Many Kossacks and pundits and party leaders have told those of us supporting Bernie Sanders to tone it down, that it is time to back off and rally behind the presumptive nominee. They tell us this even as Bernie continues to make up ground, and as the electoral map on which the nomination is contested becomes more favorable to him. Of course we recognize that he may not overtake Clinton, but we will not stop fighting for him. Because he never stops fighting for us.
Healthcare as a Right
It has been the goal of Democrats since Franklin D. Roosevelt to create a universal health care system guaranteeing health care to all people. Every other major industrialized nation has done so. It is time for this country to join them and fulfill the legacy of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Lyndon B. Johnson and other great Democrats.
Bernie is the candidate fighting for healthcare as a fundamental human right. Even with the vital progress made under Obamacare, 29 million Americans remain without health insurance and medical reasons remain the top cause of bankruptcy. It will not be easy, but we must fight to secure Medicare for all.
A Living Wage for Workers
Bernie is the candidate who has joined in the Fight for $15, rcognizing that for more than 30 years the benefits of growing productivity have gone to the 1% and not the workers themselves who have seen their wages stagnate and their ability to support themselves and their families eroded year by year. This should be a no-brainer issue for all Democrats to support: fighting for working people to make a true living wage.
Supporting Free Public College Education
When I went to college, I had the prospect of leaving with student loans I could repay within a decade, with a reasonably well-paid job a near-certainty upon graduation. Times have changed and today’s students are leaving with massive debts and questionable job prospects, making a college education ever more difficult to secure for those from families with more limited means. Bernie’s plan uses a tax on Wall Street speculation to fund a program to make public college education tuition-free, just as we make K-12 public education available to all.
Climate Change
As Carl Sagan famously said, the Earth is our only home and it is “where we make our stand.” With global temperatures continuing to rise and ice sheets continuing to melt, the threat of catastrophic climate change — rising sea levels, increased extreme weather and drought, displaced people and the resulting instability — will be a defining issue. And Bernie Sanders has the strongest plans of any major candidate for addressing it. No less an authority than climate activist and author Bill McKibben has said:
Bernie needs not to just be elected president, but to be elected president with a big movement of people who keep on working with him around climate change. — Source: Seacoastonline
Reclaming Our Democracy
Underlying all these issues is the corrosive influence of corporate money and the 1%’s efforts to own our government. Whether it is the fossil fuel industry blocking meaningful action on climate, pharmaceutical and health insurance companies fighting against Medicare for All, or multinational organizations driving “free” trade agreeements that export American jobs and depress wages, positive change continues to be stymied by the excessive influence of big money on our politics. Bernie is challenging that, by relying on millions of small donations to fuel his campaign — so that if elected, he will owe his success to we the people and not to the big money interests that are trying to buy our democracy.
These are just a few of the reasons I continue to support Bernie. Don’t talk to me about party unity in November: we’re still in the middle of a primary battle that has not yet been decided, and I will continue to support the candidate who best represents my values. Who is willing to fight every day for all of us in the 99%, for the future of our planet, to restore hope and the American Dream for the next generation. And I’m not alone in thinking that best candidate is Bernie Sanders.
There’s a battle ragin’ ...
And those of us fighting for Bernie Sanders and the political revolution will keep up that fight right through the Democractic National Convention, the General Election, and beyond. This is not the work of one campaign, one year, or one candidate — it will be the work of many, over many years, working together. All of US.
There are many of us pissed off liberals who believe that change is overdue.
That we need to reclaim our democracy from the hands of the one percent.
That we need trade and economic policy that benefits all Americans, not just multinational corporations.
That we need to break up the prison-industrial complex and fight for a justice system that truly offers justice to all, regardless of race or background.
That we need to end our reliance on fossil fuels and truly take on the challenge of defending our planet from the fundamental threat posted by climate change.
That we need to reopen the doors of opportunity, so that young Americans can obtain a college education if they are willing to make that effort, and so that all workers can expect to earn a true living wage.
We will not take a timeout from our battle for a better and more just America. We will continue to volunteer, we will continue to donate. Bernie is fighting for us, and we will continue to fight for the future we believe in.