to divide people up and legislate hatred This is a president who supports brutal family separations border walls muslim bands anti-lgbt policies deportations And voter suppression It is my very strong belief That the united states must reject that path of hatred and divisiveness And instead find the moral conviction To choose a different path A higher path A path of compassion justice And love And that is the path that i call democratic socialism Franklin Delano Roosevelt helped create a government that made transformative progress In protecting the needs of working families Today in the second decade of the 21st century We must take up the unfinished business of the new deal and carry it to completion But now we must take the next step forward And guarantee every man woman and child in our country Basic economic rights The right to quality health care The right to as much education as one needs to succeed in our society The right to a good job that pays a living wage The right to affordable housing The right to a secure retirement And the right to live in a clean environment We must recognize that in the 21st century In the wealthiest country in the history of the world Economic rights are human rights That is what i mean by democratic socialism Truman said and i quote Socialism is the epitaph They have hurled at every advance the people have made in the last 20 years And this is Truman. This is a quote from harry truman Socialism is what they called social security Socialism is what they called farm price supports Socialism is what they called bank deposit insurance Socialism is what they called the growth of free and independent labor organizations Socialism is their name for almost anything that helps all of the people Harry truman While president trump and his fellow oligarchs Attack us for our support of democratic socialism They don't really oppose all forms of socialism They may hate democratic socialism because it benefits working people But they absolutely love corporate socialism that enriches trump and other billionaires And that is the difference between donald trump and me He believes in corporate socialism for the rich and powerful I believe in a democratic socialism that works for the working families of this country In 1944 fdr proposed an economic bill of rights But he died a year later and was never able to fulfill that vision Our job 75 years later is to complete what roosevelt started And that is why today I am proposing a 21st century economic bill of rights My friends these are my values And that is why I call myself a democratic socialist At its core is a deep and abiding faith In the american people to peacefully and democratically enact the transformative change That will create shared prosperity Social equality and true freedom For all Thank you very much Everything he said there is crucial It's absolutely crucial When you have these times where large multinational corporations and oligarchs Assume so much wealth and as a result you know subsequently power and influence Due to their their wealth People get increasingly desperate and they often become radicalized. They end up getting Exploited by a demagogue who preys on their desperation and who scapegoats women and minorities and immigrants And that same thing that happened during the great depression in the united states and around europe is happening again So what fdr did was he gave us the blueprint? He gave us what we need To defeat fascism in order to stop fascism and stop the rise of these right-wing demagogues You've got to cut off The source of what makes the popularity or the rise or potential rise Of these demagogues possible in the first place and that is mass Disenchantment with the establishment economic desperation if you can stop that Then you can stop the rise of right-wing demagogues And the ruling class they don't care that fascism is on the rise So bernie sanders also describes here. You didn't see this but how you know There were numerous examples of this socialist boogeyman being invoked when shrewman proposed a nationalized health care system You know those that drafted it were demonized as literal communist Sympathizers who were following in the footsteps of moscow You know when the children's health insurance program was proposed it was called a step towards socialism by the heritage foundation So you've got to understand they're trying to scare you and they use socialism as a boogeyman To scare you so what this speech demonstrated to me is bernie sanders is the only person Running for president who gets this who actually knows How to defeat fascism Stop mass disenchantment with the establishment Stop desperation give people a chance The opportunity to be successful and move up and move up the economic ladder And that's how you do it That's how you do it. It's that simple but nobody else gets it. Nobody else Sees what fdr did and wants to continue his vision Not even other progressives in the race so-called progressives Like elizabeth warren because look at this tweet from edward isaac dover When i told warren that sanders is giving a speech today saying democratic socialism is the only way She shook her head and laughed When i asked harris, she said, huh when i asked benet I don't think the american people know what that means So i