{"id":10385,"date":"2018-11-24T14:24:36","date_gmt":"2018-11-24T22:24:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=10385"},"modified":"2018-11-24T14:24:36","modified_gmt":"2018-11-24T22:24:36","slug":"bernie-sanders-lays-out-bold-10-point-plan-for-democrats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2018\/11\/24\/bernie-sanders-lays-out-bold-10-point-plan-for-democrats\/","title":{"rendered":"Bernie Sanders Lays Out Bold 10-Point Plan for Democrats"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"article-item__header\">\n<div class=\"article-item__meta\"><time class=\"article-item__date\" datetime=\"2018-11-23 06:14:00\">NOV 23, 2018<\/time><a class=\"button__toggle-print-article\" href=\"https:\/\/www.truthdig.com\/articles\/bernie-sanders-lays-out-bold-10-point-plan-for-democrats\/#\" data-id=\"204895\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.truthdig.com\/wp-content\/themes\/am2\/assets\/images\/print.svg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a><a class=\"article-item__category\" href=\"https:\/\/www.truthdig.com\/?bucket=news\">NEWS<\/a>\u00a0(truthdig.com)<\/div>\n<figure class=\"article-item__thumbnail article-item__caption-alignleft\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"article-item__thumbnail-image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.truthdig.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/30192879573_16dece70c4_z-1.jpg\" width=\"\" height=\"427\" \/><figcaption><em>Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.\u00a0<small>(Gage Skidmore \/\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/gageskidmore\/30192879573\/in\/photolist-N13pcc-N13i4F-NUVwtW-NUVLS5-U6nL98-TTNCcK-CvBkdX-D2PiNA-C7HX9K-C7H45p-AdW6CZ-AQJCX5-Ez1iSB-EKERt4-AUGPix-MqoNWb-MqoMBN-NUWBVf-U2NJao-U6pvBP-TTQs4z-TRuazL-SRJvDK-TRuhpN-SRJisF-vbW3WF-vbNoFC-FauVbu-FcMT7H-Fawv23-FauzJU-EotgMA-EoQvgr-ETD59Y-FmcP2X-Faw3i3-FhKm9h-DgpgNo-Dgpyh5-DiHf66-CYSnkG-DqZ17V-Dw6w1N-ELCUpc-EYi3i7-PjY1XQ-AgeqxD-Ff9kPF-y4htDp-yZcVoW\">Flickr<\/a>)<\/small><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-item__content am2-content\">\n<p>While affirming that he \u201cstrongly\u201d disagrees with former Newt Gingrich, who led the GOP in the House in the mid-1990s, \u201con virtually every issue,\u201d Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is calling on Democrats in Congress to rip a page of out the Georgia Republican\u2019s playbook by creating\u2014and aggressively pushing\u2014a new progressive version of the\u00a0<em>Contract With America<\/em>\u00a0in order to galvanize the nation, offer real solutions to its most urgent problems, and go beyond being simply anti-Trump.<\/p>\n<p>In stark contrast to Gingrich\u2019s original version\u2014\u201da radical right-wing agenda full of tax breaks for the wealthy, massive cuts to programs vital to working families, and racist and cruel bills to \u2018reform\u2019 welfare and our criminal-justice system\u201d\u2014Sanders argues in a\u00a0<em>Washington Post<\/em>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/opinions\/democrats-need-a-bold-agenda-heres-what-they-should-do-in-the-first-100-days-of-congress\/2018\/11\/21\/dc80ddd6-ed07-11e8-96d4-0d23f2aaad09_story.html?utm_term=.d1cc6c7393e2\">op-ed<\/a>\u00a0on Thursday that Democrats should instead forge a vision that \u201creflects the needs of working Americans \u2014 centered on economic, political, social, racial and environmental justice.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"SandboxRoot env-bp-350\" data-twitter-event-id=\"0\">\n<div id=\"twitter-widget-0\" class=\"EmbeddedTweet EmbeddedTweet--cta js-clickToOpenTarget tweet-InformationCircle-widgetParent\" lang=\"en\" data-click-to-open-target=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BernieSanders\/status\/1065397292302303232\" data-iframe-title=\"Twitter Tweet\" data-scribe=\"page:tweet\" data-twitter-event-id=\"1\">\n<div class=\"EmbeddedTweet-tweetContainer\">\n<div class=\"EmbeddedTweet-tweet\">\n<blockquote class=\"Tweet h-entry js-tweetIdInfo subject expanded\" cite=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BernieSanders\/status\/1065397292302303232\" data-tweet-id=\"1065397292302303232\" data-scribe=\"section:subject\">\n<div class=\"Tweet-header\"><a class=\"TweetAuthor-avatar  Identity-avatar u-linkBlend\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BernieSanders\" data-scribe=\"element:user_link\" aria-label=\"Bernie Sanders (screen name: BernieSanders)\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"Avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/profile_images\/794596124686487552\/kqpbolIc_normal.