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Bernie Sanders Condemns Mitt Romney’s Death Sentence For The Poor
Bernie Sanders not only strongly condemned Mitt Romney, but also said that the GOP frontrunner’s attitude and positions represent a death sentence for the poor.
Here is the video courtesy of MSNBC’s The Ed Show:
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Transcript from MSNBC:
SCHULTZ: Let’s turn to Independent Vermont Senator Sanders, one of the co-sponsors of the bill. Senator, before we get to this, I do want to ask you, your reaction to Mitt Romney “I’m not concerned about poor people because we have a social safety net for them, if it needs fixing, I’ll fix it” what is your response?
SANDERS: A horrendous, ugly statement especially coming from somebody worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Ed, the reality is that poverty today is at an all-time high. We did a hearing on this in my subcommittee. If you are in the lowest 20% of the American people, you will die six-and-a-half years younger than if you’re in the top 20%. Poverty in many ways is a death sentence. Romney and his friends want to cut Medicaid, throw children off health insurance, they want to cut Medicare, they want to cut Social Security, and they are going to war against the poorest people in this country. I think that is an immoral just — an immoral position to take.
Sen. Sanders was absolutely correct to point out that Mitt Romney’s blasé attitude about poverty is akin to a shortened lifespan for millions of Americans. The problem with Romney’s comments wasn’t just political. It was moral. At a time when millions of Americans are struggling to get by, Mitt Romney chose to pretend like poverty doesn’t exist.
Bernie Sanders also laid out some hidden truths that the Republican Party and Mitt Romney don’t want to talk about. Romney doesn’t want the American people to know that he is in favor of killing Medicare and Medicaid, and he definitely doesn’t want voters to know that he supports privatizing Social Security. The great irony is that Romney talked about the existence of a safety net for the poor, while he is campaigning on cutting that safety net down to nothing.
One should be very weary of Romney’s promise to fix the safety net, because by fix he doesn’t mean repair it. Mitt Romney’s “fix” is privatization. The policies that Mitt Romney supports would shorten the lifespans of poor Americans, while at the same time he is planning to hand out trillions of dollars in tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans.
Conservatives may scream that Bernie Sanders was trying to scare seniors, but the truth IS scary.
Sen. Sanders was simply stating the facts about what Mitt Romney plans to do if he gets elected. What Sanders told Ed Schulz wasn’t a scare tactic. It was reality.
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18 Responses to Bernie Sanders Condemns Mitt Romney’s Death Sentence For The Poor
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Deborah Montesano
Feb. 1st, 2012 at 11:15 pm
Senator Sanders has become the conscience of the nation. Long live Bernie Sanders!
t
Feb. 1st, 2012 at 11:39 pm
I second that, Bernie is the man! Not only does he have the courage to say things other democrats only think, but he truly cares about the poor. The poor don’t have lobbyist but Sanders does everything he can to be their voice. I admire and respect the man a lot, he is by far my favorite politician. Romneys ideas are death sentence for the poor, whether it’s in the private sector or as president. The fact that he’s not concerned with the very poor and believes they have a safety net is an admission of how all the top 1% think about the subject. In reality the safety nets vanished years ago along with the jobs. Millions in this country are lucky enough to have a job yet they can’t even afford to turn the heat on in their house because they’re making a five dollar an hour minimum wage, I know two people like that. We all know where Romney would take this country and if you though the divide between rich and poor was bad now you ain’t seen nothing yet.
artisanrox
Feb. 1st, 2012 at 11:41 pm
ANY of the GOP is a death sentence for the poor. After all, they’re all just different flavors of the SAME EXACT “corporatist crazy”!
Chris Travers
Feb. 2nd, 2012 at 8:06 am
Now, if only we had an alternative.
The problem, I think, as Cornell West said so eloquently was that we have one party, the Republicans, which is essentially the rule of oligarchs, and the other party, the Democrats which is essentially the neoliberal version of the Republicans.
We desperately need candidates who not only pledge to make strong changes, but whose resolution lasts more than a day in office…..
