The 5th Democratic Debate, hosted by MSNBC on Feb 4th, 2016, was only between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.  Martin O’Malley dropped out when he lost the coin toss in Iowa.  Apparently the coin only had two sides.  Hosting the debate are Chuck Todd and Richard Maddow.  Oops, I mean Rachel Maddow.

They began with opening statements.

Bernie Sanders: Millions of Americans are giving up on the political process.  And their giving up on the political process, because they understand the economy is rigged.  They are working longer hours for lower wages. Except for all those who lost their jobs or were forced into part time by Obamacare.  They’re worried about the future of their kids.  And yet almost all new income and wealth is going to the top 1%.  Not what America is supposed to be about.  Not the fairness that we grew up believing that America was about.  And then sustaining that rigged economy is a corrupt campaign finance system undermining American democracy where billionaires, Wall Street, Corporate America can contribute unlimited sums of money into super pacs, and into candidates.  Our job together is to end a rigged economy, create an economy that works for all and absolutely overturn Citizens United. One person, one vote, that’s what American democracy is about.  We aren’t a democracy, Bernie.

Hillary Clinton: Well, I’m happy to be here in New Hampshire for this debate as we move toward the primary on Tuesday.  I believe that America has the opportunity to once again live by our values, live up to our values in the 21st century.  But I think that America can only do that if Americans can succeed.  And there are lots of reasons why Americans today are feeling left out and left behind.  Yes of course the economy has not been working for most Americans.  But in his State of the Union, Obama said the economy has never been better!  Yes of course we have special interests that are unfortunately doing too much to rig the game.  But there’s also the continuing challenges of racism, of sexism, of discrimination against the LGBT community, of the way we treat people as opposed to how we want to be treated.  Like putting bakers out of business if they don’t violate their religion and bake gay wedding cakes.  I believe that we can get back on the right track.  That I want to imagine a country where peoples’ wages reflect their hard work.  Where we have health care for everyone and where every child gets to live up to his or her potential.  I’m fighting for people (like I did in Benghazi) who cannot wait for those changes.  And I’m not making promises that I cannot keep.  So no promise about answering 3AM phone calls, this time!

Chuck Todd started by asking Hillary why she thought that Bernie would not be able to keep his promise to offer free public college and public health care.  She said, Senator Sanders and I share some very big progressive goals.  I’ve been fighting for universal healthcare for many years and we’re now on the path to achieving it.  I don’t want us to start over again.  I want to build on the progress we’ve made.  90% coverage to 100% coverage.  I don’t want to rip away the security that people finally have.  Like thousands of dollars in fines for not signing up for mandated insurance.  18 million people now have health care.  Let’s not mention the millions more who lost it or the $2500 average increased cost, or the lost jobs due to companies not being able to afford it.  I also believe in affordable college, but I don’t believe in free college.  Because every expert that I talk to says look, how will you control the cost.  No kidding.  Oops, she accidentally admitted to the problem that applies to all government meddling through unconstitutional grants and loans. Who pays for it?  What I want to do is make sure middle class kids, not Donald Trump’s kids can afford college.  Wait, which kids are Americans?  I have a plan to create new jobs!  Manufacturing, infrastructure, clean energy jobs.  Didn’t Obama do all this?  I believe in raising the minimum wage and equal pay for work.  As long as I don’t have to pay my workers equally.  But the numbers just don’t add up from what Senator Sanders has been proposing. 

