BuzzFlash Exclusive from Senator Bernie Sanders: "It's Time to Stand up and Fight Back"
A BUZZFLASH GUEST CONTRIBUTION
by U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT)
Remember the Rumble in the Jungle? In the 1974 heavyweight title bout, Muhammad Ali absorbed furious body blows from George Foreman for seven straight rounds. Then, in the eighth round, Ali dropped the exhausted Foreman and reclaimed the championship. In the Senate, this year should be our eighth round. This should be the year when Democrats stop playing rope-a-dope and put up a fight for people who are hurting. Caseworkers in my Vermont office are sensing a level of desperation among low-income people that has not been seen for a very long time. Similar scenes are taking place all across the country. Homeless shelters are running out of beds. Food banks have depleted their supplies. Many elderly and poor people will soon be going cold in their homes because a federal program is running out of funds to help pay record-high heating bills.
In other words, in the United States of America in the winter of 2007-2008, a significant and growing number of our people are hungry, cold and homeless. Many of them also lack access to doctors, dentists or adequate childcare for their young kids. The average working family has seen a decline in their real income during the years since George W. Bush took office. This is America, not some struggling Third World country.
Bush is fighting for budgetary policies that cut back on the needs of the most desperate people in our society. With the cost of home heating oil soaring, Bush wanted a $379 million cut in the low-income heating assistance program. As the affordable housing crisis expands, he called for a major reduction in funding for elderly housing and housing for the disabled. While hunger in America grows, he proposed slashing Food Stamp assistance to 280,000 families. With more than nine million children lacking health insurance, he vetoed legislation that would expand the Children’s Health Insurance Program. He even tried to eliminate the Community Services Block Grant Program that provides desperately needed emergency services for the lowest income people.
Meanwhile, the people on top have never had it so good. The richest 1 percent now own more than 34 percent of the nation’s private wealth, more than the combined wealth of the bottom 90 percent. The share of the national income held by the top 1 percent is now higher than at any time since 1928.
While Bush slashes programs for the poor, his attitude toward his wealthy and powerful friends is very different. For Exxon-Mobil and the other oil companies enjoying record-breaking profits, he was prepared to veto legislation rescinding some of their tax breaks. For the millionaires and billionaires in the top 0.3 percent of the American population, he wants to provide them $1 trillion over a 20-year period by eliminating the estate tax. For Halliburton, Blackwater and other private contractors earning huge profits from the Iraq War, he vigorously opposed any investigations into the no-bid contracts they received. On and on it goes. National polling suggests that Bush is the least popular president in almost 60 years.
Unfortunately, Congress is not doing much better. There are a number of reasons, but at the top of the list is the widespread belief that the Democratic leadership has not been aggressive enough in opposing Bush. The problem has been especially acute in the Senate where Republican obstructionism has been unprecedented. As an independent senator affiliated with the Democratic caucus, it’s my view that in order to regain the confidence of the American people we should be changing our tactics as we enter the new session.
If Republicans want to keep backing the president through obstructionism (they set a new record last year for filibusters), we should be prepared to keep the Senate open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Republicans should be given all of the time they need to explain to the American people why they want to continue spending $12 billion a month in Iraq, why they want more tax breaks for millionaires, and why they believe the U.S. should trail the rest of the world in addressing the crisis of global warming – among many other issues.
The Senate Democratic caucus cannot control the actions of the White House or Republican senators. What we can do is make it crystal clear to the American people that senators want to move this country in a different direction, and who wants to maintain the status quo. It is impossible to predict what kind of legislative success an aggressive approach like this will have. At the very least, it will clear the air and let Americans know that some of us are aware of reality outside the Beltway, and are prepared to stand up and fight.
A BUZZFLASH GUEST CONTRIBUTION
Senator Bernie Sanders is an independent United States Senator from Vermont who caucuses with the Democrats. He is the lone Senate member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. BuzzFlash has interviewed him on several occasions.
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