2020 Campaign

Can Bernie win the election? Absolutely! Almost every major poll shows Bernie beating Trump, often by large margins. Bernie has the ground game to win. Bernie’s solid base of supporters, volunteers and donors are unmatched by any other candidate.

Bernie has the money to win. Over one million people have already donated to Bernie’s 2020 campaign.

Bernie has a strategy to win. We are creating a network of supporters with the Bern App and increasing the voter base by reaching out young people, independents, disaffected voters, non voters and working class voters who have given up on the political process. The campaign and over one million volunteers, like us, are working hard every day to build this grassroots coalition and get them to the polls.

Bernie really helped bring attention to progressive issues but we need him to move out of the way now so someone else can take over? Bernie built this movement and he continues to lead it. Support for Bernie’s progressive platform is strong and he’s gaining momentum, through organizations like Brand New Congress, that are getting progressive candidates like AOC elected. People respect and trust Bernie for his decades of consistency and commitment. No one doubts his authenticity, sincerity, and determination to do what he says he’ll do. Bernie fought for progressive issues when it wasn’t popular or politically expedient. People even laughed at him. His fight is now our fight. And we will fight to get Bernie the nomination and get our platform adopted at the DNC convention in Milwaukee.

Does Bernie have any endorsements? Yes, Bernie has received plenty of endorsements already. Check out the growing list of Bernie’s endorsements at our Endorsements page, the campaign’s official page and this wikipedia article. Read More

What can I do to help Bernie win? The most effective way to help Bernie win is to talk to people about Bernie, canvass, phonebank, donate and volunteer. When people learn about Bernie’s policies and plans, they start to Feel the Bern, just like you do. Here are some things you can do: Join the campaign as a volunteer

Donate to help Bernie hire organizers and set up field offices.

Sign up and use the Bern app

Phonebank

Canvass

Attend a Bernie event near you

Wear Bernie gear

Register to Vote and check your voter registration

Vote

– learn all about the caucus or primary in your state at VoteforBernie.org If we do the work we win. FEEL THE BERN!

2016 Campaign

Bernie stayed in the 2016 primary too long. Why didn’t he drop out sooner? In 2016, Bernie competed for the Democratic nomination from the first caucus in February until the last primary in June. Bernie won 22 states and nearly tied in 6 more. Many of Bernie’s supporters wanted him to fight for the nomination at the DNC convention. He didn’t do that. He endorsed Hillary Clinton, released his delegates and campaigned on her behalf. One thing to note is that by officially staying in the race until the convention, Bernie was able to force some important and necessary DNC rule changes, such as decreasing the power of superdelegates to directly interfere with the primary process.

How did Bernie respond to the ‘Bernie or Bust’ movement? At no time did Bernie support the idea of ‘Bernie or Bust’. Bernie always said that he’d work with the democratic candidate if he didn’t win the 2016 primary and that’s what he did. He has made the same pledge of support for the 2020 primary. Many of the people who supported Bernie in the primary voted for the democratic candidate in November 2016. It’s important to recognize that many Bernie supporters are independents and not traditional democrats. And, of course, this is a democracy and Bernie can’t tell people how to vote. All he can do is ask.

Isn’t Bernie the Reason Trump won? Absolutely not. Bernie worked hard in 2016 to help defeat Trump. He endorsed Hillary Clinton after the primary season ended and attended numerous events to rally support for the Clinton campaign. Studies show that most Bernie Sanders supporters voted for Hillary Clinton in the General election.

About Bernie

Is Bernie healthy enough to be President? You’ve probably heard the media talking about Bernie needing a stent to open a blocked artery. This is a common procedure – over 1.8 million stents are implanted in Americans every year. Bill Clinton had a quadruple by-pass at 58 and a stent at 63. Bernie was in the hospital for a few days then returned to the campaign trail. Bernie’s Back to railing against the corporate elites and demanding that the government start working for working families instead of the 1%. He never really went anywhere although many in the corporate media tried to discount him. Since the heart attack Bernie is on a roll.

Is Bernie too old to be President? Over one million donors and one million volunteers don’t think so. Bernie is building the largest grassroots campaign in history by holding rallies, forums, and meetings every day with voters across the country. He’s held more events than any other candidate all while working at his full time job serving as the junior Senator from Vermont.