mean you expect someone like kamala harris To say that you expect michael benet to say that but someone who purports to be a progressive who claims that she's on our side To laugh This should make it very clear to everyone It's bernie It's always been bernie because let me remind you that during donald trump state of the union When he declared that america will never be a socialist nation elizabeth warren stood up and applauded him. She stood up and she applauded that fascist It's always been bernie Regardless if he wins or if he loses we will all look back at this moment historians will see that bernie sanders was the one ticket out from the pain and economic anxiety That everyone is experiencing bernie sanders was the one person Who would serve as the antithesis? To fascism and right wing demagoguery So again if you Didn't take my advice and watch, you know the full speech Do yourself the favor and watch the full speech bernie sanders lays it all out as clear as day He knows exactly what to do to get our country on track What he does in america could reverberate around the world other countries could emulate his style of democratic socialism even if it's not technically democratic socialism and it is More accurately described as you know social democracy still bernie sanders Is the one person Who could actually get us on the right trajectory?   We saw what he did. I want to do that for you Help me help you The choice is clear It's got to be bernie So one of my biggest gripes about corporate democrats besides their corporatism, of course Is that they're always so weak? They don't know how to one play politics and two They don't know how to stand their ground against republicans. I mean the republican party is incredibly ruthless and They don't even care about the optics. They're always Trying to do what they can to defeat democrats But when it comes to democratic party leadership I mean when you just juxtapose someone like Mitch mcconnell to Chuck schumer and ansi Pelosi the difference is night and day. I've always said that If we got A person just half as ruthless as mitch mcconnell in democratic party leadership Imagine what a difference that would make imagine How much stronger the left as a whole Would be but they're weak and one of the issues that they have been incredibly weak on namely, nancy. Pelosi Is the issue of impeachment There's a plethora of reasons That you have to open an impeachment inquiry. I mean in the muller report There are 10 different instances where trump obstructed justice He was in violation of the emoluments clause on day one There's a number of reasons why donald trump is breaking the constitution and should be impeached But what is nancy. Pelosi doing? She's running scared predictably and aoc decided to Call out this inherent weakness in the face of potential republican opposition So as kate sullivan and manu raju of cnn reports Representative alexandria ocasio-cortez said tuesday it appears democrats are sitting on their hands when it comes to impeachment Reflecting the unease from an outspoken block of members who want democrats to take a tougher stance against the president When asked if she was satisfied with house speaker nancy. Pelosi's approach and opposition to beginning the impeachment process ocasio-cortez told cnn Personally, I am not I think that an impeachment inquiry is right on our doorstep The new york democrat said adding she is concerned about where the line to begin proceedings has been drawn If now isn't the time what is the bar? What is the line that we're waiting to be crossed for an impeachment inquiry? And so far it doesn't seem like there is one ocasio-cortez said and so without a clear boundary It seems as though we're kind of sitting on our hands. She added So if now isn't the time that I think a lot of folks would like to know when is the time Earlier tuesday, pelosi told cnn opening an impeachment inquiry is not off the table as she explained her continued opposition to formally opening the process I don't think you should impeach for political reasons And I don't think you should not impeach for political reasons Pelosi said at the peter g peterson foundations fiscal summit now just stop for a moment And think about how tone deaf nancy pelosi's responses Quote I don't think you should impeach for political reasons and I don't think you should not impeach for political reasons Nancy we're not talking about Impeaching for political reasons. This isn't about politics. You have to disaggregate Politics from the process of impeachment. We're talking about impeachment because Donald Trump broke the law. He's in violation of the emoluments clause right now So you've got to make a decision here. Do you believe that we should hold Wealthy and powerful people accountable or do you think we should live in a two-tier justice system where Normal americans get prosecuted But the rich and the powerful get away scot-free when they brazenly break the law and violate the constitution. That's the question It's about principle here not politics If you believe and all leftists should believe this that Every single individual regardless of their status should be held accountable when they break the law and violate the constitution Then you can't not opt for impeachment here. You can't not it's a matter of principle And just broadening this out beyond nancy pelosi think about how weak the aggregate democratic party is in the house of representatives So out of 235 democrats in congress, can you guess how many support impeachment? 