In all of his campaign speeches Bernie always used the rhetoric of solidarity. He said “I know every man in this room will stand with the women and demand equal pay for equal work.” I have never previously heard any politician at any level using such uncompromising language. He used to say that while police work was hard and deserved to be well paid, that they needed to be held accountable for their misconduct. He said that while Hillary was saying we needed a “national conversation” about police work. In all of his speeches Bernie defended a “woman’s right to control her own body.” This is old 1960’s style rhetoric that I have not heard any politician at any level use.

Bernie has a sterling record on issues of racial and gender justice, far better than Tim Kaine or Joe Biden. So clearly, Bernie is NOT only about issues of class. It is just that decades ago the Democratic party turned its back on the working class. It just took us a while to figure this out.

I live in a poor ,overwhelmingly African American, neighborhood. The majority of people earn minimum wage or just a little more. Access to health care is limited and people get old before their time. Medicare for All, HR 676 would be a yuge benefit for my neighborhood. Those who earn enough to have to pay healthcare premiums would experience a dramatic increase in disposable income as their payments in to a Medicare tax would be far lower than their current premiums. Ask any Canadian what their Medicare tax is and you will understand. For those of my neighborhood who use Medicaid, the benefits under HR 676 would be far better.

$15/hour minimum wage would have the effect of pouring thousands of dollars into my neighborhood. It would have a dramatic effect upon local businesses as people would immediately spend it on all the things they currently deny themselves.

Free university at the University of DC would dramatically increase the number of people getting an education. People would go to school instead of jail.

Increasing social security benefits would also pour money into my neighborhood, which would instantly be spent on local businesses, thus creating local jobs.

Bernie’s economic agenda would benefit the entire working class, most especially in the lives of women and minorities. I am so sickened to see the donor class attempt to trick people into thinking that Bernie is attacking them when it is just the reverse. I am even more sickened to see people who should know better fall for it.