At a "Fight Oligarchy" event in Folsom, California on Tuesday, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) spoke about worsening income inequality and the minimum wage.
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00:00If you can believe it, if you can believe it, and it's true, over the last 52 years, the average American worker today in inflation accounted for dollars is earning less than he or she did back then.
00:22You got that? Think about all of the increase in worker productivity. They didn't have computers back there. They didn't have cell phones. Workers are producing much more today than they did 52 years ago, and yet in real dollars, they're earning less.
00:39It is time to raise the minimum wage to a living wage.
00:54Brothers and sisters, it is the trade union movement in America that has developed and created the middle class.
01:03And millions of workers all over America want to join unions. We got some trade unionists here tonight?
01:16They want to join unions, but they're unable to do so because employers use illegal tactics to prevent them from organizing.
01:26And that is why we're going to pass what's called the PRO Act to make sure that every worker in America will be able to join a union.
01:37You may or may not know that in America today, we remain the only major country on earth not to guarantee health care to all people as a human right.
01:57We have a health care system which is broken, which is dysfunctional, which is cruel.
02:12As a nation, we are spending almost twice as much. We spend over $14,000 for every man, woman and child for health care.
02:22$14,000. And yet, despite spending so much, 85 million Americans are uninsured or underinsured.
02:3560,000 Americans die each year because they cannot afford to go to a doctor when they should.
02:43I have talked to doctors in Vermont and all over this country who treat patients who walk in the door and they say, why didn't you come in here when you first felt your symptoms?
02:57And the patient said, I'm uninsured or my deductible is too high. I just didn't have the money.
03:02That is outrageous. It is unacceptable. We must pass Medicare for all and guarantee health care to every man, woman and child.
03:21And when we talk about what oligarchy is about, and when we talk about what corporate greed is about, I want you to hear one fact that you won't see in the corporate media or hear in the halls of Congress.
03:41Right now, as a nation, our life expectancy, how long we live, is about four years less than other major countries. That's pretty bad.
03:52Do you know what's even worse? If you are working class in America, on average, you will live seven years shorter lives than if you are wealthy.
04:05And you know why that is? Why is that? You got it. Everybody knows. The word is stress.
04:16I grew up in a working class family. And I've been all over this country talking to working class people.
04:25Do you know what it's like to wake up in the morning and wonder about whether you're going to be able to feed your kids or not?
04:31You know what it's like to know when you get sick or your mother is ill, you may not have the money to get the medical care you need.
04:41You know what it's like that when your car breaks down, you don't have the thousand bucks you need to repair it.
04:48You can't get to work. All over this country, people are struggling every single day just to survive.
04:57Brothers and sisters, in the richest country in the history of the world, we can do a hell of a lot better than that.
05:06Do not it.