60 just 60 I mean, how is this even a question? How is this even a question? Take a moment and flip this Let's say obama was in violation of the emoluments clause and he attempted to obstruct justice If you look at the caucus of republicans in the house, do you want to know the number? That would be in favor of an impeachment inquiry into president obama if the shoe was on the other foot It would be a hundred percent It would be a hundred percent But democrats Are so weak that they're not even willing to open up an impeachment inquiry and look Even if you're not convinced that you have enough to impeach donald trump with that's fine But opening this inquiry will lead to additional information. It's an inquiry, but democrats are incapable of being strong I mean the republican party is as ruthless perhaps as they've ever been They never think about how doing something or being overly obstructive when they're just Going out of their way to obstruct for obstructions sake will harm them They tried to repeal obama care over 50 times mitch mcconnell stole a supreme court nominee from obama And then says that he's gonna fill that seat in 2020 violating his own principle at what point Do democrats start fighting fire with fire? How can you not be in favor of impeachment if you are a democrat? How it makes no sense when are democrats going to grow spines and start fighting republicans? Do you understand that this is why democrats lose and appear weak? It's because you don't fight On something that's easy someone who Is in the white house right now that is in violation of the constitution They're too afraid to even open an impeachment inquiry And I love that aoc called nancy pelosi out here because you can't beat around the bush here You've got to say no i'm not satisfied with her and here's the thing aoc knows What she needs to do to get nancy pelosi to act because nancy pelosi does not like to appear weak Even if she is weak even if she's not a true progressive because I want to show you her response here So this is a quote from nancy pelosi I don't want to see trump impeached. I want to see him Imprisoned so do you understand what she's trying to do in order to not appear weak? She's trying to change the conversation. No, no see for me. This isn't just about impeachment I want to see him Imprison Nancy You are so transparent. We all know that that is nothing more than bluster It's nothing more than bluster because If you believe that donald trump should be in prison then Shouldn't an impeachment inquiry reasonably fall within the range of what you support And again, she said it's not off the table, but she's dragging her feet And people like aoc and reshita to leave They have to basically force Nancy pelosi to even consider changing her mind when you are the leader of the democratic party. You should be leading the cause nancy What is wrong with you? So I don't get how this is debatable. I don't get why we have to put this much pressure on democrats when again, if roles were reversed Republicans would have already started the impeachment proceedings against spirack obama. They would have already started it But this is what we have to deal with mealy mouth corporate democrats who are too afraid to impeach and can't possibly Fathom this being about more than just politics. They can't fathom that maybe this is about Holding people in power accountable.  This is not a difficult issue. This is not a difficult issue impeach the motherfucker So if you're wondering why we haven't been hearing very much from howard schultz Who is floating the idea of running as a centrist independent? Turns out he didn't actually take the hint that we all don't want anything to do with him Turns out he stopped campaigning because of a medical issue and he just announced that he's suspending his campaign For now So as amanda turkle of huffpost writes starbucks billionaire howard schultz told campaign staff that he is making Significant cuts to his team as he suspends his political plans for the summer Schultz came into the office wednesday for the first time in months and met with the staff According to a person in the room He announced that he was letting everyone go except for those in senior leadership positions adding He would not make a decision about running for president until after labor day shortly thereafter Schultz sent an email to supporters saying that medical reasons had taken him out of commission for months And he still needed time to recover while i was in arizona I unfortunately experienced a cute back pain that required me to cut my travels short He wrote over the following two months. I underwent three separate back surgeries Today I am feeling much better and my doctors foresee a full recovery So long as I rest and rehabilitate I have decided to take the summer to do just that Schultz told his staff wednesday that he was closely watching former vice president joe biden The frontrunner on the democratic side who is more moderate and centrist than many of the other candidates Schultz said that if biden does not