On Saturday, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) held a rally in Portland, Maine.
Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:
https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript
Stay Connected
Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes
More From Forbes: http://forbes.com
Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:
https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript
Stay Connected
Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes
More From Forbes: http://forbes.com
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00:00Ya'll are great. Alright. So, hello everybody. I'm Dylan Murray. I'm the Organizing Director for the Maine Democratic Party Coordinated Campaign and Kamala Harris for President.
00:00:10Alright.
00:00:14I gotta tell ya, it's amazing to be up here. It's amazing.
00:00:17Senator Sanders inspired me and so many of us to get involved in politics by showing that organizing works and that we have the collective power to change our community for the better.
00:00:30Now, I know all of us care about our community and share values of economic justice, environmental responsibility, reproductive freedom, and so much more.
00:00:40This election, it's going to be a clear choice between two very different visions for the future.
00:00:46Vice President Kamala Harris is fighting for a future that strengthens our democracy, protects reproductive freedoms, and ensures that every person has the opportunity not just to get by, but to get ahead.
00:01:01Now, on the other hand, Donald Trump is a convicted criminal of fraud, and he's running to enact his extreme and dangerous Project 2025 agenda that would roll back American rights and freedoms, hurt the middle class, and threaten our democracy.
00:01:24Now, this weekend marks 100 days until Election Day. Just 100 days to come together and elect officials who will stand up for our rights and values.
00:01:33I don't have to tell you this, but there is so, so much at stake this election.
00:01:38And every moment is going to count between now and Election Day.
00:01:41That's why I'm going to be organizing, knocking doors every day between now and November 5th.
00:01:48But, and this is a big but, this campaign cannot do this alone.
00:01:58As Senator Sanders says, it's not me, it's us.
00:02:02It's going to take every one of us to stand up for our shared values.
00:02:07It's going to take all of us to stop Donald Trump and his Project 2025 agenda.
00:02:12It's going to take all of us to ensure that our future is bright, and I need every single one of you to join us.
00:02:19Knocking doors in your community is the biggest impact that you can have in making sure we turn out our voters to win.
00:02:26So guys, gals, non-binary pals, we're counting on you to join us.
00:02:30We are counting on you to join us.
00:02:33I'll be walking around the crowd with my clipboard.
00:02:36If you see a devilishly handsome black man with a clipboard, go sign up for a canvas.
00:02:40I'm hiring field organizers, come apply with me.
00:02:44We need to do this together, and I know together we are strongest.
00:02:47Thank you everybody, thank you for being here.
00:02:49Good morning, siblings, brothers, sisters.
00:03:09My name is Greyson Luckner.
00:03:11I am a legislator, proud to represent part of Portland in the Maine State House.
00:03:17It's been the honor and the privilege of my lifetime, and I'm proud to be standing here today to talk about a very important issue.
00:03:24Who here thinks there's too much money in politics today?
00:03:30We want to stop the corrupting influence of super PACs.
00:03:35Yeah?
00:03:38Anyway, I just want to talk about a little bit how I got here, because I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for Senator Bernie Sanders.
00:03:44I want to thank him for the privilege.
00:03:47First time I ever heard Bernie Sanders speak, I was working at a homeless youth shelter making $9 an hour,
00:03:53and I had to stay up all night to make sure these kids didn't run away.
00:03:58And I was watching C-SPAN to stay awake, which I don't recommend you do ever.
00:04:05But Bernie Sanders comes on, it's his voice at 2 in the morning talking about wealth and income inequality,
00:04:11talking about how the wealthy, candidly speaking about how the wealthy use their wealth to corrupt the political process.
00:04:19And that was the first time I had ever heard an elected official speak openly and honestly about the corrupting influence of big money in politics.
00:04:28So, anyway, Maine's been on the forefront of addressing this issue.
00:04:34We have a clean election system for state-level offices, so you don't have to have rich friends or beg money from wealthy special interests to run for office.
00:04:51You can just qualify. Some towns have followed suit, like Portland, and it's a great system.
00:04:57But we need to do more. We need to overturn Citizens United.
00:05:05And that's what I'm here to talk about today.
00:05:09Maine, again, is going to be on the forefront of addressing the super PACs and the too much money that is going into these dark money PACs that are corrupting our political process.
00:05:21So there is a referendum this year on the ballot you may or may not have heard.
00:05:27It's yes on one, and it's very important because it's going to limit the amount of money that an individual like Elon Musk, per se, could donate to a PAC.
00:05:43And that's really important because we have the right in this country to be free from corruption.
00:05:51And we have this opportunity in Maine to limit the amount of money that an individual can donate to a PAC of $5,000.
00:05:59So it's a very important initiative.
00:06:06It's going to eliminate super PACs and stop out-of-state billionaires and big corporations from spending unlimited amounts of money to influence Maine elections.
00:06:17So it's going to return power back to the Maine people.
00:06:23And anybody who cares about the future of democracy, which I know you all do, that's why we are here today, is going to be coming together to support this initiative.
00:06:33So yes on one is the change we need to end the corrosive influence of big money in politics and give more voice to Maine voters.
00:06:42So you can get involved in this campaign.
00:06:44You can chip in $5, or you can help organize with your local community.
00:06:49It's going to take each of us doing what we can, working together to win this fight, and when we must.
00:06:56So you can get involved by visiting CitizensToEndSuperPACs.org.
00:07:03This is the fun part.
00:07:04I know everybody's got their phones out.
00:07:06You're going to go right to this link.
00:07:07Again, that is CitizensToEndSuperPACs.org.
00:07:13Please talk to your friends and neighbors about voting yes on one.
00:07:16You can even talk to that wacky uncle or that comes around at Thanksgiving or your brother or cousin.
00:07:24It's always a guy for some reason who's got a little bit kind of some radical views that you might not agree with.
00:07:32Because yes on one has broad political appeal.
