Bernie Sanders Speaks at PA Progressive Summit

Written by Nick Field, Managing Editor

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders told those assembled in the Harrisburg Hilton for the PA Progressive Summit that he was going to do something different in his speech.

“Tell the truth,” he said.

The fiery progressive and potential 2016 presidential candidate gave a popular and impassioned performance.

Entering to Tom Petty’s “Won’t Back Down”, Sanders focused his fire on the Koch Brothers and the problem of income inequality in America.

“The Supreme Court’s decision on Citizens United, will go down in history as one of the worst decisions ever made by the Supreme Court,” Vermont’s junior Senator said, pointing to the influence of Charles and David Koch.

“The Koch Brothers alone are worth $85 billion,” Sanders warned. “Their resources are literally unlimited.” He went on to call them “counter-revolutionaries that have an extreme right-wing agenda.”

“Bad decisions by human beings can be replaced by good decisions by human beings.”

The Senator then transitioned to listing some troubling economic statistics: a real unemployment rate of 11.5%, 18% youth unemployment, 30% black youth unemployment, 45 million in poverty and 40 million uninsured.

“Nobody should be satisfied today with where we are in America concerning our economy,” he asserted.

“People are angry, I’ll tell you why they’re angry,” Sanders said. “The people on top have literally never had it so good.” The Senator then proceed through a number of statistics on recent economic trends:

-“Since 1999, median family income has gone done by almost $5,000”

-“0.1% owns more wealth than the bottom 90%. The Walton Family owns more than the bottom 40% of American people.”

-“Since the economic crash, 99% of all new income generated goes to the top 1%.”

Sen. Sanders then delivered the central message of this address.

“Income inequality is the major moral issue, major economic issue, major political issue of our time,” the Senator proclaimed.

Sanders also took the time to read from the 1980 Libertarian Party platform (VP nominee David Koch) and claim that it now represents the agenda of the Republican party.

Summing up billionaires, Sanders claimed “their religion is greed! They’re addicted to money!”

He also told the assembled crowd, who enthusiastically received his speech, “You are the job-creators! The working families of America are the job creators.”

“Bad decisions by human beings can be replaced by good decisions by human beings,” the Senator said at one point, illustrating his political philosophy.

Of course, the central question for all the political watchers is whether Sanders will challenge Hillary Clinton from the left in the upcoming 2016 Democratic presidential primary. The Vermont Senator has been tight-lipped about his plans but he may have tipped his hand a little.

At one point, he joked that the Koch Brothers would be financing his campaign, but he didn’t mention which campaign that was.

February 7th, 2015 | Posted in Front Page Stories, Harrisburg, Presidential, Senate, Top Stories | 7 Comments