Bernie Sanders's Blog, page 2

Break Up Big Banks

Wall Street cannot be an island unto itself and we need to break up those largest banks to put the focus back on working class Americans.

For a Political Revolution

The 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.

For a Political Revolution

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.

If We Don't Overturn Citizens United, Congress Will Become Paid Employees of the Billionaire Class

I recently introduced an amendment at the Senate Budget Committee. It was pretty simple. It asked my Senate colleagues to begin the process of overturning the disastrous Supreme Court ruling on Citizens United, and to bring transparency and disclosure to the political process. The link to that debate on the amendment is here.







Here's what I asked my Senate colleagues to consider:



Are we comfortable with an American political system which is being dominated by a handful of billionaires?



Are we a nation that prides ourselves on one-person, one-vote, or do we tell ordinary Americans you've got one vote but the Koch brothers can spend hundreds of millions of dollars?



Do we want a political system in which a handful of billionaires can buy members of the United States Congress?



Who are those members of Congress elected with the help of billionaires going to be representing? Do you think they're going to be representing the middle class and working families?



The answers seem clear to me. Unless the campaign financing system is reformed, the U.S. Congress will become paid employees of the people who pay for their campaigns -- the billionaire class. Needless to say, not everyone on the Committee agreed.



It was an interesting and informative debate. Not one Republican supported the amendment and it lost by a 12-10 vote. I intend to offer it again this week on the floor of the Senate.

Sanders to Senate: If We Don't Overturn Citizens United, the Congress Will Become Paid Employees of the Billionaire Class

I recently introduced an amendment at the Senate Budget Committee. It was pretty simple. It asked my Senate colleagues to begin the process of overturning the disastrous Supreme Court ruling on Citizens United, and to bring transparency and disclosure to the political process. The link to that debate on the amendment is here.







Here's what I asked my Senate colleagues to consider:



Are we comfortable with an American political system which is being dominated by a handful of billionaires?



Are we a nation that prides ourselves on one-person, one-vote, or do we tell ordinary Americans you've got one vote but the Koch brothers can spend hundreds of millions of dollars?



Do we want a political system in which a handful of billionaires can buy members of the United States Congress?



Who are those members of Congress elected with the help of billionaires going to be representing? Do you think they're going to be representing the middle class and working families?



The answers seem clear to me. Unless the campaign financing system is reformed, the U.S. Congress will become paid employees of the people who pay for their campaigns -- the billionaire class. Needless to say, not everyone on the Committee agreed.



It was an interesting and informative debate. Not one Republican supported the amendment and it lost by a 12-10 vote. I intend to offer it again this week on the floor of the Senate.

Sanders to Senate: If We Don't Overturn Citizens United, Congress Will Become Paid Employees of the Billionaire Class

Unless the campaign financing system is reformed, the U.S. Congress will become paid employees of the people who pay for their campaigns -- the billionaire class. Needless to say, not everyone on the Committee agreed.

The Fate of Europe and the World May Rest in Greece

While the wealthiest 85 individuals on the planet own more wealth than the bottom half of the world's population -- and when the top 1 percent will soon own more wealth than the bottom 99 percent -- the people of Greece and the anti-austerity party, Syriza, they elected to lead them are struggling to rebuild their economy so that ordinary people there can live with a shred of dignity and security.



But powerful international interests are putting the pro-growth, pro-worker experiment in progressive democracy currently underway in grave danger.



Greece is on the verge of leaving the Eurozone rather than accept a continuation of the reduced government spending measures imposed on it by the union's other 19 members in exchange for a credit package that expires at the end of February; talks in Brussels broke down on Monday after the Syriza negotiators refused to break the party's promises to the Greek people by accepting more punishing austerity. The German government, the European Commission and the European Central Bank (ECB) all seem intent on bringing the new government to heel, regardless of the people for whom German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble claims to feel sorry.



