Yes I am prejudiced. Bernie Sanders is a fellow Socialist. Let's try to put that into perspective. I do not laud him because he is a fellow socialist. I laud him because of his integrity, his courage, and the words he speaks in the dismal environment of the U.S. Senate. These are dark times by my standards. The trap the Bush gang set up has been sprung and it is not a pretty sight! They ran up the debt as far as they could in order to force the end of social programs in America. They are getting there all too quickly. Meanwhile our knight, our ray of sunshine, goes up to the podium and says the words no one else will say and that most would rather not hear. Besides giving our President a clear bench mark for what a real socialist sounds like to make his inane critics look even more stupid than we could have imagined, the man's words make real sense. Read on below to see a sample of the latest.
Here are some of his comments on the budget speech:
The very serious deficit crisis that we are in today is the result of the severe recession caused by Wall Street greed, two unpaid-for wars, huge tax breaks for the rich, the bailout of giant banks, and an unfunded Medicare Part D prescription drug program written by the insurance and drug companies.
“Meanwhile, while the wealthiest people in this country and the largest corporations are doing extremely well, the Republicans want more giant tax breaks for the very rich as they move to balance the budget on the backs of the sick, the elderly, the children and by cutting environmental protection and infrastructure. This is morally unacceptable and very bad economics.
“President Obama is right in suggesting that any serious effort toward deficit reduction should require shared sacrifice and that the pain should not simply be felt by working families and the most vulnerable people in our society.
“During the coming weeks I will be working with members of the Senate and the House on a deficit reduction proposal which cuts spending in those areas of government which are wasteful and unnecessary, while at the same time asking the wealthiest people in this country and the most profitable corporations to start paying their fair share of taxes. I am especially interested in ending those loopholes which allow corporations and the wealthy to shelter income in tax havens overseas, costing the U.S. Treasury an estimated $100 billion a year in revenue.”
On April 12 he said this:
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said today he will vote against a bill that cuts more than $38 billion from programs that help working families without calling for shared sacrifice by the wealthiest Americans.
Bush-era tax breaks for the very rich were extended last December – driving up the deficit. “Today, in order to reduce deficits that Republicans helped create, they now are slashing programs of enormous importance to working families, the elderly, the sick and children,” Sanders said. “At a time when the gap between the very rich and everybody else is growing wider, this budget is Robin Hood in reverse. It takes from struggling working families and gives to multi-millionaires. This is obscene.”
While it is too soon to determine the exact impact the cuts will have on Vermont, Sanders, a member of the Senate Budget Committee, said “there can be no doubt that these cuts will be devastating to working families in Vermont and throughout the country.”
At a time of soaring fuel prices, the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) would be cut by $390 million.
At a time when college education has become unaffordable for many, Pell grants would be reduced by an estimated $35 billion over 10 years, including a nearly $500 million cut this year.
At a time when 50 million Americans have no health insurance, community health centers would be cut by $600 million and the Children’s Health Insurance Program would be cut by $3.5 billion.
At a time when poverty is increasing, the Women Infant and Children (WIC) nutrition program for low-income pregnant women would be cut by $504 million.
At a time when we have to put Americans to work rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure, federal funding for high-speed rail would be eliminated, representing a cut of $2.9 billion. Public transportation would be cut by nearly $1 billion, a 20 percent reduction.
At a time when police departments are struggling with inadequate budgets, local law enforcement funding would be cut by $296 million.
At a time when homelessness is increasing, public housing would be cut by $605 million.
“This budget moves America in exactly the wrong direction,” Sanders said. “While there is no question that we must reduce soaring deficits, it must be done in a way that is fair, which protects the most vulnerable people in our country, and which requires shared sacrifice. I will not support a budget that will cut programs for struggling working families, the elderly, children and the poor while expanding tax breaks for billionaires, maintaining corporate tax loopholes and increasing military spending. That is just plain wrong.”
In the coming weeks, Sanders said he will work with colleagues in the Senate and House on a deficit-reduction package that is fair to all, and does not balance the budget only on the backs of working families.
These are the basic points that a sane budget must contain. Go for it Bernie! I, for one, am with you.