Sanders was asked to explain how he spent two decades in Congress and hasn’t gotten any of these things passed.  He said, I haven’t quite run for President before.  A non-answer that got a huge applause from the MSNBC audience.  Every major country on Earth, whether it’s Canada, England, or France has managed to provide healthcare to all people as a right.  No they haven’t.  They have provided health care insurance.  The health care itself doesn’t happen.  Plus, none of these countries have a military budget to speak of and count on the United States to protect them.  They are spending considerably less per capita on healthcare than we are.  Right. You get what you pay for.  So, I do not accept the belief that the United States of America can’t do that and can’t stand up to the ripoffs of the pharmaceutical industry, which charge us by far, the highest prices in the world.  In the economy today, everybody understands that we need a well educated work force.  This is 2016.  When we talk about public education, it can no longer be K through 12th grade.  People graduate 12th grade not even knowing how to balance a budget anymore.  What good is 4 more years of school to teach what they should have already learned?  Public colleges and universities should be tuition free!  Hey, I’m all for that Bernie, if the professors can be paycheck free.  We pay for it in my view by a tax on Wall Street speculation. 

Maddow said that Sanders claims that Clinton is too far to the right for the Democrat Party, to be the party’s standard bearer.  Why should liberal democrats support you and not Sanders?  Hillary said, because I am a progressive who gets things done.  Name one.  Under his definition, President Obama is not progressive enough, because he took donations from Wall Street.  We have differences and honestly I think we should be talking about what we want to do for the country.  But if we’re going to get into labels, I don’t think it was progressive to vote against the Brady Bill five times.  I don’t think it was progressive to vote against gun makers and sellers immunity.  I don’t think it was progressive to vote against Ted Kennedy’s immigration reform. 

Bernie said, here’s the reality of American economic life today. We have one of the lowest voting turnouts of any major country on Earth, because so many people have given up on the political process.  The reality is that there has been trillions of dollars of wealth going form the middle class in the last 30 years to the top 1/10th of 1%.  No Bernie, the only theft of trillions is by you in Congress. We have a corrupt campaign finance system.  Just on and on like a broken record.  Free college exists all over the world!  Used to exist in the United States!  Rebuilding crumbling infrastructure, creating 13 million new jobs by doing away with tax loopholes that large corporations now enjoy. 

Chuck Todd addressed Bernie.  President Obama has not called for abolishing the death penalty and is for the big Asian trade deal, TPP.  Is President Obama in your judgement, based on these policy positions, a progressive?  Bernie said, let me just pick up on this point.  This whole discussion began, because I commented, not making an overall evaluation about the Secretary.  She was in Ohio, I think in September or November.  She got up and said “I have been criticized, because people think I’m a moderate.  Well I am a moderate.”  That’s where this came from.  It wasn’t from me paraphrasing her, it’s what she said.  Terms of President Obama… I think, if we remember where this country was 7 years ago, 800,000 jobs being lost every month, 1.4 trillion dollar deficit, the world’s financial system on the verge of collapse, I think that President Obama, Vice President Biden and the democratic leadership in the House and the Senate have done a fantastic job.  We are in much better shape today than we were 7 years ago.  This is delusional.   Our population has grown by millions and the total number of people in the work force has plummeted by millions.  But we still have a very long way to go.  Do I think President Obama is a progressive? Yeah!

Hillary and Bernie argued over who is more progressive for quite some time.

Hillary listed all of the Vermont democrats like Howard Dean who supports her.  She couldn’t remember the other Senator’s name and called him the other Senator.  Maddow said to Bernie that Hillary is raising the issue of endorsements from his home state Democrats who know him best.  Bernie said, well, I don’t see it quite like that.  I am… will absolutely admit that Secretary Clinton has the support of far more governors, mayors, members of the House.  She has the entire establishment behind her.  That’s a fact.  I don’t deny it.  But I am pretty proud that we have over a million people who have contributed to our campaign averaging 27 bucks apiece.   That we have had meetings where 25-30 thousand people have come out.  That our campaign is a campaign of the people, by the people, and for the people.  So!  Rachel, yes.  Secretary Clinton does represent the establishment.  I represent, I hope, ordinary Americans and by the way, who are not all that enamored with the establishment.

Hillary jumped in to say that as a woman, she can’t represent the establishment.  People support me, because they know me, they know my life’s work.  No one can name one accomplishment.   They have worked with me and many have also worked with Senator Sanders.  At the end of the day, they endorse me, because they know I can get things done.  I am not going to make promises I can’t keep…  This debate must be on a loop.  These two are literally out of anything to say.

