Senator Bernie Sanders. (photo: unknown)
04 April 15
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good news is that the economy today is much better than it was six
years ago when George W. Bush left office. The bad news is that, despite
these improvements, the 40-year decline of the American middle class
continues. Real unemployment is much too high, 35 million Americans
continue to have no health insurance and more of our friends and
neighbors are living in poverty than at almost any time in the modern
history of our country.
Meanwhile, as the rich become much richer, the level
of income and wealth inequality has reached obscene and unimaginable
levels. In the United States, we have the most unequal level of wealth
and income distribution of any major country on Earth, and it's worse
now then at any other time since the 1920s. Today, the top one tenth of
the top 1 percent of our nation owns almost as much wealth as the bottom
90 percent, and one family owns more wealth than the bottom 42 percent.
In terms of income, 99 percent of all new income is going to the top 1
percent.
This is what a rigged economic system looks like. At a
time when millions of American workers have seen declines in their
incomes and are working longer hours for lower wages, the wealth of the
billionaire class is soaring in a way that few can imagine. If you can
believe it, between 2013 and 2015, the 14 wealthiest individuals in the
country saw their net worth increase by over $157 billion. Children go
hungry, veterans sleep out on the streets, senior citizens cannot afford
their prescription drugs -- and 14 individuals saw a $157-billion
increase in their wealth over a two-year period.
The grotesque level of income and wealth inequality we
are experiencing is not just a moral and economic issue; it is a
political issue as well. As a result of the disastrous Citizens United
Supreme Court decision, billionaires are now able to spend unlimited
sums of money to buy the candidates they want. The Koch brothers, an
extreme right-wing family, recently announced that they were prepared to
spend some $900 million in the next election cycle. This is likely more
money than either the Democratic or Republican parties will spend. If
you think that it is an accident that the Republican Party has become a
far-right party, think again. The Koch brothers' agenda -- ending Social
Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the U.S. Postal Service, the
Environmental Protection Agency and all campaign finance limitations --
has become the agenda of the Republican candidates they fund.
And, by the way, if you think that the Republican
Party's refusal to acknowledge that climate change is real, is caused by
human activity and is a severe threat to our planet is not related to
how we finance campaigns, you would be sorely mistaken. With the Koch
brothers (who make much of their money in the fossil fuel industry) and
big energy companies strongly supporting Republican candidates, it
should not surprise anyone that my Republican colleagues reject the
views of the overwhelming majority of scientists who study climate
issues.
With Republicans now controlling both houses of
Congress, let me briefly touch on some of the battles that I will be
helping lead in this extreme right-wing environment. In my view, with so
many of our fellow citizens demoralized about the political process, it
is absolutely imperative that we establish a strong progressive agenda
that Americans can rally around. It must be an agenda that reflects the
real needs of the working families of our country. It must be an agenda
that engages people in a political struggle that they are prepared to
fight for.
Jobs, Jobs, Jobs
The truth is that real unemployment rate in our
country is not the "official" and widely reported rate of 5.5 percent.
Counting those who are underemployed and those who have given up looking
for work, the real unemployment rate is 11 percent. Even more
disturbingly, youth unemployment is close to 17 percent, and
African-American youth unemployment is much higher than that.
If we are truly serious about reversing the decline of
the middle class and putting millions of people back to work, we need a
major federal jobs program. There are a number of approaches that can
be taken, but the fastest way to create jobs is to rebuild our crumbling
infrastructure -- roads, bridges, dams, levees, airports, rail, water
systems and wastewater plants.
In that regard, I have introduced legislation that
would invest $1 trillion over five years to modernize our country's
physical infrastructure. This legislation would create and maintain at
least 13 million well-paying jobs. It would also make our country more
productive, efficient and safe.
I will also continue my opposition to our current
trade policies and vote against fast tracking the Trans-Pacific
Partnership. Simply put, our trade policies have failed. Permanent
normal trade relations with China have led to the loss of more than 3.2
million American jobs. The North American Free Trade Agreement has led
to the loss of nearly 1 million jobs. The Korean Free Trade Agreement
has led to the loss of some 60,000 jobs.
We have to fundamentally rewrite our trade rules so
that American jobs are no longer our number-one export. Corporate
America must start investing in this country, not in China.
As we struggle for decently paying jobs, we must also
rebuild the trade union movement. Throughout the country, millions of
workers want to join unions but are meeting fierce opposition from their
employers. We need legislation that makes it easier, not harder, for
unions to flourish.
Raising Wages
Today, millions of Americans are working for
starvation wages. The current federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour is
totally inadequate. In fact, the real value of today's minimum wage has
declined by one third since 1968. By raising the minimum wage to a
living wage, we can provide an increase in income for those people who
need it the most. Our goal must be that no full-time worker in this
country lives in poverty.
We must also bring about pay equity. There is no
rational reason that women should be earning 78 cents on the dollar
compared with men who perform the same work.