appear to be the nominee He would think about jumping into the presidential race after super tuesday He is realigning a team for the next phase of his exploration A schultz aide said in response to a request for comment. So it seems like this medical issue has effectively Forced him to suspend his campaign for now and look, I don't wish harm on him But with that being said, I really hope that he takes this time to really reflect on how privileged he is because he said that He had three back surgeries and I'm assuming that that cost a lot Now I want him to put himself in the position of a normal american Imagine if you're an american and you don't have insurance You would not be able to get the back surgeries needed to stop you from suffering Howard schultz is perfectly okay with that because Not only does he not support medicare for all but he is vigorously opposed to it And on top of that as ken clippenstein points out imagine being able to just take the summer off Because your back hurts half of americans live paycheck to paycheck So they wouldn't even have the option of taking the summer off to recover And even if you had a spouse that was working or you had some savings and you could potentially Take that time to have unpaid leave with your job You'd have to go through an approval process. You may potentially lose your job depending on the situation Howard schultz Doesn't realize how privileged he is as a billionaire and that's fine Right, you can be ignorant to that But understand that if you're not fighting for us to have even just a fraction Of the luxury that you have the comfort that you have to have the surgeries that you need or take the time off that you need Then you've got to understand that you have no business representing the american people and you absolutely Should not jump back in Because he doesn't realize How privileged he sounds wouldn't it be nice to just take Three months off if you needed it due to a medical issue.  He lost Every thing he didn't have the luxury to take time off. He lost his business My family was living off of food banks And this isn't just something that Applies to my family. This is happening all over the country right now But Howard schultz. He's more concerned about his own ass I already have The ability and the luxury and the privilege to just take three months off and get all the surgeries and medical procedures that I Need but for you You don't deserve that and i'm jumping in the race to make sure that we don't get a candidate Who's going to give you a fraction of the privilege that I feel I'm going to make sure I jump in to preserve the status quo and spoil the election So trump continues to be president and I get to keep my tax cuts.  What could it cost ten dollars the fact that we have billionaires The fact that 26 of the richest people have as much wealth as half of humanity That's a problem Every single billionaire is a policy failure the mere existence of billionaires Which is someone with a massive wealth that they will never ever be able to spend In 10 lifetimes let alone one if that person Can accumulate that much wealth That is a system that has failed the people that shows you how disgusting capitalism is A virus and it can't exist simultaneously with a healthy democracy Because if you start getting that much wealth in a capitalist system You end up subsequently accumulating power As a direct result of all that wealth And then you end up subverting democracy in order to get what you want implemented I mean, this isn't me saying that this isn't speculation This is backed up by studies a Princeton university study published in 2014 just confirmed that average citizens interests Aren't being carried out when you look at policy outcomes. It's only the elite and business class so Howard Schultz has no business running and I had to talk about this because i'm never gonna miss an opportunity to um dunk on Howard Schultz because not only is he A greedy oligarch, but he's also just A dipshit like I really believe that he's not very bright And i'm not trying to go out of my way to love this ad hominem attack at him I genuinely believe he has a low IQ and if you don't believe me watch the scene in town hall I did a segment about that. Um, and he really reveals that he knows nothing About politics. Maybe he knows about starbucks and coffee and business But when it comes to politics when it comes to crafting public policy Which you need to be well versed in if you want to be president You need to at least have a basic understanding of that He knows nothing And we already tested what would happen if we get a dipshit billionaire who doesn't know anything about policy into office We have that right now not going too well, is it not going too well And before all of the MAGA chuds comments saying but mike the economy Right presidents don't have much control over the economy. They can steer it to an extent but Economic recovery is what we're seeing around the world. It's a global trend currently But go deeper than just what you hear in the headlines about the stock markets Normal americans are still living paycheck to paycheck. They can't afford a $500 emergency That is not a sign of a healthy economy That's a sign that capitalism is eating itself and killing our system and the planet as well So howard schultz has no business being in politics.   