Bernie Sanders

I was in California meeting with some young undocumented latino girls. And I became deeply moved by the kind of stress they live under every single day. These are wonderful young people who have lived in this country for virtually their entire lives. They need legal protection now. We need comprehensive immigration reform and a path toward citizenship.

20 years ago as Vermont’s congressman, I took working class women from my state across the Canadian border to buy the medicine they desperately needed at a cost of one-tenth of what they were paying in Vermont. The pharmaceutical industry is one of the most greedy special interests in this country. The top 10 U.S. drug companies made $69 billion in profits last year, while millions of Americans cannot afford the prescription drugs their doctors prescribe. As president I will do two things. Under our Medicare for All proposal prescription drugs will be covered. The truth is that we should cut prescription drug prices in this country by half, which is what the rest of the world is paying. The greed of the pharmaceutical industry is killing Americans and as president I will stand up to them.

Simply stated, we explain what that term means to the American people. And we also explain the incredible attacks against working families that have taken place under unfettered capitalism. Listen to this. Over the last 45 years despite huge increases in productivity and technology the average worker is not making a penny more in real dollars than they made 45 years ago. Today 3 individuals own more wealth than the bottom half of the American people. In the last 30 years, the top 1% has seen a $21 trillion increase in their wealth while the bottom half of America has seen a decrease in their wealth of $900 billion. We need a new vision for America, which I call democratic socialism, which says that economic rights are human rights. That everybody in this country, because they’re in America, is entitled to health care as a right, is entitled to a decent paying job as a right, is entitled to a dignified retirement as a right, is entitled to a clean environment as a right, and is entitled to all of the education they need to accomplish their life goals. This is not utopian. This is what we can accomplish and which already exists in a number of other countries. To bring about real change we need a political revolution where millions of people stand up, fight, and demand a government which works for all of us —not just the 1%. And that is what my campaign is all about.

I’m afraid that millions of Americans share your feelings about the world today. We have a president who is a racist, sexist, homophobe, xenophobe, religious bigot, and a pathological liar. That’s enough to get anyone upset about the state of affairs in this country.

BUT there are some wonderful things happening that you should feel good about. We’re seeing teachers standing up for their students, women demanding the right to control their own bodies, young people taking on the fossil fuel industry and combating climate change and workers fighting for $15 an hour and the right to a union. We do not have the luxury of throwing up our hands in despair. The future of the planet, the future of our country, the future of American democracy rests on the American people to stand up, fight back and make a political revolution. Despair is not an option.

President Trump is a fraud and a liar. He told the American people during his campaign that he would not cut Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security. In fact, his budget called for a $1.5 trillion cut in Medicaid, $845 billion cut in Medicare, and billions in cuts to Social Security. Seniors need to know that. They should also know that, despite what Trump says, our Medicare for All program expands benefits for seniors by covering dental care, hearing aids and eyeglasses — benefits which are not currently covered by Medicare.

I have also introduced legislation that expands Social Security benefits and expands the life of Social Security, as well as legislation to protect the pensions of American workers.

Despite Donald Trump’s rejection of science, the scientific community is virtually unanimous in believing that climate change is real, is caused by human activity, and is already causing devastating problems in this country and around the world. This is an existential crisis. The scientific community tells us that we have less than 11 years to make fundamental changes in our energy system or else irreparable damage will be done to this planet. This is not a time for a “middle ground” process. This is a time for bold action which moves this country away from fossil fuels to energy efficiency and sustainable energy. And, in the process, we’ll create millions of good-paying jobs. That is why I am a strong supporter of the Green New Deal. We have a moral obligation to leave this planet healthy and habitable for future generations.

Thank you very much for your service. I believe every much in a strong defense, but we do not have to spend more money on the military than the next 10 nations combined. We do not need massive cost overruns and weapon system after weapon system. We do not need the kind of fraud and waste we are seeing in the defense industry. We do not need to continue fighting endless wars. My defense budget will focus on making certain that our fighting men and women have a strong standard of living and decent benefits that protect their families. But I will demand that we finally have an independent audit of the Pentagon which will tell us where the billions of dollars of waste are located.

Absolutely. People should not be punished with never-ending debt for the “crime” of getting a higher education. In a Bernie Sanders administration, we’ll make public colleges and universities tuition-free and substantially reduce student debt in this country. I want every American to have the ability and the desire to get all of the education they need without going into debt. That is not a radical idea. Other countries are already doing it.

My Medicare for All legislation, which has 15 cosponsors in the Senate, is the most comprehensive health care legislation being discussed. This legislation makes it clear that our current system is dysfunctional and needs to be totally reformed. We are now spending almost twice as much per capita on health care as do the people of any other nation -- despite the fact that we have tens of millions of Americans who are uninsured or underinsured with high copayments and deductibles. The United States must join every other major country on earth and guarantee health care to ALL as a right, not a privilege. That means we cover all health care needs, including dental without out-of-pocket expenses. Under a Medicare for All program, people can go to any doctor or hospital they want. Further, this program will substantially LOWER the cost of health care for most Americans because this system is not designed to make huge profits for insurance or drug companies.

There is no rational reason why a corporation like Amazon, owned by the wealthiest person in America, paid NOTHING in federal income taxes last year. But it’s not just Amazon. It’s dozens of major corporations making billions in profits who pay nothing or very little in federal income taxes. We now have a tax system that allows corporations and wealthy individuals to stash their profits and wealth in the Cayman Islands and in other tax havens in order to avoid paying their fair share of taxes. That must end. Large corporations must become good corporate citizens. They have every right to make a profit but they also must pay their fair share of taxes, treat their workers with respect and protect our environment.

Thank you for your support. And here is the simple truth. Real change never comes from the top on down. It is always from the bottom on up. That is the history of the labor movement, the history of the civil rights movement, the history of the women's movement, the gay movement and every other important social movement. The only way we successfully take on Wall Street, the insurance companies, the drug companies, the fossil fuel industry and the military-industrial complex is when millions of Americans stand up and fight back. That is the only way real change will take place. And that is what my campaign is about and that is what my administration will be about. Enough is enough. The 1% and large corporations cannot have it all.

Cherry Garcia. And by the way, I’m delighted that both Ben and Jerry are active members of my campaign team. They are old friends and businessmen who have a real sense of social responsibility.

I think Saturday Night Live has some brilliant sketches and by the way I think Larry David is a very good actor.

The working class of this country has been decimated for decades by a coordinated attack from corporate America. Bad trade deals have allowed corporations to ship millions of jobs abroad, companies have bitterly resisted unionization and the minimum wage has not been raised for almost 10 years. My administration will be an administration that represents workers and not the 1%, an administration that will guarantee jobs for all Americans who are able to work, will raise the minimum wage to a living wage, will rebuild our crumbling infrastructure, will provide health care and educational opportunities for all. Yes we are going to raise the taxes on the billionaire class and large private corporations. There is too much income and wealth inequality today, and we will change that.