Day: February 21, 2019

Sen. Bernie Sanders plans to sign a party pledge affirming that he will run for president as a Democrat in 2020 and serve as one if elected, senior campaign adviser Jeff Weaver told CNN on Wednesday.

The Democratic National Committee said on Tuesday that it planned to meet in the coming week with the presidential primary campaigns and distribute a form to the candidates, who under bylaws agreed on last August will be required “to affirm in writing” that they “are a member of the Democratic Party, will accept the Democratic nomination” and “will run and serve as a member of the Democratic Party.”Sanders, an independent from Vermont who caucuses with Democrats in the Senate and ran in the party’s 2016 primary, announced his second White House bid on Tuesday morning. His refusal to more formally embrace the party has been a sore spot with some Democrats. — www.cnn.com/…

I hope this re-assures those who have been concerned about the lack of a (D) next to his name

— @subirgrewal

If we cared half as much about the wealth we could generate by investing in human capital as much as we cared about real estate speculation, we’d have tuition-free college by now.

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 21, 2019

Our ancestors knew this and translated it into actual policy (with flaws of course). Which is why they enacted the Land Grant Colleges act in 1862, funding institutions in each state through the grant of public lands:

each State which may take and claim the benefit of this act, to the endowment, support, and maintenance of at least one college where the leading object shall be, without excluding other scientific and classical studies, and including military tactics, to teach such branches of learning as are related to agriculture and the mechanic arts, in such manner as the legislatures of the States may respectively prescribe, in order to promote the liberal and practical education of the industrial classes in the several pursuits and professions in life. — www.ourdocuments.gov/…

We can go back even further in this nation’s history to see the weight this country’s founders placed on education:

Knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged. — Continental Congress in the Northwest Ordinance of 1787

A toxic mix of racism yoked to right-wing ideology has sought to destroy the system of public education in this country for over 30 years. So it is gratifying to see a new generation of leaders lift up the banner of public education again. They are adept in both the language of our current punditry (“human capital” for example) and know how to use that language to further egalitarian ideals.

We are being reminded that our true long-term value and worth as a nation lies in the collective knowledge and character of our people.

— @subirgrewal | Cross-posted at The Progressive Wing