Anne
Feb. 2nd, 2012 at 8:51 am
I agree totally with artisanrox that any of the GOP candidates would be a fatally bad choice. The differences among them are only a matter of degree, because they all want to cut vital programs while giving the rich more tax cuts and, except for Ron Paul, to start a war with Iran.
I say let Willard keep talking because every time he goes off script, he shows his true reactionary and compassionless colors. The more he talks, the deeper he digs a hole for himself. If he should be the nominee, every stupid, ignorant, and backward thing he has ever said should be used against him.
Don Perera
Feb. 2nd, 2012 at 10:50 am
I like Bernis Sanders, but he can’t blame the poverty situation on Romney.
The poverty rate has remained around 14% for almost 40 years thru Democrat and Republican administrations. The Country has spent trillions on the problem without making a dent in it. Why pick in Romney, because he spoke the truth. There is a certain section of our population, because of inadequate education, outsourced jobs, poor family life, that just can’t seem to make the transition to middle class. Many President have tried and failed. Many Congresses have tried and failed. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try and correct the problems causing poverty, but its not just a Romney problem, or a Republican problem, or a Democrat problem, its a problem that doesn’t seem to have a solution, even after 40 years of trying.
Shiva (Moderator)
Feb. 2nd, 2012 at 10:57 am
No one blames the poverty situation on Romney.
Romney did not speak the truth because he did not say what you said he says. He said he is not worried about the poor because they have Safety net’s. These are the very same safety nets that the GOP wants to tear down, and that Romney will tear down as soon as an office. As evidenced by Rush Limbaugh statements that Romney would fix( supposedly) the very safety nets that tear our country apart financially. what Rush Limbaugh wants is the poor living in the streets because there are not enough jobs for them. And Romney would go right along with that once in office if he is the conservative that he keeps bragging that he is
f joy
Feb. 2nd, 2012 at 12:11 pm
Don, the actual change in the middle class began under the Reagan administration. He started busting the unions and making sure corporate execs took home all the profits. The middle class was sitting well before that time. I was one of them. There was job security, loyalty, benefits, cost of living increases, etc. I remember trying to convince coworkers not to vote for Reagan and they wouldn’t listen. They were all laid off and devastated within a year. Then the corporation began hiring others at a much lower rate of pay and CEOs began taking home larger bonuses. You would hear of massive layoffs across the country. I always felt that Ron Reagan began the end of the middle class in the name of capitalism. I believe in a free market and individual success. I believe in entrepreneurs. But over the last 30 plus years the middle class has taken a beating. After the Bush administration took this country to the brink of economic disaster, the worst since the depression, the bottom has fallen out of the middle class. And the only recovery has been orchestrated by the Obama administration. The GOP are determined to finish the job because they hate the fact that a black man holds the most powerful position in the land. So they have tried to stop him at every turn and level with obstruction, lies, and dirty politics. This RTW policy in Republican states is as backwards as can be. At this rate, soon people will be working as if they live in China and the GOP leaders will be living high off the hog. The greed is horrible. How do they sleep at night?
Don Perera
Feb. 2nd, 2012 at 1:43 pm
According to US Census Bureau numbers, the poverty rate is about the same as the first year of Reagan. The actual numbers have gone up due to population increase, but the rates haven’t changed that much. It peaked at about 15% in 1982, 1992, and 2010.
www.census.gov/hhes/www/p...
As to why. As I said, this situation has remained thru many administrations no matter what either Party did, because they didn’t attack the real causes.
As to Bush taken this country to the brink of financial disaster, he had lots of helps from those of the opposite Party. Financial institutions were paying off both Parties. Retiring members of Congress became lobbyists to get concessions for many special interests. Warning about Fannie and Freddie from Bush Administration were stonewalled by Barnie Frank and friends. Warnings in the early 2000 were ignored by both Parties. I still think the 1999 Gramm-Leach-Bliley Bill which removed the wall between the commercial and investment banks, passed by a large majority of both Parties, set the stage fo the mess we are in. The Democrats gained control of both Houses of Congress in 2006 and added the Presidency in 2008 did little to to reduce the problems.
I haven’t been happy with either Party for some time. They all seem more interested in the re-election by pandering to special interests that really solving the Country’s problems,,,, and we, the voter/taxpayers, keep sending them back.
