Note: His Medicare for all plan doesn't sound like a single payer system for
everyone at all.
Miriam
Bernie Sanders Opens Up About New Democrats in Congress, Taking on Trumpism
By Matt Taibbi, Rolling Stone
10 November 18
A conversation with the Vermont senator, who wants liberals to be able to
"walk and chew gum at the same time" when it comes to the president
Amid all the drama of the 2018 midterms, Vermont's Bernie Sanders cruised to
re-election Tuesday night, securing a third term in the Senate with an easy
66.1 percent of the vote. In a year in which longtime Senate incumbents on
both sides of the aisle were either unseated or faced stiff challenges,
Sanders continued a tradition dating back to his House days of winning too
easily to make headlines. He was barely mentioned during the cable news
election-night marathons.
But Sanders was implicitly a major part of the 2018 narrative. He had
campaigned hard for several candidates, notably Florida Democrat Andrew
Gillum, and seemed deeply disappointed in Gillum's narrow loss (which
appears on the verge of being relitigated). Pundits treated many of the
races around the country as referendums on the viability of Sanders-style
progressive politics going forward.
As we did after Election Day in 2016, Rolling Stone caught up with Sanders
to ask for his take on the midterms, the Democrats' likely strategy in the
House, the dismissal of his former Senate colleague Jeff Sessions and other
key issues.
Sanders, a possible 2020 presidential candidate, called Tuesday's victories
"a significant step forward in terms of the revitalization of American
democracy." But he also had some customarily sharp-edged takes about the
conventional wisdom already forming about the results.
As he did two years ago, Sanders warned against complacency and insisted it
would be a "very, very serious mistake" if Democrats did not at least try to
pass progressive legislation, so as to call Trump's populist bluff. Failure
to do so, he implied, would mean ceding vital territory to Trump, a man with
"no core beliefs."
Matt Taibbi: Senator, congratulations on your win.
Senator Bernie Sanders: Thank you very much.
First impressions from Election Night? Most encouraging result, least
encouraging?
My impression is that, given the fact that Trump fired [Attorney General
Jeff] Sessions today in order to remove media coverage from [Tuesday] night
tells me we had a pretty good night. I think [Tuesday] night was a
significant rejection of Trumpism. Not only did the Democrats regain control
of the House, which was the most important development, Democrats won seven
governors' races. Democrats won 300 races at the state legislative and in
the four states that Trump won in order to get his Electoral College
majority - Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan - all four of those
Senate Democratic candidates won. And three out of the four [Democratic]
candidates for governor won. As someone who worked very hard for Andrew
Gillum, that was a major disappointment. He ran a brilliant campaign,
dealing with a lot of things, including racism. We'll see what happens in
Georgia, whether or not they're going to count all the votes there. But if
Abrams loses, that [will be] a painful loss.
Do you have any plans to oppose what happened in Georgia?
I will add my voice and do what I can! Bottom line there: We are aware of
the absurdity of this guy Kemp, who is the Secretary of State, counting the
votes. [He] happens to be her opponent. The demand has got to be that every
bloody vote has got to be counted. I will add my voice and do everything I
can to make sure that happens.
The Washington Post had an op-ed suggesting this means no "fire-breathing"
progressives going forward, no liberals, that the way forward is moderates -
[Laughs] Matt, I am really shocked by this! I cannot believe that that is
their conclusion, given that they have been spouting that absurd line
forever, and that was the line that they had which enabled Republicans to
gain control of the Senate and the House and the White House and for
Democrats to lose almost 1,000 seats in the previous nine years. Of course,
that's what the establishment will say, and that's what the establishment
Democrats will say. But the truth is that what has happened in this election
is a significant step forward in terms of the revitalization of American
democracy. It wasn't moderate democrats or conservative Democrats who got
young people into the political process. It wasn't moderate Democrats who
increased voter turnout in this election compared to four years ago, I think
by almost 50 percent.
