Sen. Bernie Sanders told a progressive convention Saturday that "if people all over this country do not stand up and fight back [...], there is a real likelihood that the trend toward oligarchy will only intensify." (Photo: Gage Skidmore/flickr/cc)
Bernie Sanders Denounces Trumpcare as 'The Most Anti-Working Class Legislation Ever'
President Donald Trump "is supporting the most anti-working class legislation ever presented in the modern history of this country—a disastrous healthcare bill," Sanders said.
Bernie Sanders spoke in Des Moines, Iowa on Saturday where he issued a rallying cry for "a vibrant American democracy," and took aim at the Republicans' healthcare bill, which he called "the most anti-working class legislation" in modern history.
The Vermont senator made the remarks at the Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement (CCI) Action Fund's annual convention called "Revolution Iowa: From Protest to Power," where he delivered the keynote address.
Sanders said that "we're in a pivotal moment of American history."
he trend toward having a handful of billionaire families with unlimited resources controlling our political process will only get worse. The trend toward a handful of conglomerates owning and controlling our economy will only get worse."
"And what our job is," he continued, "is to create a vibrant democracy where one person, one vote is what dominates the political system, not billionaires buying the election."
"Democracy is facing an enormous challenge," Sanders said.
Threats to a "vibrant democracy," he said, come not only from the "disastrous" Citizens United Supreme Court ruling, but also "Republican governors, cowardly governors, who don't have the guts to run for office based on their ideas but who are attempting to suppress the vote to keep low-income people or people of color or working people or older people from participating in the political process."
"If some Republican wants to run for office talking about giving tax breaks to billionaires and cutting Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid and education, that is his or her prerogative. Run for office on those ideas. See how many votes you get."
His advice for politicians espousing those ideas but not willing to run for office on them? "Get out of office or get another job."
Among the steps to ensure that everyday Americans--"not the Koch brothers"--dominate the political process, Sanders said, are establishing automatic voter registration, restoring the voting rights for convicted felons who've served their sentence, ending superPACs, and enacting public funding of elections.
Sanders also took direct aim at Donald Trump, saying the president's claim that three to five million people voted illegally in the 2016 presidential election "is an absolute lie" whose goal is "to encourage state officials all across the country to suppress the vote. We will not accept that."
Trump, he added, "is supporting the most anti-working class legislation ever presented in the modern history of this country--a disastrous healthcare bill."
"President Trump, don't tell the people of this country that you support the working class when you are defending legislation which will throw 22 million Americans off of the healthcare they currently have," Sanders said. "That is not defending the working class. That is a major attack on middle class and working-class families all across this country."
Addressing his Senate colleagues in the Hawkeye State, Republicans Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst, he said, "please, please take a hard look at what this disastrous legislation will do to the people of Iowa and the people of America."
"I beg of them: please vote 'no' on this legislation," Sanders said.
The former presidential candidate, who last week said a 2020 White House bid wasn't "off the table," told the crowd: "We are going to fight for an American democracy that will make future generations proud."
FINAL DAY! This is urgent.
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission from the outset was simple. To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It’s never been this bad out there. And it’s never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed and doing some of its best and most important work, the threats we face are intensifying. Right now, with just hours left in our Spring Campaign, we're still falling short of our make-or-break goal. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Can you make a gift right now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? There is no backup plan or rainy day fund. There is only you. —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Bernie Sanders spoke in Des Moines, Iowa on Saturday where he issued a rallying cry for "a vibrant American democracy," and took aim at the Republicans' healthcare bill, which he called "the most anti-working class legislation" in modern history.
The Vermont senator made the remarks at the Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement (CCI) Action Fund's annual convention called "Revolution Iowa: From Protest to Power," where he delivered the keynote address.
Sanders said that "we're in a pivotal moment of American history."
he trend toward having a handful of billionaire families with unlimited resources controlling our political process will only get worse. The trend toward a handful of conglomerates owning and controlling our economy will only get worse."
"And what our job is," he continued, "is to create a vibrant democracy where one person, one vote is what dominates the political system, not billionaires buying the election."
"Democracy is facing an enormous challenge," Sanders said.
