Fleckenstein: “A Vermont socialist’s guide to Bernie Sanders”

Published June 11, 2015 @ socialistworker.org, maintained by the International Socialist Organization:

AS I stood among the 5,000 people in Burlington, Vermont’s waterfront park while Bernie Sanders launched his Democratic presidential primary bid late last month, it was odd to hear the repeated claim that Sanders was responsible for rescuing this very parkland from rapacious developers while he was mayor of Burlington in the 1980s.

Actually, in 1985, Sanders partnered with developers to champion a seven-story hotel and 300 mostly upscale condominiums on the land we were standing on. The city was to get a cut of the profits through a tax increment financing (TIF) district.

Fortunately, activists mobilized an opposition to this giveaway of public land to the wealthy, and the plan was defeated in a citywide referendum. That’s why there was a beautiful park to serve as the backdrop for Sanders to launch his campaign.

This story is emblematic of Sanders’ political history. While he says many good things that socialists support and that attract support from workers, students and the left, his actual political practice is at odds with his image. Setting aside his self-identification as a “socialist,” even his claim to be “independent” is dubious once you know about Sanders’ accommodations with business and the wealthy and his ongoing collaboration with the Democratic Party.

The complete critique of Vermont’s “Independent Socialist” Senator @ http://socialistworker.org/2015/06/11/a-vermont-socialists-guide-to-sanders