It wasn't just moderate Democrats who won incredibly great victories for the
House. There were some moderates, to be sure. But I think the Washington
Post is going to be very surprised at who shows up on the first day of
Congress and gets sworn in, because that is going to be the most progressive
freshman class in the modern history of the United States. Many of these
folks are not just women, not just people of color, who campaigned on
Medicare-for-all, raising the minimum wage to 15 bucks, campaigned on making
public colleges and universities tuition-free, of undoing Trump's tax breaks
for billionaires. The political establishment notwithstanding, the future
belongs to progressives.
Earlier you mentioned Attorney General Sessions. Obviously you served with
him in the Senate. Do you have any thoughts about his legacy as Attorney
General, or the meaning of this firing?
I would just reiterate that Trump knows how to manipulate the media and that
it's not an accident that he fired Sessions today, not tomorrow, not the
next day. Because he wanted to divert attention from what happened Tuesday
night. Sessions did Trump's bidding. Did his bidding on criminal justice -
terrible. Did his bidding on immigration - terrible. Did his bidding on a
number of areas. On the one hand, the resentment that Trump obviously had
toward Sessions is that he recused himself in terms of the Mueller
investigation, which was the right thing to do. And Trump never forgave him.
The key question right now is whether or not Trump will attempt to impede
the Mueller investigation. And that must not be allowed to happen. Congress
has got to pass legislation to protect that investigation. However, if Trump
goes forward and tries to impede it, that is in my mind an obstruction of
justice, which is an impeachable offense. So we have to do everything we can
in every way to make sure that investigation goes forward.
Do you have any thoughts about the leadership in the House?
I will let them work that out themselves. I'm obviously not a member of the
House anymore. We'll let them make their own decisions. But this is what I
absolutely do believe. I absolutely believe that from day one, the Democrats
in the House have got to come out with a progressive agenda that speaks to
the needs of working people. And that leads to - as you know, the
Medicare-for-all bill I introduced, which is to be implemented over four
years, lowers the eligibility age from 65 to 55, covers all of the children,
and lowers the cost of prescription drugs. My guess is that about 80-percent
of the American people would support a proposal like that. It's wildly
popular. And that's what the Democrats have got to do. They've got to raise
the minimum wage to 15 bucks an hour, they've got to make public colleges
tuition-free and they've got to lower student debt. All of these proposals
are enormously popular. And they're good public policy. And here's what I
think, Matt, that maybe nobody else in the world believes. As you know,
Trump is a 100-percent political opportunist, who has no political views
other than how he can win elections.
Well, that's true.
Today, if he is a racist and a sexist, tomorrow he may be a great civil
rights champion - if he thinks it gets him five more votes. He has no core
values. I would not be shocked that if the Democrats passed popular, good
legislation, that Trump would look around him and say, "Hey, why not? What
do I give a damn?" And he may come on board, because ultimately he doesn't
believe in anything except winning. So I believe it's terribly important
that the Democrats come out of the gate full-steam ahead and start passing
really good legislation that puts Trump and the Republicans on the
defensive.
So far what I've been reading about the intention of the Democrats in the
House is that much of it is focused on investigations; we have 64 subpoenas
we want to drop, and -
Wrong!
Wrong?
Look, people can chew bubble gum and walk at the same time. Democrats can do
that. And if all they're going to do is investigate Trump, that would be, in
my view a very, very serious mistake. I think finally we are going to have
oversight over Trump's behavior. And I think investigations are absolutely
appropriate. But simultaneously, people who are making $11 an hour are not
worrying about investigations. People who have no health care, or can't
afford prescription drugs, are not worried about subpoenas. People who can't
afford to send their kids to college are not worried about another
investigation. So it would be a tragic mistake in my view if all the
Democrats did is focus on investigations. They must, must, must go forward
with a progressive agenda to win the support of the American people.
Because -
Because it's not an either/or. Investigation, oversight: terribly important.
But they have got to come forward with a progressive agenda for working
people.
And they have to do that, presumably, before the 2020 presidential race
begins?
They have to do it on day one. They can start working on it. I'll work with
them. But we've got to do that on day one.
Email This Page
e-max.it: your social media marketing partner