The real concern, apparently, is that democracy may go too far for austerity advocates to continue imposing their economic ideology from a distance: in Spain, Portugal, Finland and elsewhere, the patience of citizens is wearing thin as a growing number of them awaken to the stark reality that, while the very rich get much richer, the austerity programs their governments dutifully implemented are the cause rather than the cure for what ails their economies. If Syriza succeeds in rolling back the EU-mandated measures, it could encourage dissident political movements in other parts of Europe; the right-wing governments in Europe's periphery are terrified of a Greek success at the negotiating table.



Syriza's recent electoral success was a clear indictment of the budget-strangling policies that left Greece mired in a depression for the last five years. Back at the beginning, money that should have been used to protect Greek families and rebuild Greek communities was instead used to protect the holders of Greek government debt -- mainly French and German banks. But it wasn't enough.



In 2010, Greece reached the point that it could no longer service its foreign debt, and it turned to its European partners for help; that help arrived in the form of more debt and a mandate to cut wages, pensions, public investment and social security benefits, while raising the VAT and upping taxes on tobacco, alcoholic and luxury items. The result: Greece's finances got worse as real GDP collapsed and unemployment rose to more than 25 percent. With incomes falling and unemployment rising, the deficits the government faced only grew bigger. By 2012, Greece needed another infusion of cash to stay afloat and, once again, a loan was made on the condition that the government remain steadfast in its commitment to reducing government spending. The Greek economy continued to slow, youth unemployment climbed to an unbelievable 50 percent, wages declined and many Greeks lost their access to electricity, health care and other basic necessities of life.



Greek voters finally rejected the old political order and looked for a new party to restore dignity and economic viability to their tiny nation-state -- and empowered a progressive coalition government led by Syriza that is pro-Europe, pro-America and determined to save their country.



The new prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, announced an immediate change in the austerity policies demanded by the EU and reversed some of the most arbitrary and unproductive actions of the previous five years -- including the privatization of state-owned utilities and public real estate around the Acropolis and efforts to crush collective bargaining. He promised to raise the minimum wage, rehire fired workers and to fight a Greek oligarchy well-known for its corruption and tax evasion.



But if Syriza is unable to succeed in rolling back some of the spending cuts imposed by the EU, it will not only make a sham of the recent democratic election held there... but it could also bring increased support for the Greek neo-Nazi party, Golden Dawn, which took third place in that election.



My hope instead is that both Syriza and the EU coalition will work toward a compromise that promotes economic growth for all Europeans. A more heavy-handed approach aimed at "teaching the Greeks a lesson" would not only be an economic mistake but, perhaps more importantly, a political mistake. Anything that weakens the Greek economy and undermines democracy could strengthen the Greek neo-Nazi movement and do real harm to economically vulnerable people in Greece.



The new Greek government needs support in establishing pro-growth policies which create jobs, expand their economy and enable them to pay down their debts. Demanding that creditors are paid before any of that is allowed to happen may come at a very heavy price for more than just the people of Greece.

The Fate of Europe and the World May Rest in Greece

The new Greek government needs support in establishing pro-growth policies which create jobs, expand their economy and enable them to pay down their debts. Demanding that creditors are paid before any of that is allowed to happen may come at a very heavy price for more than just the people of Greece.

Five Years After Citizens United, Billionaires Are Buying Democracy

Five years after the Supreme Court's disastrous 5-4 decision in Citizens United, there's a lot to be angry about.



With election spending out of control, and super PACs empowering giant corporations and billionaires like no time since the Gilded Age, Big Money is not just influencing who's elected to office in this country, but what elected officials do.



Consider how the new Congress has opened: A House of Representatives leadership effort to skirt normal procedure and rush through a repeal of key Dodd-Frank provisions to rein in Wall Street speculative activities. A House of Representatives vote to authorize construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. A House vote to handcuff consumer, health, safety, environmental and other regulatory agencies so that they cannot issue new rules to address corporate abuse and protect the American public. Another House vote to repeal the Dodd-Frank measure, after the initial rush effort failed to garner a needed two-thirds majority. Meanwhile, in the slower-moving Senate, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has decided Keystone legislation will be the first significant matter taken up.



