Which Side Are We On?

By Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT)

Read as the commentary on the April 19 edition of Community Bridge.

In early February, President Bush told a group of Wall Street executives that "income inequality is real; it's been rising for more than 25 years. And the question is whether we respond to the income inequality we see with policies that help lift people up, or tear others down."

It's ironic that this president raised the issue of income inequality because his own trickle-down economic policies have contributed to the growing gap between the very rich and everyone else, a situation worse today than at any time since the '20S.

Despite Bush's professed concern, the budget he recently submitted to Congress will exacerbate the enormous gap between the rich and the poor, squeeze the middle class, reward war profiteers and hurt those most in need.

The president's budget cuts the number of children receiving childcare assistance by 300,000 and terminates food stamps for 280,000 families. At a time when veterans urgently need access to healthcare, the president's budget imposes a new enrollment fee for Veterans Administration healthcare as high as $750. And the list goes on and on.

Over the next decade, the Bush budget would cut Medicare by $252 billion and Medicaid by $28 billion. In 2008 alone, education will be cut by $1.5 billion and the Environmental Protection Agency will lose $509 million.

The administration claims-we just don't have the money to reduce childhood poverty or provide universal healthcare. Meanwhile, millionaires would receive an average tax break of $160,000 per year at a cost of $739 billion over the next decade. And, the president's 2008 defense budget - $6o8 billion - is more than at the height of the Vietnam and Korean Wars.

Class warfare is being waged in America and the wrong side is winning. It is time for the new Democratic majority in Congress to stand with the working families of our country. It is time we offer a budget that reflects the needs of working people instead of the wealthy.

And it is time for citizens across the nation to stand up and demand that their representatives and senators, Democrats and Republicans, do so and thereby represent the interests of all Americans, not a select few.

We must ask: Which side are we on? Are we for the rich and the powerful or the middle class and working families?

As a member of the Senate Budget Committee, I see a pretty clear answer. I will not be voting for more tax breaks for the outgoing CEO of Home Depot, who recently received a $210 million golden parachute. Rather, I will be voting to substantially increase financial aid for low and middle class families so that every American, regardless of income, can receive a college education.

I will not support a tax cut for the former CEO of Pfizer, who received a $200 million compensation package. Instead, I will vote to substantially increase funding for childcare so that families can find affordable and quality care for their children.
The former CEO of ExxonMobil, who managed to get a $400 million retirement package, does not need more tax relief. It is far more important that we keep our promises to the veterans of this country who now find themselves on waiting lists to get the health care they need.

If we as a nation are serious about creating a more egalitarian society, we need to invest more federal resources in education, health care, housing, infrastructure, environmental protection and sustainable energy. We also have to reduce our national debt. Given that reality, Congress must develop the courage to stand up to the big money interests and roll back the tax breaks for the wealthiest one percent, stop corporate welfare, eliminate unneeded defense weaponry, and demand that the wealthy and powerful rejoin American society.

We should do nothing less.

-Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)

This editorial appeared in the March 2007 edition of In These Times magazine. In These Times is dedicated to informing and analyzing popular movements for social, environmental and economic justice; to providing a forum for discussing the politics that shape our lives; and to producing a magazine that is read by the broadest and most diverse audience possible.

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