Sanders accused Hillary of being part of the establishment some more, so Hillary said, Senator Sanders has said that he wants to run a positive campaign.  I’ve tried to keep my disagreements over issues, as it should be.  But time and time again, by innuendo, by insinuation, there is this attack that he is putting forth.  Which really comes down to, you know, anybody who ever took donations or speaking fees from any interest group, uh, has to be bought.  And I just absolutely reject that, Senator.  And I really don’t think these kinds of attacks by insinuation are worthy of you.  And enough is enough. If you’ve got something to say, say it directly.  But you will not find that I ever changed a view or a vote because of any donation that I ever received.  And I have stood up and I have represented my constituents to the best of my ability and I’m very proud of that.  So I think it’s time to end the very artful smear that you and your campaign have been carrying out in recent weeks and let’s talk about the issues.

Bernie kept trying to get in a word and the crowd started booing here.  Bernie said, let us talk about issues.  Hillary continued, We both agree with campaign finance reform.  I’ve worked hard for McCain/Finegold.  I want to reverse Citizens United.

They both started saying “Let’s talk about issues,” over one another.  Bernie said, let’s talk about why in the 1990s Wall Street got deregulated.  Did it have anything to do with the fact that Wall Street provided… spent billions of dollars on lobbying and campaign contributions?  Well, some people might think yeah, that had some influence.  Let’s ask why it is that we pay by far the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs and your medicine can be double tomorrow and there’s nothing that the government can do to stop it.  You think it has anything to do with the huge amounts of campaign contributions and lobbying for the fossil fuel industry.  Ok, that’s the first time I ever heard that fossil fuel lobbiests raise drug prices.  Let’s talk about climate change.  Do you think there’s a reason why not one Republican has the guts to recognize that climate change is real?  And that we need to transform our energy system?  Do you think it has anything to do with the Koch brothers and Exxon Mobile pouring huge amounts of money into the political system?  That is what goes on in America. 

Hillary said, I don’t think you can find any person in political life today who has been subjected to more attacks and had more money spent against her by special interests among whom, you have named a few, than I.   I’m proud of that.  You’re the one who voted to deregulate swaps and derivatives in 2000, which contributed to the over leveraging of Lehman Brothers, which was one of the culprits that brought down the economy.  I’m not impugning your motive, because you voted to deregulate swaps and derivatives, people make mistakes and I’m certainly not saying you did it for any kind of financial advantage.  What we’ve got to do as democrats is to be united to actually solve these problems.  The problem can only be solved by getting the federal government out of the regulation business altogether as the Constitution demands.

Bernie said, I think as Secretary Clinton knows, there is nobody who fought harder, I was on the House Financial committee at that time.  I heard the arguments coming from Democrats and Republicans about how great it would be to do away with Glass Steagall, and let small banks merge.   Go on Youtube today.  Look up Greenspan/Sanders.  Listen to what I told them then. 

Chuck Todd asked Sanders why he doesn’t participate in the Presidential public financing system, which is designed to essentially keep big money out of Presidential politics?  Bernie said, actually we looked at it, but it turns out to be a disaster.  If you make it all the way to California it does pretty well, but in terms of the early states, it just doesn’t work.   But your point is well taken.  I believe in public funding of elections.  Absolutely!  But this system is antiquated and no longer applies to modern day politics.  Chuck Todd said, then why criticize her on super pacs when that’s the system?    Bernie said there are two alternative to the public financing.  We looked at super pacs.  I don’t represent big business.  I don’t want it.  The other alternative is to ask working families to help out in a transformational campaign.  We to three and a half million individual contributions, 27 bucks apiece.  I think that’s pretty good.

The conversation just went on and on and on and on about Wall Street, speaking fees, and campaign finance.  Nothing new was contributed to the debate. 

