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Bernie Explains Whats Next After the Midterms — Transcript

by Bernie Sanders · 1,971 words · 315 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:00Hello everybody. Let me begin by
0:03thanking the millions of Americans who
0:04are actively involved in the election
0:06yesterday, the people who knocked on
0:09doors, the people who made phone calls
0:11and did all the things that a winning
0:13campaign requires. Thank you for what
0:15you did. And let me also congratulate
0:18the great candidates who won in US
0:20Senate races, in House races, and in
0:23state elections all across America. On a
0:26personal note, I look forward to working
0:28with all of the newly elected senators,
0:30and I thank them very much for their
0:33hard work in this campaign and for
0:35giving the Democrats a strong majority.
0:39Yesterday, Trump told us to vote as if
0:43he were on the ballot.
0:45Vote as if he were on the ballot. That's
0:48what he said. And that is exactly what
0:50the American people did. Together, we
0:53stood up to authoritarianism
0:56and a president who does not believe in
0:58the Constitution or the rule of law. And
1:02we won. With Democratic control over the
1:06Senate and the House, we will now
1:08finally be able to hold Donald Trump
1:11accountable.
1:13That is a big deal. But as important as
1:17it is, it is not enough. We have got to
1:22do more. Whether we like it or not, we
1:26are living in an unprecedented moment in
1:29American history where our country faces
1:32extraordinary crises. We cannot and must
1:36not run away from them when Democrats
1:39assume power in January. These crises
1:43must be dealt with.
1:46It is no secret that in the United
1:48States and all over the world, people
1:50are giving up on democracy. Now, why is
1:53that? And the answer is that all over
1:57the world, not just in America, working
1:59families are struggling to put food on
2:01the table and pay for basic necessities
2:04while the very richest people become
2:07much richer. And throughout our country
2:10and in many other countries, ordinary
2:12people are saying, "Does their
2:15government, does their government even
2:18know that they exist?" Or are elected
2:22officials too busy worrying about the
2:25needs of the rich and the powerful? This
2:27is an American issue, but in fact an
2:29international issue. And in my view, the
2:32American people have had enough.
2:36They are demanding real change and bold
2:39policies that will dramatically improve
2:42their lives. In the richest country on
2:45earth, the American people want a
2:47government that stands for working
2:51families, not billionaire campaign
2:54contributors.
2:56And that is not just Bernie Sanders
2:58talking. According to a recent AP poll,
3:0180% of registered voters want either
3:05quote complete and total upheaval or
3:09substantial change in how this country
3:12is run. And that includes 97% of
3:16Democrats, 90% of independents, and 58%
3:21of Republicans. In other words, the
3:25American people understand that the
3:27economy today is rigged
3:31and that we cannot continue the same old
3:34same old establishment politics and
3:37establishment policies. The American
3:40people want change, real change, and
3:44yesterday's election confirms just that.
3:49Let me give you some examples of what I
3:51mean and the issues that we have got to
3:54deal with. In our country today, income
3:58and wealth inequality has reached
4:01unprecedented levels. The top 1% now
4:05owns more wealth than the bottom 93%.
4:08One man, Elon Musk, owns more wealth
4:11than the bottom 53%
4:14of American households. In my view, that
4:17is insane. And I think that's how most
4:20Americans feel.
4:22Democrats, when they gain control in
4:25January of the House and the Senate,
4:28cannot ignore this grotesque inequality.
4:32We must take on the greed of the very,
4:34very rich and their incredible wealth.
4:38And that means a Democratic Congress
4:40must pass a wealth tax on billionaires.
