Vermont Standard (Woodstock): Sanders Optimistic, Addresses Health And Elder Care

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By David Cogger

"I'm delighted to be here tonight, because I am an old fashioned "conservative' who believes in a radical concept called democracy," Sen. Bernie Sanders told a small but admiring audience of Vermonters at Sunday's town meeting at Woodstock Union High School.

Panelists representing health care, child services, elder care, low-income families and sustainable energy presented brief statements during the 90-minute meeting to which Sanders and the audience responded.

Panelist Steve Geller, representing Southeastern Vermont Community Action, said he has witnessed a number of alarming trends including high rates of working families seeking assistance and more adult children moving in with parents because they cannot find employment.

"Many have exhausted unemployment compensation benefits, and an even more alarming statistic is that 77 percent of those seeking help have a high school education or better. In Woodstock alone, there has been a 73 percent increase in the number of families applying for crisis fuel assistance since 2006."

Sanders said he has felt the fear and pain experienced by many Vermonters despite the fact that state has been somewhat "sheltered" from high unemployment afflicting much of the country.
Sanders added there are many more Vermonters under the radar screen, particularly children, who are "barely making it."

"Any great nation has to be concerned with its children. "We have the highest rate of child poverty in the world, and the world's highest number of people incarcerated," Sanders said.

Panelist Jerry Frederickson, interim director and president of the board at the Thompson Center, which serves the aging and disabled populations in the Woodstock area, highlighted the many services they provided including meals on wheels, lunch served to as many as 50 at the center every day, bus service to and from the center, a recent emphasis on health-related issues, caregiver support groups and medical care transportation services.

Sanders recently secured close to $90,000 in federal money to help the Thompson Center continue its mission. He also has been a stalwart supporter of healthcare reform including plans for a Medicare, single payer healthcare plan. Sanders said he hoped Vermont would lead the nation in healthcare reform by being the first state in the country to pass a universal healthcare program.

Anna Isaacson, of the Healthcare is a Human Right Campaign, said businesses are failing in the state due to plummeting tourism and the ever-increasing costs of running a business, including healthcare. She shared a personal anecdote about her mother, who owns a small restaurant in Rochester that has been hit particularly hard by the struggling economy.

"You should be proud of the good people working in your community," Sanders said.

"We are dealing with a set of crises like we have not seen since the Great Depression. When I was growing up, what you had was one worker in a family who could earn enough to support a family. In almost every instance, both husband and wife are working now -- sometimes 50, 60, 70 hours per week just to pay the bills."

Sanders cited statistics showing the top one percent of the population now earns more than bottom 50 percent combined, and has more wealth than the bottom 90 percent. "CEOs are making 300 to 400 times more money than their workers. So where are we going?"

While much of the evening's message was often gloomy, Sanders remains optimistic. He spoke positively of the recent progress in healthcare reform in Washington, but also stressed that there is still much work to be done.

"It's a step forward; kids can be covered in their parent's policies until they are 26, but 40,000 Americans will still die this year because they cannot get to a doctor."

In an effort to alleviate this problem, Sanders has proposed $12 billion in federal funds to help create community health centers to be modeled after Vermont's community healthcare centers that have been successful in providing medical care at a reasonable price on a sliding scale dependent on income.

"We need a universal system -- not more money for drug companies -- our goal is quality care in the most cost-effective way."

Sanders said the American public should have unlimited outrage about recent happenings on Wall Street and advocated for financial reform that would reign in financial institutions that charge "immoral" interest rates of 25 to 30 percent on credit cards.

On the subject of foreign policy, Sanders made it clear that the entire Vermont delegation had voted against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. While not supporting the wars, Sanders has been a strong advocate for returning soldiers. "It is a deep concern (the wars), but we must not blame the soldiers; people are in trouble."

Sanders said the difficulties here (in Washington) in getting things done are obstructionism and time. In order to pass laws that keep the country going every day, legislators are often mired down by hundreds of pages of legislation leaving little time for other key issues. In addition, a 60 percent super majority is required to avoid the possibility of filibuster in the senate, which has created a quagmire of unfinished business.

"These are tough times economically," Sanders said. "But what I want you to say for you is - for the sake of your kids and grandkids -- you can't give up. But politicians will do the "right thing' when people act from the bottom up."

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