I am here with a true progressive from the state of texas. Her name is sema hernandez She's currently running to be the democratic party nominee in 2020 You all know her from 2018 when she actually ran against beto or rork in the democratic party primary And she actually got 23.7 of the vote. So she's surging. She's a strong progressive perhaps The true progressive from texas and I have her on the show to talk about her 2020 campaign sema Thank you so much for joining the podcast No, thank you for inviting me.  Thank you. It means a lot and i've been really interested in your campaign because Here's the thing. There's a lot of people that ran in 2018 that are now choosing to run again And after seeing and hearing from all of you about how difficult it is to run for congress and you ran for the senate My question is what made you want to run again because I mean you have to be tired at this point well Yes, it is exhausting But I truly believe that the people of texas and the people of this country and around the world are worth fighting for and running on a a peace Campaign on a platform that is unapologetically human and focusing on the issues that affect all of us That's most important and being a single mom of four kids It's certainly not an easy task to do but women i'm willing to do because it's it's the more obligation I'm choosing to take on for all the right reasons Yeah, and that's absolutely commendable. Um, can you talk about What your core issues are because the way that I always see it is if I were to run for congress or get elected I wouldn't know what to focus on because there's so many things that we have to fix So what do you think would be like the three primary things that you would be fighting for in congress? Environmental justice is one that we need to focus on extremely. I'm a fence line resident here in pasadena Where it's a um a condensed part of the petrochemical industry in the state of texas and so that's something that I would focus on along with having a Uh a booming economy that is surrounding. Um, there is it's created around the green new deal and health care And of course, you know ending the war economy is something that's extremely important to To this country into the world because we are the biggest contributor to uh greenhouse emissions that contribute to global warming Yeah, and that's absolutely commendable because I like this because you know when people run for congress for the senate for the house A lot of people assume well, you know, that's not going to be my representative So, you know, maybe I shouldn't donate if I live in oregon, for example But the great thing is that you're fighting for these things that as progressives we all care very deeply about And one thing that made me a little bit angry is that a lot of people kind of look at beddo or work And they say oh, well, he's running for president. Why not just run for the senate? But we already have someone running for the senate who's actually a real progressive Who supports medicare for all you're the real deal So the problem though is after beddo or work initially kind of signaled support for your campaign He then kind of flipped and signaled support for the corporate democrat in the race Talk a little bit about that because one theme that we're seeing around the country as more and more progressives run is that Anytime they start to pick up momentum the establishment steps in and throws in their own corporate democrat to try to stop The progressive from winning talk about that dynamic dynamic here because it's absolutely something that's prevalent in this race Yeah, well in 2018 we saw that our campaign was was not really taken seriously But you know, we fought really hard and we came in at 23 point whatever first send and we did it on $4,000 campaigning statewide Wow Huge and it was unheard of it was remarkable and it was literally groundbreaking what we did as the first time candidate ever Running as a latina decolonized indigenous person Supporting a very progressive platform. It was unheard of so then we we took that and we met with org work And you know, we tried to figure out how we can work together But the one thing I wanted was Medicare for all for him to sign it while he was in congress and he refused So we went back and forth and in that process I joined the poor people's campaign became the texas co-chair for the texas poor people's campaign organized and trained people for civil disobedience and did all that stuff and then came back to the table with the roark And he finally said i'll support Medicare for all and he said to me. Well, what are you going to be doing? Said i'm gonna run against john cornyn. I just reiterated it to him Um back in september after I gave him the endorsement after he said that he would support Medicare for all And for the first time ever his his polling went up Um, and you know since he started running for office against head crews So we we realized that our endorsement Carried a lot of weight specifically in our marginalized communities for them to come out and support him So when I saw that he supported my primary opponent Who was handpicked by chuck schumer and anzi pelosi it baffled me because The last thing that we need is more