Bernie Sanders On Outrage -- Where Is It?

Reposted, courtesy of Yahoo. Read more at Elect Bernie Sanders.

One of the difficulties many of us have in dealing with the Bush Administration and the extreme right-wing group that now controls Congress is that the word "outrage" has increasingly lost its meaning. Virtually every day there is another action, another lie, another assault on the very foundations of what our country is about--so much so that we cease to be shocked or appalled. We shrug our shoulders and say "what's new?"

What does "outrage" mean anymore when we have an Administration that took us into a war under false premises--a war that has cost us over 1,600 dead, 12,000 wounded and $300 billion--in addition to the terrible suffering of the Iraqi people?

What does "outrage" mean anymore when we have a Majority Leader in the House who threatens our independent judiciary; who leaves the voting rolls open for three additional hours while he secures the votes he needs at five in the morning to win a prescription drug bill written by the pharmaceutical industry; who calls a special session of Congress to address a tragic situation affecting one family?

What does "outrage" mean anymore when we have a White House that tells us how much they love our troops but threw 140,000 veterans off of VA health care several years ago, and brings forth a budget this year which devastates health care for our veterans and leaves the VA totally unprepared to take care of the thousands of soldiers who are returning from Iraq and Afghanistan?

What does the word "outrage" mean when, at a time when the US already has the most unfair gap between the rich and the poor in the industrialized world, we have a President who provides hundreds of billions in tax breaks to the very richest people in our society and cuts back on health care, education and affordable housing for low and moderate income people?

What does "outrage" mean anymore when the White House and the Republican leadership are some of the very few people in the world who do not understand the profound dangers of global warming and who, day after day, aide and abet those who are destroying our environment?

What does "outrage" mean when we have a president who tells us in every speech how much he believes in "freedom," but who proposes legislation like the USA Patriot Act and other bills which are undermining the basic freedoms and constitutional rights of the American people? All this talk about "freedom," and yet he wants to deny the women of this country the freedom to control their own bodies?

Sadly, I could go on and on telling you what the Bush Administration and the Republican leadership are doing, but you already know all about that. And you also know, as I do, that our political challenge is not simply talking to each other about the horrendous republican record.

Our challenge now is to determine how we bring people together to end this horrific period of American history, and how we create a government which represents all of our people, and not just the CEO's of large corporations and extreme right-wing fundamentalists.

I will tell you what the major issue will be: and that is the collapse of the middle class, the increase in poverty and the growing and obscene gap between the rich and the poor. It is not acceptable to me that for the first time in the modern history of the United States, the younger generation will likely have a lower standard of living than today's adults--despite a huge increase in worker productivity.

We must put an end to the disgrace of the United States being the only major country on earth without a national health care program that guarantees health care for every man, woman and child. We will also continue our efforts to lower the outrageously high cost of prescription drugs.

We must end our absurd trade policies which are costing us millions of decent paying jobs, and are driving wages down. Workers in the united States must not be asked to compete against desperate people in China who earn 30 cents an hour and go to jail when they try to form an independent union. Corporate America must start re-investing in the United States, and creating good paying jobs here.

We must put an end to the reality that many of the new jobs that are being created in our country do not pay a living wage or provide decent benefits. That is why we must raise the minimum wage to a living wage. It is incomprehensible that the national minimum wage remains an obscene $5.15 an hour.

We must put an end to the anti-union national labor board approach which is making it almost impossible for workers to form a union. Employers, with impunity, fire labor organizers and harrass those who are fighting for collective bargaining. The right to form a union is a constitutional right and must be protected so that workers can negotiate fair wages and working conditions.

We must end the absurd national priorities of the Republican leadership which provide hudnreds of billions in tax breaks for the wealthiest one percent, and then cut back on health care, education, affordable housing, veterans needs and programs for the poor.

And lastly, of course, we must end this absurd effort to privatize Social Security and destroy the most successful anti-poverty program in american history. Not only must we not privatize social security, but we must strengthen it and make absolutely certain that it will be there for our grandchildren and great grandchildren.