Last updated on September 25th, 2023 at 01:47 pm
A liberal hurricane swept ashore today as Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) took out both Jeb Bush and the Koch brothers on CBS’s Face The Nation.
Video:
To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.
Transcript via Face The Nation:
DICKERSON: Let me ask you about another piece of news this week. Scott Walker folded his campaign. You have talked a great deal about the billionaire class that influences politics by giving money to candidates.
The Koch brothers were big fans of Scott Walker’s. He had a lot of money in his super PAC. And yet he disappeared from the presidential race. Is that a rebuttal to your argument that big money just totally calls the tune in politics?
SANDERS: I wish it were, and I wish that the Koch brothers would say, well, gee, now we’re going to take the $900 million that we planned to spend in this campaign supporting right-wing Republicans, more, by the way, than either the Democratic Party or the Republican Party will spend, and we’re not going to spend it.
But, John, I don’t think the Koch brothers learned that lesson. I think the power of money over the political process is horrendous. I think that super PACs are a very, very playing destructive role in our political system. And I will do, if president, everything that I can to see that this disastrous Citizens United Supreme Court decision is overturned.
American democracy is not about billionaires buying elections or trying to buy elections.
….
DICKERSON: That is a kind of argument that will be used against you if you get the nomination, the idea that you’re just — you’re promising health care for all and free college. You’re just — it’s a bunch of free stuff. It’s unrealistic.
What is your reaction?
SANDERS: Well, let’s be clear that what Jeb Bush is proposing are massive tax breaks for the richest people in this country, while he will fight to cut Social Security and Medicare and programs that tens of millions of elderly people and middle-class people and working-class people depend upon.
I happen to believe, John, that in a democratic, civilized society, all people should be entitled to healthcare as a right. Yes, I do believe that. Is this a radical idea? No, it’s not. Every other major industrialized country on Earth does the same.
Yes, I believe that it is absurd that, in a highly competitive global economy, we have got hundreds of thousands of bright young people who are qualified to college, but can’t because their families lack the income. So, yes, I do believe that public colleges and universities should be tuition-free.
Is this is a radical idea? Well, gee, Germany does it. Other countries around the world do that because they know investing in their kids is good for their economy. And, by the way, we’re going to pay for that by a tax on Wall Street speculation.
Jeb Bush and the Koch brothers share a common problem.
The policies that Bernie Sanders is running on are very popular. The Kochs can back Scott Walker and union busting while Jeb Bush proposes more tax cuts for the rich and tax hikes for everyone else, but the reality is that the ideas that they offering are not popular with voters.
Sen. Sanders is anti-Koch and Bush. The platform that Sanders is running on is very similar to the platform of President Obama and the Democratic Party. Sanders is more to the left on healthcare, but the basic ideas only differ by degree.
Bernie Sanders is one of the most powerful voices on the left because he is willing to take on the Koch brothers. Sanders called out Jeb Bush’s tax plan for what it really was. His direct and plain-spoken manner cuts through the rhetoric and hits the stale Sunday show landscape with category 5 level force.
Sen. Sanders is demonstrating why the Sunday mornings need to feature more liberal voices.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
