Women For Bernie Meet-up Notes • 10 February 2016 @ HHI

The goal of our local meet-up, as part of a national event encompassing over 130 such meet-ups, is that by the end of the night every attendee will be able to answer the question: ‘Why is Bernie the best choice for women?‘ And we want to make everyone aware that there is a vast network of Bernie support, especially among women.

Voting a woman into the White House as the first female Democratic president of the United States would be a tremendous achievement. However it would be nothing more than symbolic if that female candidate is not the best choice for all American women. Having a black president (thank you Obama!) in the White House has done little for the advancement of black Americans the past 8 years. In fact, overt racism and white supremacy has grown in our country during Obama’s presidency. A feminist president need not be a woman and we have the best candidate for all American women in Bernie Sanders.

Here are some key issues especially important to women which separate Bernie Sanders from the competition:

1. Bernie Sanders is the only presidential candidate fighting for an incremental national increased minimum wage to $15/hour. Who is helped by raising the minimum wage? The average age of minimum wage workers is 35 years old. 88% are not teens, they are 20 years or older. 36% are 40 years or older. 56% are women. 28% have children. 55% work full-time. On average they earn half of their family’s total income.

2. Bernie Sanders is fighting to restore unions to protect workers pay, hours, and benefits from corporate greed. This benefits women because they deserve equal pay for equal work, full time hours, and living wages.

3. Bernie Sanders is fighting to expand Obamacare and create a Medicare-for-all, single-payer universal healthcare coverage. This benefits women and the care they can provide for themselves and to their families without destroying the family budget. No one should have to decide between spending money to eat and pay the monthly bills or seek medical care when necessary.

4. Bernie Sanders acknowledges that climate change is a true threat to all life on planet Earth. This benefits women who care deeply about the future for their own and all American children.

5. Bernie Sanders is fighting to legislate the public funding of elections to stop billionaires and their corporate interests from buying elections and politicians. This benefits women because they will be viewed as more than just consumers and become accurately and well represented at all levels of government, historically dominated by men and by non-feminists.

6. Bernie Sanders is fighting to instate the Paid Family & Medical Leave Act sponsored by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand in 2015. This bill would guarantee women 12 weeks of time off work to care for newborn children and to take care of themselves and family members when sickness strikes.

7. Bernie Sanders seeks to establish free public colleges and universities so that all our young Americans have a fair chance for the education and training for 21st century employment. Today a 4 year degree is the equivalent of yesteryear’s high school diploma. Nearly every one needs one to advance them self. This benefits women because greater access to education without the burden of stifling debt helps women excel and succeed in professional life.

8. Bernie Sanders supports legislation to legalize marijuana. This benefits women whose families have been torn apart by drug possession incarceration. Children, husbands, and mothers themselves have landed behind bars for non-violent drug possession charges. The War on Drugs has been a war on black Americans and a war on families.

9. Bernie Sanders wants to lift the cap on taxable income in order to expand Social Security benefits for seniors. This benefits our older women who will be able to retire with the peace of mind that they can actually get by on their earned benefits and not have to return to the workplace later in life.

Click: Calculate Your Taxes Under Bernie’s Proposed Tax Plan

10. Bernie Sanders has always supported marriage equality. This benefits women because women deserve to love and be married to whomever they choose without discrimination.

11. Bernie is fighting to reinstate Glass-Steagall, the bill that separates commercial banks from investment banks signed in 1933 by FDR and repealed in 1999. This benefits women because the repeal helped create the 2008 market crash and ensuing recession. The re-instatement would protect homes, investments, and retirement accounts of women once again from risky bank behavior.

12. Bernie Sanders is in favor of labeling GMO foods. This benefits women and their families by giving us the right to know the contents of the food we buy, eat, and feed our friends and families.

13. Bernie Sanders supports the countries in the region of ISIS to strong-arm a defeat, not American troops. He opposes a no-fly zone in Syria and calls for withdrawing troops in Afghanistan. Bernie Sanders would rather send your child and the American youth to college, not war!

14. Bernie Sanders has opposed the TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership) from day one and is the only presidential candidate who has opposed this secretive international trade agreement from the beginning. This benefits women because the TPP stands to strip Americans of more jobs, reduce protective legislation, shrink the availability of affordable medications, devastate the environment because it serves as yet another tool for the wealthiest to maximize profit and domination at the expense of working people in the world.

If you are still unsure whether Bernie Sanders is the best candidate to win your vote over his competition, visit IfYouLikeHillary.com for side-by-side comparisons.

Additional Resources

• Bernie Sanders on Women’s Rights

• Bernie Sanders Campaign – local events (create an event)

• Phone Bank for Bernie – it’s only scary the first call then it gets easy and fun! Promise! You don’t have to convince anyone of anything. You only need to find out if they’ve chosen their favorite candidate or not and report that info. A script is provided. The technology is amazing! You need a computer and a phone.

• South Carolina Women for Bernie Facebook page

• Hilton Head Island + Bluffton for Bernie Sanders Facebook page

• Hilton Head Island + Bluffton + Sun City for Bernie Facebook group

• Beaufort County for Bernie Facebook group

• Free Bernie Sanders for President 2016 coloring poster

• Bernie Taxi app to help get people to the polls – volunteer & request

• Why Bernie Sanders Has My Vote by Carla Golden

Bernie Sanders Campaign Office in Beaufort
422 Paris Island Gateway, Unit C
Manager: Carl Holland
email: carlhollandATberniesandersDOTcom
Phone: 803-573-0598
Hours: 10am – 530pm

Post-Event Notes

Many great topics came up at the event. Here are the notes and links that I promised to share.

• If you are interested in helping to knock on doors for Bernie please contact Sandra at sandrarumanekATgmailDOTcom (Bluffton) or Dru at druclementsATliveDOTcom (Beaufort)

• Get in touch with Jerri at jerrihuschATgmailDOTcom if you are a staff or student contact or have contacts at USCB or TCL for tabling or talks

• Dimitri Cherny for Congress (donate)

• March for Bernie in Charleston on Saturday, February 13th Facebook event

• Blaine Lotz’s Island Packet letter to the editor – please leave your comment

• My Letter to the Editor response to Lotz’s endorsement – please leave your comment

• Instructions: How to Submit a Letter to the Editor of The Island Packet

• Bernie Sanders Civil Rights Record pamphlet (and other topics) to print & share + additional pamphlets

• A Message to Black South Carolina Voters About Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders (vdieo)

• Article: Why Hillary Clinton Doesn’t Deserve the Black Vote by Michelle Alexander

• Post: Bernie Sanders on Civil Rights and Racism – Personal History and Voting Record

• Article: Shareholder activists target McDonald’s CEO pay in bid for higher worker wages

• Article: Six Responses to Bernie Skeptics

• Bernie’s Age: When Bernie takes the POTUS office on January 20, 2017 he will be 75 years old. He was born on September 8, 1941. HRC was born on October 26, 1947 make her 6 years younger than Bernie Sanders. Bernie is younger than 4 of the 9 US Supreme Court justices. Nelson Mandela became President of South Africa at age 76, served for 5 years, was a great leader for his country, and lived 14 years after that. (Update: After Scalia’s recent death, the figures are now 3 of the 8 US Supreme Court justices.)

• Bernie’s Volunteer Toolkit – every app you could possibly need to get Bernie elected!

• Nina Turner video