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-scribe=\"element:avatar\" data-src-2x=\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/profile_images\/794596124686487552\/kqpbolIc_bigger.jpg\" data-src-1x=\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/profile_images\/794596124686487552\/kqpbolIc_normal.jpg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"TweetAuthor js-inViewportScribingTarget\" data-scribe=\"component:author\">\n<div class=\"TweetAuthor-nameScreenNameContainer\"><span class=\"TweetAuthor-decoratedName\"><span class=\"TweetAuthor-name Identity-name customisable-highlight\" title=\"Bernie Sanders\" data-scribe=\"element:name\">Bernie Sanders<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"Icon Icon--verified \" title=\"Verified Account\" role=\"img\" aria-label=\"Verified Account\"><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"TweetAuthor-decoratedName\"><span class=\"TweetAuthor-verifiedBadge\" data-scribe=\"element:verified_badge\"><b class=\"u-hiddenVisually\">&#x2714;<\/b><\/span><\/span><span class=\"TweetAuthor-screenName Identity-screenName\" dir=\"ltr\" title=\"@BernieSanders\" data-scribe=\"element:screen_name\">@BernieSanders<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Tweet-body e-entry-content\" data-scribe=\"component:tweet\">\n<p class=\"Tweet-text e-entry-title\" dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Congress should represent the needs of all the American people, not just the 1%. With a sense of urgency, Democrats must have the courage to take on powerful special interests &amp; fight for a progressive agenda that addresses the needs of working families. <a class=\"link customisable\" dir=\"ltr\" title=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/opinions\/democrats-need-a-bold-agenda-heres-what-they-should-do-in-the-first-100-days-of-congress\/2018\/11\/21\/dc80ddd6-ed07-11e8-96d4-0d23f2aaad09_story.html\" href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/SyIvPFE264\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" data-expanded-url=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/opinions\/democrats-need-a-bold-agenda-heres-what-they-should-do-in-the-first-100-days-of-congress\/2018\/11\/21\/dc80ddd6-ed07-11e8-96d4-0d23f2aaad09_story.html\" data-scribe=\"element:url\"><span class=\"u-hiddenVisually\">https:\/\/www.<\/span>washingtonpost.com\/opinions\/democ<span class=\"u-hiddenVisually\">rats-need-a-bold-agenda-heres-what-they-should-do-in-the-first-100-days-of-congress\/2018\/11\/21\/dc80ddd6-ed07-11e8-96d4-0d23f2aaad09_story.html\u00a0<\/span>\u2026<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"TweetInfo\">\n<div class=\"TweetInfo-like\"><a class=\"TweetInfo-heart\" title=\"Like\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/like?tweet_id=1065397292302303232\" data-scribe=\"component:actions\"><span class=\"TweetInfo-heartStat\" data-scribe=\"element:heart_count\">1,596<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"TweetInfo-timeGeo\"><a class=\"u-linkBlend u-url customisable-highlight long-permalink\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BernieSanders\/status\/1065397292302303232\" data-datetime=\"2018-11-22T00:11:23+0000\" data-scribe=\"element:full_timestamp\"><time class=\"dt-updated\" title=\"Time posted: November 22, 2018 00:11:23 (UTC)\" datetime=\"2018-11-22T00:11:23+0000\">4:11 PM &#8211; Nov 21, 2018<\/time><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tweet-InformationCircle--bottomWithCTA tweet-InformationCircle\" data-scribe=\"element:notice\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Tweet-card\">\n<div class=\"PrerenderedCard is-loaded is-constrainedByMaxWidth\" data-card-name=\"summary_large_image\" data-css=\"https:\/\/ton.twimg.com\/tfw\/css\/syndication_bundle_v1_73385286cca9d2256f6bf3993470820d4827b058.css\" data-scribe=\"component:card\">\n<div class=\"TwitterCardsGrid TwitterCard\">\n<div class=\"TwitterCardsGrid-col--12 TwitterCardsGrid-col--spacerBottom CardContent\">\n<div class=\"SummaryCard-image TwitterCardsGrid-col--12\">\n<div class=\"tcu-imageContainer tcu-imageAspect--2to1\">\n<div class=\"tcu-imageWrapper tcu-image-1065397292302303232 js-cspForcedStyle\" data-style=\"background-image: url(https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/card_img\/1065378421495209985\/uRo76wJC?format=jpg&amp;name=600x314); background-size: cover;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"u-block\" src=\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/card_img\/1065378421495209985\/uRo76wJC?format=jpg&amp;name=600x314\" alt=\"\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"SummaryCard-contentContainer TwitterCardsGrid-col--12\">\n<div class=\"SummaryCard-content TwitterCardsGrid-ltr\">\n<h2 class=\"TwitterCard-title js-cardClick tcu-textEllipse--multiline\" dir=\"ltr\">Opinion | Democrats need a bold agenda. Here\u2019s what they should do in the first 100 days of&#8230;<\/h2>\n<p class=\"tcu-resetMargin u-block TwitterCardsGrid-col--spacerTop tcu-textEllipse--multiline\" dir=\"ltr\">It is about time that we had an economy and a government that works for all of us.