Published on Alternet (http://www.alternet.org)
Home > Sanders Launches 'Our Revolution,' Dedicated to a Progressive Agenda
and Better Democratic Party
________________________________________
Sanders Launches 'Our Revolution,' Dedicated to a Progressive Agenda and
Better Democratic Party
By Steven Rosenfeld [1] / AlterNet [2]
August 24, 2016
Bernie Sanders' revolution seeking a kinder, fairer, more egalitarian and
dignified America will continue, working to elect progressive candidates,
introducing nationally significant state ballot measures and pushing the
Democratic Party to abide by its recently adopted platform, the
ex-presidential candidate told thousands of supporters in a national webcast
Wednesday night.
"We changed the conversation regarding the possibilities of our country-that
is what we changed," Sanders said. "We redefined what the vision and the
future of our country should be and that is no small thing. And what our
campaign showed, making the establishment very very unhappy-and that is a
good thing-what our campaign showed the world is that the American people
are prepared to stand up to a corrupt campaign finance system, a rigged
economy, a broken criminal justice system and the global threat posed by the
fossil fuel industry that is destroying our planet through their carbon
emissions."
The webcast was previewed as the launch of a new national progressive
campaign organization, called Our Revolution [3], to pay forward the energy
of the Sanders campaign that received 13 million votes nationally, won 22
states and virtually tied Hillary Clinton in several others. But it also
served as an opportunity for Sanders to remind volunteers and followers
about their accomplishments and to again feel the energy that was kindled by
the campaign.
"It is important to say a few words about what we accomplished together,
because by understanding what we accomplished we will know where we have to
go in the future," Sanders said. "As I have said a million times, and what I
believe in the essence of my soul, is that real change never ever takes
place from the top on down. It's not some guy signing a bill. It always
takes place from the bottom on up, when millions of people come together and
demand fundamental change in the country."
Sanders went on to cast his presidential campaign as part of a continuum
that spanned decades and includes the trade union movement, the ending of
child labor, women winning the right to vote, and the civil rights movement
and now faces the unfinished business of addressing racial, social, economic
and environmental injustices in America and across the planet. Before
listing a litany of progressive stances that were adopted by Hillary
Clinton, the Democratic Party platform and Democratic candidates running for
state and federal office-all as evidence of the Sanders campaign's
unexpected and deep impact on the nation's political culture and
electorate-Sanders reminded those in the audience in Burlington, Vermont and
watching online at 2,600 house parties across America, that their values and
agenda were embraced by a majority of young Americans.
"Here is what I think is most important," he began. "We won overwhelming
support, in I believe every state in this country where we competed, from
young people, people 45 years of age and younger. And by the end of the
campaign, we were winning good majorities, not only from white young people,
but from black youth, Latino youth, Asian-American youth, Native American
youth, all across the board. The importance of that is when you capture, by
large majorities, the young people of this country, it means that our ideas,
our vision, is the future of this country."
Sanders went on to describe what those ideas were and how many have been
adopted by the Democratic mainstream, when just a few years ago they would
have been dismissed as fringe. Though Sanders didn't once say why it was
important to support Hillary Clinton for president, which is surely going to
be criticized by national political pundits, he did say several times that
she adopted positions the campaign raised, such as making public college and
universities tuition-free.
"If somebody had said that two to three years ago, what somebody would have
responded is, You're crazy! That's too radical for the United States of
America, making public colleges and universities tuition-free! Will not
happen in our lifetime!" he said. "Well, guess what, as of today, there are
Democratic candidates all over this country, running for the Senate, running
for the House, and you know what they are campaigning on? Making public
colleges and universities tuition-free."
"And also, dealing with the horrific situation facing millions of Americans,
in terms of outrageously high student debt. That is now mainstream," he
continued. "Now, I was able to work with Secretary Clinton, didn't get her
100 percent onboard, but she is now out there talking about a proposal to
make public colleges and universities tuition-free for every family in
America earning less than $125,000 a year, 83 percent of our population. You
know what? That is a major step forward."
Sanders continued in that vein, listing the issues his campaign raised that
have now been embraced by Democrats and even some Republicans. Those
included raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour-which is doubling the
current federal minimum wage; making people who earn more than $250,000 a
year pay more in taxes, which polls say is now supported by 54 percent of
Republicans; expanding Social Security retirement benefits, instead of
cutting them; and reforming the criminal justice system, such as the Justice
Department's announcement it will stop using privatized prisons.
Sanders, of course, also listed what needed to be added to that national
political to-do list, such as guaranteeing health care as a right via a
Medicare-for-all national health-care program; and stopping pharmaceutical
companies from making tens of billions yearly when one in five people cannot
afford to fill the prescriptions their doctors have ordered. He also praised
Clinton for agreeing to double federal funding of community health centers,
which he said would "create universal access to primary health care in
America," adding that was "no small thing."
