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Thursday, March 28, 2024 - 05:27 PM

INDEPENDENT CONSERVATIVE VOICE OF UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA

First Published in 1994

INDEPENDENT CONSERVATIVE VOICE OF
UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA

BernieSanders-1

“BER-NIE! BER-NIE! BER-NIE!” shouted a very enthusiastic crowd of nearly 3,000 supporters of Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders as he gave a stump speech this past Friday at the TD Convention Center. The event had the feel of a rock concert.

During his almost hour-long stump speech, Sanders, currently a US Senator from Vermont, spent most of his time railing against economic inequality and corporate greed.

“This campaign is sending a message to the most powerful people in the country – you're no longer going to get it all, “ said Sanders. He said that corporate greed is destroying the country and that “it is not acceptable that almost all of the new wealth and income created in America are going to the top one percent.”

Sanders also asserted that America has more income inequality than any other country and that this inequality is the great moral, political and economic issue of our time.

“Together, we are going to resolve that issue,” said Sanders, who, although running in the election as a Democrat, prefers to refer to himself as a socialist.

Sanders' message also had an all-inclusive populist tone to it. “This is a people's campaign,” he declared, saying that his campaign is about bringing people together, no matter their class, race, sexual preference, gender or immigration status. He added that the government belongs to everyone, not just a few.

Sanders is proud of the fact that he does not take corporate money and that his campaign has received over 400,000 individual contributions, averaging just $34 apiece. “We do not want the money of corporate America,” he said to hearty applause.

“When we stand together there is nothing we cannot accomplish,” said Sanders to deafening shouts of “Bernie, Bernie, Bernie!”

“This campaign is about building a movement creating a political revolution,” he declared. He said that his campaign is about transforming America.

The campaign has taken off like a firestorm in the last few months. Sanders has risen in the polls while the frontrunner Hillary Clinton has lost some momentum, especially with the recent controversy over her emails. He said that he recently spoke to a crowd of 27,000 in Los Angeles and 28,000 in Portland, Oregon.

“This is a campaign on the move,” said Sanders, adding that he has been seeing high enthusiasm all over the country.

His tirade against the corporate establishment gained loud shouts of approval throughout his speech. He said that voters are sick and tired of establishment economics, establishment politics and establishment media.

Sanders said that while the wealthy get richer, many children do without. He said that corporations should not get huge tax breaks while children are going hungry. He said that childhood poverty is an international disgrace and that, if he is elected, “it is an issue that we will address.”

Sanders also spent some time talking about the employment situation in America. He wants to raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25/hour to $15.00/hour.

“If a person works forty hours a week, that person shouldn't be living in poverty,” said Sanders, adding that a significant number of people are working two and three jobs to get by. That is not what the American economy should be,” he said. He also supports gender pay equality.

Sanders decried the loss of jobs to low-wage nations such as China. He said that he voted against normalizing relations with China. He also voted against NAFTA and the Trans-Pacific Partnership. He said that the nation's trade policy should be about creating jobs for the middle class, not for the benefit of corporate America.

The socialist Sanders, running as a Democrat, said that it is wrong and unfair for bright students who can't afford an education to not be able to get one. He said, to loud cheering, that public colleges and universities should be tuition-free. He did not elaborate as to how this would be paid for or who would foot the bill.

Sanders asserted that health care is a basic right, although he did not mention where in the Constitution that right is to be found. He supports the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, but doesn't believe that it goes far enough. To loud applause and deafening shouts of “BERNIE, BERNIE, BERNIE” he said that he would like to see implemented a single-payer health care system – in other words, nationalized health care.

Sanders said that he believes in family and that family values need to be strengthened. However, he noted that he has a different view of family values than conservatives, declaring his support of same-sex marriage.

He also said that it is a major embarrassment that the United States does not guarantee paid family leave. He said that mothers should be able to stay home with their newborn babies for three months. “Staying home with your baby is a family value,” he declared. He also supports paid medical leave and vacation time.

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