Bernie Calls For Presidential Vetos & Proposes 12-Point Plan

Here is the latest missive from Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont):

You know it.  I know it.  The American people know it. 

This country faces enormous economic and political challenges. At a time when the wealthiest people and largest corporations are doing phenomenally well, most Americans are working longer hours for lower wages and median family income has fallen by $5,000 since 1999.

Politically, more and more Americans are giving up on the political process with the voter turnout in the recent midterm elections being the lowest since 1942. But, while young people and working people don't vote, the Koch Brothers and others in the billionaire class spend huge sums to elect candidates who will represent their interests.

What do we do? Well, we can give up - and many people are. Or, we can fight back - which is what I propose.

That's why I'm joining with the members of Progressives United to send a clear message to President Obama that we will stand with him when he vetoes Republican legislation that attacks the well-being of the struggling middle class.  

NO to cuts in Social Security. NO to cuts in Medicaid. NO to converting Medicare into a voucher program. NO to new trade legislation that sends our jobs overseas and hammers our middle-class workers. NO to cuts to nutrition programs, education or environmental protection.

YES to raising the minimum wage. YES to a massive jobs program rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure. YES to transforming our energy system away from fossil fuels. YES to pay equity for women workers. YES to overturning Citizens United.

We already know what "compromise" will mean from a Republican Congress: their way or the highway. In order to win in the future, President Obama must stand strong for the American middle class, and we must support him.

Tell President Obama: Standing firm is the only option, and that means committing to VETO legislation that attacks working families, and fighting for legislation that defends their needs.

In the remaining two years of the Obama presidency, Leader Mitch McConnell and Speaker John Boehner will do absolutely nothing for anyone except their primary constituencies: Wall Street and America's wealthiest. 

To combat the billionaire class' political power and influence, please join me in making it clear to the president that he must support government that works for all people, and not just corporations and the wealthiest among us.

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And here is his 12-point plan to get this country back on track:

Invest in our crumbling infrastructure with a major program to create jobs by rebuilding roads, bridges, water systems, waste water plants, airports, railroads and schools.

Transform energy systems away from fossil fuels to create jobs while beginning to reverse global warming and make the planet habitable for future generations.

Develop new economic models to support workers in the United States instead of giving tax breaks to corporations which ship jobs to low-wage countries overseas.

Make it easier for workers to join unions and bargain for higher wages and benefits.

Raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 an hour so no one who works 40 hours a week will live in poverty.

Provide equal pay for women workers who now make 78 percent of what male counterparts make.

Reform trade policies that have shuttered more than 60,000 factories and cost more than 4.9 million decent-paying manufacturing jobs.

Make college affordable and provide affordable child care to restore America’s competitive edge compared to other nations.

Break up big banks. The six largest banks now have assets equivalent to 61 percent of our gross domestic product, over $9.8 trillion. They underwrite more than half the mortgages in the country and issue more than two-thirds of all credit cards.

Join the rest of the industrialized world with a Medicare-for-all health care system that provides better care at less cost.

Expand Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and nutrition programs.

Reform the tax code based on wage earners’ ability to pay and eliminate loopholes that let profitable corporations stash profits overseas and pay no U.S. federal income taxes.

(The caricature of Bernie above is from DonkeyHotey.)