Bernie Sanders Quotes
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Bernard Sanders is an American politician who has been the junior United States Senator from Vermont since 2007. Sanders is the longest serving independent in U.S. congressional history. Since his election to the House of Representatives in 1990, he has caucused with the Democratic Party, which has entitled him to congressional committee assignments and at times given Democrats a majority. Sanders became the ranking minority member on the Senate Budget Committee in January 2015; he had previously been chair of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee for two years.

Since January 2017, he has been Chair of the Senate Democratic Outreach Committee. Sanders's campaign against Hillary Clinton for the party's 2016 U.S. presidential nomination raised more money in small, individual contributions than any other in American history, and helped him rise to international recognition. A self-described democratic socialist and a New Deal-era American progressive, Sanders is pro-labor and emphasizes reversing economic inequality. Many scholars consider his views to be more in line with social democracy.

Sanders was born and raised in the Brooklyn borough of New York City and graduated from the University of Chicago in 1964. While a student he was an active protest organizer for the Congress of Racial Equality and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee during the Civil Rights Movement. After settling in Vermont in 1968, Sanders ran unsuccessful third-party campaigns for governor and U.S. senator in the early to mid-1970s. As an independent, he was elected mayor of Burlington—Vermont's most populous city of 42,417 in 2010—in 1981, by a margin of ten votes. He went on to be reelected as mayor three times. In 1990, he was elected to represent Vermont's at-large congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives, where he co-founded the Congressional Progressive Caucus in 1991. He served as a congressman for 16 years before being elected to the U.S. Senate in 2006. In 2012, he was reelected with 71% of the popular vote. State-by-state polls have indicated that he received some of the highest favorability ratings of senators with their constituents, ranking third in 2014 and first in both 2015 and 2016. Polls in the year 2017 showed that Sanders had the highest favorability rating of the leading political figures included in the polls.

Sanders rose to national prominence after his 2010 filibuster against the Middle Class Tax Relief Act of 2010, which extended the Bush tax cuts that favored the wealthiest Americans. He has built a reputation as a leading progressive voice on issues such as campaign finance reform, corporate welfare, global warming, income inequality, LGBT rights, parental leave, and universal healthcare. Sanders has long been critical of U.S. foreign policy and was an early and outspoken opponent of the Iraq War, the First Gulf War, and U.S. support for the Contras in Nicaragua. He is also outspoken on civil liberties and civil rights, criticizing racial discrimination in the criminal justice system as well as advocating for privacy rights against mass surveillance policies such as the USA Patriot Act and the NSA surveillance programs.

Sanders announced his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination on April 30, 2015. Initially considered a long shot, Sanders won 23 primaries and caucuses and approximately 43% of pledged delegates to Clinton's 55%. His campaign was noted for its supporters' enthusiasm, as well as for his rejection of large donations from corporations, the financial industry, and any associated Super PAC. On July 12, 2016, Sanders formally endorsed Clinton in her unsuccessful general election campaign against Republican Donald Trump, while urging his supporters to continue the "political revolution" his campaign had begun. In November 2016, Sanders's book Our Revolution: A Future to Believe In was released; upon its release, it was number 3 on The New York Times Best Seller list. In 2016 Sanders formed Our Revolution, a political organization dedicated to educating voters about issues, getting people involved in the political process, and electing progressive candidates. In February 2017, Sanders began webcasting The Bernie Sanders Show on Facebook.