Is it true that Bernie hasn’t been able to get any bills passed besides naming a post office? No, that is not true. Bernie is a legislative giant. He has introduced or co-sponsored over 7,400 bills and amendments. Luckily Bernie has a long record on these issues so we know he can be trusted to fight for the solutions that matter most to working families.

Why is Bernie always yelling? Because there’s a lot to yell about. He yelled and now they’re listening. It’s finally working. Since the 1970s Bernie has been yelling about the need for systemic change. Long before it was popular or easy, Bernie was yelling about corporate greed and corruption. For decades while he yelled the political class ignored him and laughed at him. They aren’t laughing anymore. And they can’t ignore us now. His issues, our issues, are now front and center mainstream ideas in the 2020 campaign. Oh, and Bernie yells because he’s a Jewish guy from Brooklyn. And he doesn’t always yell. Here are some interviews where he speaks in a normal voice: Joe Rogan Experience #1330

Bernie Breaks Down Targeted Policies for Black America: Black Coffee

Bernie’s Plan

How is Bernie going to pay for all of these plans? It’s pretty straight forward: Raise more revenue through closing tax loopholes and raising taxes on the ultra wealthy Reduce expenses through auditing government agencies and cutting ballooned costs Reprioritize spending to reflect what the electorate wants us to spend tax dollars on The wealthy need to pay their fair share. Corporations need to pay their fair share. We need to stop giving taxpayer subsidies to corporations. We must release the stranglehold of the Military Industrial Complex on government and stop fighting eternal wars. We can choose to reorient federal budget spending to focus on the needs of working families. This volunteer created tax calculator will give you an idea of how Bernie’s plans will affect you. Read More

What are Bernie’s Plans to help Latinos? Bernie’s progressive agenda will work for Latinos and everybody else to create jobs, raise wages, protect the environment, provide healthcare for all, increase access to quality, childcare, pre-K education, K-12 education and higher education, reform our immigration and criminal justice systems, reaffirm our civil rights, promote a more sensible foreign policy, and reduce the influence of money in politics. Bernie plans to accomplish this by: Addressing Racism : The majority of Hispanics are U.S.-born , yet they are often treated as if they are not full citizens. They are often discriminated against based on race and language. Latinos must be treated equally in every aspect of American society.

Education : Bernie has a pre-K plan, a K-12 Education plan and College for All plan so everyone who wants to can get the education they deserve.

Close The Race Wage Gap : Latino workers have a harder time finding jobs and they get paid less when they do. Bernie believes wage discrimination based on race is wrong and must end. Structural problems such as racism, mass incarceration, and lower access to education are also to blame, and Bernie has introduced and supported legislation to reform our criminal justice and education systems.

Youth Employment : High unemployment and underemployment for Latino youths needs to be addressed. Bernie has proposed legislation that would help young people access the job opportunities and training they need to be successful

Agricultural Labor : Farmworkers are an essential part of the economy, U.S. agriculture depends on them. The treatment, conditions, and pay for these workers must be improved.

Reform the Criminal Justice System : Latinos are imprisoned at 1.4 times the rate of white Americans. Bernie wants to abolish private prisons, end cash bail and ban discrimination against people with criminal records.

Immigration : The United States is a nation of immigrants, we must reform our immigration system to invite greater innovation, diversity, and economic opportunity for both American-born citizens and immigrants who want to make this country their home. Bernie’s plans will work for everybody. We are in this struggle together.

What is Bernie’s Affordable Housing Plan? Bernie is committed to fighting so that working families will have a safe, decent, accessible, and affordable home as a fundamental right. He is calling for a homes guarantee. Bernie’s Housing for All Plan has detailed policies which include: Build the Millions of Affordable Housing Units We Need

Revitalize Our Public Housing Stock

Make Rent Affordable

Protect Tenants

Combat Gentrification, Exclusionary Zoning, Segregation, and Speculation

End Homelessness in America

Fair Housing for All

Expand Sustainable Homeownership

Support First Time Homebuyers

End Predatory Lending and Modern Day Redlining

Decarbonize Our Housing Some particularly vital highlights of his comprehensive housing plan focus on building affordable housing for low and moderate-income people, affordable ADA compliant housing for the disabled, build/repair/rehabilitate affordable rental units, assist first-time home buyers, ease the harmful effects of foreclosures and delinquencies, and revitalize neighborhoods in communities hit hard by foreclosures. Bernie has long supported Section 8 Housing and affordable housing vouchers.

