"We are living in many ways in a socialist society right now. Problem is, as Dr. Martin Luther King reminded us, we have socialism for the very rich, rugged individualism for the poor," explained Sanders. "When Donald Trump gets $800 million in tax breaks and subsidies to build luxury condominiums, that's socialism for the rich. Walmart, we have to subsidize Walmart's workers who are on Medicaid and food stamps because the wealthiest family in America pays starvation wages, that's socialism for the rich. I believe in democratic socialism for working people, not billionaires, health care for all, and educational opportunities for all."
Sanders never let up. He pulled together objections raised by all the candidates to Bloomberg's insensitivity when it comes to sexism, racism, and economic injustice, and said, "You know, we talk about electability, and everybody up here wants to beat Trump, and we talk about stop and frisk, and we talked about the workplace that Mayor Bloomberg has established and the problems there. But maybe we should also ask how Mayor Bloomberg in 2004 supported George W. Bush for president, put money into Republican candidates for the United States Senate, when some of us, Joe [Biden] and I and others, were fighting for Democrats to control the United States Senate. Maybe we can talk"about a billionaire saying that we should not raise the minimum wage or that we should cut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. If that's a way to beat Donald Trump, wow, I would be very surprised."
Sanders thinks he is best positioned to beat Trump. Warren begs to differ. The two candidates are well aware that they are competing with each other. They expressed differences in the debate, and they'll continue to do so as the campaign goes forward. But on Wednesday in Las Vegas, they delivered a single message that is vital for the future of the Democratic Party.
The party of Franklin Delano Roosevelt -- who in 1936 warned, "We know now that Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob"cannot rent itself out to the billionaire class. That's not just politically unwise. As Sanders explained, in Wednesday night's most unapologetically class-based appeal, "Mike Bloomberg owns more wealth than the bottom 125 million Americans. That's wrong. That's immoral. That should not be the case when we got a half a million people sleeping out on the streets, where we have kids who cannot afford to go to college, when we have 45 million people dealing with student debt. We have enormous problems facing this country and we cannot continue seeing a situation where in the last three years, billionaires in this country saw an $850 billion increase in their wealth. Congratulations, Mr. Bloomberg. But the average American last year saw less than a 1 percent increase in his or her income. That's wrong."
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
1
1
1
