Sanders shakes it up

This weekend, my nephews returned from college and they were so excited about Bernie Sanders. This is the first political peep I've heard from them. Bernie woke them up! And they say all their friends at school feel the same way. It's Bernie time -- and it's no wonder.

In an article posted yesterday at Think Progress, I found this:

Bernie Sanders (I-VT) wants to see a “revolution” in higher education funding.

The longtime Senator and newly minted presidential candidate unveiled a bill Tuesday that would completely eliminate undergraduate tuition at four-year public colleges and universities. The bill would also expand work-study programs and allow graduates who collectively hold more than a trillion dollars in student debt to refinance at a lower interest rate. At a press conference outside the US Capitol, Sanders called the current burdens on students and graduates a “national disgrace.”

“We have to make sure that every qualified American in this country who has the ability and desire to go to college is able to go to college, regardless of the income of his or her family,” he said. “It is totally unacceptable that Americans are drowning in $1.2 trillion in student loan debt. It is unacceptable that millions of college graduates cannot afford to buy their first home or their first car because of the outrageously high interest rates they are paying on student debt.” 

It's about time someone said something sensible about student debt. And Bernie's going to say lots of other sensible things. I've always said that it's insane to believe that a progressive can't win an election. It's just that no one ever lets them try. And kids could upset an election easily because: internet. They get it.

Go, Bernie!

Bernie Sanders could bring huge, positive change to U.S.

Bernie Sanders, a kind and honest man who tells the truth, is in the primary race against the meaningless creature we refer to as "Hillary Clinton". In other words there is still hope.

I mean seriously, if it's Hillary v. Jeb, it will be a contest between an empty pants suit and an empty pants suit. Bernie, on the other hand, will tell it like it is. And finally, in an era of blatant income inequality, people may be able to hear his words and understand them.

This morning, I came across this at HuffPo. In the article, Bernie asks a question I've been waiting to hear for the past 20 years: what's wrong with the idea of making the United States look more like Scandinavia? In Norway, Sweden and Denmark, health care is a basic human right, guaranteed for all. And there is no charge for college or grad school. Doesn't that sound a tad better than what we've got here, where people can't afford their medications and where kids go into lifelong hock to obtain a college education?

He's a breath of fresh air, Bernie is. Let's hope the unthinkable occurs and this man can best Hillary in the primary. Jeb v. Bernie could be a lot of fun. In fact, it could wake the whole country up -- for good.