Reprinted below is an article by Bernie Sanders that appeared in The Guardian. Are the Democrats making the same mistake they made in 2016? Will they continue to shed working class voters (Black and Latino, as well as white), because they can't see (or should I say, won't see) beyond the suburbs and their corporate donors? Isn't "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, the definition of insanity"? You don't have to be a clinical psychiatrist to make that diagnosis.
Democrats shouldn’t focus only on abortion in the
midterms. That’s a mistake - Bernie Sanders 10/10/22
America has long faced structural economic crises. Democrats must win on
the economy and present a pro-worker agenda.
As someone who has a lifetime 100% pro-choice voting record,
and is outraged by the Supreme Court’s horrific decision to overturn Roe v
Wade, there is no question that Democrats must continue to focus on the right
of women to control their own bodies. This is a fight that most Americans want
us to wage and, given the Republicans’ extremist position on the issue, makes
them genuinely vulnerable.
But, as we enter the final weeks of the 2022 midterm
elections, I am alarmed to hear the advice that many Democratic candidates are
getting from establishment consultants and directors of well-funded super PACs
that the closing argument of Democrats should focus only on abortion. Cut the
30-second abortion ads and coast to victory.
I disagree. In my view, while the abortion issue must remain
on the front burner, it would be political malpractice for Democrats to ignore
the state of the economy and allow Republican lies and distortions to go
unanswered.
This country has, for decades, faced structural economic
crises that have caused the decline of the American middle class. Now is the
time for Democrats to take the fight to the reactionary Republican Party and
expose their anti-worker views on the most important issues facing ordinary
Americans. That is both the right thing to do from a policy perspective and
good politics.
We have more income and wealth inequality than at any time
in the modern history of this country, with three people owning more wealth
than the bottom half of our nation. Is there one Republican prepared to raise
taxes on billionaires, or do they want to make a bad situation worse by
extending Trump’s tax breaks for the rich and repealing the estate tax?
Today, 60% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, and
millions work for starvation wages. Is there one Republican in Congress who is
prepared to raise the federal minimum wage to at least $15 an hour?
The United States pays, by far, the highest prices in the
world for prescription drugs. Is there one Republican prepared to allow
Medicare to immediately begin negotiating prescription drug prices with the
pharmaceutical industry and cut the cost of medicine by half?
We have a dysfunctional healthcare system which, despite
being the most expensive in the world, allows 85 million Americans to be
uninsured or underinsured. Is there one Republican who believes that healthcare
is a human right and supports universal coverage?
We remain the only major country on earth not to guarantee
time off for moms who have babies or need to take care of sick children.
Is there one Republican who supports at least 12 weeks of
paid family and medical leave?
The list goes on: childcare, housing, home health care,
college affordability. On every one of these enormously important issues the
Republican Party has virtually nothing to say to address the desperate needs of
low and moderate income Americans. And what they do propose will most often
make a bad situation worse.
Nevertheless, in poll after poll Republicans are more
trusted than Democrats to handle the economy – the issue of most importance to
people. I believe that if Democrats do not fight back on economic issues and
present a strong pro-worker agenda, they could well be in the minority in both
the House and the Senate next year.
And it’s not only the long-term structural crises that
Democrats must address. It is the outrageous level of corporate greed that we
now see every day that is fueling the inflation hurting so many people.
While the price of gas has soared over the last year, the
five big oil companies made $59 billion in profits during the 2nd quarter of
this year alone, and are spending $88 billion on stock buybacks and dividends
to benefit their wealthy shareholders.
While global food prices soared by over 33% last year and
are expected to go up another 23% this year, billionaires in the global food
and agri-business industry became $382 billion richer during the pandemic.
While we continue to pay, by far, the highest prices in the
world for prescription drugs, 3 of the largest pharmaceutical companies in
America – Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, and AbbVie – increased their profits
by 90% last year to $54 billion.
While 46% of Americans either skipped or delayed the
healthcare they need because they could not afford it, the six largest health
insurance companies in America last year made over $60 billion in profits.
What do Republicans have to say about corporations that are
charging Americans outrageously high prices, while enjoying record breaking
profits? They talk a lot about inflation. But what are they going to do about
it? Does one of them have the courage to consider a windfall, profits tax?
Absolutely not.
You can’t win elections unless you have the support of the
working class of this country. But you’re not going to have that support unless
you make it clear that you’re prepared to take on powerful special interests –
and fight for the millions of Americans who are struggling economically.
Whether it is extending the $300 a month child tax credit that expired in
December that slashed the child poverty rate by over 40%, or increasing Social
Security benefits, or expanding Medicare to cover dental, hearing and vision or
making childcare affordable, the Democrats must stand with the working class of
this country and expose the Republicans for the phonies that they are.
None of what I am suggesting here is “radical”. It is, in
fact, extremely popular. It is what the American people want. If we close this
critical midterm campaign with a clear, unified vision to meet the needs of
working families, to take on corporate greed, and protect a woman’s right to
choose, we will begin to rebuild the trust between Democrats in Washington and
the working families of this country.
And we’ll win the election.