Furthermore, we have to expand overtime protections
for millions of workers. It is absurd that "supervisors" who earn
$25,000 a year are currently forced to work 50 or 60 hours a week with
no overtime pay. Raising the income threshold to at least $56,680 from
the absurdly low level of $23,660 a year for overtime will mean
increased income for many millions of salaried workers.
Addressing Wealth and Income Inequality
Today the richest 400 Americans own more than $2.3
trillion in wealth, more than the bottom 150 million Americans combined.
Meanwhile, nearly half of Americans have less than $10,000 in savings
and have no idea how they will be able to retire with dignity.
We need real tax reform that makes the rich and
profitable corporations begin to pay their fair share of taxes. It is
absurd that in 1952 corporate income taxes provided 32 percent of
federal revenue while in 2014 they provided 11 percent. It is scandalous
that major profitable corporations like General Electric, Verizon,
Citigroup and JP Morgan have, in a given recent year, paid nothing in
federal income taxes. It is fiscally irresponsible that the U.S.
Treasury loses about $100 billion a year because corporations and the
rich stash their profits in the Cayman Islands, Bermuda and other tax
havens.
Warren Buffett is honest. He has pointed out the
unfairness of the fact that he, a multibillionaire, pays a lower
effective tax rate than his secretary. It is disgraceful that
millionaire hedge fund managers are able to pay lower effective tax
rates than truck drivers or nurses because they take advantage of a
variety of loopholes that their lobbyists wrote.
This must end. We need a tax system that is fair and
progressive. Children should not go hungry in this country while
profitable corporations and the wealthy avoid their tax
responsibilities.
Reversing Climate Change
The United States must lead the world in reversing
climate change and make certain that this planet is habitable for our
children and grandchildren. We must transform our energy system away
from fossil fuels and into energy efficiency and sustainable energies.
Millions of homes and buildings need to be weatherized, our
transportation system needs to be energy-efficient and we need to
greatly accelerate the progress we are already seeing in wind, solar,
geothermal and other forms of sustainable energy. Transforming our
energy system will not only protect the environment but create
good-paying jobs.
Health Care for All
The United States remains the only major country on
Earth that does not guarantee health care for all as a right. Despite
the modest gains of the Affordable Care Act, 35 million Americans
continue to lack health insurance, and many more are underinsured. Yet
we continue paying far more per capita for health care than any other
nation. The United States must move toward a Medicare-for-All
single-payer system.
Protecting Our Most Vulnerable
Today the United States has more people living in
poverty than at almost any time in the modern history of our country. We
have the highest rate of childhood poverty of any major nation, 35
million Americans still lack health insurance and millions of seniors
and disabled people struggle to put food on the table because of
insufficient Social Security benefits.
The Republican response to the economic pain of so
many of our people was to make a bad situation much worse. The recently
passed Republican budget throws 27 million Americans off health
insurance, cuts Medicare, makes huge cuts to nutrition and makes it
harder for working-class families to afford college or put their kids in
the Head Start program.
In my view, we have a moral responsibility to make
certain that no American goes hungry or sleeps out on the streets. We
must also make certain that seniors and people with disabilities can
live in dignity. Not only must we vigorously oppose Republican attacks
on the social safety net, but we must expand benefits for those in need.
That is why I have recently introduced legislation that would increase
the solvency of Social Security until 2065 while expanding benefits for
those who need them the most.
Making College Affordable for All
We live in a highly competitive global economy. If
this country is to do well economically, we need to have the
best-educated workforce in the world. Yet today many Americans cannot
get a higher education, not because they are unqualified but because
they simply cannot afford it. Millions of others who do graduate from
college or graduate school are drowning in debt. According to the
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the total amount of outstanding
student loan debt in the United States has tripled in the last 10 years
and has now reached $1.2 trillion.
The United States must join many other countries in
understanding that investing in our young people's education is
investing in the future of our nation. I will soon be introducing
legislation to make tuition in public colleges and universities free and
substantially lower interest rates on student loans.
And these are just some of the issues we are dealing with.
Let me conclude this letter by stating the obvious.
This country is in serious trouble. Our economic system benefits the
rich and large corporations and leaves working families behind. Our
political system is dominated by billionaire campaign contributors and
their lobbyists and is moving us in the direction of oligarchy. Our
media system, owned by the corporate world, spends enormous time and
energy diverting our attention away from the most important issues
facing us. Climate change threatens the planet, and we have a major
political party denying its reality.
Clearly, the struggle to create a nation and world of
economic and social justice and environmental sanity is not an easy one.
But this I know: Despair is not an option if we care about our kids and
grandchildren. Giving up is not an option if we want to prevent
irreparable harm to our planet.
We must stand up and fight back. We must launch a
political revolution that engages millions of Americans from all walks
of life in the struggle for real change. This country belongs to all of
us, not just the billionaire class.
Please join the grassroots revolution that we desperately need.
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