Hillary was asked if she would release the transcripts of all her paid speeches, to Goldman Sachs and everyone else.  Hillary replied, I will look into it, I certainly don’t know the status, but I will look into it.  In other words, she told Chuck Todd to pound sand. On and on they went about Wall Street.

Maddow said to Hillary, there are more than 4000 troops back in Iraq in the fight against ISIS.  It has been 15 straight years of wars and multiple deployments. Is President Obama right to keep escalating the number of U.S. troops that’s fighting ISIS right now?  Hillary said, Well, I think what, uh, the President understands and what he’s trying to do, uh, is that we have to support the Arab and Kurdish fighters on the ground who are actually doing the fighting.  Uh, I agree with the President.  I have said myself we will not send American combat troops back to either Syria or Iraq.  That is off the table.  But we do have special forces.  We do have trainers.  We do have, uh, uh, military personnel who are helping with the air strikes the United States is leading.  No, Russia is leading the air strikes.  We can try to take out ISIS infrastructure, take out their leadership.  No, the Ghost Sniper is taking out more of their leadership.  A rogue, lone gunman.  They’re doing the fighting, we’re doing the support and enabling.  She rambled on about providing support to Arabs and Kurds.  Maddow broke in and said, to be clear to the specific question, if that strategic goal that you’re describing requires considerably more Americans, an ever increasing number of Americans in Iraq and maybe in Syria?  Are you okay with the numbers increasing?  Hillary said, no! I mean, of course that’s a theoretical question and we don’t know what it would be for.  We don’t know how many numbers there are.  I am against American combat troops being in Syria and Iraq.  She should have ended that sentence after the word “troops.” I support special forces.  I support trainers.  No support for ambassadors.  And I think we’re making some progress.  As ISIS, the JV team, grows and grows.

Bernie said, let me agree with much of what the Secretary has said.  But we differed on the war in Iraq, which created barbaric organizations like ISIS.  No Bernie, Muhammed created them and they are all part of the same organization, called Islam. 

Hillary said, we did differ.  A vote in 2002 is not a plan to defeat ISIS.  We have to look at the threats we face right now.

Chuck Todd said, where you agreed was voting for the war in Afghanistan.  Right now it looks like President Obama will be leaving the next President with at least 10,000 troops in Afghanistan.  How long will those troops be in Afghanistan?  Because giving the enemy a time table for when we are leaving worked out so well in Iraq.  Bernie said, Welp, I think our great task is to make certain that our young men and women in the military, cannot get sucked into a never ending, perpetual warfare within the quagmire, of Syria and Iraq.  And I will do my very best to make sure that that doesn’t happen.  I agree with Secretary Clinton about what has to happen and let me just mention what King Abdullah of Jordan said.  I think he hit the nail on the head.  What he said is essentially the war against ISIS is a war for the soul of Islam.  And it must be moozlim troops on the ground that will destroy ISIS with the support of a coalition of major powers.  The combat on the ground must be done by moozlim troops with our support.  Chuck Todd asked if he would address the question on Afghanistan.  Bernie said, well, I mean, that is the answer. 

Chuck Todd asked Hillary, how long are these troops going to be in Afghanistan?  She said, the President decided to leave more troops than he originally planned in Afghanistan.  Uh… We have a very cooperative government there.  Uh… With uh, uh, Ashraf Ghani and uh his uh uh top uh uh his uh top partner Abdullah.  And they are doing their very best.  The Afghan army is actually fighting.  The Afghan army is taking heavy losses defending Afghanistan. 

Chuck Todd said to Bernie, foreign policy never seems to be his priority other than when he is asked about it and you say “I’m going to crush ISIS.”  You have not proactively laid out a formal foreign policy doctrine yet.  Why?  Bernie said, that’s not quite accurate, I did give a speech at Georgetown.  Ok, then we’re covered.  Let’s move on…  He went on to say that it’s important that we learn the lesson in Iraq and that lesson is, intrinsic to my foreign policy, if elected President is the United States cannot do it alone.  Okay, so Bernie’s foreign policy is that the United States needs help.  Got it.