What is Bernie’s plan to fix Social Security? Scrap the cap. Bernie introduced the Social Security Expansion Act which would: Increase Social Security benefits by about $65 a month for most recipients.

Increase cost-of-living adjustments for Social Security recipients.

Provide a minimum Social Security benefit to significantly reduce the senior poverty rate. Bernie’s plan would make the wealthiest Americans pay their fair share. Currently, the amount of income subject to the payroll tax is capped at $132,900. That means someone making millions of dollars a year pays the same amount in payroll taxes as some making $132,900 a year. The new legislation would expand the payroll tax to cover income over $250,000. Income between$132,900 and $250,000 would not be subject to the payroll tax. This change would not affect most people. In fact, it would only impact only the top 1.5 percent of all wage earners. Bernie also introduced this plan in 2013 called the Keeping our Social Security Promises Act. The Social Security Trust Funds have $2.8 trillion, which means there’s enough money to pay all promised benefits until 2033. Bernie believes that his plan to expand the payroll taxes for Social Security would generate enough revenue to support Social Security payments for the next 52 years.

What is Bernie’s plan to make corporations pay their fair share of taxes? Bernie has a number of plans to make sure the wealthiest Americans and most profitable corporations pay their fair share of taxes: Establish a progressive estate tax

Pass the Corporate Tax Dodging Prevention Act

Tax Wall Street speculation

Eliminate the income cap on Social Security payroll taxes

End special tax breaks on capital gains and dividends for the top 1%

Increase the top marginal tax rate on income above $10 million

Close tax loopholes that benefit the wealthy and large corporations Large corporations such as Amazon, General Motors, and Prudential pay no taxes at all. Many conglomerates and ultra-wealthy individuals stash their profits overseas to evade taxes. This has to end, Bernie’s plan would do that.

Education

What is Bernie’s plan to Make Colleges, Universities, and Trade Schools Tuition Free? Bernie’s plan to do this is to pass the College for All Act to provide at least $48 billion per year to eliminate tuition and fees at four-year public colleges and universities, tribal colleges, community colleges, trade schools, and apprenticeship programs. Everyone deserves the right to a good higher education if they choose to pursue it, no matter their income. Provide Pell Grants to low-income students to cover non-tuition costs such as: housing, books, supplies, transportation, and other costs of living.

Require participating states and tribes to cover the full cost of obtaining a degree for low-income students (normally those with a family income of less than $25,000) by covering any gap that may still exist after we eliminate tuition, fees, and grants.

Cap student loan interest rates at 1.88 percent.

Match dollar for dollar any additional spending from states and tribes which reduces the cost of attending school. This money can be used to hire additional faculty and ensure professors get professional development opportunities.



Triple the funding for the Work-Study Program. It will be paid for by imposing a tax of a fraction of a percent on Wall Street speculators who nearly destroyed the economy a decade ago. This Wall Street speculation tax will raise$2.4 trillion over the next ten years. It works by placing a 0.5 percent tax on stock trades – 50 cents on every $100 of stock – a 0.1 percent fee on bond trades, and a 0.005 percent fee on derivative trades.

What is Bernie’s plan to forgive Student Debt? Bernie’s plan will cancel all student loan debt and place a cap on student loan interest rates going forward at 1.88 percent. It will be paid for by imposing a tax of a fraction of a percent on Wall Street speculators who nearly destroyed the economy a decade ago. This Wall Street speculation tax will raise$2.4 trillion over the next ten years. It works by placing a 0.5 percent tax on stock trades – 50 cents on every $100 of stock – a 0.1 percent fee on bond trades, and a 0.005 percent fee on derivative trades. Read More

Invest in Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority-Serving Institutions Bernie’s plan to make public colleges and universities tuition free will provide $1.3 billion to private, nonprofit HBCUs and MSIs every year to eliminate or significantly reduce tuition and fees for low-income students. This funding would support some 200 schools which serve at least 35 percent low-income students.

