By Sen. Bernie Sanders
posted
Nov 14, 2012
By Sen. Bernie Sanders,
I want to take this opportunity to thank the citizens of Vermont
for allowing me to continue representing them in the U.S. Senate.
These are tough times for our country, and I promise to continue
working as hard as I can to address the very serious crises that we
face.
Let me provide a brief overview of just a few of the areas
that I will be focusing on.
THE ECONOMY: The U.S. economy today is
working very well - for millionaires and billionaires. Not so well
for the disappearing middle class. While we have come a long way in
the last four years since Wall Street greed drove us to the verge
of a worldwide depression, much more has to be done to create the
millions of jobs that we need.
In America today we have the most unequal distribution of wealth
and income of any major country on earth. The top 1 percent owns 42
percent of the nation's wealth, while the bottom 60 percent owns
2.3 percent. In the last study done on income distribution, we
learned that 93 percent of all new income generated between 2009
and 2010 went to the top 1 percent, while the bottom 99 percent
split the remaining 7 percent. This extraordinary unfairness is not
only morally reprehensible, it is bad economics. It will be very
difficult to create the jobs that our people need when so many
Americans have little or no money to spend.
As Vermont's senator I
will be pushing for a major jobs program to put millions of people
back to work rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure. In Vermont
and around the country we need a massive effort to improve our
roads, bridges, water and wastewater systems, airports, rail
system, broadband and cell phone service. Rebuilding our
infrastructure makes us more productive and internationally
competitive - and creates a whole lot of jobs.
DEFICIT REDUCTION:
In 2001, when Bill Clinton left office, this country had a $236
billion surplus. As a result of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that
were unpaid for, huge tax breaks for the rich, a Medicare
prescription drug program put on the credit card and a significant
decline in federal revenues because of the recession, we now have a
$1 trillion deficit and a $16 trillion national debt.
Congress must
address the deficit situation, but we must do it in a way that is
fair. At a time when the wealthiest people in this country are
doing extremely well and their effective tax rates are extremely
low (think Mitt Romney), the people on top must pay their fair
share of taxes to help us deal with the deficit. The idea that
Republicans are united in wanting to extend Bush's tax breaks for
the top 2 percent is beyond comprehension. We must also end the
outrageous loop-holes that allow one out of four large profitable
corporations to pay nothing in federal corporate taxes. We must
also end the absurdity of allowing the wealthy and large
corporations to avoid paying over $100 billion a year in federal
taxes because they are able to stash their money in tax havens in
the Cayman Islands, Bermuda and elsewhere.
We must also take a
hard look at wasteful spending in the Defense Department where we
now spend almost as much money as the rest of the world combined.
There are also other federal agencies where significant savings can
be found.
What we must not do, however is to move toward a balanced
budget on the backs of the elderly, the children, the sick and the
poor. That is what virtually all Republicans and some Democrats
want to do, but as Vermont's senator I will do all that I can to
prevent cuts in Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid education and
other programs vitally important to the working families of
America.
GLOBAL WARMING: If the destruction caused by Tropical
Storm Irene was not enough of a wake-up call for the country, then
Hurricane Sandy surely should be. Virtually all the scientists who
study this issue agree that global warming is real, that it is
significantly caused by human activity and that it is already
wreaking havoc on this planet in terms of floods, drought,
wild-fires and severe weather disturbances.
The scientists also
tell us that the destructive impact of global warming will only
become more severe and more frequent if we do not dramatically
reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
As Vermont's senator, I will do
all that I can to move our energy system away from fossil fuels and
into energy efficiency and such sustainable energies as wind,
solar, geo-thermal and bio-mass. This is not only imperative for
the future of our planet, but it will improve our economy by
creating a significant number of green jobs.
These are only a few of the issues that my office will be
working on. Needless to say, we have got to continue going forward
to provide health care for all our people, protect women's rights,
do all that we can to make college affordable and fight for the
well-being of family based agriculture. As a member of the
Committee on Veterans' Affairs, I will continue my efforts on
behalf of those who have put their lives on the line defending our
country.
If there are any problems my office can help you with, or
opinions you wish to express, please call us at 1-800-339-9834 or
go to my website at sanders.senate.gov.
Once again, thank you very
much for allowing me to represent our great state in the U.S.
Senate.
Tagged:
OP ED, Sen. Bernie Sanders
