CBS "Face the Nation" - Transcript

Interview

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SENATOR BERNIE SANDERS (I-Vermont): Well, what's happened is, I think that people understand-- the President and the Democratic Congress have made very significant accomplishments, which-- which can't be dismissed: a health care reform, thirty million more people getting health insurance; the stimulus package which has changed national priorities created and saved two and a half to three million jobs; financial reform. That's nothing to sneeze
at. But I think the concern is that despite all of that, the middle class in America continues to collapse, poverty is increasing and the gap between the very, very rich and everybody else is going wider. And you can do all kinds of good things. But if you have sixteen percent of our population unemployed, underemployed or have given up looking for work, you know what? We have a very serious situation. And I think there's a concern that the President hasn't seen that urgency, stood up for working families in the way we would like him to do and taken on the big money interests and said to the American people, exactly what FDR said in the 1930s, listen I am on your side. Their greed, their recklessness on Wall Street has caused these problems. I'm going to take them on. I'm coming to you. We're going to work together on a progressive agenda to expand the middle class.

BOB SCHIEFFER: Is-- is part of that, I mean, some on the left and some very strident voices on the left are saying the President was just looking for compromise too much with the-- with moderate Republicans rather than taking a stand and pushing through some of this stuff.

SENATOR BERNIE SANDERS: No. I think in his heart, the President is a very, very decent guy. And he wants to do what most Americans want him to do--to reach out, bring people together. But what has happened is the Republicans have said no, no, no. They have waged more filibusters than any time in the history of this country. They have been the party of no and
obstructionism. And at some point, what the President has got to understand they do not want America to succeed. They're into politics. His job is to rally the American people as he did in Wisconsin and say, we are going to create the jobs that we desperately need in this country. We
are going to take on Wall Street. We are going to save Social Security. We are going to do something about the gap between the very rich and everybody else.

BOB SCHIEFFER: No. Now I-- I must interrupt you and say that that's a strong statement to-- to say. I mean, yes the Republicans are against the President's policies, but is-- is it really fair to say they don't want America to succeed?

SENATOR BERNIE SANDERS: Yeah. I would say that given the choice between regaining power or obstructing the initiatives that create jobs that protect the American people--yes, I think gaining power is their major initiative. I'm on the floor of the Senate, Bob. And I've got to tell you every single day it's sixty votes to pass legislation. That is unprecedented in American history.

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BOB SCHIEFFER: Gov-- let me just ask Governor Sander, I mean, Senator Sanders here. Are--are liberals going to turn out because I hear a lot of people say, well, I just may not get around to voting this time around.

SENATOR BERNIE SANDERS: I-- I think you're going to see more progressives coming out than you otherwise would have. But I think in the next month what we have got to do is not only make it clear that the Bush agenda and the policies the Republicans want will be a disaster for America. We have got to bring forth a positive agenda. For example, we brought forth a bill on
outsourcing. Under the Bush administration, we lost five million good-paying manufacturing jobs. Companies are throwing American workers out on the street then moving into China. People are going nuts about this. We have got to stand up bold and say corporate America has got to reinvest in America. In terms of tax breaks for billionaires, when the top one percent earns twenty-three percent of all income in America, they don't need tax breaks. As Ed Rendell said, we have to invest in infrastructure, transforming our energy system, social security. We have got to stand up and say no privatization, no cuts in Social Security--differentiate ourselves from the
Republicans.

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