Then he turned to trade agreements, spending 10 minutes discussing why the
Trans-Pacific Partnership must be defeated when it comes before Congress
later in the fall. There are two main reasons: First, international trade
agreements force American workers to compete with workers overseas who are
paid pennies per hour, he said, causing a "race to the bottom" that benefits
corporate bottom lines but abandons American workers. But they also contain
what's known as "investor state dispute" mechanisms, in which a private
company can go before an international panel of corporate lawyers and try to
collect billions from governments whose political decisions are impacting
future profits. Sanders said Trans Canada, the corporation that wanted to
build the Keystone XL pipeline which President Obama rejected, is suing the
U.S. for $15 billion under those provisions in the North American Free Trade
Agreement.
"The idea that a major, multinational corporation can sue us for $15 billion
because the president made the decision that he thought right tells you what
trade agreements are all about. They are designed to protect corporate
profits and the hell with the environment, human rights, health care or the
needs of the people," he said. "And that is why the TPP has got to be
defeated."
Our Revolution
Three-quarters of an hour after he took the stage, Sanders turned to the
launch of Our Revolution, saying it was the next step in his progressive
political mission.
"Tonight, I think the question on the minds of a lot of people-OK, we ran a
great campaign. We woke up the American people. But where do we go from
here? And that's kind of what tonight is about," he said. "So tonight I want
to introduce you to a new, independent, nonprofit organization called Our
Revolution, which is inspired by the historic Bernie 2016 presidential
campaign.
"Over time, Our Revolution will involved hundreds of thousands of people,"
he continued. "These are people who will be fighting at the grassroots level
for changes in their local school boards, in their city councils, in their
state legislatures, and in their representation in Washington. Not only
that, they will be involved in major ballot items dealing with campaign
finance issues, environmental issues, health-care issues, labor issues,
gender-related issues, and doing all that they can in every way to create an
America based on the principles of economic, social, racial and
environmental justice."
Sanders said "a new, very diverse board of strong progressive men and women
from across this country" was being put together to lead it. The chair will
be Larry Cohen, the ex-president of the Communication Workers of America,
who led the campaign's anti-TPP protests at the Democratic National
Convention. "As a United States senator, I will not be directing or
controlling Our Revolution, but I have the utmost confidence that this
leadership team and the board being assembled shares the progressive values
we all hold and I expect very big things from them, and from all of you who
join with them to carry the political revolution forward."
Sanders gave a few examples of candidates and ballot measures that the
groups will be supporting. He cited Vernon Miller, a native American teacher
running for local school board in Nebraska; San Francisco supervisor Jane
Kim running for the California State Senate; Mari Cordes, a nurse and union
activist who just won the state Assembly primary in Vermont; Zephyr
Teachout, who is the Democratic nominee running for the U.S. House from
upstate New York; and former U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, seeking
to return to the Senate. (He didn't name Tim Canova, who is challenging
former DNC chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz in a Florida primary that
votes next week.)
Sanders also said Our Revolution would be supporting a Washington ballot
measure seeking to overturn the Citizens United ruling by the U.S. Supreme
Court that further deregulated federal campaign finance laws; California's
Prop. 61, which would require state government to pay no more than the
federal Veterans Administration for prescription drugs; and a Colorado
ballot measure to create a statewide single-payer health-care system.
He predicted that Our Revolution would endorse upwards of "100-plus"
candidates and ballot measures for the fall 2016 election and be active for
a long time.
"In the months and years to come, Our Revolution will be involved in one
important fight after another," he said. "We have got to stand with our
brothers and sisters all over this country in the fight to reform a broken
criminal justice system and for comprehensive immigration reform, and also
to end the injustices that are currently taking place again the native
American people all over this country..
"But let me just conclude on a personal note," he said. "I speak of Jane and
my whole family in thanking all of you for the love and support you gave us
all over this country. As I have said many times, election days come and go,
but the struggle for justice continues. Thank you all very much."
Steven Rosenfeld covers national political issues for AlterNet, including
America's retirement crisis, democracy and voting rights, and campaigns and
elections. He is the author of "Count My Vote: A Citizen's Guide to Voting"
(AlterNet Books, 2008).
