Pheel the Bern Fish!

xD

Well I'm not sure I heard a reason in there. But I like this guy for his drumming.

Ditto on the reason, but anyone is better than HilRod...

We should make that same shirt but it should say "Page 2016". And tweak the hair and glasses just a bit.

He has been representing him for 30+ years, has been honest, has worked hard to get done the things he said he'd get done, and has been consistent his entire career.

I think those are the reasons.

You may not like those reasons. You may prefer a lazy, dishonest, flip-flopper with little to no experience in public service. That's your prerogative.

Also, sweet dubsteps in the background.
Or a generator. Or wind tunnel.

Sounds good to me.
I would like to vote for Fishman as his VP,as well.
(As long as that doesn't make for less music for the next 4 to 8 years).

I guess now we know why Fishman doesn't get hold the Mic too often. J.K.

Whether you're feeling the Bern or feeling burnt get out and vote.

I am sorry but I could never vote for bernie based on the fact that he is trying to offer free college education. First off, it is not free. It is at the extent of the taxpayers of this country. Why should the rich and successful have to fund college education. The youth today feel way too entitled and just want everything handed to them. Most successful people have worked very hard to get to that point in their careers and shouldn't have to be giving it away because someone wants to go to college for free.

@ed1322211 said:

I am sorry but I could never vote for bernie based on the fact that he is trying to offer free college education. First off, it is not free. It is at the extent of the taxpayers of this country. Why should the rich and successful have to fund college education. The youth today feel way too entitled and just want everything handed to them. Most successful people have worked very hard to get to that point in their careers and shouldn't have to be giving it away because someone wants to go to college for free.

The super rich often don't work hard at all. they rig the rules in their favor to boost their gains. It's those people Bernie wants to tax; Upper Upper Class. Upper middle class taxation is an unfortunate side effect, but necessary to lessen wealth inequality and allow young people who want to work hard and get successful jobs attend college without insane college loan debts.

@ed1322211 said:

I am sorry but I could never vote for bernie based on the fact that he is trying to offer free college education. First off, it is not free. It is at the extent of the taxpayers of this country. Why should the rich and successful have to fund college education. The youth today feel way too entitled and just want everything handed to them. Most successful people have worked very hard to get to that point in their careers and shouldn't have to be giving it away because someone wants to go to college for free.

There was a time in this country when public college tuition was mostly free. This expanded higher education opportunity to all citizens. It's not a handout, it's an opportunity. People still have to work very hard to get accepted into college and graduate, but the opportunity to do so without being saddled with debt for the rest of your life means that more people can participate and become successful. Which in turn creates more economic participants, which creates more demand for goods and thus more employment and growth. The most prosperous years of the postwar era were achieved through higher marginal taxation at the top. It doesn't mean you can't be successful and wealthy, but it means that it doesn't come at the expense of other people's opportunities to succeed. Capitalism is great at creating growth, but it must go hand-in-hand with redistribution in order to ensure everybody has a chance to succeed and thrive. The level of wealth inequity we now have is simply not a good economic scenario now matter how you slice it, and it is the result of decades of corporate welfare and tax shelters for the ultra-rich.

It is no longer possible to make a good living without some sort of higher education. There should be a free public option, just as there is with K-12. The funding would come from a tax on speculative Wall Street transactions. As far as I'm concerned, those people can make do with one less vacation house or yacht so that everyone has a chance to get a good education.

I'd vote for any of the band members if they ran against any of these candidates just because I don't like or trust politicians....that being said I'm not gonna vote for one...Trump for prez...fuck it...you only live once!

@IdRatherBeOnTour said:

I'd vote for any of the band members if they ran against any of these candidates just because I don't like or trust politicians....that being said I'm not gonna vote for one...Trump for prez...fuck it...you only live once!

"You only live once" is not a good reason to vote for that fascist demagogue Trump.

Sorry but ed1322211 is kind of right. I support a lot of Bernie's plans but free college is not one of them. All this will do is incentivize people into getting bullshit liberal arts degrees and wasting taxpayer money.

I propose we offer free community college and trade schools, incentivize science and math by dramaticlly increasing scholarships and grants to scientific, engineering, business, and technical degrees, and deincentivize art, literature, and music degrees by making people who want these degrees foot the bill. You want to study 18th century Russian Lit? Pay for it yourself.

Being a conservative phish fan I always appreciated that the band left the politics out of the act. Obviously a majority of phish fans are liberal but there are quite a few conservative fans. I have no problem with fishman voicing his opinion but I hope the shows stay politics free. Anyhow, Bernie would take 90% of the dough the band makes which is BS. Phish is the hardest working band in the business and deserve to keep every dime!!!

@coral_sand_below said:

Sorry but ed1322211 is kind of right. I support a lot of Bernie's plans but free college is not one of them. All this will do is incentivize people into getting bullshit liberal arts degrees and wasting taxpayer money.

I propose we offer free community college and trade schools, incentivize science and math by dramaticlly increasing scholarships and grants to scientific, engineering, business, and technical degrees, and deincentivize art, literature, and music degrees by making people who want these degrees foot the bill. You want to study 18th century Russian Lit? Pay for it yourself.

