NY Times 12
nov 2016
Bernie Sanders: Where
the Democrats Go From Here
Millions of Americans registered a protest vote on Tuesday, expressing
their fierce opposition to an economic and political system that puts wealthy
and corporate interests over their own. I strongly supported Hillary Clinton,
campaigned hard on her behalf, and believed she was the right choice on
Election Day. But Donald J. Trump won the White House because his campaign
rhetoric successfully tapped into a very real and justified anger, an anger
that many traditional Democrats feel.
I am saddened, but not surprised, by the outcome. It is no shock to me
that millions of people who voted for Mr. Trump did so because they are sick and
tired of the economic, political and media status quo.
Working families watch as politicians get campaign financial support
from billionaires and corporate interests — and then ignore the needs of
ordinary Americans. Over the last 30 years, too many Americans were sold out by
their corporate bosses. They work longer hours for lower wages as they see
decent paying jobs go to China, Mexico or some other low-wage country. They are
tired of having chief executives make 300 times what they do, while 52 percent
of all new income goes to the top 1 percent. Many of their once beautiful rural
towns have depopulated, their downtown stores are shuttered, and their kids are
leaving home because there are no jobs — all while corporations suck the wealth
out of their communities and stuff them into offshore accounts.
Working Americans can’t afford decent, quality child care for their
children. They can’t send their kids to college, and they have nothing in the
bank as they head into retirement. In many parts of the country they can’t find
affordable housing, and they find the cost of health insurance much too high.
Too many families exist in despair as drugs, alcohol and suicide cut life short
for a growing number of people.
President-elect Trump is right: The American people want change. But
what kind of change will he be offering them? Will he have the courage to stand
up to the most powerful people in this country who are responsible for the
economic pain that so many working families feel, or will he turn the anger of the
majority against minorities, immigrants, the poor and the helpless?
Will he have the courage to stand up to Wall Street, work to break up
the “too big to fail” financial institutions and demand that big banks invest
in small businesses and create jobs in rural America and inner cities? Or, will
he appoint another Wall Street banker to run the Treasury Department and
continue business as usual? Will he, as he promised during the campaign, really
take on the pharmaceutical industry and lower the price of prescription drugs?
I am deeply
distressed to hear stories of Americans being intimidated and harassed in the wake of Mr.
Trump’s victory, and I hear the cries of families who are living in fear of
being torn apart. We have come too far as a country in combating
discrimination. We are not going back. Rest assured, there is no compromise on
racism, bigotry, xenophobia and sexism. We will fight it in all its forms,
whenever and wherever it re-emerges.
I will keep an open mind to see what ideas Mr. Trump offers and when and
how we can work together. Having lost the nationwide popular vote, however, he
would do well to heed the views of progressives. If the president-elect is
serious about pursuing policies that improve the lives of working families, I’m
going to present some very real opportunities for him to earn my support.
Let’s rebuild our crumbling infrastructure and create millions of
well-paying jobs. Let’s raise the minimum wage to a living wage, help students afford
to go to college, provide paid family and medical leave and expand Social
Security. Let’s reform an economic system that enables billionaires like Mr.
Trump not to pay a nickel in federal income taxes. And most important, let’s
end the ability of wealthy campaign contributors to buy elections.
In the coming days, I will also provide a series of reforms to
reinvigorate the Democratic Party. I believe strongly that the party must break
loose from its corporate establishment ties and, once again, become a
grass-roots party of working people, the elderly and the poor. We must open the
doors of the party to welcome in the idealism and energy of young people and
all Americans who are fighting for economic, social, racial and environmental
justice. We must have the courage to take on the greed and power of Wall
Street, the drug companies, the insurance companies and the fossil fuel
industry.
When my presidential campaign came to an end, I pledged to my supporters
that the political revolution would continue. And now, more than ever, that
must happen. We are the wealthiest nation in the history of the world. When we
stand together and don’t let demagogues divide us up by race, gender or
national origin, there is nothing we cannot accomplish. We must go forward, not
backward.
Bernie
Sanders, a senator from Vermont, was a candidate for the 2016 Democratic
presidential nomination.
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