4:44At a time when billionaires pay a lower
4:47effective tax rate than truck drivers or
4:49nurses, we must enact a 5% wealth tax on
4:54billionaires
4:55so that we can provide every
4:58workingclass family in the country, a
5:01family of four, with a $12,000 direct
5:05payment. In other words, if you're a
5:06workingclass family of four, that's
5:09$3,000 for every man, woman, and child,
5:1312,000 bucks. Furthermore, with that tax
5:17on billionaires, we can build 7 million
5:21units of low-income and affordable
5:23housing, we can make public colleges and
5:26universities tuitionfree, and we can
5:28provide universal free child care for 13
5:33million children. That is what a wealth
5:36tax on billionaires can do. But taxing
5:41the oligodox means more than just taking
5:44on their wealth. It means ending their
5:48strangle hold over our political system.
5:52Elon Musk and his billionaire friends
5:54have poured a record-breaking $2 billion
5:58dollar into the recent election. That is
6:01absurd. The American people want
6:03Congress to overturn Citizens United,
6:06abolish super PACs, and establish public
6:09funding of elections. Democracy must
6:12mean one person, one vote, not
6:16billionaires buying elections.
6:19But it's not just massive income and
6:21wealth inequality that we have to deal
6:22with or a corrupt campaign finance
6:26system. in America today is everybody
6:29knows and I get the same response
6:31wherever I go in this country. Everybody
6:35understands that our health care system
6:37is broken. It is dysfunctional and it is
6:41wildly expensive.
6:44We spend twice as much per person on
6:47health care as any other major country.
6:51Almost twice as much. Yet, despite that
6:54huge expenditure, more than 90 million
6:5790 million Americans are uninsured or
7:00underinsured. Over half a million people
7:03go bankrupt each year because of medical
7:05debt. We pay the highest prescription
7:08drug prices in the world. And
7:10tragically, more than 60,000 Americans
7:14die unnecessarily every year because
7:17they cannot afford medical care. How
7:21cruel is that? Yes, we must repeal the
7:25trillion dollars in cuts Trump made to
7:27Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act to
7:30prevent 15 million Americans from losing
7:33their healthcare. Yes, we must restore
7:35ACA tax credits to stop the outrageous
7:38premium spikes for 20 million Americans,
7:42but that is nowhere near enough. Healthc
7:45care must be considered as a human
7:47right, not a privilege. That means
7:50passing Medicare for all legislation now
7:54supported by 66% of the American people.
7:58As an immediate as an immediate first
8:01step, Democrats must lower the Medicare
8:03eligibility age from 65 down to 55,
8:07expand Medicare to cover dental, vision,
8:10and hearing, and guarantee universal
8:12health care coverage for every child
8:15from birth through age 19. All of this
8:18can be accomplished with 51 votes in the
8:21Senate through the reconciliation
8:24process. But it's not just income and
8:27wealth inequality that we have to deal
8:29with or a corrupt campaign finance
8:31system or a dysfunctional health care
8:34system. We must deal with artificial
8:38intelligence,
8:39the most transformational technology in
8:42the history of humanity. In America
8:45today, big tech oligarchs are spending
8:48trillions of dollars on artificial
8:50intelligence and robotics with virtually
8:54no regulation.
8:56This revolutionary technology will
8:59transform the lives of every man, woman,
9:01and child in our country and around the
9:04world. Left unchecked, AI and robotics
9:08will destroy tens of millions of jobs,
9:12devastate our children's mental health,
9:14eviscerate our privacy rights, drive up
9:17electricity rates, strain water
9:19supplies, and transform warfare. If AI
9:23becomes smarter than human beings and
9:26escapes human control, it will also pose
9:30an existential threat to the very
9:32existence of humanity. We cannot allow a
9:37handful of big tech billionaires to
9:40become even richer and more powerful by
9:43ramming this dangerous technology down
9:46our throats. Democrats must enact a
9:49national moratorium on AI data centers,
9:53must pause advanced AI development and
9:56ban super intelligence.
9:59And by the way, I might mention that
10:02yesterday in the election in dozens of
10:06communities throughout our country,
10:08citizens voted for a moratorum on the
10:11construction of data centers. In other
10:14words, a moratorium on data centers is
10:17exactly what the American people want.