Threats to a "vibrant democracy," he said, come not only from the "disastrous" Citizens United Supreme Court ruling, but also "Republican governors, cowardly governors, who don't have the guts to run for office based on their ideas but who are attempting to suppress the vote to keep low-income people or people of color or working people or older people from participating in the political process."
"If some Republican wants to run for office talking about giving tax breaks to billionaires and cutting Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid and education, that is his or her prerogative. Run for office on those ideas. See how many votes you get."
His advice for politicians espousing those ideas but not willing to run for office on them? "Get out of office or get another job."
Among the steps to ensure that everyday Americans--"not the Koch brothers"--dominate the political process, Sanders said, are establishing automatic voter registration, restoring the voting rights for convicted felons who've served their sentence, ending superPACs, and enacting public funding of elections.
Sanders also took direct aim at Donald Trump, saying the president's claim that three to five million people voted illegally in the 2016 presidential election "is an absolute lie" whose goal is "to encourage state officials all across the country to suppress the vote. We will not accept that."
Trump, he added, "is supporting the most anti-working class legislation ever presented in the modern history of this country--a disastrous healthcare bill."
"President Trump, don't tell the people of this country that you support the working class when you are defending legislation which will throw 22 million Americans off of the healthcare they currently have," Sanders said. "That is not defending the working class. That is a major attack on middle class and working-class families all across this country."
Addressing his Senate colleagues in the Hawkeye State, Republicans Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst, he said, "please, please take a hard look at what this disastrous legislation will do to the people of Iowa and the people of America."
"I beg of them: please vote 'no' on this legislation," Sanders said.
The former presidential candidate, who last week said a 2020 White House bid wasn't "off the table," told the crowd: "We are going to fight for an American democracy that will make future generations proud."
Bernie Sanders spoke in Des Moines, Iowa on Saturday where he issued a rallying cry for "a vibrant American democracy," and took aim at the Republicans' healthcare bill, which he called "the most anti-working class legislation" in modern history.
The Vermont senator made the remarks at the Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement (CCI) Action Fund's annual convention called "Revolution Iowa: From Protest to Power," where he delivered the keynote address.
Sanders said that "we're in a pivotal moment of American history."
he trend toward having a handful of billionaire families with unlimited resources controlling our political process will only get worse. The trend toward a handful of conglomerates owning and controlling our economy will only get worse."
"And what our job is," he continued, "is to create a vibrant democracy where one person, one vote is what dominates the political system, not billionaires buying the election."
"Democracy is facing an enormous challenge," Sanders said.
Threats to a "vibrant democracy," he said, come not only from the "disastrous" Citizens United Supreme Court ruling, but also "Republican governors, cowardly governors, who don't have the guts to run for office based on their ideas but who are attempting to suppress the vote to keep low-income people or people of color or working people or older people from participating in the political process."
"If some Republican wants to run for office talking about giving tax breaks to billionaires and cutting Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid and education, that is his or her prerogative. Run for office on those ideas. See how many votes you get."
His advice for politicians espousing those ideas but not willing to run for office on them? "Get out of office or get another job."
Among the steps to ensure that everyday Americans--"not the Koch brothers"--dominate the political process, Sanders said, are establishing automatic voter registration, restoring the voting rights for convicted felons who've served their sentence, ending superPACs, and enacting public funding of elections.
Sanders also took direct aim at Donald Trump, saying the president's claim that three to five million people voted illegally in the 2016 presidential election "is an absolute lie" whose goal is "to encourage state officials all across the country to suppress the vote. We will not accept that."
Trump, he added, "is supporting the most anti-working class legislation ever presented in the modern history of this country--a disastrous healthcare bill."
"President Trump, don't tell the people of this country that you support the working class when you are defending legislation which will throw 22 million Americans off of the healthcare they currently have," Sanders said. "That is not defending the working class. That is a major attack on middle class and working-class families all across this country."
Addressing his Senate colleagues in the Hawkeye State, Republicans Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst, he said, "please, please take a hard look at what this disastrous legislation will do to the people of Iowa and the people of America."
"I beg of them: please vote 'no' on this legislation," Sanders said.
The former presidential candidate, who last week said a 2020 White House bid wasn't "off the table," told the crowd: "We are going to fight for an American democracy that will make future generations proud."