00:07:35It cuts through the divide.
00:07:3780% of Mainers agree that we need to limit money in politics.
00:07:42So please do what you can to protect Maine and democracy.
00:07:45Vote yes on question one, and I am grateful for your time.
00:07:50Next, I want to introduce a union sister.
00:07:55Her name is Kimberly Talbot, and she's going to get up here and talk to you about the organizing she's doing.
00:08:01So anyway, thank you all for your time.
00:08:03Solidarity.
00:08:05Hi.
00:08:14Hello, good morning.
00:08:16A little over 28 years ago, I was a single mother of one, seven months pregnant,
00:08:23working at a Friendly's restaurant as a cook and shift supervisor, making $5.25 an hour.
00:08:31A telephone company, then known as 9X, was hiring.
00:08:35So I put on an extra large shirt, took two buses out to Davis Farm Road, sucked in my belly, and filled out an application.
00:08:44Thankfully, I was hired.
00:08:46And on day one, being a descendant of U.S. postal workers and longshoremen,
00:08:52I proudly filled out my union card for IBEW Local 2327.
00:08:58Woo!
00:09:04Little did I know that at one point, I'd be out on strike for 131 days, fighting for a fair contract.
00:09:14During that time, we had many from the community backing us, especially the Southern Maine Labor Council.
00:09:27Union workers are dedicated professionals who advocate for fair wages, safe working conditions, and respect on the job.
00:09:36By banding together, we strengthen our voices and drive positive change in the workplace,
00:09:42ensuring that every worker is valued and treated with dignity.
00:09:47Union workers are the backbone of collective strength.
00:09:51Singing union songs amplifies this unity, celebrating shared goals and honoring the legacy of past struggles.
00:09:59It boosts morale, fosters solidarity, and keeps the spirit of the labor movement alive.
00:10:06So, let's all sing my personal favorite, Solidarity Forever.
00:10:11Please join me.
00:10:13Three, two, one.
00:10:16Solidarity forever.
00:10:20Solidarity forever.
00:10:24Solidarity forever.
00:10:28For the union makes us strong.
00:10:33When the union's inspiration through the worker's blood shall run,
00:10:38there can be no greater power anywhere beneath the sun.
00:10:43What force on earth is weaker than the feeble strength of one?
00:10:47But the union makes us strong.
00:10:51Ready?
00:10:52Solidarity forever.
00:10:56Solidarity forever.
00:11:01Solidarity forever.
00:11:05For the union makes us strong.
00:11:09It is we who plowed the prairies, built the cities where they trade,
00:11:13dug the mines and built the workshops, endless miles of railroad laid.
00:11:18We stand outcast and starving amidst the wonders we have made.
00:11:22But the union makes us strong.
00:11:27Solidarity forever.
00:11:31Solidarity forever.
00:11:36Solidarity forever.
00:11:40For the union makes us strong.
00:11:44They have taken untold millions that they never taught to earn.
00:11:48But without our brain and muscle, not a single wheel can turn.
00:11:53We break their haughty power, gain our freedom when we learn
00:11:57that the union makes us strong.
00:12:02Solidarity forever.
00:12:06Solidarity forever.
00:12:10Solidarity forever.
00:12:14For the union makes us strong.
00:12:18One more.
00:12:19In our hands is placed a power greater than their ordered goal,
00:12:23greater than the might of atoms magnified a thousandfold.
00:12:28We bring to birth a new world from the ashes of the old curve.
00:12:33The union makes us strong.
00:12:37Solidarity forever.
00:12:41Solidarity forever.
00:12:45Solidarity forever.
00:12:49For the union makes us strong.
00:12:54For the union makes us strong.
00:13:05That was amazing.
00:13:09All right.
00:13:10Thank you so much.
00:13:13It is both an honor and a pleasure to stand before you today
00:13:18to introduce a remarkable individual
00:13:21who has dedicated his life to public service
00:13:24and championing the rights of working people.
00:13:27Today we have the distinct privilege of welcoming to Portland, Maine,
00:13:32Senator Bernie Sanders.
00:13:34Senator Sanders.
00:13:41I'm sorry.
00:13:45He is pretty awesome, huh?
00:13:47Senator Sanders has been a tireless advocate
00:13:55for the values that matter most to many of us,
00:13:58economic justice, social equity,
00:14:01and a government that works for everyone, not just the wealthy few.
00:14:05Representing the great state of Vermont,
00:14:08Bernie has built a distinguished career on the principles of fairness and integrity.
00:14:14For decades, Senator Sanders has fought for policies that uplift the middle class
00:14:19and address income inequality.
00:14:22His efforts to expand access to health care,
00:14:25support affordable education, and combat climate change
00:14:29have not only shaped the national conversation,
00:14:32but also set a benchmark for progressive leadership.
00:14:36What sets Bernie Sanders apart is not just his unwavering commitment to these causes,
00:14:42but also his ability to connect with people from all walks of life.
00:14:47He has been a powerful voice for those who feel left behind,
00:14:51and his dedication to fighting for ordinary Americans' interests is truly inspiring.
00:14:57In addition to his policy achievements,
00:15:00Bernie has a unique ability to mobilize and energize people across the political spectrum.
00:15:07His vision for a fairer, more just society resonates with many
00:15:12and has sparked a movement that continues to grow and evolve.
00:15:16As we gather here today, we are not just meeting a politician, no.
00:15:21We are meeting a champion for change and a staunch defender of democratic values.
00:15:27His leadership and advocacy remind us that we have the power to shape our future
00:15:34and that our government serves the interests of all the citizens.
00:15:39So, without further ado, please join me in giving a warm Portland, Maine welcome
00:15:46to Senator Bernie Sanders.
00:15:49How do I do the people?
00:15:53How do I do the people?
00:15:57How do I do the people?
00:16:09Senator Sanders.