incrementalism more war We need a an actual health care plan that takes care of every single human being in this country And um, I know that these other candidates that are running for office that are being propped up by corporate Is that by the corporate establishment are not going to support these key pillars of our of our progressive platform So yes, you know, it's it's something that happens and they're just you know playing uh politics with our lives and i'm As many people in this state of texas and around this world We're sick and tired of people playing with our lives like that like we're expendable Just for their own profit in their own game Yeah, that's the most frustrating thing. I think because you see That there's this real urgency for a number of issues. I mean people are dying 30 to 40 thousand every single year due to a lack of health insurance We have less than 12 years now to act when it comes to climate change according to the ipcc So this wheeling and dealing for endorsements and whatnot It just people see it and it comes off as disingenuous and you've always been the person who has spoken truth to power in texas and I'm really happy that you're running again because I feel like if anyone is going to Represent progressives, it's going to be you it's not going to be a battle of war Because I think he's kind of shown his cards now in that he's not really too progressive And he's more career minded because he's running for president. I mean You could be running for president right now, right? But you're choosing to fight and take on john cornon So I want to go back to what you said there because you said you raised 4 000, correct Well, I raised a little bit over 4 000, but I actually literally campaigned on four thousand dollars and you got 23.7 percent. I need people to just voters. Yes I need people to realize What she accomplished that's almost unfathomable like it seems like That's impossible, but she did it So if you think that you know a progressive who doesn't take corporate PAC money is someone who you know Isn't ever going to win is it difficult? Yes, but can she win? I think she kind of demonstrated that she has what it takes if she got a quarter of a million voters With 4 000 like that's that's mind-blowing. It's absolutely mind-blowing. So imagine if she were the nominee What she could do Absolutely and the one thing that we we do want to reiterate as part of our campaign is in 2018. We didn't get any endorsements What we did is we got volunteers that stepped up and did the unthinkable um, and they were not paid they were Volunteering because they believed in our campaign our platform and our message And that's one of the most important things is to connect with your voter on on a personal level Because you're carrying their voice with you to the senate or to congress or to city council And one of the things that our campaign did in 2018 that is doing in 2020 Is we are working in coalition with other candidates across this country And locally across the state So I am teaming up with as many people as possible because my mission is to flip the state of texas blue And do it in a way that it's not just the seat i'm running for it's congressional seats city council county commissioners court We're going to flip texas all the way and bring the progressive change that has been you literally in Waiting in the back for us to take charge and I myself am I'm really hopeful that something great is going to happen in 2020 and it doesn't necessarily have to do with our presidential election Which you know for anyone it would be great but It's it starts at home And I want to reiterate that that it starts at home in politics all politics is local And so we should be voting um not just in presidential races or mid-term elections That we should be voting for city and local elections as well Yeah, yeah Totally agree with that. Um, so let me put you on the spot a little bit So I want to throw out some policies and I want to get A yes or no or maybe on whether or not you support them And I think you've probably already decided on all of these so this should be relatively easy medicare for all Yes Tuition-free public colleges and universities Yes Student loan debt cancellation Absolutely. Yes. Oh, I like that. Uh green new deal Yes Ranked choice voting Yes Pardons for chelsea manning edward snowden reality winner and julien assange hands down. Yes. Oh wait, actually that's more of a presidential But if you support that that's still good. Um Let's see here. Uh reparations for american descendants of slavery. Yes Um, let's see public financing of all elections Absolutely. Yes. I wish to make it a hell of a lot easier for candidates like me to get elected as well Absolutely. I'm abolishing the electoral college Yes, ending the filibuster ending the filibuster Maybe or filibuster reform like something in that sphere Yeah, I definitely don't want to stand around listening to teta cruz I'm getting flashbacks to that now. Um Let's see here a universal basic income that supplements our existing social safety net Um, can it be in conjunction? Um, yes. Yes. So it would be on top of what we already offer. So when it replace it, it would be um in addition to that Okay, in addition. Yes, because I think replacing it is something that it's a republic employee to get rid of social safety net Totally agree.  