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"u-block TwitterCardsGrid-col--spacerTop SummaryCard-destination\" dir=\"ltr\">washingtonpost.com<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"CallToAction-text\" data-scribe=\"element:conversation_text\"><a class=\"CallToAction-icon CallToAction\" title=\"View the conversation on Twitter\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BernieSanders\/status\/1065397292302303232\" data-scribe=\"section:cta component:news\">651 people are talking about this<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>While celebrating the \u201cBlue Wave\u201d in the midterms that saw Democrats reclaim control of the U.S. House and acheive major wins in state houses and governors\u2019 mansions nationwide, Sanders writes that while it is clear a majority of the American people \u201crejected President Trump\u2019s agenda benefiting the wealthy and the powerful, as well as his racism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia and religious bigotry,\u201d it simply \u201cis not good enough for Democrats to just be the anti-Trump party.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>If Democrats, he writes, \u201cwant to keep and expand their majority in the House, take back the Senate and win the White House, Democrats must show the American people that they will aggressively stand up and fight for the working families of this country \u2014 black, white, Latino, Asian American or Native American, men and women, gay or straight. This means addressing the crisis of a broken criminal-justice system and reforming inhumane immigration policies. But it also means fighting to expand a middle class that has been disappearing for more than 40 years, reducing inequality in both income and wealth \u2014 which has disproportionately hurt African Americans and Hispanics \u2014 and aggressively combating climate change, the most urgent threat facing our planet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Specifically, argues Sanders, the new Democratic majority in the House should spend its first 100 days next year passing an unmistakably bold legislative agenda that includes:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>Increasing the minimum wage to $15 an hour and indexing it to median wage growth thereafter.<\/strong>\u00a0The current federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour is a starvation wage that must be increased to a living wage \u2014 at least $15 an hour. This would give more than\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.epi.org\/publication\/15-by-2024-would-lift-wages-for-41-million\/\">40 million Americans<\/a>\u00a0a raise and would generate more than $100 billion in higher wages throughout the country.<\/p>\n<p><strong>A path toward Medicare-for-all.\u00a0<\/strong>The Medicare-for-all bill widely supported in the Senate has a four-year phase-in period on the way to guaranteeing health care for every man, woman and child. Over the first year, it would lower the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 55, cover dental, hearing and vision care for seniors, provide health care to every young person in the United States and lower the cost of prescription drugs.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Bold action to combat climate change.<\/strong>\u00a0The report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has made it clear\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/environment\/2018\/oct\/08\/global-warming-must-not-exceed-15c-warns-landmark-un-report\">we have just 12 years\u00a0<\/a>to substantially cut the amount of carbon in our atmosphere, or our planet will suffer irreversible damage. Congress must pass legislation that shifts our energy system away from fossil fuels and toward energy efficiency and renewable energy. We can lead the planet in combating climate change and, in the process, create millions of good paying jobs.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Fixing our broken criminal-justice system.<\/strong>\u00a0We must end the absurdity of the United States having more people in jail than any other country on Earth. We must invest in jobs and education for our young people, not more jails and incarceration.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Comprehensive immigration reform.<\/strong>\u00a0The American people want to protect the young people in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and to move toward comprehensive immigration reform for the more than\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.factcheck.org\/2018\/06\/illegal-immigration-statistics\/\">11 million people<\/a>\u00a0in our country who are undocumented. And that\u2019s exactly what we should do.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Progressive tax reform.