00:16:12Sorry, that's your applause.
00:16:15Senator Sanders, thank you for being here
00:16:18and for your steadfast dedication to making our country a better place.
00:16:22Ladies and gentlemen, Senator Bernie Sanders.
00:16:34Portland, thank you!
00:16:36And let me thank Kimberly for that beautiful introduction.
00:16:49It's hard to follow that. I don't know what I can say to follow that.
00:16:54And also, thank Kimberly for singing Solidarity Forever,
00:16:59which is one of my very favorite songs.
00:17:03I also want to thank Griffin Sherry and David Mallet and his band and Dylan Murray
00:17:11for the field pitch.
00:17:13And I also want to thank State Representative Grayson Lueckner.
00:17:19What you are trying to do in Maine to limit the power of super PACs
00:17:26is extraordinarily important.
00:17:29Congratulations, Maine.
00:17:40You know, there is a saying allegedly coming from China that says,
00:17:48quote, may you live in interesting times.
00:17:53Well, we are living in interesting times.
00:17:59So I'm here for a few reasons.
00:18:02First, it goes without saying that we must do everything that we possibly can
00:18:09in the next three plus months to defeat Donald Trump.
00:18:29Our deeply troubled country will not recover if the American people elect a president
00:18:40who is a pathological liar, who is a felon, who is a convicted sexual abuser,
00:18:50and someone who is a businessman who is involved in 4,000 different lawsuits.
00:18:57We will not be able to look our kids and our grandchildren in the eye
00:19:03if we elect somebody like that as president.
00:19:17Women for decades in this country have struggled to attain first class citizenship
00:19:26We're not going to elect a Donald Trump who will deny women the right to control their own bodies.
00:19:47In Maine, in Vermont, throughout our country, throughout the world,
00:19:55people are struggling right now with the devastating impact of climate change.
00:20:02We're seeing more drought. We're seeing more heat waves.
00:20:08We're seeing more extreme weather disturbances.
00:20:12This country will not make it, the world will not make it,
00:20:17if we elect somebody like Donald Trump who thinks that climate change is a hoax.
00:20:26Too many brave men and women have fought to defend American democracy.
00:20:45Some of them died.
00:20:48This country will not do well, will not survive,
00:20:53if we elect a president like Trump who has spent years
00:20:58undermining the very foundations of American democracy
00:21:03and who just recently told us that he will not accept the election results in November
00:21:10unless he thinks that they are fair.
00:21:14Well, Mr. Trump, in America we play by the rules.
00:21:20Sometimes you lose, you're going to lose this election, except the results.
00:21:40But our job is not just to defeat Donald Trump.
00:21:46It is to elect Kamala Harris as our next president.
00:22:00And let us be clear, this is going to be a tough, tough election.
00:22:05Maine is one of the battleground states.
00:22:09Just came from New Hampshire, another battleground state.
00:22:12And the progressive movement, in my judgment, has got to do everything we can
00:22:17to get out on the streets, to knock on doors, get on phones, get on social media
00:22:22and do everything that we can to elect the vice president.
00:22:35And there are a lot of people advising the vice president,
00:22:40a lot of issues that I think we're all very clear and united on.
00:22:44But it is my view that her best path to victory
00:22:49is if she is prepared to campaign on an agenda that takes on the greed
00:22:56and the power of the big money interests
00:22:59and addresses the needs of the long-ignored working class of our country.
00:23:10And the very good news in that regard is that she can build on the very good work
00:23:25that the Biden-Harris team has done over the last three and a half years.
00:23:31Because in my view, that administration, Biden-Harris,
00:23:42has been the strongest pro-worker administration in the modern history of our country.
00:23:51Now some of you may recall, some of you may recall
00:24:00that for years politicians were talking about rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure,
00:24:07our roads, our bridges, our water systems, our wastewater plants.
00:24:13Well, Biden-Harris administration has begun to do that.
00:24:22And in fact, we have invested more money in infrastructure
00:24:28than any administration in the history of the United States of America.
00:24:38As a result of disastrous trade policies,
00:24:42like NAFTA and permanent normal trade relations with China,
00:24:46we lost thousands and thousands of factories and millions of good-paying jobs.
00:24:53Under Biden and Harris, we are finally beginning to rebuild our manufacturing base.
00:25:06For years, for years, politicians talking about the high cost of prescription drugs,
00:25:13and I was one of those politicians.
00:25:15Finally, we're beginning to make some progress in taking on the greed of pharma
00:25:21and telling them they're not going to charge us ten times more
00:25:25for the same drugs that are existing in other countries.
00:25:38When I was last in Portland, when I was running for president,
00:25:42I talked about the need to cancel all student debt in America.
00:25:52Well, Biden-Harris team hasn't done that yet,
00:25:57but they have canceled student debt for five million Americans.
00:26:03No small thing.
00:26:05And while Donald Trump and his friends in the fossil fuel industry
00:26:15think that climate change is a hoax,
00:26:18the Biden-Harris team has put more money into transforming our energy system
00:26:25away from fossil fuel to energy efficiency and sustainable energy
00:26:30than any administration in American history.
00:26:36So the good news, the good news is that the vice president has a strong record to run on,
00:26:47but that record is not enough.
00:26:50It's something to be proud of what you've accomplished,
00:26:53but it's also imperative that you look to the future.
00:26:56People want to know what is going to happen in the next four years,
00:27:01and that's something that I want to spend a minute on right now,
00:27:05because despite what the corporate media will tell you,
00:27:09real politics is not a personality contest.
00:27:14It is not a sporting event about who wins or who loses.
00:27:19It's not about which party best markets their candidate
00:27:23and which entertainers support them.
00:27:26It is about acknowledging the reality that tens of millions of people in our country
00:27:35are struggling every single day to put food on the table
00:27:40and to take care of the basic necessities of life.