10:21But my friends, it is not just
10:23oligarchy, a corrupt campaign finance
10:25system, a broken health care system, and
10:28uncontrolled AI. In America today, while
10:32the very rich get richer, 60% 60% of our
10:37people live paycheck to paycheck and
10:40millions work long, long hours for
10:44incredibly low wages. That must change.
10:48The $725
10:50an hour federal minimum wage is a
10:53starvation wage. Democrats must raise it
10:56to a living wage of at least 20 bucks an
10:59hour. and make it easier for workers to
11:02form unions by passing the PRO act. A
11:06job must lift people out of poverty, not
11:09keep them in it.
11:12Further, in our country today, onethird
11:15of our seniors are struggling
11:16economically, and more than 20% survive
11:19are trying to survive on less than
11:21$15,000 a year. Nearly half of older
11:25Americans have no retirement savings and
11:28no idea how they will retire with a
11:31shred of dignity. Meanwhile, Elon Musk
11:35pays the same amount into Social
11:37Security as someone earning $184,600
11:43a year. That is absurd. By applying the
11:47Social Security payroll tax to all
11:50income above $250,000,
11:53including capital gains and dividends,
11:55we could increase benefits by $2,400 a
11:59year, lift millions of seniors out of
12:01poverty, improves improve cost of living
12:04adjustments, and keep Social Security
12:07solvent for generations without raising
12:10taxes on the bottom 91% of Americans. We
12:14must also restore the traditional
12:16pension plans corporate America took
12:19away so that every worker can count on a
12:22guaranteed income in retirement. That is
12:25what a Democratic Congress must do.
12:29Let me be clear. In America today, we
12:33spend more on the military than the next
12:36six nations combined. Despite massive
12:39waste, fraud, and abuse, the Pentagon
12:43has repeatedly failed independent audits
12:46and cannot account for trillions of
12:49dollars in spending. Adding insult to
12:52injury, Trump has dragged us into an
12:55illegal and unconstitutional war in Iran
12:58that will cost hundreds of billions of
13:01dollars. We must end this disastrous
13:06war. We must cut off all funding for the
13:09genocidal government in Israel. And we
13:12must substantially reduce military
13:15spending. Instead of pouring $1.1
13:18trillion into a bloated Pentagon and
13:22neverending wars, a Democratic Congress
13:25must build the best public education
13:28system in the world with no teacher
13:31earning less than $60,000 a year.
13:35And let me touch on one more subject
13:38that Democrats must deal with. Since
13:40Trump took office, ICE agents have shot
13:43American citizens in cold blood, have
13:47broken down doors to arrest people, and
13:49have sent five-year-old children to
13:52detention centers. These actions are not
13:54only immoral and disgraceful, they are
13:58unconstitutional.
14:00Democrats must immediately resin the $75
14:04billion Republicans gave Trump to fund
14:08his domestic army. Instead of ICE agents
14:12terrorizing communities throughout the
14:15country, we must finally move to
14:17comprehensive immigration reform and a
14:20path toward citizenship for the
14:22undocumented.
14:24Let's be clear. All of the policies I
14:28have just discussed and more that I have
14:31not mentioned
14:33are not radical.
14:35They are precisely what a strong
14:37majority of the American people want. So
14:41we are in a moment in American history
14:44where a lot of folks are losing faith in
14:47democracy.
14:49They are struggling every day
14:52just to stay alive while at the same
14:55time billionaires have more money than
14:57they can spend in a thousand lifetimes
15:00and are getting richer and richer all of
15:03the time. So what we are talking about
15:06now is not only the need to fight for
15:09economic justice. We are fighting to
15:12give hope to the American people to
15:15allow them to understand that in fact
15:17their government can work for them can
15:20address the crises that they face and
15:24will pay attention to the needs of the
15:26men, women and children in our country
15:28who are struggling and not just the very
15:31very wealthy campaign contributors.
15:35That is in my view what Democrats have
15:38got to do when they assume power in
15:40January. We can do it. We must do it.
15:44And I look forward to working with all
15:45of you to make sure that it happens.
15:48Thank you all very much.

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