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Source URL:
http://www.alternet.org/election-2016/sanders-launches-our-revolution-dedica
ted-progressive-agenda-and-better-democratic
Links:
[1] http://www.alternet.org/authors/steven-rosenfeld
[2] http://alternet.org
[3] https://ourrevolution.com/
[4] mailto:corrections@xxxxxxxxxxxx?Subject=Typo on Sanders Launches
'Our Revolution,' Dedicated to a Progressive Agenda and Better
Democratic Party
[5] http://www.alternet.org/
[6] http://www.alternet.org/%2Bnew_src%2B
Published on Alternet (http://www.alternet.org)
Home > Sanders Launches 'Our Revolution,' Dedicated to a Progressive Agenda
and Better Democratic Party
Sanders Launches 'Our Revolution,' Dedicated to a Progressive Agenda and
Better Democratic Party
By Steven Rosenfeld [1] / AlterNet [2]
August 24, 2016
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Bernie Sanders' revolution seeking a kinder, fairer, more egalitarian and
dignified America will continue, working to elect progressive candidates,
introducing nationally significant state ballot measures and pushing the
Democratic Party to abide by its recently adopted platform, the
ex-presidential candidate told thousands of supporters in a national webcast
Wednesday night.
"We changed the conversation regarding the possibilities of our country-that
is what we changed," Sanders said. "We redefined what the vision and the
future of our country should be and that is no small thing. And what our
campaign showed, making the establishment very very unhappy-and that is a
good thing-what our campaign showed the world is that the American people
are prepared to stand up to a corrupt campaign finance system, a rigged
economy, a broken criminal justice system and the global threat posed by the
fossil fuel industry that is destroying our planet through their carbon
emissions."
The webcast was previewed as the launch of a new national progressive
campaign organization, called Our Revolution [3], to pay forward the energy
of the Sanders campaign that received 13 million votes nationally, won 22
states and virtually tied Hillary Clinton in several others. But it also
served as an opportunity for Sanders to remind volunteers and followers
about their accomplishments and to again feel the energy that was kindled by
the campaign.
"It is important to say a few words about what we accomplished together,
because by understanding what we accomplished we will know where we have to
go in the future," Sanders said. "As I have said a million times, and what I
believe in the essence of my soul, is that real change never ever takes
place from the top on down. It's not some guy signing a bill. It always
takes place from the bottom on up, when millions of people come together and
demand fundamental change in the country."
Sanders went on to cast his presidential campaign as part of a continuum
that spanned decades and includes the trade union movement, the ending of
child labor, women winning the right to vote, and the civil rights movement
and now faces the unfinished business of addressing racial, social, economic
and environmental injustices in America and across the planet. Before
listing a litany of progressive stances that were adopted by Hillary
Clinton, the Democratic Party platform and Democratic candidates running for
state and federal office-all as evidence of the Sanders campaign's
unexpected and deep impact on the nation's political culture and
electorate-Sanders reminded those in the audience in Burlington, Vermont and
watching online at 2,600 house parties across America, that their values and
agenda were embraced by a majority of young Americans.
"Here is what I think is most important," he began. "We won overwhelming
support, in I believe every state in this country where we competed, from
young people, people 45 years of age and younger. And by the end of the
campaign, we were winning good majorities, not only from white young people,
but from black youth, Latino youth, Asian-American youth, Native American
youth, all across the board. The importance of that is when you capture, by
large majorities, the young people of this country, it means that our ideas,
our vision, is the future of this country."
Sanders went on to describe what those ideas were and how many have been
adopted by the Democratic mainstream, when just a few years ago they would
have been dismissed as fringe. Though Sanders didn't once say why it was
important to support Hillary Clinton for president, which is surely going to
be criticized by national political pundits, he did say several times that
she adopted positions the campaign raised, such as making public college and
universities tuition-free.
"If somebody had said that two to three years ago, what somebody would have
responded is, You're crazy! That's too radical for the United States of
America, making public colleges and universities tuition-free! Will not
happen in our lifetime!" he said. "Well, guess what, as of today, there are
Democratic candidates all over this country, running for the Senate, running
for the House, and you know what they are campaigning on? Making public
colleges and universities tuition-free."
"And also, dealing with the horrific situation facing millions of Americans,
in terms of outrageously high student debt. That is now mainstream," he
continued. "Now, I was able to work with Secretary Clinton, didn't get her
100 percent onboard, but she is now out there talking about a proposal to
make public colleges and universities tuition-free for every family in
America earning less than $125,000 a year, 83 percent of our population. You
know what? That is a major step forward."
Sanders continued in that vein, listing the issues his campaign raised that
have now been embraced by Democrats and even some Republicans. Those
included raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour-which is doubling the
current federal minimum wage; making people who earn more than $250,000 a
year pay more in taxes, which polls say is now supported by 54 percent of
Republicans; expanding Social Security retirement benefits, instead of
cutting them; and reforming the criminal justice system, such as the Justice
Department's announcement it will stop using privatized prisons.
Sanders, of course, also listed what needed to be added to that national
political to-do list, such as guaranteeing health care as a right via a
Medicare-for-all national health-care program; and stopping pharmaceutical
companies from making tens of billions yearly when one in five people cannot
afford to fill the prescriptions their doctors have ordered. He also praised
Clinton for agreeing to double federal funding of community health centers,
which he said would "create universal access to primary health care in
America," adding that was "no small thing."
