SEN BERNIE SANDERS: My plan for the Trump presidency. What I will--and won't--do
President-elect Donald Trump campaigned in 2024 as an anti-establishment populist prepared to take on the political class and act on behalf of working families. When Trump is prepared to move forward in that direction, I will gladly support him. When he does not, I will vigorously oppose him.
Trump has said the United States should not be paying, by far, the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs. He’s right. Under President Biden, we have made some good progress in lowering the outrageously high cost of prescription drugs in this country, including having Medicare negotiate prices with the pharmaceutical industry. But much more needs to be done. I look forward to working with President Trump on legislation that would end the absurdity of Americans paying, by far, the highest price in the world for prescription drugs. We must have the courage to take on the greed of the pharmaceutical industry and lower drug prices substantially.
At a time when many financially strapped Americans are paying 20 or 30% interest rates on their credit cards, President Trump has stated that he wants to cap credit card interest rates at 10%. He’s right. I will soon be introducing bipartisan legislation to protect Americans from being ripped off by the credit card industry and look forward to his support.
BERNIE SANDERS PLANS TO SPEARHEAD LEGISLATION ON KEY TRUMP PROPOSAL
President Trump has rightfully pointed out that disastrous trade agreements like NAFTA and PNTR with China have cost millions of American jobs as corporations shut down manufacturing in this country and moved abroad to find cheap labor. As someone who strongly opposed those agreements, I look forward to working with the Trump administration on new trade policies that will protect American workers and create good-paying jobs in our country.
Some of Trump's nominees have also made important points. Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., is right when he says that food corporations are "poisoning" our young people with highly processed foods that are causing obesity, heart disease and other serious health problems. The Trump administration and Congress must take on the greed of the food industry and create a healthier America.
At a time when many large corporations are routinely breaking the law and engaging in illegal union-busting, Trump’s Labor Secretary nominee Lori Chavez-DeRemer has been supportive of the PRO Act, which would protect a worker’s right to join a union and bargain for better pay, benefits and working conditions. She is right. Workers must have the right to join a union without illegal interference by their bosses. I look forward to working with the Trump administration to pass the PRO Act into law.
TRUMP NOMINATES REP. LORI CHAVEZ-DEREMER AS SECRETARY OF LABOR
No one denies that we must end waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government. Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, for example, is correct when he points out that the Pentagon has failed seven audits and cannot fully account for its budget of over $800 billion. We must make the Defense Department far more efficient, save taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars a year and cut spending.
But let me be clear. While I am more than prepared to work with the Trump administration in areas of agreement, I have some very strong disagreements with positions that Trump has proposed.
At a time of massive income and wealth inequality, when the wealthiest people have never had it so good, it would be an outrage to provide hundreds of billions of dollars in additional tax breaks to large corporations and the wealthiest people in this country. Any new tax cuts should go to the working families of this country. Billionaires and large profitable corporations must start paying their fair share in taxes.
SEN BERNIE SANDERS: TWO AMERICAS, THE PEOPLE VS. THE BILLIONAIRES
Further, we must not throw millions of people off of the health care they have by making massive cuts to Medicaid and other public health programs, which is how some Republicans want to pay for their tax cuts for the rich. Medicaid is a lifeline not only for millions of low-income Americans, but also for over a million seniors in nursing homes and people with disabilities.
The last 10 years have been the warmest on record and, as a result, we have seen unprecedented extreme weather disturbances throughout the United States and the world. While Los Angeles experiences devastating wildfires and North Carolina is still recovering from destructive flooding, Trump is dangerously wrong when he claims climate change is a "hoax." Virtually the entire scientific community understands that climate change is real, is caused by carbon emissions and is an enormous threat to the well-being of our kids and future generations. We must, with the entire global community, combat climate change.
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We must not engage in the mass deportation of 20 million people in this country, many of whom have worked and lived here for virtually their entire lives and are a vital part of our economy. We need to stop illegal crossings with strong border enforcement and should deport people who commit serious criminal offenses. But we must not break up millions of families, put children in cages, or use the U.S. military unconstitutionally to round up immigrants in door-to-door searches.
Trump Treasury Secretary nominee Scott Bessent is wrong when he opposes the need to raise the federal minimum wage. At a time when the $7.25 minimum wage has not been raised in 15 years, it is unconscionable that millions of Americans continue to work for starvation wages. We must raise the minimum wage to a living wage: $17 an hour.
We must not allow billionaire oligarchs to buy our government. Trump has repeatedly claimed that he wants the Republican Party to represent the needs of working people. Well, you don’t do that by surrounding yourself with the richest people in the world and putting 13 billionaires in your cabinet, many of whom have a direct financial stake in the industries they are charged with regulating. Further, we need real campaign finance reform which prevents billionaires in both parties from buying elections.
Let us never forget we are the wealthiest country in the history of the world. There is no reason why 60% of Americans should live paycheck to paycheck, why we have massive and growing income and wealth inequality, why 85 million Americans are uninsured or underinsured, why 25% of seniors in America are trying to survive on $15,000 a year or less, why young people leave college deeply in debt, or why childcare is unaffordable for millions of families. We can do better. We must do better.
I look forward to working with President Trump when he stands with the working families of this country. I will vigorously oppose him when he represents the needs of the billionaire class and wealthy special interests.