Chuck Todd asked Bernie Sanders to rank North Korea, Iran, and Russian in order of their potential threat to the United States.  Bernie said ISIS.  Chuck Todd said, I am talking about these three countries.  Bernie said, well clearly North Korea is a very strange situation, because it is such an isolated country run by a handful of dictators or maybe just one who seems to be somewhat paranoid and who has nuclear weapons.  Our goal there in my view is to work and lean strongly on China to put as much pressure, China is one of the few major countries in the world that has significant support for North Korea.  I’ve got it!  Bernie’s foreign policy is Pass The Buck!

Maddow asked Hillary, what is your argument that the Veteran’s Administration should still exist and not be privatized?  Hillary said, well first of all I am absolutely against privatizing the VA.  I am going to do everything I can to build on the reforms that Senator Sanders and others in Congress have passed.   To try to fix what’s wrong with the VA.   There are a lot of issues about wait times and services that have to be fixed.  Because our veterans deserve nothing but the best.  This is another part of the Koch Brothers’ agenda.  They’ve actually formed an organization to begin to convince Americans we should no longer have guaranteed health care, specialized care for our veterans.  That’s a bald faced lie.  First, we do not need to be convinced that government has ruined the VA and it should be privatized, so that it can actually be fixed.  We’re tired of veterans getting the shaft from people like Hillary Clinton.  We will fix the VA, but we will never let it be privatized.  We can’t let go of a golden egg.

Bernie Sanders said, let me agree.  It is interesting to me, Republicans give a lot of speeches about how much they love veterans.  I worked with the American Legion, the VFW, the DAV, the Vietnam Vets and virtually every veterans organization to put together the most comprehensive piece of veterans legislation in the modern history of America.  When they use the word “comprehensive,” run away.  That is code word for, we’re going to get your money and you’re going to get the shaft. I brought it to the floor of the Senate.  Every Democrat vote for it.  I got two Republicans.  We ended up with 56 votes.  And I couldn’t get the 60 votes that I needed.  So, what was in the bill that Democrats loved so much?  Could it be that the only solution in the bill was to throw more money at it?  Having more money isn’t the problem.  Wasteful spending and theft is the problem.

Chuck Todd said, the Des Moines Register says the Iowa Democratic Caucus was a debacle, period.  The results were too close not to do a compete audit.  He asked if Bernie accepts that Hillary won the caucus?  Bernie said, well I agree with the Des Moines Register, but let’s not blow this out of proportion.  This is not like a winner take all thing.  I think where we now stand, correct me if I’m wrong, you have 22 delegates, I have 20 delegates, we need 2500 delegates to win the nomination.  This is not the biggest deal in the world.  Hillary was asked if she would participate in an audit and she said whatever they decide to do is fine.

Hillary and Bernie were asked about which of them were more electable.  I won’t bore you with Bernie bragging about having the idiot Gruber youth and Hillary bragging about being so awesome.  Hillary was eventually asked if her e-mail controversy was why she is not polling well.  She was asked if she could assure Democrats that her e-mail issue wouldn’t blow up her candidacy if she is the nominee?  Hillary said, absolutely I can!  You know, before it was e-mails, it was Benghazi.  Right and before it was Benghazi it was Filegate and covering up Bill Clinton’s rapes.  Before that was Whitewater.  The list goes on and on.  She went on by saying, I never sent or received classified material.  They are retroactively classifying it!  

Chuck Todd said there is an open FBI investigation into this matter and asked Hillary, are you 100% confident that nothing is going to come of this FBI investigation?  Hillary said, I am 100% confident.  This is a security review that was requested.  It is being carried out.  It will be resolved.  But I have to add, if there’s going to be a security review about me, there’s going to have to be security reviews about a lot of other people including Republican office holders, because we’ve got this absurd situation of retroactive classifications.  Honest to goodness.  This is delusional.

Bernie was asked how he felt about the e-mail situation.  He said I feel exactly the same way I felt at the first debate.  There’s a process under way.  I will not politicize it. 