✵ 8. September 1941
Bernie Sanders photo
Bernie Sanders: 123   quotes 3   likes

Bernie Sanders Quotes

“The strong environmental position should not be and cannot be to do nothing, and to put our heads in the sand and pretend that the problem does not exist. It would be nice if Texas had no low-level radioactive waste, or Vermont or Maine or any other State. That would be great. That is not the reality. The environmental challenge now is, given the reality that low-level radioactive waste exists, what is the safest way of disposing of that waste. Leaving the radioactive waste at the site where it was produced, despite the fact that that site may be extremely unsafe in terms of long-term isolation of the waste and was never intended to be a long- term depository of low-level waste, is horrendous environmental policy. What sense is it to say that you have to keep the waste where it is now, even though that might be very environmentally damaging? That does not make any sense at all. No reputable scientist or environmentalist believes that the geology of Vermont or Maine would be a good place for this waste. In the humid climate of Vermont and Maine, it is more likely that groundwater will come in contact with that waste and carry off radioactive elements to the accessible environment. There is widespread scientific evidence to suggest, on the other hand, that locations in Texas, some of which receive less than 12 inches of rainfall a year, a region where the groundwater table is more than 700 feet below the surface, is a far better location for this waste. This is not a political assertion, it is a geological and environmental reality. … From an environmental point of view, I urge strong support for this legislation.”

Speaking at the House of Representatives on the Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact, in 7 October 1997. https://www.congress.gov/congressional-record/1997/10/7/house-section/article/h8512-1?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22%5C%22all+that+Texas+and+Maine+and+Vermont+are+asking+for+today%5C%22%22%5D%7D&r=1
1990s

“Today in America, the middle class is disappearing.”

2010s, 2016, Democratic Presidential Debate in Miami (9 March 2016)

“In my view, and we've introduced legislation to deal with this, if a bank is too big to fail, it is too big to exist.”

2016 Presidential Campaign Rally in Madison, Wisconsin, (1 July 2015) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OewBDIwy-O4 at 43:00
2010s, 2015

“The racist and homophobic attack on Jussie Smollett is a horrific instance of the surging hostility toward minorities around the country.”

29 January 2019 https://twitter.com/SenSanders/status/1090376521171304448 in regard to Jussie Smollett
2010s, 2019, January 2019

“We must look at climate change as if it were a devastating military attack against the United States and the entire planet. And we must respond accordingly.”

Twitter post https://twitter.com/BernieSanders/status/1080252780328169473 (1 January 2019)
2010s, 2019, January 2019

“Our bill does what the American people want by substantially increasing the estate tax on the wealthiest families in this country and dramatically reducing wealth inequality. From a moral, economic, and political perspective our nation will not thrive when so few have so much and so many have so little.”

Bernie Sanders Has a Plan to Tax the Rich That’s About As Radical as What Teddy Roosevelt Proposed, by John Nichols, The Nation https://www.thenation.com/article/bernie-sanders-progressive-estate-tax-teddy-roosevelt/ (12 February 2019)
2010s, 2019, February 2019

“At a time of massive wealth and income inequality, when the three richest Americans own more wealth than 160 million Americans, it is literally beyond belief that the Republican leadership wants to provide hundreds of billions of dollars in tax breaks to the top 0.2 percent…”

Bernie Sanders Has a Plan to Tax the Rich That’s About As Radical as What Teddy Roosevelt Proposed, by John Nichols, The Nation https://www.thenation.com/article/bernie-sanders-progressive-estate-tax-teddy-roosevelt/ (12 February 2019)
2010s, 2019, February 2019

“In the richest country in the history of the world, it is not radical to demand that when people turn on their taps, the water they drink is safe and clean. It has been 5 years since the start of the Flint water crisis. This is absolutely unacceptable.”

Twitter post, https://twitter.com/SenSanders?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor (25 April 2019), quoted in * 2019-04-25 City flags fly at half-staff as mayor tells Flint to 'never forget’ water crisis Ron Fonger MLive https://www.mlive.com/news/flint/2019/04/city-flags-fly-at-half-staff-as-mayor-tells-flint-to-never-forget-water-crisis.html
Ref: en.wikiquote.org - Bernie Sanders / Quotes / 2010s / 2019
2010s, 2019, April 2019

“So in everything, do to others what you would have them to do to you, for this sums up the war and the prophets.”

That is the golden rule. Do unto others, what you would have them do to you. That is the golden rule, and it is not very complicated.
2010s, 2015, Liberty University Speech (14 September 2015)

“No single financial institution should have holdings so extensive that its failure could send the world economy into another financial crisis … If an institution is too big to fail, it is too big to exist.”