Why is this the starting agenda for Congress? Most Americans are unfamiliar with derivatives clearing requirements, but they surely know they don't want to enable more of the aggressive Wall Street gambling that threw our nation into recession. Americans don't want dirty air, unsafe food and water, dangerous workplaces or to be ripped off by unscrupulous businesses; and by overwhelming margins, they want our regulatory agencies strengthened, not weakened. And there's no serious case for the Keystone pipeline, given that it will do nothing for consumers, create only a few dozen permanent jobs, and significantly exacerbate the greenhouse gas emissions that are endangering the planet and humanity.



The Congressional agenda is the agenda of the billionaire class, plain and simple. The Koch brothers spent more money than we'll ever know on the last election. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce was the largest "dark money" organization in the 2014 elections, at least in terms of spending required to be reported to the Federal Election Commission. The Chamber invested very heavily and successfully in the 2014 elections to elect corporate-minded candidates in the Republican primaries and in the general election. Now these and other giant donors are being rewarded with their return on investment.



When it comes to the outside spending facilitated by Citizens United, there's a lot we don't know about who's spending money on elections. Groups like the Koch-backed Americans for Prosperity primarily spent money in ways that aren't reported at all. And almost a third of reported spending was done by organizations that don't reveal their donors.



But even with what we know, it's staggering how few donors are wielding such a gigantic influence over our politics, and our country:



• Across all federal elections since Citizens United was decided in 2010, there has been more than $1 billion in super PAC spending, reports the Brennan Center. Just 195 individuals and their spouses gave almost 60 percent of that money -- more than $600 million.

• Forget about the top 1 percent. The top .01 percent of income earners are responsible for more than 40 percent of campaign contributions.

• In 2014, the Supreme Court ruled in McCutcheon v. FEC that the previously existing cap on aggregate contributions by individuals was unconstitutional, raising the amount an individual can give to candidates, parties and political committees from $123,000 to $5.9 million. Only 1,200 people had even approached the previously existing cap.



Five years after the Supreme Court handed down the abomination known as Citizens United, we know this: Our country will not be able to address the great challenges it faces - from putting people to work and raising wages to providing healthcare to all, from reducing wealth inequality to averting catastrophic climate change, and much more - without ending corporate and super-rich dominance of our elections.



As a whole, the billionaire class has views that are profoundly out of step with everyday Americans. And that goes a long way to explain the agenda of the new Congress.



It also explains in significant part why we aren't making progress on measures that have overwhelming popular support. The vast majority of Americans want to raise the minimum wage. They want policies to advance income and wealth equality. By a more than two-to-one margin, Americans oppose more NAFTA-style trade agreements. By a similar margin, they want to break up the giant banks, and they want Wall Street criminals put behind bars. Americans want investment in our schools, on sustainable transportation and infrastructure. They want policies to prevent catastrophic climate change. They want to protect--and improve--Social Security and Medicare.





But there's reason for hope, as well. The decision ignited a democracy movement. More than 1 million people have called on the Securities and Exchange Commission to issue a rule requiring publicly traded companies to disclose their political spending. There are growing local and state efforts to win public financing of elections, and strong support for a federal bill as well.



And a grassroots firestorm is calling for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United and related decisions, and to restore our democracy. The same day that the Supreme Court handed down its McCutcheon decision, demonstrators in more than 150 cities and towns took to the streets to demand an amendment. Sixteen states and nearly 600 cities and towns have passed resolutions calling for an amendment. And, last September, in a historic moment on the path to winning an amendment, 54 U.S. Senators voted for an amendment.



Our country cannot tolerate domination by the Koch brothers, the Sheldon Adelsons, the U.S. Chambers of Commerce and their friends, and we will not. Five years after Citizens United, our democracy is weaker, but our democracy movement is stronger, than anyone could have predicted.



The road ahead is clear: Amending the constitution is hard by design, but it's something that We the People have done time and again to strengthen our democracy. We must do it again.

Five Years After Citizens United, Billionaires Are Buying Democracy

The billionaire class has views that are profoundly out of step with everyday Americans. And that goes a long way to explain the agenda of the new Congress.