Don Perera
Feb. 2nd, 2012 at 2:37 pm
I’ve been listening to an NPR program on the work situation in the US. They have made the point that many jobs have been automated and require a pretty skilled worker to work with and maintain those machines. They mention that to be competitive with the rest of the world, especially where much labor is involved, those just have moved off-shore to lower costs areas.
There used to be some jobs for the unskilled, but those many of those jobs have disappeared.
I also bring up that many years ago somebody decided we could support our economy by concentrating on the service areas of the economy. We didn’t need to manufacturer things. That looked good on paper at the time, but it sure has come back to bite us.
I think all of thses areas are reasonable explanations of why the less educated, lower skilled workers, can’t make it out of poverty. I don’t like that situation but am not sure what can be done to alleviate it. Education might help, but would there be good paying jobs for the additional educated workers. I don’t know.
A Walkaway
Feb. 2nd, 2012 at 4:32 pm
I wish it were so simple.
I used to repair those machines. The corporations did everything in their power to cut pennies (in order to increase their bottom line), including trying to violate basic safety and get away with it. They outsourced the jobs for the people that ran their machinery to put more money in their pockets. Several times over the years I had my business, I was in a shop where they shipped everything overseas and let their employees go. I remember one business owner telling his workers “Why should I pay you jerks $12 an hour, when I can have the same thing done for (I think he said) $6 a day?” He then gave them their walking papers, allowed them to gather their stuff, and escorted them from the building (watching carefully the whole time – I guess he was afraid they would sabotage the machinery or steal something). He made it clear as he was locking up that he was doing it so that he could keep more money in his pocket, not because he had to lower his prices to compete or anything like that. (He also stiffed me on my bill – a regular practice which made me leery of owners/CEOs like him.)
The people who did that didn’t care that skilled employees ended up working in McDonalds or ended up homeless. BTW… running a computerized machine tool is NOT unskilled labor, and it requires skill to run most manufacturing machinery (plus understanding what is going on).
THOSE are the sorts of jobs that we lost.
Oh, and those types… they also were the ones who were most hostile to unions…
Don Perera
Feb. 2nd, 2012 at 11:22 pm
I’ll have to admit that management compensation is way out of line, but that bottom line taht you mention is what pays taxes, dividends, and keeps the companies in business. I wish someone could come up with a solution that would keep US workers employed and still allow the companies to compete globaly. So far I haven’t heard any good solutions.
A Walkaway
Feb. 2nd, 2012 at 11:45 pm
Uh… they CAN compete globally, without screwing the employees.
“Competing globally” is smokescreen. Companies in places with living wage laws and things like that are doing fine. It’s the American corporations that as a general rule are doing the outsourcing… and when the people they exploit start demanding better treatment, they pull up stakes and move elsewhere.
The problem is the management/ownership and the investors are in a word GREEDY.
1voice1vote
Feb. 2nd, 2012 at 12:19 pm
IMO, a vote for a Republican is:
“I think that is an immoral just — an immoral position to take.” B. Sanders
A Walkaway
Feb. 2nd, 2012 at 12:31 pm
From what he’s said, Bernie Sanders has been listening to the right people – the scientists, and paying attention to their findings.
So he’s got it right.
A Walkaway
Feb. 2nd, 2012 at 12:58 pm
BTW… I’ve heard about “Medicare/Medicaid Fraud” from the Republicans several times, but they are pointing their fingers at the people trying to get help as the cause of the problem.
NO, they need look no further than Rick Scott and people like him. Demonstrated fact: that the fraud is at the corporate level, combined with the rich (doctors) defrauding the assistance program rather than with individuals seeking help. Like usual, they blame the poor for the deeds of the rich.
How many Billions did Scott’s company siphon from the funds set aside to help poor people? They paid over 1.7 BILLION in fines and so on because of the deliberate fraud.
As I just found out, whistleblowers were regularly telling people that Scott was well aware of what was going on (in this extreme Religious Right atmosphere, they seem to have been ignored and not reported in the Mainstream media). He’s just another rich man who cares only for himself and people like him (as demonstrated by everything he’s done since he bought the governorship).