Then he turned to trade agreements, spending 10 minutes discussing why the
Trans-Pacific Partnership must be defeated when it comes before Congress
later in the fall. There are two main reasons: First, international trade
agreements force American workers to compete with workers overseas who are
paid pennies per hour, he said, causing a "race to the bottom" that benefits
corporate bottom lines but abandons American workers. But they also contain
what's known as "investor state dispute" mechanisms, in which a private
company can go before an international panel of corporate lawyers and try to
collect billions from governments whose political decisions are impacting
future profits. Sanders said Trans Canada, the corporation that wanted to
build the Keystone XL pipeline which President Obama rejected, is suing the
U.S. for $15 billion under those provisions in the North American Free Trade
Agreement.
"The idea that a major, multinational corporation can sue us for $15 billion
because the president made the decision that he thought right tells you what
trade agreements are all about. They are designed to protect corporate
profits and the hell with the environment, human rights, health care or the
needs of the people," he said. "And that is why the TPP has got to be
defeated."
Our Revolution
Three-quarters of an hour after he took the stage, Sanders turned to the
launch of Our Revolution, saying it was the next step in his progressive
political mission.
"Tonight, I think the question on the minds of a lot of people-OK, we ran a
great campaign. We woke up the American people. But where do we go from
here? And that's kind of what tonight is about," he said. "So tonight I want
to introduce you to a new, independent, nonprofit organization called Our
Revolution, which is inspired by the historic Bernie 2016 presidential
campaign.
"Over time, Our Revolution will involved hundreds of thousands of people,"
he continued. "These are people who will be fighting at the grassroots level
for changes in their local school boards, in their city councils, in their
state legislatures, and in their representation in Washington. Not only
that, they will be involved in major ballot items dealing with campaign
finance issues, environmental issues, health-care issues, labor issues,
gender-related issues, and doing all that they can in every way to create an
America based on the principles of economic, social, racial and
environmental justice."
Sanders said "a new, very diverse board of strong progressive men and women
from across this country" was being put together to lead it. The chair will
be Larry Cohen, the ex-president of the Communication Workers of America,
who led the campaign's anti-TPP protests at the Democratic National
Convention. "As a United States senator, I will not be directing or
controlling Our Revolution, but I have the utmost confidence that this
leadership team and the board being assembled shares the progressive values
we all hold and I expect very big things from them, and from all of you who
join with them to carry the political revolution forward."
Sanders gave a few examples of candidates and ballot measures that the
groups will be supporting. He cited Vernon Miller, a native American teacher
running for local school board in Nebraska; San Francisco supervisor Jane
Kim running for the California State Senate; Mari Cordes, a nurse and union
activist who just won the state Assembly primary in Vermont; Zephyr
Teachout, who is the Democratic nominee running for the U.S. House from
upstate New York; and former U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, seeking
to return to the Senate. (He didn't name Tim Canova, who is challenging
former DNC chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz in a Florida primary that
votes next week.)
Sanders also said Our Revolution would be supporting a Washington ballot
measure seeking to overturn the Citizens United ruling by the U.S. Supreme
Court that further deregulated federal campaign finance laws; California's
Prop. 61, which would require state government to pay no more than the
federal Veterans Administration for prescription drugs; and a Colorado
ballot measure to create a statewide single-payer health-care system.
He predicted that Our Revolution would endorse upwards of "100-plus"
candidates and ballot measures for the fall 2016 election and be active for
a long time.
"In the months and years to come, Our Revolution will be involved in one
important fight after another," he said. "We have got to stand with our
brothers and sisters all over this country in the fight to reform a broken
criminal justice system and for comprehensive immigration reform, and also
to end the injustices that are currently taking place again the native
American people all over this country..
"But let me just conclude on a personal note," he said. "I speak of Jane and
my whole family in thanking all of you for the love and support you gave us
all over this country. As I have said many times, election days come and go,
but the struggle for justice continues. Thank you all very much."
Steven Rosenfeld covers national political issues for AlterNet, including
America's retirement crisis, democracy and voting rights, and campaigns and
elections. He is the author of "Count My Vote: A Citizen's Guide to Voting"
(AlterNet Books, 2008).
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.
Report typos and corrections to 'corrections@xxxxxxxxxxxx'. [4]
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.[5]
Source URL:
http://www.alternet.org/election-2016/sanders-launches-our-revolution-dedica
ted-progressive-agenda-and-better-democratic
Links:
[1] http://www.alternet.org/authors/steven-rosenfeld
[2] http://alternet.org
[3] https://ourrevolution.com/
[4] mailto:corrections@xxxxxxxxxxxx?Subject=Typo on Sanders Launches
'Our Revolution,' Dedicated to a Progressive Agenda and Better
Democratic Party
[5] http://www.alternet.org/
[6] http://www.alternet.org/%2Bnew_src%2B
