Sanders complains of economic unfairness

WOLFEBORO — Presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders hammered away at his message of economic inequality during a campaign stop in Wolfeboro.

The Independent U.S. senator pushed his support of universal health care, free college education, labor rights, and measures to increase energy efficiency and combat global warming to about 350 supporters gathered on the lawn of the Wolfeboro Inn Monday afternoon.

Denouncing what he called President Donald Trump’s divisive politics, he told the crowd, “The antidote of what Trump is trying to do … is bringing people together around an agenda that works for all and not just the 1 percent.

“Does anyone here think it’s acceptable that three people in America own more wealth than the bottom half of American society?” he asked, driving home his view that present-day politics in the U.S. is skewed to benefit the rich at the expense of the poor and low-income wage-earners.

The Vermont senator used the rally to push his Medicare-for-all plan which he has called the defining issue of his campaign.

The plan, he said, would be paid for by a “modest” tax paid by wage-earners, but he pointed out that the amount that anyone would pay in the tax would be far less than what people are now being forced to pay out-of-pocket due to high deductibles and co-payments.

He also called for a $15-an-hour minimum wage, pointing out that seven states have already passed such a measure. He did not, however, mention that New Hampshire Republican Gov. Chris Sununu had just vetoed a bill which would have raised the minimum wage in the Granite State from $7.25 an hour to $10 next year and $12 in 2022.

Sanders called for free tuition at public colleges and universities, noting that 50 years ago it was possible for students to attend many tax-supported higher education facilities virtually tuition-free, such as City College of New York and the University of California-Berkeley.

“If we could do that 50 years ago, right now, when GDP is so much greater, please do not tell me we cannot do it today,” he said.

Sanders said the funds for free tertiary education and cancellation of student debt would be raised by what he called “a very modest tax on Wall Street speculation” which over 10 years would amount to $2.4 trillion — “$200 billion more than we need.”

He repudiated critics who deride his ideas as too radical. He identified other social changes that were once denounced as radical or extreme, including the 40-hour work week, giving women the right to vote, and outlawing racial segregation. The real problem, he said, is that too many politicians in American have become too conservative in their thinking.

“Our campaign is about 'why not?'” he said.

He also called for “strongly common-sense” gun safety laws.

Sanders advocates banning the sale and distribution of assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines, in addition to cracking down on “straw purchases,” where individuals buy guns for criminals, and the gun show loophole in order to expand background checks.

As with the minimum wage issue, he made no mention of Sununu’s veto last week of three bills that advocates said would have added “common-sense” protections for Granite Staters against gun violence. One bill would close the so-called gun show loophole and require background checks for virtually all commercial firearms sales or transfers. Another called for a three-day waiting period before the purchase and delivery of a firearm. The third would have prohibited carrying a firearm on school property.

The vetoes came less than a week after mass shootings killed more than 30 people in Texas and Ohio.

Sanders’ visit to Wolfeboro happened one day before a poll was released showing him leading the Democratic presidential field in New Hampshire.

The Gravis Marketing poll released Tuesday showed Sanders with 21 percent, followed by former Vice-President Joe Biden with 15 percent and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) at 12 percent. An earlier recent poll, by contrast, showed Biden leading in New Hampshire, followed by Sanders.

During the Wolfeboro stop, Sanders repeatedly told his supporters the only way to bring about the kind of radical change he sees as necessary is if there is a massive groundswell of popular support for that change. No candidate can accomplish that alone, he emphasized.

“The only way we bring about the transformation of our country is when millions of people come together — not Bernie Sanders or any other candidate … [because] that candidate cannot do it alone, that president cannot do it alone — because we are taking on incredible wealth and incredible power, and people who will fight tenaciously with every tool that they have in order to preserve their profits, their wealth, and their power.”

Sanders’ bold pronouncements resonated with the crowd.

“I like everything he says,” said Keith Simpson of Wolfeboro, who was in the crowd. “Compared to other candidates, he talks about structural change. The country is at the point where we need to hear some shouting,” he added.

Another Wolfeboro resident, Nancy Hirshberg, said she was especially interested in Sanders’ health care positions, and particularly about his plan for funding Medicare-for-all. She said what he said about funding “was good enough to make me want to learn more” about his proposal.

Eileen Ehlers said she had gone to an earlier Sanders rally and traveled to Hooksett to hear him again.

“He represents the hopes and fears I have,” she said. He’s in [the presidential race] for everyone.”