The Democrats have to choose which side they are on

They want to know why the food industry is making record profits while they can’t pay their grocery bills.

They want to know why they can’t afford to see a doctor or pay for their prescription drugs, and fear they will go bankrupt if they end up in a hospital.

Donald Trump won this election because he tapped into that anger.

Has he addressed these serious issues in a thoughtful or meaningful way? Absolutely not.

What he did do was channel our country’s festering anger toward a greedy and excessive corporate elite into policies that served his political goals and would ultimately further enrich his fellow billionaires.

Trump’s “genius” is his ability to divide the working class so that tens of millions of Americans will reject solidarity with their colleagues and pave the way for huge tax breaks for the very rich and big corporations.

While Trump talked about capping credit card interest rates at 10 percent and a new trade policy with China, his basic explanation for why the working class was struggling was that millions of illegal immigrants have invaded America and that we are now an “occupied country.” country.”

In his pathologically unfair world, undocumented immigrants illegally participate in our elections and vote for Democrats. They create enormous amounts of crime, drive down wages and take away our jobs. They receive free health care and other benefits denied to American citizens. They even eat our pets.

That explanation is downright racist, cruel and deceptive. But it is a statement.

And what do Democrats have to say about the crises facing working families? What is their full-throated explanation, trumpeted day after day in the media, in the halls of Congress and at town meetings across the country, as to why tens of millions of workers in the richest country in the world are struggling to put food on the table or pay the rent? pay? Where is the deep outrage that we are the only major country in the world that does not guarantee health care for all as a human right, while insurance and pharmaceutical companies make huge profits?

How do they explain the support of billions of dollars in military aid to the right-wing extremist government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which has caused an unprecedented humanitarian disaster in Gaza, causing massive malnutrition and famine for thousands of children?

In my opinion, the Democrats lost this election because they ignored the righteous anger of the American working class and became the defenders of a rigged economic and political system.

This election was largely about class and change, and Democrats were often on the wrong side of both cases. As Jimmy Williams Jr., the president of the Painters Union, said, “The Democratic Party has still not been able to prioritize a strong working-class message that addresses issues that really matter to workers. The party made no positive arguments as to why workers should vote for them, only that they were not Donald Trump. That’s not good enough anymore!”

As an independent member of the US Senate, I consult with the Democrats. In this capacity, I am proud to work with President Biden on one of the most ambitious pro-labor agendas in modern history.

We passed the American Rescue Plan to pull us out of the COVID-19 economic downturn; made historic investments in rebuilding our infrastructure and transforming our energy system; began the process of rebuilding our manufacturing base; lowered prescription drug costs and canceled student debt for five million Americans. Biden promised to be the most progressive president since FDR, and on domestic issues he kept his word.

But unlike FDR, these achievements are almost never discussed in the context of a deeply unfair economy that continues to fail ordinary Americans. Yes. We have made a number of positive changes in recent years. However, we must recognize that what we have done is not nearly enough.

In 1936, FDR’s Second Inaugural Address spoke not only of his administration’s tremendous achievements in combating the Great Depression, but also of the painful economic realities that millions of Americans still faced.

Roosevelt’s words remain relevant today: “I see millions of families trying to live on an income so meager that the pall of family disaster hangs over their heads day after day… I see millions of families lacking education , recreation and the opportunity to improve their lot and fortunes. of their children… I see a third of a nation ill-housed, ill-clothed, ill-fed.”

Of course, the world today is completely different than it was in 1936. We are not in an economic depression. Unemployment is relatively low. People do not face famine.

But Democratic leaders must recognize that working families are facing a tremendous amount of economic pain, fear and hopelessness in a rapidly changing economy — and that they want change. The status quo doesn’t work for them.

In politics you can’t fight something with nothing. The Democratic Party must determine whose side it is on in the great economic struggle of our time, and it must provide a clear vision of what it stands for. Either you stand with the powerful oligarchy of our country, or you stand with the working class. You can’t represent both.

While Democrats will be in the minority in the Senate and (likely) the House of Representatives in the new Congress, they will still have the opportunity to advance a strong legislative agenda that addresses the needs of working families .

If Republicans choose to vote down these bills, the American working class will learn soon enough which party represents them, and which party represents corporate greed.

In my opinion, here are some working class priorities that Democrats should fight for:

▪ We must end Citizens United and stop billionaires from buying elections.

▪ We must raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to a living wage – at least $17 per hour.

▪ We must pass the Law on the Protection of the Right to Organize to make it easier for workers to form unions and to put an end to illegal union busting.

▪ We must protect seniors by increasing Social Security benefits and increasing the program’s solvency by lifting the cap on taxable income.

▪ We need to reintroduce defined benefit pension schemes so that workers can retire with certainty.

▪ We must do what every other wealthy nation is doing and guarantee health care for all as a human right, starting with expanding Medicare to include home care, dental care, hearing and vision.

▪ We need to cut prescription drug prices in half, no more than paid in other countries.

▪ We must provide guaranteed paid family and medical leave.

▪ We must guarantee equal pay for equal work.

▪ We need to create fair trade policies that work for workers, not just corporate CEOs.

▪ We need to build 3 million low-income and affordable housing units.

▪ We must make public colleges and universities tuition-free, make child care affordable for all, and strengthen public education by paying teachers the salaries they deserve.

▪ We must implement a progressive tax system that addresses the massive income and wealth inequality we face by requiring the very wealthy to pay their fair share of taxes.

▪ We must save taxpayers’ money by ending the massive waste, fraud and abuse in the Pentagon.

These are extremely popular ideas. The Democratic Party would do well to listen to and implement the clear directives of American voters. The simple fact is: if you stand with working people, they will stand with you. In my opinion, if the Democrats deliver on an agenda like this, they can win back our country’s working class and the White House.

Bernie Sanders is an independent United States Senator from Vermont.