Maddow brought up the issue with Bernie’s campaign stealing campaign data from teh Clinton campaign and said, you apologized for that and fired someone on your campaign.  Your campaign has now been criticized for its operatives impersonating culinary union members, wearing union pins in Nevada.  And the Nashua Telegraph has complained recently that you falsely implied in an advertisement that they had endorsed you when they did not.  Are you in some sense, losing control of your campaign.  Bernie said, not losing control of our campaign, you know, we have hired a whole lot of people in a rapid way and I am familiar with the first two instances and they are unacceptable.  We have apologized and dealt with that.  In terms of the last one, as I understand it, we did not suggest that we had the endorsement of a newspaper.  Newspapers who make endorsements also say positive things about other candidates.  And to the best of my knowledge, that is what we did.  We never said… never said that somebody, a newspaper endorsed us that did not.  Maddow said, the title of the ad was “Endorsement.”  Bernie started waving his finger wildly and said, that was only for, that was not to be on television.  That was just something, as the Secretary knows, you put titles on ads and you send them out.  But there was no word in that ad.  None.  That said that those newspapers had endorsed us. 

Maddow asked Hillary, Secretary Clinton, do you want 30 seconds on this issue?  Hillary said no. Maddow then asked her about the death penalty, which she previously supported, but said that she wished the Supreme Court would abolish it.  The Supreme Court isn’t a legislative branch, Hillary.  Hillary said that she is still for capital punishment, but puts more faith in the federal government than states to handle it.   Only problem, 99.9% of criminal law isn’t the federal government’s business.  Congress has enumerated powers.  They can’t legislate on anything they want, such as outlawing drugs, outlawing violence, rape or even murder.  These are jurisdictions of the States, per the 10th Amendment.  Period.  When the federal government gets involved, people are treated far more unfairly and inhumanely.  Hate crime legislation is one example.  It punishes you for why you commit a crime on top of your crime.  It’s thought crime.  Hillary talked about Timothy McVeigh and said that she does believe that in very limited heinous crimes, she feels the death penalty is an appropriate punishment, but disagrees deeply with the way too many states are implementing it.  She said, if it were possible to separate out the federal from the state system by the Supreme Court, that would, I think, be an appropriate outcome.  An unconstitutional outcome.

Bernie said, too many innocent people, including minorities, African Americans, have been executed when they were not guilty.OF course there are barbaric acts out there, but in a world of so much violence and killing, I just don’t believe that government itself should be part of the killing.  You mean like LaVoy Finicum?  Odd that government seems to be part of a lot more killing of innocent Americans when a Democrat is in the White House.  Every time. 

Next they were asked about the Flint, Michigan lead in the water issue.  Who cares what democrats think of democrats running a city into the ground?  That isn’t news.  They were asked if the state was failing if they would organize a federal response.  I can’t find federal response to local utilities in Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution, the enumerated powers of Congress, let alone Article 2, which describes Presidential powers.  But Hillary’s answer was, absolutely!  Bernie’s answer was also, absolutely. But Bernie took it to racism and said, one wonders if it would have been a white suburban community, what kind of response there would have been? 

Chuck Todd asked Hillary which she would do first, immigration, gun reform, or climate change?  Hillary said, we’ve talked a lot tonight about what we’re against.  I will begin work immediately  on putting together an agenda, beginning to talk with members of Congress and others about how we can push forward.  I want to have half a billion more solar panels deployed the first four years.  I want to have enough clean energy to power every home.  I want us to keep working on the Affordable Care Act.  I want to move forward on paid family leave.  Free!  Free!  Free!  Early childhood education!  Start brainwashing them about LGBT even younger!  I want us to do more for small businesses!  You really make a big push in the beginning.  Immigration reform, economic revitalization, we put it out there and we begin to work on an ambitious, big, bold, agenda, that will actually produce the results that I want to see for our country. 