00:27:44It is about understanding what is, again, not talked about in Congress
00:27:56and totally ignored by the corporate media,
00:27:59and that is that we have more income and wealth inequality in this country today
00:28:06than we have ever had in the history of America.
00:28:11It is about understanding that the status quo,
00:28:21both from a government perspective, political perspective, economic perspective,
00:28:26the status quo today is working extraordinarily well for the 1%,
00:28:34and it's our job to create a government and an economy
00:28:40that works not just for the people on top,
00:28:43but works for every man, woman, and child in this country.
00:28:47That's our challenge.
00:28:58The American people from coast to coast,
00:29:01many, many people are angry and they're frustrated,
00:29:05and it is important to understand why that is the case.
00:29:10And one of the reasons that the people are angry,
00:29:14and we don't talk about this at all,
00:29:16and the point that I'm trying to make this morning,
00:29:18and I'll be repetitious on this,
00:29:20is that you can turn on the TV and you can watch it 24 hours a day,
00:29:25but some of the most important issues facing our country
00:29:28are not going to be seen on the TV,
00:29:30they're not going to be discussed in Congress.
00:29:32But we have got to recognize that over the last 50 years, 5-0 years,
00:29:39despite all of the explosions we have seen in technology,
00:29:43despite the huge increases that we have seen in worker productivity,
00:29:49the average American worker today in real inflation accounted for dollars
00:29:55is earning less than he or she did 50 years ago.
00:30:01That is unacceptable.
00:30:14We don't talk about it,
00:30:16but it is unacceptable that three people on top
00:30:22own more wealth than the bottom half of American society.
00:30:31That the top 1% own more wealth than the bottom 90%.
00:30:37That CEOs in major corporations now earn 350 times what their average employee makes.
00:30:52It is not acceptable, and we have got to bring these issues to the table,
00:30:58and we have got to fight to change it,
00:31:00that at a time when the billionaire class has never ever had it so good,
00:31:05where corporate profits are soaring,
00:31:08not acceptable that 60%, 60% of our people are living paycheck to paycheck.
00:31:17I grew up in a family that lived paycheck to paycheck.
00:31:20I expect many of you did.
00:31:23This is the wealthiest country in the history of the world,
00:31:27and tens of millions of people should not have to be struggling
00:31:31to put food on the table or pay the rent.
00:31:34We could do better than that.
00:31:37But it is not only the injustice of massive income and wealth inequality,
00:31:55where the billionaires are flying off to space,
00:31:58where they own dozens of homes.
00:32:00Just did a hearing the other day by some guy who is wrecking a health care system
00:32:04who has a $15 million fishing boat and a yacht and planes.
00:32:09It's not. It's above and beyond that.
00:32:11It is also about the reality that our economy is being controlled by fewer and fewer large corporations.
00:32:22Today in America, you've got three Wall Street investment firms,
00:32:28BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street, control $20 trillion in assets.
00:32:36Three Wall Street firms control $20 trillion in assets
00:32:44and are the major stockholders in 95% of S&P corporations.
00:32:50That is unbelievable power.
00:32:53And by the way, one of the best appointments of the Biden administration
00:32:59has been Lena Kahn, the chair of the FTC.
00:33:11And Lena has been doing a great job in going after this kind of concentration of ownership.
00:33:17And just the other day, just literally the other day,
00:33:21some billionaire campaign contributor to the Democratic Party said,
00:33:26if Harris is elected, Lena Kahn should go.
00:33:30I say no. Lena Kahn should stay and continue her great work.
00:33:43But it is not only, when we talk about what's going on in America today,
00:33:48it's not only massive income and wealth inequality.
00:33:52It is not only outrageous levels of concentration of ownership.
00:33:58These billionaires are not just putting their money into yachts and their own private jets.
00:34:04It's not enough for them to own the economy.
00:34:07They now want to own our democracy.
00:34:11We cannot allow that to happen.
00:34:19As all of you know, we have a reactionary Supreme Court.
00:34:30You're under-est-understating what they have done.
00:34:34Worse than that, it's not only Roe v. Wade and it's not only the Chevron case.
00:34:39Going back a while, maybe the worst decision in modern American history
00:34:45has been the Citizens United Supreme Court decision.
00:34:54And in that outrageous decision, pushed by the Republican leadership,
00:34:59what Citizens United says is that you get one vote and you get one vote,
00:35:05but if you're a billionaire, you can pour hundreds of millions of dollars
00:35:10into the political process to elect candidates who represent your interests
00:35:16and defeat those candidates who stand up for working people.
00:35:21And we are seeing, in this campaign,
00:35:24Citizens United playing out in a way that we have never seen before.
00:35:29So you've got to take a deep breath.
00:35:31Elon Musk, the richest guy in the world,
00:35:35has announced that he is going to be putting $45 million a month
00:35:43into a super PAC for Donald Trump.
00:35:50Not enough for Musk to own Tesla.
00:35:53Not enough for him to own his space company.
00:35:58Not enough for him to own Twitter.
00:36:01Now he wants to purchase the United States government.
00:36:05And it's not just Musk.
00:36:07You've got dozens of billionaires, often in the fossil fuel industry,
00:36:12putting huge amounts of money into Trump's campaign
00:36:16and billionaires putting money into the Democratic campaign as well.
00:36:22Our job must be to demand, and this, by the way, runs across political views,
00:36:29Republican support of Democrats' independence.
00:36:32We have got to end this outrageous Citizens United Supreme Court decision
00:36:38and move to public funding of elections.
00:36:52And what we as a people have got to do,
00:36:55and what campaigns in a democracy are supposed to be about,
00:36:58they're not beauty contests.
00:37:00They're not just picking up on dumb things that politicians like me may say.
00:37:04What we have got to do as a people, it's our job,
00:37:08to take a hard look at the issues that impact the lives of ordinary people
00:37:14and to say to our leadership, say,
00:37:17all right, look, this is what's going on in my family's life.