Criminal Justice

What is Bernie’s plan to reform the criminal justice system? For decades Bernie has argued that mass incarceration is unnecessary and counterproductive. Instead of more jails we should provide education, training, and jobs. Bernie’s Justice and Safety for All plan is detailed and comprehensive. Here are a few highlights: police reform through demilitarization , increased transparency, and accountability

an end to cash bail

an end to private prisons

an end to the drug war, and legalization of marijuana When Bernie is president we will finally make the required deep and structural investments to rebuild the communities that mass incarceration continues to decimate. We must move away from an overly-punitive approach to public safety and start focusing on how to safeguard our communities, prevent the conditions that lead to arrests, and rehabilitate people who have made mistakes.

Economy

Does Bernie want to destroy our capitalist system? Bernie does not want to nationalize private businesses. He wants serious systemic changes to industries that should not have a profit motive like healthcare, defense and criminal justice. Bernie has said: “What this political revolution looks like is people reaching out to their friends and neighbors, talking about the issues that deeply affect their lives and bringing them into the political process. When we do that, we can accomplish extraordinary things for our country.” Read More

If Bernie is elected will the economy collapse? No, there is no evidence that this will happen. Bernie’s 2020 Presidential Platform includes many Wall Street reforms, that will strengthen markets and protect against future crashes, like the one in 2008 that caused such suffering for so many working families. Bernie’s Plan for Real Wall Street Reform includes: Break up too-big-to-fail banks

End the too-big-to-jail doctrine

Reinstate the Glass-Steagall Act

Cap credit card consumer loans interest rates at 15% with a No Loan Sharking Law

Allow every post office to offer basic, affordable, and nondiscriminatory banking services

Cap ATM fees

Audit the Federal Reserve

Restrict rapid-fire financial speculation with a financial transactions tax

Reform credit rating agencies

Create an Employee Ownership Bank Read More

Why does Bernie talk about income inequality all the time? The super-rich and large corporations do not pay their fair share in taxes, instead they horde their wealth and stash it in overseas tax havens. Bernie wants to reform the tax code by removing tax loopholes and tax breaks that only benefit the rich and large corporations, raising the tax rates for the wealthiest Americans, taxing the fortunes of the top 0.2%, taxing capital gains and qualified dividends income as ordinary income, and taxing Wall Street speculation. With a tax system reformed in these ways, the profits generated by the economy will benefit everyone and we will have the resources to fund good schools, affordable housing, a modernized infrastructure, healthy communities and a system that can treat the poor, elderly and sick with the dignity that they deserve. Read More

Why is Bernie against Free Trade agreements? Bernie opposed NAFTA, PNTR with China and TPP because American trade policy should place the needs of American workers and small businesses first. Free trade is not the same thing as Fair trade. Free Trade focuses on reducing trade barriers while Fair trade, which is what Bernie supports, focuses on workers and working conditions. In Bernie’s words: “Our trade deals were written by large multinational corporations for multinational corporations. Trade is a good thing. But we need a trade policy that works for working families, not just large corporations.

Healthcare

What is Bernie’s healthcare plan? Bernie believes that health care is a human right and the best way to ensure everyone is covered is with a universal single-payer system, Medicare for All. He plans to accomplish this is by expanding Medicare coverage to all Americans. Medicare already successfully delivers healthcare coverage for those over 65, nearly 15% of the U.S. population, around 44 million people. This is how Medicare for All will be phased in: In the first year the eligibility age for Medicare will decrease to 55

the second year to 45

the third year to 35

the fourth year to everyone This is how the cost of Medicare for All will be paid for while reducing the overall cost of healthcare The personal payments of high premiums, copays, deductibles will be eliminated

Prices for healthcare services will be negotiated as they currently are for Medicare

Everyone will pay a certain percentage of income into the Medicare fund

Employers will pay a certain percentage on their employees income into the Medicare Fund This is how Medicare for All will change the current healthcare system and expand coverage: Increase Access & Choice: Patients can see the doctors they want because no doctors will be “out of network”

Increase Coverage: Covers primary and preventive care, mental health care, reproductive care, vision, hearing and dental care, and prescription drugs, as well as long-term services for the disabled and elderly.