Todd said, Senator Sanders, you still have to do something first.   History shows what you pick first is your best shot at getting it.  Bernie said, I am for comprehensive immigration reform and a path toward citizenship for 11 million people today who are living in the shadows.  But, we missed, when you looked at the issues, you missed two of the most important.  And that is, you’re not going to accomplish what has to be done for working families and the middle class unless there is campaign finance reform.  So let me be very clear.  No nominee of mine, if I am elected President, to the United States Supreme Court will get that nomination unless he or she is loud and clear and says, they will vote to overturn Citizens United.  So he just admitted that he will only put agenda driven justices on the bench. 

Maddow said to Hillary, Republicans often talk about which agencies of government they would get rid of.  The EPA, the Dept. of Education, The Commerce Dept.  Is there a department of government that you would get rid of or is there a whole new one that you would create?  Hillary said the answer to both of those is no.  I’m interested in making what we have work better.  I have had the opportunity to run a big agency.  I was very flattered when Henry Kissinger said I ran the State Dept. better than anybody had run it in a long time.  Missing 6 billion dollars, missing a 3AM phone call from Benghazi, and talking about everything classified on a private e-mail server, doesn’t count.

Neither would answer a question about whether they would choose the other for Vice President, saying they would be getting ahead of themselves.

Closing Statements:

Hillary Clinton: Thanks to MSNBC and thanks to all of you for holding this debate before the New Hampshire Primary.  I am going to campaign as hard as I can between now and Tuesday, to earn your votes in that primary.  And I hear some talk that people are trying to decide, do I vote with my heart, do they vote with their head?  I’m asking you to bring both your heart and your head to vote with you on Tuesday.  Because we have a lot of work that can only come because your heart is moved.  You know, we didn’t get to talk about the continuing struggles that Americans face with racism, with sexism, with discrimination against the LGBT community, with new Americans, (illegals), with people with disabilities.  Yes, we have income inequality, we have other forms of inequality that we need to stand up against and absolutely diminish from our society. But not really, or democrats won’t have a platform.  So, I have been moved by my heart ever since I was a young woman, about the age of a lot of Senator Sanders supporters, worried about what I could do to make a difference for my country and I will bring that heart with me.  But I will also tell you, we’ve got to get our heads together to come up with the best answers to solve the problems, so that people can have real differences in their lives that will make them better for now and into the future.  She just admitted that she hasn’t come up with any answers yet, so why is she running?

Bernie Sanders: Uh, I… My dad, uh, came to this country at the age of 17 from Poland.  Uh, didn’t have any money, couldn’t speak English. He died pretty young. I think it would have been beyond his wildest dreams to see his son up here on this stage today running for President.  I love this country and my dad loved this country and he was the most proud American because of what it gave him in terms of raising his family even though we never had much money.  But today in America we are the only major country on Earth that doesn’t guarantee health care to all people.  That doesn’t guarantee paid family and medical leave.  We have the highest rate of childhood poverty of almost any major country on Earth.  This is all a lie.  I’ve been to many of the other major countries on Earth.  Our poor have better housing than their middle class hovels.  Our medical care can’t be beat.  We are seeing millions of families unable to send their kids to college in the United States of America.  I’m running for President because I believe it is just too late for establishment politics and establishment economics.  I do believe we need a political revolution where millions of people stand up and say loudly and clearly that our government belongs to all of us and not just a handful of wealthy campaign contributors.  Thank you all.

Well, that wraps it up!  Topics not addressed, even when mentioned:

Benghazi, islamic terrorism, illegal immigration, the FBI ambushing and murdering a rancher.

Whether you support him or not, the winner of this debate was Donald Trump.  He’s the only Republican candidate I heard mentioned by name.  At least Trump brought up issues that Americans actually care about, where this was just a Wall Street complaint session and a lot of patting on Obama’s back for the wonderful job he did turning Iraq and Syria into a den of ISIS horror that has bled out into Europe and the U.S.

AMP (Anna Maria Perez)

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