00:37:19What are you going to do about it?
00:37:21And we do that too rarely.
00:37:22Media doesn't do it.
00:37:23We don't do it enough in the Congress.
00:37:25Let me just touch on a few of the issues.
00:37:27We have a – well, let me ask you this question.
00:37:30I don't want to tell you what I think.
00:37:32I want you to tell me what you think.
00:37:34Is our current health care system broken?
00:37:38Now, that is the response I get wherever I go in this country.
00:37:44This system, health care system, is broken.
00:37:48It is dysfunctional.
00:37:50It is enormously complicated and confusing,
00:37:53and it is wildly expensive.
00:37:57Not talked about in the media,
00:37:59but as a nation combining all of our health care expenditures,
00:38:04we end up spending twice as much as the people of any other country on health care,
00:38:13and yet we end up with 85 million people who are uninsured
00:38:18or underinsured and tens of millions of people who cannot afford to go to a doctor when they need to.
00:38:26In my view, and this is an issue we need mass support for,
00:38:32we need political organizing around,
00:38:35if every other major country on earth can guarantee health care to all of their people,
00:38:42we in the United States of America can make health care a human right.
00:38:47And despite spending over $13,000,
00:39:07$13,000 on health care for every man, woman, and child,
00:39:12family of four, $52,000,
00:39:15despite that, our life expectancy,
00:39:19which may be the most important indicator of how a system works,
00:39:24our life expectancy as a nation is significantly lower than countries all over the world,
00:39:32countries that are much poorer than we are.
00:39:35And let me tell you something else which is never discussed,
00:39:38but which is an unspeakable outrage.
00:39:41Is that if you're working class in America, or if you're poor in America,
00:39:46you are going to live 10, 15 years shorter than the people on top.
00:39:52How cruel, how immoral is that in the wealthiest country in the history of the world?
00:40:02And the reason for that, like so many other factors,
00:40:06is that the health care system is not designed to provide quality care
00:40:12to all of our people in a cost-effective way.
00:40:16It is designed to make huge profits for the insurance companies
00:40:21and the drug companies and the investors in those industries,
00:40:25and it is doing just that.
00:40:28And our job is to say to the insurance companies and say to the drug companies,
00:40:33we are tired of being ripped off.
00:40:36We're tired of seeing people go bankrupt because they cannot afford a hospital bill.
00:40:43We're tired of seeing people dying because they don't go to a doctor when they should.
00:40:50We are going to have health care and Medicare for all as a human right.
00:40:56I'm Chairman of the Senate Committee, which deals with health care and deals with prescription drugs.
00:41:17We're making some progress.
00:41:20We've been able to lower the cost of insulin in this country for seniors.
00:41:31Millions of people are dealing with asthma and COPD.
00:41:35We're lowering the cost of asthma inhalers.
00:41:43We are beginning finally to do what every other major country does
00:41:47and sit down and negotiate prices with the pharmaceutical industry.
00:41:53But we have got to do more than that.
00:42:01Bottom line is that in America, we should not be paying 10 times more for the same drug
00:42:07sold in Canada or sold in Europe.
00:42:10We're going to tell the drug companies they're going to charge us the same prices
00:42:15they charge people all over the world.
00:42:17Cut drug prices in half in America.
00:42:29And when we talk about the greed of the ruling class in this country
00:42:34and we talk about massive levels of income and wealth inequality,
00:42:39we have got to understand that these people on top have been very successful
00:42:45with their lobbyists and their lawyers and their accountants
00:42:48in fighting for a tax system which is absolutely outrageously regressive.
00:42:56Right now, if you are a truck driver, you're a nurse,
00:43:00your effective tax rate in all likelihood is higher than that of a billionaire.
00:43:08You've got large profitable corporations paying almost nothing in taxes.
00:43:14Our job right now is to tell the people on top we are sick and tired of their greed.
00:43:22They are going to start paying their fair share of taxes.
00:43:26In my state of Vermont and as I go around the country,
00:43:42one of the issues that people are always talking about is homelessness
00:43:47and the very high cost of housing in America today.
00:43:52I know in Vermont and all over this country, rents are soaring.
00:43:57Landlords are making huge profits.
00:44:01In my view, we have got to address this housing crisis
00:44:05which is particularly egregious for young people who are renting.
00:44:10We have got to put a cap on rent increases from these Wall Street companies that own the housing.
00:44:18And we have got to build millions of units of affordable, of low-income, and senior housing.
00:44:35And when we take a deep breath and when we look about what's going on in our country,
00:44:49it's important to take a hard look at the lives of some of the most vulnerable people in our country,
00:44:56the elderly and the children.
00:44:59Today in America, unbelievably, and again, this would be understandable if we were a poor country.
00:45:06We're not. We're the richest country in the history of the world.
00:45:09But despite that, 50% of our seniors are living on incomes of less than $30,000 a year
00:45:18and 25% of seniors are living on $15,000 a year or less.
00:45:25I do not frankly understand how anybody, let alone a senior, can live on $15,000 a year or less.
00:45:33And the reason for this is, there are multiple reasons for it.
00:45:37One of them is that corporations over the years have done away with defined benefit pensions.
00:45:47And it's high time for us to bring back strong pensions for workers so that...
00:46:03Not so many years ago, if you worked for a company, when you retired, you knew what you were getting.
00:46:09It was a defined pension and it helped you deal with your golden years.
00:46:16Now, we have so many people living in poverty and you have 90% of Republicans in the House of Representatives.
00:46:26You know what their solution to senior poverty is? It's to cut Social Security.
00:46:32Well, we have a somewhat different idea.
00:46:37And that is, right now, in terms of the funding of Social Security, we have a very regressive system.