<\/strong>\u00a0At a time of massive and growing inequality in both income and wealth, Congress must pass legislation which requires wealthy people and large corporations to begin paying their fair share of taxes. It is unacceptable that there are large, extremely profitable corporations in this country that\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/03\/09\/business\/economy\/corporate-tax-report.html\">do not pay a nickel<\/a>\u00a0in federal income taxes.<\/p>\n<p><strong>A $1 trillion infrastructure plan.<\/strong>\u00a0Every day, Americans drive to work on potholed roads and crumbling bridges, and ride in overcrowded buses and subways. Children struggle to concentrate in overcrowded classrooms. Workers are unable to find affordable housing. The structures that most Americans don\u2019t see are also in disrepair \u2014 from spotty broadband and an outdated electric grid, to toxic drinking water and dilapidated levees and dams. Congress should pass a $1 trillion infrastructure plan to address these needs while creating up to 15 million good-paying jobs in the process.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lowering the price of prescription drugs.<\/strong>\u00a0Americans pay, by far, the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs because, unlike other countries, the United States\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/business\/high-us-drug-prices-fuel-outrage-innovation-debate-quicktake\/2018\/05\/11\/ce712a0e-5539-11e8-a6d4-ca1d035642ce_story.html?utm_term=.1609e93d0073\">doesn\u2019t directly regulate<\/a>\u00a0the price of medicine. The House should pass legislation to require Medicare to negotiate for lower drug prices and allow patients, pharmacists and wholesalers to purchase low-cost prescription drugs from Canada and other countries. It should also pass legislation to make sure that Americans don\u2019t pay more for prescription drugs than citizens do in other major countries.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Making public colleges and universities tuition-free and substantially reducing student debt.<\/strong>\u00a0In a highly competitive global economy, we must have the best-educated workers in the world. Every young person in America, regardless of income, must have the opportunity to receive the education they need to get a decent job and make it into the middle class. The House should pass the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sanders.senate.gov\/download\/collegeforallsummary\/?inline=file\">College for All Act<\/a>\u00a0to make public colleges and universities tuition-free and substantially reduce student debt.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Expanding Social Security.\u00a0<\/strong>When 1 out of 5 seniors is trying to get by on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sanders.senate.gov\/newsroom\/must-read\/were-going-to-expand-social-security-not-cut-it-\">less than $13,500 a year<\/a>, we must expand Social Security so that every American can retire with dignity and security. The House should pass legislation to expand Social Security benefits and extend its solvency for the next 60 years by requiring that the wealthiest Americans \u2014 those making more than $250,000 a year \u2014 pay their fair share of Social Security taxes.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The Thanksgiving op-ed from Sanders comes a week before the independent senator will deliver the keynote address at a \u201cgathering\u201d of national and international progressive leaders in his home state of Vermont.<\/p>\n<p>The event, coordinated by The Sanders Institute, founded by Jane Sanders, \u201cwill convene 250 leading progressive minds to envision \u2013 and to actualize \u2013 a better future for our country and the world. Reaching across generations and embracing the inherent synergies across the progressive platform, participants will discuss and debate our nation\u2019s most pressing issues and offer innovative solutions.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NOV 23, 2018NEWS\u00a0(truthdig.com) Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.\u00a0(Gage Skidmore \/\u00a0Flickr) While affirming that he \u201cstrongly\u201d disagrees with former Newt Gingrich, who led the GOP in the House in the mid-1990s, \u201con virtually every issue,\u201d Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is calling on Democrats in Congress to rip a page of out the&#8230; <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2018\/11\/24\/bernie-sanders-lays-out-bold-10-point-plan-for-democrats\/\"> Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr; <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10385"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10385"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10385\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10386,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10385\/revisions\/10386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}