Bernie Sanders stops in Iowa City

A day after the 80th anniversary of the Social Security Act being signed into law, presidential hopeful U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., called for more social and economic reform in Iowa City Saturday night.

“The Social Security Act is one of the most important, effective and popular acts in American history because it helped people,” Sanders said. “This is a people’s campaign, not funded by millionaires, billionaires and their super PACs.

“This campaign is talking to the billionaire class right to their face and saying they cannot have it all.”

MORE:Sanders pledges to expand Social Security, lift wages

Sanders spoke to a sign-waving crowd of more than 300 supporters in front of his Iowa City field headquarters in Kennedy Plaza for nearly 30 minutes Saturday night.

Just hours after speaking on The Des Moines Register Political Soapbox at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, Sanders arrived at about 7 p.m. and talked to a the crowd to mark the field headquarters opening in Johnson County.

Sanders touted the need for a raise in the minimum wage, an issue that has been a topic of much discussion and debate locally as the Johnson County Board of Supervisors discuss the possibility of raising the minimum wage to $10.10 in Johnson County.

“That national minimum wage of $7.25 is a starvation wage,” Sanders said. Sanders told the crowd Saturday night that he would have the national minimum wage go up to $15.

Sanders also discussed pay equity, saying that “men have to stand up with women to make sure we pass pay equity for women workers.”

MORE:Sanders on billionaire class: ‘I welcome their hatred’

Noting that instances of police brutality have been becoming more prevalent and publicized in recent months, Sanders discussed his eight-year stint as mayor of Burlington, Vt., and his working relationship with police officers.

“Anyone who thinks that being a police officer is easy is wrong,” Sanders said. “But if a police officer breaks the law, a police officer must be held accountable.”

Before ending his speech, Sanders rattled off what stands in the way of goals he set for his campaign: corporate America, Wall Street, corporate media and the Koch brothers.

Sanders then answered back with what he hopes to accomplish: universal health care, tuition free public college, reduce interest rates on school debt, campaign finance reform, handling climate change better.

“When tens of millions stand together, there is nothing, nothing, nothing we cannot accomplish,” Sanders said.

After the speech, a crowd of supporters swarmed Sanders to take selfies and shake hands. Jordan and Elijah McNeish of Iowa City brought their 2-1/2-week-old daughter Cassiopeia to Sanders, who posed for a photo with the couple and their baby.

“It feels good to be here,” Jordan said. “He seems like a person who will fight for my daughter’s future.”

On Sunday Sanders will be stopping in Cedar Rapids, Eldridge, Clinton and Dubuque to wrap up a weekend tour of Iowa, according to a news release from his campaign.

Virginia Meyer, a supporter from Lone Tree, was glad to see over 300 people show up in Iowa City and the crowds his garnered through Iowa. Meyer said she attended an Iowa City event in 2014 to show support and ask Sanders to run. Only 15 people showed up then, she said.

“He has to keep reaching people because major media has tried to ignore him,” Meyer said. “As the numbers of supporters swell, they cannot ignore it.”

Reach Zach Berg at 319-887-5412, zberg@press-citizen.com, or follow him on Twitter at @ZacharyBerg.