At a "Fighting Oligarchy" rally in Missoula, Montana on Wednesday, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) spoke about economic rights.
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00:00You know, back in 1944, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, one of the great presidents in
00:16American history, he gave a State of the Union speech, which didn't get a lot of
00:23attention because it was in the middle of World War II. But what he said, he said in
00:27so many words, he said, you know, in America, we have this Constitution, it's great, freedom
00:32of speech, you have the right to vote, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly. But he said,
00:37you know what we don't fully appreciate? We don't appreciate that economic rights are human
00:44rights.
00:46See, what the system does, we are taking on a system of enormous power. And one of the
00:58things they are trying to do is to say, you have no rights. Say, hey, we'll let you vote
01:03every four years to somebody that we paid for. That's fine. No problem. Hey, we bought this
01:09guy. You can vote for him. You ain't gonna win anyhow. It doesn't matter if you do win.
01:13But this is what we will not give you. We will not allow you as an American citizen the right,
01:24the right to have health care, the right to have decent housing, the right to have a job
01:31that pays you a living wage. That we're not gonna give you.
01:36So brothers and sisters, our job is to really take that on in as bold a way as we are. And
01:48to stand up and say, you know what? We are human beings. Good. We want the right to vote.
01:54Very important. Freedom of speech. Very important. But you know what? In the richest country in
01:59the history of the world where technology is going to make us richer. We want an economy
02:04that works for every single man, woman, and child. Not just Musk and his billionaire friends.
02:18So what does it mean? It means that no, we are not gonna cut Social Security. We are going
02:30to expand Social Security. It means that at a time when millions of workers are earning starvation
02:45wages. We're gonna raise the minimum wage to a living wage. No worker who works 40 hours
02:57a week should live in poverty. It means that no, we're not gonna give Musk and his billionaire
03:06friends a tax break. We're gonna demand they start paying their fair share of taxes.
03:12Does anybody here think that the American healthcare system is working well? We are spending almost
03:36twice as much per capita on healthcare, over $14,000 a year, double what other countries are spending.
03:45And yet we are the only major country on earth not to guarantee healthcare to all people as
03:51a human right.
03:5585 million of us are uninsured or underinsured. Anybody here have a high deductible?
04:0560,000 people a year die because they don't get to a doctor on time. Brothers and sisters, it is not a radical idea
04:14to understand that healthcare is a human right. We must pass a Medicare for all single payer program.
04:21single payer program.
04:38In Vermont and all over this country, we have a housing crisis and it is not just 800,000 who are homeless.
04:46It is 20 million people who are spending half of their limited income on housing.
04:55Maybe, maybe, just maybe, instead of spending a trillion dollars on the military industrial complex,
05:02we build 5 million units of low income and affordable housing.
05:15We live in a global economy and we need the best educated workforce on earth.
05:27Young people who want to get a higher education, either in college or in trade school,
05:33should not have to go tens of thousands of dollars into debt.
05:42education not only makes, not only makes important sense for our economy,
05:51education growing intellectually is something that every human being is entitled to.
05:57We must make public colleges and universities tuition free and cancel all student debt.
06:05That's why...
06:15that is not the only thing you have to do.
06:18And I think that's the only thing I think you're going to do.
06:21So the government is going to do and, and the government is actually going to have the
06:24government.
06:25And you haven't come into that.
06:26We must keep it.
06:27We must keep it.
06:28The government is going to be done.
06:29And it's going to be done.
06:30You are going to be done.