‘Stop Defending The Status Quo Economically’: Bernie Sanders Demands A ‘Decent Standard Of Living’ For All

During a May Day rally speech on Thursday, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) spoke about the need to reform the nation’s economy.

Transcript

00:00But brothers and sisters, our job right now, in my view, is twofold.

00:13First, we have got to fight Trump every single day.

00:19But secondly, we need to have a vision as to where our country goes in the future.

00:32And here is the bottom line, and I say that to my Democratic colleagues in the Congress.

00:39Stop defending the status quo economically.

00:49An economy in which the rich get richer and working people struggle should not be defended.

01:00So there are a number of things that we have got to keep our eyes on.

01:04And understand, please, you are living in the richest country in the history of the world.

01:10It is not a radical idea.

01:14It is not utopian to say that every man, woman, and child can and should have a decent standard of living.

01:24And at the top of the list of what we have got to do is to end a corrupt campaign finance system.

01:39A system that allows billionaires in both political parties to control the political process and our economy.

01:57Brothers insistence, democracy is about one person, one vote, not billionaires buying elections.

02:07And if we're going to deal with the massive income and wealth inequality that currently exists,

02:17we're going to not give the rich tax breaks.

02:20We're going to demand that the billionaires and their corporations start paying their fair share of taxism.

02:27And if we're going to build the movement that we need to take power in this country,

02:37we need to grow the trade union movement in this country.

02:42Right now, there are millions of workers who want to join unions.

02:52They're unable to do so because of the illegal behavior of corporations.

02:58And that's why we're going to pass the PRO Act.

03:05And if workers, a majority of workers sign a union card, they're going to belong to a union.

03:15Brothers and sisters, we need to raise the minimum wage in this country to a living wage.

03:23No worker, no worker, no worker working 40 hours a week should live in poverty.

03:33And brothers and sisters, if we're going to compete in the global economy,

03:39we need the best educated workforce in the world.

03:43And that is making not only our public colleges and universities tuition free.

03:56It means paying our teachers a wage that they deserve.

04:02There is no reason why we should not be having the best public education in the world

04:14and the best child care system in the world.