00:46:46And that is that somebody who makes $16 million a year contributes the same amount into the Social Security Trust Fund
00:46:55as somebody who makes $160,000 a year.
00:47:01If we lift that cap and tax all income, we will be able to increase Social Security benefits by $2,400 a year for seniors.
00:47:25And extend the life of Social Security for 75 years. Lift the cap, let's do that.
00:47:40And while our conservative political system is not yet ready to move toward a Medicare for All system,
00:47:48what we can do, and what there is massive support for, is to understand that dental care, hearing, and vision should be part of Medicare.
00:48:00Over 90%, 90% of the American people believe that we should expand Medicare to cover dental, hearing, and vision. Let us do it.
00:48:19And when we talk about people who are vulnerable, it's not just seniors, it is the children.
00:48:33And we, you know, I get so tired of going on to the floor of the Senate and hearing all these politicians, Republicans, they love children, etc., etc.
00:48:44They just, you know, their love is so effusive. Can't be controlled.
00:48:50And yet, as I hope all of you know, we have one of the highest rates of childhood poverty of almost any major country on earth.
00:49:02It is an absolute disgrace.
00:49:05Now, during the American Rescue Plan, and I played a role in that because I was then Chairman of the Budget Committee,
00:49:12some of you may remember that in the midst of the pandemic, in the early months of 2021, 3,000 people a day were dying.
00:49:24Nurses and doctors were working in hospitals without protective equipment, adequate protective equipment.
00:49:31Hospitals were being flooded with COVID patients.
00:49:35People were not going to work. Unemployment was soaring.
00:49:38During that period, I will never forget, I live in a middle-class neighborhood in Burlington,
00:49:42and on a given day, there were hundreds and hundreds of cars lined up for emergency food packages
00:49:52given out to people who in a million years never would have believed that they would be having to accept emergency food from the National Guard.
00:50:00That's where we were then.
00:50:02But we got together with the Biden-Harris team, and then we had 50 Democratic Senators in the Senate,
00:50:12and a small majority in the House, and we worked on something called the American Rescue Plan.
00:50:18And what we did is we said, look, we are suffering at that point the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.
00:50:26We're suffering from the worst public health crisis since the Spanish flu of 100 years ago.
00:50:33We have got to respond to the needs of working-class people, middle-class people in this country.
00:50:40And what we did, as you may recall, is we provided $1,400 for every man, woman, and child in this country.
00:50:48At a time when people were desperate, we put money into their pockets.
00:50:51We increased and extended unemployment benefits because people couldn't go to work, businesses were shutting down.
00:51:04We put money into hospitals and schools to maintain them, small businesses to keep them going.
00:51:15But there's something else that we did, which I think tells you what progressive government can do.
00:51:23As part of the American Rescue Plan, we said, look, times are really, really tough.
00:51:30And if you're a parent raising young kids, it is doubly difficult, very expensive, to raise kids now.
00:51:37So what we did is provided $300 for parents, for every kid in a family under 17.
00:51:47That's what we did. Every month, $300 per kid.
00:51:56And do you know what that one piece of lead, that one provision, which was part of a $1.9 trillion bill,
00:52:04that one provision, $300 a month per child, cut childhood poverty in America by almost 50%.
00:52:16Our job, now that expired, was when we were trying to create, build back better,
00:52:34what we did with the American Rescue Plan is we had an emergency, we acted by and large those were three-year programs.
00:52:41What Biden, Harris, and Congress try to do is say, let us now deal with the long-term structural problems of this country.
00:52:48We got zero Republican support, we lost two corporate Democrats, we're unable to do it.
00:52:55But right now, when we think about the needs of our children, put it high up on the list,
00:53:01we're going to bring back that child tax credit, we're going to substantially lower childhood poverty in America.
00:53:12So brothers and sisters, as we think about a lot of the problems that we face, I want to mention to you some really good news.
00:53:27And that is that right now we are seeing a revitalization of the trade union movement in our country.
00:53:42We're seeing established unions taking on corporate greed and negotiating good contracts for their workers.
00:53:58We are seeing young people join unions in a way that we have never seen before.
00:54:12But as part of the effort for workers to join unions, very often they run up against illegal behavior on the part of these large corporations
00:54:24who threaten to fire people, who brainwash them with anti-union propaganda.
00:54:30And that is why we must pass the PRO Act to make it easier for workers to join unions.
00:54:42And why I'm a little embarrassed to tell you, as the United States Senator, that the federal minimum wage today is still $7.25 an hour.
00:54:57Millions of workers in America earning starvation wages, working incredibly long hours, two jobs, three jobs, trying to feed their families.
00:55:09We have got to raise that federal minimum wage to a living wage.
00:55:22And to my mind, that living wage is at least $17 an hour.
00:55:29So before we take a few questions, I want to circle back to where I began.
00:55:39This is, in fact, the most important election in our lifetimes.
00:55:45We have got to work double time and triple time to make sure that Trump is not elected and that the Vice President is.
00:55:59But at the same time, at the same time, we have got to understand that in our country today,
00:56:10the people on top, the billionaire class, exert enormous influence over our entire economic system and our political system.
00:56:21We have got to fight for a vision for the future, which says that in the wealthiest country in the history of the world,
00:56:31we're not going to be the only nation that doesn't guarantee health care to all people.
00:56:36We're not going to have massive income and wealth inequality.
00:56:43We're not going to have a half a million people sleeping out on the streets and kids going to inadequate schools because teachers are underpaid.
00:56:59We're not going to deny the reality of climate change.
00:57:03We're going to put millions of people to work transforming our energy system away from fossil fuel.
00:57:14Brothers and sisters, these ideas are not quote-unquote far-left ideas.
00:57:23They are not utopian visions.
00:57:27I mentioned to you how one provision in one bill could cut childhood poverty in half.
00:57:35We can do that in health care.
00:57:38We can do that in prescription drugs.