Yes closing military bases. Yes, or transferring them in a different way transforming them a different way Instead of using them to deploy missiles and you know, set up bombs in the middle of the night in places like yemen um or libya or israel or you know Palestine, I mean that's that's something that uh is something I don't want to continue but um revitalizing our military to actually do what there's what what we want them to do to Build a green new deal infrastructure rebuild places that we've destroyed And um help rebuild Puerto Rico. I mean, that's that's a no-brainer. Yeah, but definitely not for war Yeah, absolutely. And you kind of went to the next one that I wanted to ask um statehood for dc and guam and A referendum for Puerto Rico so they can have self-determination Absolutely, that's great. That's great. So I think that's pretty much all of the main things the one last thing that I wanted to talk about was um Protecting pro bds speech. You don't necessarily have to endorse bd bds per se, but so long as you'd stand up for People that do support it and you wouldn't enforce these pro bds Or these anti bds pledges that we're seeing around the country. Would you I would do both That's great. See okay, I already do both. So we're good. Okay, so I'm getting the sense that you're not afraid to like take politically um, almost volatile Stances, which is great Yeah, or around venezuela. I mean on venezuela. It's to leave them the hell alone They have elections and they did what they did and there's no need for us to meddle specifically To gain control of the petrochemical industry there Yeah, now let me ask you one thing that isn't policy related, but it's more related to politics Let's say hypothetically speaking You're elected to congress and we all know that there's going to be immense pressure from you You're gonna get attacked by fox news every single day. You'll be the new target You know, you'll maybe take away some attention from aoc um, but You're going to be forced to try to work with the democratic party That's going to silence you by offering you deals offering to cosponsor pieces of legislation if you don't do this and that Or don't endorse How do you work with that? Like, how do you?  That's a perfect answer So i'm sure many people will be sold Tell us what we can do if you want to help you um if we live in texas And if we don't live in texas and tell us where we can go to donate to you Well, um, if you don't live in texas, uh, what are you waiting for like come on? Uh, let's let's I mean the more people that move to texas a better chance that we can get to overturn certain laws in the state of texas state legislature Uh, but yes, definitely go to sema for texas.com or go to act blue and look me up at sema Hernandez or sema for texas 2020 Um, donate whatever you can sign up to volunteer on our website, but yeah sema for texas.com. That's where i'm at Okay, perfect. And are we able to phone bank for you if we live outside of texas? Absolutely phone bank I don't know do uh host an event Uh, what do you call it? Um house party or something house party. Yeah, I can definitely you know make my way. I Traveled across texas. I can travel across the country by car and video myself I just will never use the live stream when i'm at a dental office or an I like it. I like it a lot and um, I think that you will keep people supporting you that way By not live streaming dental appointments or her cuts or whatever the case Yeah, no, I actually take pictures and I live stream at local coffee shops Business small business or family owned restaurants And I I want to to you know highlight the places in which I like to to hang out in Yeah, and that's normal Yeah, that's that's a little bit more normal though to to do normal things like that That's what a lot of organizers do is go to restaurants not necessarily the dentist's office So, um, thank you for being normal in that regard. So thank you so much and let me just make a quick pitch for sema She was able to accomplish a lot for four thousand dollars Imagine what she could accomplish with ten thousand imagine what she accomplished if she was able to raise a hundred thousand So it's tough everybody is donating to presidential candidates currently and other candidates But if you could just chip in and donate whatever you can And if not money maybe time You could get someone like sema in congress to represent you imagine The influence that she would have over the democratic party over the country. It'd be phenomenal. So chip in and um Help her out if you can so sema. Thank you so much for coming on the program All right, thanks mic for having me here. We'll talk soon. Yes, we will Well, that's all that I've got for you guys today. Thank you so much for tuning in if you've made it this far Thank you so much to my guest sema hernandez If you'd like more videos you can go to humanistreport.com Or if you want to support the show you can check out patreon.com Forward slash humanist report. Thank you all so much as usual I want to thank you all for watching and listening if you are catching this on itunes or soundcloud You all helped the show to not just survive But thrive. Thank you. So i'll see you one next week. Take care everyone