Improve Quality: Allows doctors to make decisions in the best interest of patients not to deliver profits to insurance companies.

Reduce Prescription Drug Costs: Lowers prices dramatically, by empowering the federal government to negotiate with pharmaceutical corporations.

Eliminate Out-Of-Pocket Costs: No premiums, deductibles or copays for any medical services.

Empower People: Separates health coverage from employment, so everyone will have more flexibility to change employers, or even consider starting their own business, without the risk and fear of losing their health benefits. Read More

What is Bernie’s plan to lower the cost of prescription drugs? Bernie believes we must invest in the development of new drugs and technologies that cure disease and alleviate pain—not wasting hundreds of billions of dollars a year on profiteering, huge executive compensation packages, and outrageous administrative costs. Allow Medicare to negotiate with the big drug companies to lower prescription drug prices with the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Act.

Allow patients, pharmacists, and wholesalers to buy low-cost prescription drugs from Canada and other industrialized countries with the Affordable and Safe Prescription Drug Importation Act.

Cut prescription drug prices in half , with the Prescription Drug Price Relief Act, by pegging prices to the median drug price in five major countries: Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Japan. Read More

Why is Medicare for All necessary? Why not expand the affordable care act and create a public option? Obamacare – aka the Affordable Care Act (ACA) – was a small victory for the uninsured, but healthcare and prescription drug costs have continued to soar — along with insurance company and pharmaceutical company profits. 70% of Americans, including a majority of Republicans, now support Medicare For All. Our current system is a combination of employer-based insurance and private insurance, a profit-driven system that sees prices increase and coverage decrease. Those who purchase coverage under the ACA are covered by private insurance. Despite the promise that healthcare would become more affordable, that hasn’t really happened. Prices and out-of-pocket costs are far too high, and getting higher. Millions of Americans remain uninsured and underinsured. Bernie voted for the Affordable Care Act, but he believes it does not go far enough to provide adequate healthcare for all. Still, Bernie voted against the 2017 effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act because it would have thrown millions of people off their private insurance plans. Medicare for All would remove the profit motive, increase healthcare efficiency and make sure every single American is taken care of. Bernie believes this is the best way to cover everyone, and 70 percent of Americans agree.



Political Views

Is Bernie a Socialist? Bernie is a democratic socialist, sharing a lot of ideals with European and Scandinavian democratic socialist political parties. The right-wing media often tries to portray his policy positions as the same as those held by failed, authoritarian regimes – which is not the case. Here’s what Bernie says: “What democratic socialism means to me is we expand Medicare, we provide educational opportunities for all Americans, we rebuild our crumbling infrastructure, in other words, Government serves the needs of all people rather than just wealthy campaign contributors” The last person with similar political beliefs who ran for president was Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) and his policies — via the New Deal. Read More

Voting Record

Did Bernie really vote against the Amber Alert Bill? Yes, though not for the reasons some people think. Bernie is a strong supporter of the Amber Alert program and signed onto a 2004 letter to the House leadership requesting full funding for it. Why did Bernie vote against it then? A senator put in a provision that infringed on judicial powers and created mandatory sentencing which led to mass incarceration of non-violent offenders. Here’s a link to the discussion in the Senate about the Feeney amendment where you can read about the civil rights concerns. The ABA, 618 criminal law professors, 8 former U.S. attorneys, and then Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist all feared making this amendment the law. Bernie strongly supported the Amber Alert notifications legislation. However, Bernie was concerned that the controversial add-on sentencing provisions would do “serious harm to the basic structure of the sentencing guideline system” used by federal judges “and would seriously impair the ability of courts to impose just and reasonable sentences.” And so he voted against it. He ignored the political backlash and took the vote because it was the right thing to do. Bernie has done this with numerous votes where he chose to take a principled stance instead of cowering to political pressure. And it turned out he was right, sentencing guidelines have contributed to mass incarceration.

