FORT DODGE, Iowa—Bernie Sanders, the second-term independent senator from Vermont, spoke on “real issues” at Iowa Central Community College today, promising that his policies would “strengthen families” if he were elected president.
Sanders, who is running as a Democrat in 2016, stated a top priority of his is combating the Citizens United Supreme Court ruling—allowing unlimited campaign spending by corporations—because it “touches on every other issue.”
“It’s not only overturning Citizens United … I want you to be able to get up and run for office without having to bow down and beg wealthy people for campaign finance support,” Sanders said to the crowded college lecture hall.
“Everybody has one vote. That’s what democracy means to me,” he continued.
Sanders stated that if he were president he would only appoint Supreme Court justices who will vote to overturn Citizens United.
Sanders said he wants to protect working families and the middle class.
He promised to guarantee 12 weeks of paid family leave and two weeks of paid vacation to all working Americans if elected president.
He stated that the U.S. is an “international embarrassment” since the country does not already guarantee things such paid family leave and sick leave.
Bernie Sanders poses with a fan at Iowa Central Community College. (Photo: Leah Jessen/The Daily Signal)
He said that other countries are well ahead of the U.S. on these issues.
Wanting to raise the minimum wage, Sanders said, “I don’t think that’s a radical idea to say that if you work 40 hours a week in America you should not be living in poverty.”
It is “unacceptable” that there is unequal pay between men and women, Sanders said.
Stating that youth unemployment is a “huge generational crisis,” Sanders would like to see this issue more openly discussed.
He believes youth unemployment is correlated with the amount of people incarcerated in the U.S.
Another “huge consequence issue” that Sanders addressed was higher education.
He said that working class kids should be able to receive an education no matter their financial circumstance.
Refinancing debt at lower interest rates and lowering student debt interest rates would help combat this issue, he said.
“We need to start talking about the real issues and not about political gossip,” Sanders said.