I don't disagree with you, but I don't think free college would necessarily incentivize people into getting "bullshit" liberal arts degrees. I think it would expand the scope of possibility for people wanting to go into in-demand STEM fields. Most people don't go into 18th century Russian Lit as a career, and the ones who try quickly learn their mistake when they're deferring their loan payments and working at a restaurant. Hell, I went into audio engineering right before the financial collapse and ended up working in restaurants just to keep from defaulting. I'd love to go back to school, but I'm already saddled with debt.

Dlawdog, the 90% figure you're talking about is complete fantasy. It was literally pulled out of thin air by conservative talk show hosts. Even Bernie has said he does not support that high of a rate. And yes, Phish are the hardest working band in the business, but I'm sure they wouldn't mind being taxed a bit more. They're worth hundreds of millions of dollars apiece. The issue isn't taxing the deservedly rich and successful, it's making it illegal for corporations like GE to pay no taxes by hiding their money in offshore tax havens. Nobody's saying successful people should be punished, but the scales are tipped so far in the .01%'s favor that it's simply not sustainable. But I wouldn't worry about politics entering the shows. They never have and likely never will, despite both Mike and Fish expressing their support for Bernie.

Bottom line, wherever you stand on the political spectrum, Bernie is the only one in the race who isn't bought and paid for.

hdorne - The 90% is only a fantasy because we have a system of checks and balances and the dems are not likely to any time soon get control of both houses - but you and I both know that if Bernie had his way (and the dems had control of Congress) the tax rate would climb that high as the bills would come due and the wealthy would be demonized for not paying their "fair share." At the same time revenue to the government would decrease as productivity would slow down as a result of lack of incentives created by socialism. Look at Venezuela, that is where it leads. The past century is littered with millions of bodies with no responsibility because it was done in the name of "fairness." Don't give me that BS about Scandinavian countries because they have moved towards market economies to raise productivity. Also, if you want corporations to move their money back onshore then lower the corporate income tax.
By the way - just wait till interest rates rise and we are locked into the spending patterns that we currently practice and you will see the implosion of the world's largest economy.
I am tired of thinking about this and can not wait till summer tour!

The 90% figure is pure fantasy, as is your scenario in which Sanders would somehow, with only presidential authority and legislative solidarity to help him, completely overhaul the tax code to impose such a high rate. Sanders has never indicated he would support such a rate. Nor is he a "socialist" in the demonized Chavez/Stalin/Pol Pot sense of the word. He's not opposed to a market economy, and neither am I. They are tremendously effective at driving productivity. He merely believes that things like healthcare and higher education should be rights of citizens, that wealth should not entail a separate set of privileges or be so extreme as to come at the expense of other people's ability to feed themselves. Most of the rest of the developed world manages this balance of capitalism and socialism without revolt. Extremes of wealth and poverty with a vanishing middle class contribute to societal unrest. As for corporate taxes, they accounted for 33% of all tax revenue (5.9% of GDP) in 1952 but only 10% (1.6% of GDP) in 2013. Despite the drop in tax revenue, corporate profits have never been higher. They are making more money and hiding more from taxation than ever before. The economy isn't in the dumps because corporations are taxed too heavily, it's because everyday people don't have the spending power necessary to drive up demand and stimulate economic activity.

I'm excited for summer tour, but I'll be couching it. We southerners got the shaft this year.

The amount of money spent on the Iraq War could fund free college in America for close to 30 years. I think I know where we can get the money

Political opinions are like assholes. Homeless, been eating canned beans for two years in a row, assholes.

Ideologically I support Bernie Sanders.

In this environment I can't support him for president. The reason is the massive pushback against Obama who governs from the center and has a lot in common with your average republican congressmans positions (at least the ones they would hold if a Republican was president)

Our biggest problem is how hard it Is to achieve compromise which is insane considering how much all these assholes have in common.

What looks like "flip flopping" and a lack of ideological consistency can often just be a response to the reality of what has been shoehorned into a bill. And that's a weapon wielded with expert skill. Sure you really voted against the bill to expand Healthcare for veterans because of the addition of a provision where Paul Ryan gets to call himself King for a day and enact any laws he wants, but how many people are going to listen to that much detail? Presumably a lot less than will see a list of congressmen who voted against the bill "to help our wounded troops" on facebook and respond with outrage

Shit is sticky. It's certainly too complex for me to follow in any detail. And it's complex enough to make me terrified of burning ideological conviction even when I agree with it. It's entirely too reasonable to expect the government to shut down and suspend a lot of services real people actually need the second Bernie tries to make good on his promises.

It's a depressing state of affairs that drives me towards the stuffed suits. Compromise is the soul of government and I'd apparently someone rather sell their soul to make marginal gains than be handcuffed from making any gains

Phish works really hard and creates fantastic music. No one gave anything to them. Can we please separate music from politics? I hate what Bernie Sanders stands for but I love Phish music. I am 64 years old and I want to live while I am young. I don't want the result of an election to prevent me from being able to afford seeing another concert. Please open your eyes. Bernie wants to take whatever you have worked for and give it to those who will take whatever is offered to them without ever having to put any skin into the game. Like Homer said, remember the rules of the playground.

I forgot about this. John, Bernie wants 90% of what you earn (and I believe that you really do earn it - I loved the Riviera Maya shows) . I hope you don't need it.