00:57:40In terms of education, who does not understand that in a highly competitive global economy,
00:57:48we need the best educated workforce.
00:57:50It is insane for people to have to go deeply in debt in order to get the education they need.
00:57:56And maybe instead of investing, spending a trillion dollars on the military-industrial complex, we invest in education for our kids.
00:58:26So brothers and sisters, we have a two-fold task in front of us.
00:58:31We have to defeat Trump.
00:58:34We have to elect Kamala.
00:58:36But equally important, we have to keep our eyes on the prize.
00:58:42We have to educate.
00:58:44We have to organize.
00:58:45We have to bring our people together to transform our political system
00:58:51and create a government and a nation that works for all of us, not just the billionaire class.
00:58:57Thank you all very much.
00:59:24If we have some—do we have any microphones here?
00:59:29Yeah, we do?
00:59:31Okay.
00:59:32Somebody—all right.
00:59:33Let's take a few questions.
00:59:34Please raise your hand.
00:59:35All right.
00:59:36All right.
00:59:39It's hard for me to see a question.
00:59:42Do I see a question?
00:59:44I see a question right there, I think.
00:59:46Oh, there's one right there, a gentleman with a baby on his shoulder.
00:59:50And the baby will ask the question.
00:59:53This is Kahari St. Val.
00:59:55His mom worked on your 2020 campaign, and that's where he was conceived.
01:00:04It was a—as you can see, it was a campaign that brought people together.
01:00:09That's right.
01:00:11You've got a beautiful baby.
01:00:14I've got two questions, actually.
01:00:16The first one is we live in Augusta, closer to northern Maine.
01:00:21That's CD2.
01:00:22And our representative is Jared Golden, who is, to me, very right wing.
01:00:27And my question for you is kind of an organizing question.
01:00:30How do we reel him in while still—because it is a conservative district,
01:00:35while still allowing him to appeal to the more conservative part of the electorate.
01:00:39I know that it is a conservative district,
01:00:42and we're heading up to Bangor as soon as we leave here
01:00:45to see what we can do to rally people up there.
01:00:47Look, at the end of the day,
01:00:50at the end of the day,
01:00:54any good politician who wants to get reelected has got to listen to the people,
01:01:00and the people have got to make their views very clear to members of Congress
01:01:05and members of the Senate.
01:01:06So my suggestion is make it very clear as to what you stand for
01:01:10and what you would like him to do.
01:01:12Nothing more complicated than that.
01:01:14All right.
01:01:15Maybe another question.
01:01:16I see a hand right over here.
01:01:19Yeah, there's a woman right out here in front.
01:01:22Why don't you yell it out, and I'll relate.
01:01:24I can yell so loud.
01:01:26All right.
01:01:27There's a woman in the back.
01:01:28We've got a loud—
01:01:30First of all, I want to thank you so much for coming to Portland, Maine.
01:01:32My pleasure.
01:01:33And I also want you to talk about why we need a trifecta,
01:01:38why we need the House, the Senate, the presidency,
01:01:41and what we can all do to make that happen.
01:01:44Good.
01:01:45Even though we don't like Jared Golden,
01:01:48we're going to push for people to vote for him because we need to have a trifecta.
01:01:54Okay.
01:01:56Look, again, I get angry at the media not because it's fake news,
01:02:00not because reporters do not do their best to report what's going on,
01:02:04but it is what is emphasized and what is not emphasized.
01:02:07The point that this woman is making, and many people don't even know it.
01:02:11If you have—if Kamala Harris, God willing, is elected president,
01:02:16and she has a Republican House and a Republican Senate,
01:02:20we're not going to accomplish anything.
01:02:22Period.
01:02:23End of discussion.
01:02:24So if you are sympathetic to any of the things that I've been talking about
01:02:29and I know that most of you believe in,
01:02:32you've got to elect a Democratic House,
01:02:34and there's a good chance that that will happen.
01:02:36Got to do that.
01:02:38And you've got to elect a Democratic Senate as well.
01:02:42And while we do that, again,
01:02:44and politics is—you know, it's kind of complicated stuff.
01:02:48It's not so easy.
01:02:49It's short-term thinking.
01:02:50It's long-term thinking.
01:02:51Short-term, absolutely.
01:02:53Elect Kamala, elect a Democratic House, elect a Democratic Senate.
01:02:57And then the day after,
01:02:59demand that the president, the House, and the Senate
01:03:03start standing up for working-class people.
01:03:11But let's be clear.
01:03:13Let's be clear in spite of some of their recent remarks.
01:03:18If anybody here thinks that the Republican Party
01:03:21gives a damn for the working class in this country,
01:03:24you are terribly mistaken.
01:03:28A few years ago, I brought forth a—
01:03:34it was a conservative minimum wage bill,
01:03:37only $15 an hour.
01:03:39I didn't get one Republican to support it.
01:03:42By the way, we didn't get six Democrats.
01:03:44Didn't get one Republican in the Senate to support it.
01:03:47We're talking about a PRO Act
01:03:48to make it easier for workers to form unions.
01:03:50I got that out of my committee.
01:03:52Not one Republican supported it.
01:03:54So the woman is absolutely right.
01:03:57For the president, the new president, to be successful,
01:04:00she's going to need a Democratic House and a Democratic Senate.
01:04:03Let's make that happen.
01:04:12Okay, I see a hand right here.
01:04:15Good. Okay, yeah.
01:04:19There are a lot of uncommitted voters right now.
01:04:23Young—oftentimes young people and people like myself
01:04:26who are absolutely wanting to see Donald Trump defeated.
01:04:33But the big issue facing us
01:04:36that is not just about what I'm to say,
01:04:40but is about us, is Gaza.
01:04:42So what can we do to convince Harris
01:04:54that she must take a different position now
01:04:59for those uncommitted voters to be able to get behind her
01:05:03and support for a ceasefire?
