Bernie Sanders has been one of the longest serving independent in US Congressional history. He is a U.S. Senator from Vermont, and has thrown his hat in the ring for the Presidential race in 2016.
According to the latest polls by agencies like CNN/ORC, Quinnipiac etc, Bernie Sanders is ahead of Hilary Clinton in key Democratic primary states like Iowa, New Hampshire. This makes him one of the leading front runners for the Democratic Presidential nomination.
The masses in US are truly “Feeling the Bern,” as he draws large crowds wherever he goes to campaign. The reason is “he is championing the ideas of progressive community in the United States”. Here are his 5 stated policy positions which makes him an ideal Presidential candidate
Income Inequality & Wealth gap
He has been outspoken in highlighting the massive wealth gap and deepening income inequalities that exist between top 1% and bottom 99%. He is calling for raising taxes on the wealthy elite particularly capital gains tax, and to eliminate some of the unjust tax deductions enjoyed by hedge funds & multinational corporations. He would use the added revenues for the welfare of middle and lower classes.
Universal Healthcare
He is passionate about healthcare and is of the view that in the most advanced & industrialized country like USA, there should be universal healthcare for every citizen. President Obama got Affordable Care Act passed in both the houses, but it stopped short of providing public option and a single payer system which is there in Canada. He is also in favor of expanding the coverage of Medicare and Medicaid across the country.
Raising minimum wages
At present, minimum wage rate for workers is barely $7.25, which he thinks is a “Starvation wage”. He is calling for a systematic increase of minimum wage rate to 15$ over a period of time. In addition to this, he would like to extend paid maternity leaves and vacation days for workers.
Wall-Street & Trade Reforms
He is strongly in favor of breaking up “too big to fail” banks responsible for one of the worst financial crisis in 2008 in US economic history. He is demanding re-instatement of Glass-Steagall Act which prevents any financial institution from acting as both a commercial bank and a securities firm.
Also, he is opposed to Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement which gives enormous powers to corporations to even compromise economic sovereignty of nations.
Global Warming
He doesn’t think that global warming is a hoax, in fact he even introduced the Global Warming Pollution Control Act, 2007. He thinks America should lead the world in tackling the grave problem of rising pollution levels and dramatically reduce its carbon footprint.