[Huntley, Steve, Steve Huntley: Sanders the socialist sure gets it right on big banks, http://chicago.suntimes.com/politics/7/71/569095/sanders-socialist-sure-gets-right-big-banks, 1 May 2015, Chicago Sun-Times, 2 May 2015]
2010s, 2015

“Occasionally, it might be a good idea to be honest about American foreign policy.”

South Carolina democratic debate (25 February 2020), as quoted in CNN https://edition.cnn.com/politics/live-news/2020-democratic-debate-south-carolina/h_2a3e527ba81bbe6e29e555687c031939
2010s, 2020

“I learnt a lot about democracy in the schoolyards of Brooklyn, New York.”

Bernie from Brooklyn: A Conversation with Mark Ruffalo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfqNRReOXmA (April 16, 2016)
2010s, 2016

“Let's talk about democratic socialism. We are living in many ways in a socialist society right now. The problem is, as Dr. Martin Luther King reminded us, "We have socialism for the very rich, rugged individualism for the poor."”

When Donald Trump gets $800 million in tax breaks and subsidies to build luxury condominiums, that's socialism for the rich. We have to subsidize Walmart’s workers on Medicaid and food stamps because the wealthiest family in America pays starvation wages. That's socialism for the rich. I believe in democratic socialism for working people. Not billionaires. Health care for all. Educational opportunity for all.

2020-02-19

Bloomberg takes a beating, Sanders defends socialism in fiery debate

Politico

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/02/19/democratic-debate-2020-best-moments-116169
2020

“Americans' right to free speech should not be proportionate to their bank accounts.”

2014-09-07
Tom Udall and Bernie Sanders
The Threat to American Democracy
Politico
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/09/the-threat-to-american-democracy-110683
2010s

“The difference between my socialism and Trump's socialism is, I believe the government should help working families, not billionaires.”

Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace, quoted in * 2020-02-11
The Night Socialism Went Mainstream
Russell Berman
The Atlantic
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/02/bernie-sanders-wins-new-hampshire/606022/
2020

“The real issue is not whether you're black or white, whether you're a woman or a man. In my view, a woman could be elected president of the United States. The real issue is whose side are you on? Are you on the side of workers and poor people, or are you on the side of big money and the corporations?”

1988, quoted in * 2020-01-14
Video emerges of Sanders saying in 1988 a woman could be elected president
Zack Budryk
The Hill
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/478299-video-emerges-of-sanders-saying-a-woman-could-be-elected-president-in-1988
1980s

“Here is the bottom line. When we are dealing with this crisis, we need to listen to the scientists, to the researchers, to the medical folks, not politicians. We need an emergency response to this crisis and we need it now.”

2020-03-12
Now Is the Time for Solidarity: Bernie Sanders Addresses Health and Economic Crisis Facing US as Coronavirus Spreads
Jake Johnson
Common Dreams
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/03/12/now-time-solidarity-bernie-sanders-addresses-health-and-economic-crisis-facing-us
2020

“Let's be clear, the lack of health care and affordable medicine does not only threaten the health and well-being of the uninsured, it impacts everyone who comes in contact with them. In fact, what this crisis is beginning to teach us is that we are only as safe as the least insured person in America.”

Press conference, Burlington, Vermont, quoted in * 2020-03-13

America 'only as safe as the least insured person,' Sanders says regarding coronavirus emergency

Seth McLaughlin

The Washington Times

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/mar/13/coronavirus-only-safe-least-insured-bernie-sanders/
2020

“If there is going to be class warfare in this country, it’s time that the working class of this country won that war and not just the corporate elite.”

Senator Sanders was speaking to the Iowa AFL-CIO convention summer 2019

Quoted by Norman Solomon in The Escalating Class War Against Bernie Sanders https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/02/18/the-escalating-class-war-against-bernie-sanders/ (18 Feb 2020)
2020

“I will never tell you how to vote. If I do, don't listen to me.”

Snopes.com found no record of Sanders saying those words. https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/bernie-sanders-told-supporters-hed-never-tell-them-how-to-vote/ May be derived from a statement during an MSNBC town hall in April 2016:

We are not a movement where I can snap my fingers and say to you or to anybody else what you should do, because you won't listen to me. You shouldn't. You'll make these decisions yourself.
Misattributed