01:05:06Thank you very much.
01:05:09Thank you very much.
01:05:12Thank you very much for that question.
01:05:14I want to do something right now.
01:05:16I really want to ask you a question.
01:05:19This is a very contentious issue.
01:05:21I'm going to answer that woman's question.
01:05:23But I want to ask you a question right now.
01:05:25How many of you support the position
01:05:29of the Biden administration on Israel and Gaza?
01:05:33Please raise your hand.
01:05:34Raise your—oh, no, I don't want boos.
01:05:37This is—there are people who do.
01:05:39And don't be afraid of raising your hand.
01:05:41How many people do support that?
01:05:43How many people do not support it?
01:05:46Okay.
01:05:48From what I'm seeing is a very significant majority of people
01:05:51do not support it.
01:05:53I do not support it.
01:05:55All right?
01:05:57All right.
01:05:59Now, the woman has asked a very important question,
01:06:03both from a policy point of view
01:06:05and a moral perspective,
01:06:07as well as a political perspective.
01:06:09And let me just take a minute
01:06:11to tell you my views on the issue,
01:06:13what I've been trying to do.
01:06:15On October 7th, a terrorist organization
01:06:19called Hamas invaded Israel,
01:06:21killed 1,200 innocent men, women, and children,
01:06:24sometimes brutally,
01:06:26and took several hundred people captive.
01:06:30In my view, Israel, like any other country,
01:06:33had a right to defend itself and go after Hamas.
01:06:38But what Israel and its right-wing extremist government
01:06:42did not have a right to do
01:06:45is to wage total war against the Palestinian people.
01:06:51And let us be clear,
01:06:53because I've helped lead this effort in the Senate,
01:06:55let's be clear about what's happening in Gaza right now,
01:06:58and it is almost unspeakable.
01:07:00We're talking about a Netanyahu extremist government
01:07:05which has out-and-out anti-Palestinian racists
01:07:09and anti-Israeli extremists
01:07:11who are trying to take over Gaza.
01:07:14We're talking about a Netanyahu extremist government
01:07:16which has out-and-out anti-Palestinian racists
01:07:20in its government.
01:07:22They have displaced 90% of the people of Gaza,
01:07:262.2 million people.
01:07:2890% have been driven from their homes,
01:07:30and in many cases, not once, not twice,
01:07:33almost half the population are now living
01:07:35in sweltering heat in tents.
01:07:3860% of the housing units in Gaza
01:07:41have been damaged or destroyed.
01:07:43So we don't know what these people
01:07:45are going to be able to return to.
01:07:47The health care system,
01:07:49almost most of the hospitals have been destroyed,
01:07:52and those that remain are only partially operable.
01:07:57There are 12 universities in Gaza.
01:08:00Every single one of them has been bombed.
01:08:04The civilian infrastructure of Gaza,
01:08:06water systems, wastewater plants,
01:08:09bombed raw sewage, creating disease into the streets,
01:08:14clean drinking water, hard to find.
01:08:18In my view, given the reality
01:08:21that what Netanyahu and his government are doing
01:08:24in creating one of the worst humanitarian disasters
01:08:28in modern history,
01:08:29which now includes, over many months,
01:08:33the blocking of humanitarian aid coming in
01:08:37so that we're looking at hundreds of thousands of people
01:08:40facing hunger and starvation.
01:08:42In my view,
01:08:44U.S. taxpayer money should not go.
01:08:49Not one cent should go to prop up
01:08:51the Netanyahu government and this type of behavior.
01:08:54Now, the woman asked the question,
01:09:06as a moral perspective,
01:09:08and I'll give you my views on the moral aspect of it,
01:09:11but it's a political issue as well.
01:09:13Just as you said, you're absolutely right.
01:09:15There are many, many people who desperately want to get rid of,
01:09:18make sure that Trump doesn't get elected
01:09:21and want to elect Kamala.
01:09:23But they're concerned.
01:09:24How do we change it?
01:09:26I will tell you that on this issue,
01:09:28President Biden, I am a friend of President Biden,
01:09:31and I've been very supportive of a lot of his domestic initiatives,
01:09:34which, as I indicated,
01:09:35I think he has been the most pro-worker president
01:09:38in the modern history of this country.
01:09:40But on this issue, he is wrong.
01:09:43And I think that what we have got to do
01:09:47is make sure,
01:09:50and I can't even explain to you
01:09:52why there are so few Democrats in the Senate, at least.
01:09:56There aren't more than, I would say, six or seven
01:09:58out of 50 or so Democrats in the Senate
01:10:02who are prepared to vote against money for Netanyahu.
01:10:06And they are...
01:10:07That's right.
01:10:08It has a lot to do with AIPAC.
01:10:09It has a lot to do with money in politics.
01:10:11And by the way, poll after poll shows
01:10:14that the American people are not supportive
01:10:17of what Netanyahu is doing.
01:10:19And by the way, in the Democratic Party,
01:10:21those numbers are very, very high.
01:10:23So to answer your question,
01:10:24what we have got to do in a grassroots way
01:10:26is say to the Democratic Party
01:10:29is that the policies that you have right now
01:10:33regarding Netanyahu are wrong,
01:10:35and if you really want to get young people involved in this campaign,
01:10:38the time is now to change those policies.
01:10:52All right.
01:10:53Listen, we've got to get up to banger.
01:10:56I just want to...
01:10:58This is a great turnout, and it's been a great meeting.
01:11:01These are pivotal moments.
01:11:04We're in a pivotal moment in American history.
01:11:07Don't sit this one out.
01:11:09I know that there are concerns about a lot of things,
01:11:11but let's go out there.
01:11:13Short term, let us defeat Trump and elect Kamala.
01:11:17Long term, let us work hard to transform this country
01:11:21and make it the nation we know it can become.
01:11:24Thank you all.