Interview With Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT)

Interview

"No, I strongly disagree.

I think what's going on in America today in terms of income and wealth inequality, the fact that CEOs are now making 400 times more than their average worker, the fact that we have three people on top who own more wealth than the bottom half of America, the fact that, during the last 50 years, the wages, the weekly wages of the average American worker are lower today than they were back then is -- speaks to the anger that the American people are feeling and what this strike is about.

The American people are sick and tired, in my view, Jake -- and I have been all over this country -- they are sick and tired of corporate greed, in which the very richest people are becoming richer. The head of General Motors now makes $29 million a year, and yet, if you go -- if you're a new worker in the Big Three, you make less than $17 an hour.

They have temp workers who are temp year after year after year who make far wages than other workers. You have profits there, $21 billion in profits in the first half of this year.

So what you're seeing in the automobile industry, in my view, is what we're seeing all over this economy, greed on the top, suffering on the part of the working class. And people are tired of it.

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Well, I will tell you what I think. And thanks for raising that question, Jake.

We are looking at an explosion in this country of artificial intelligence and robotics. And that means that the average worker is going to be much more productive. Worker productivity is going to increase significantly. The question as a nation that we have got to ask ourselves is, who's

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Well, President Biden gave a speech a couple of days ago in which he made the absolutely correct point, corporate profits for the automakers are soaring, and that they have got to use those profits to benefit their employees.

And he has made the point many, many, many times that a strong labor movement benefits all of us. So, I think the president has made it clear which side he is on in the struggle.

But I think, Jake, to tell you the truth, that all of us in this country have got to stand with the UAW now. They're not just fighting for decent wages and benefits for automobile workers. They're really standing up to the kind of corporate greed that is impacting tens and tens of millions of Americans.

And what they are really saying -- they're saying this to the Big Three, but I think that message has got to go out all over corporate America -- you people on top, you have never had it so good, more income and wealth inequality today than ever in the history. The richest people are becoming phenomenally richer.

going to benefit from that increased productivity? Is all of that new income and wealth being created by worker productivity going to go to the people on top, or are workers going to benefit?

So, right now, in my view, I happen to believe that, as a nation, we should begin a serious discussion -- and the UAW is doing that -- about substantially lowering the workweek. People in America are stressed out for a dozen different reasons.

And that's one of the reasons why life expectancy in our country is actually in decline. People are overwhelmed. They got to take care of their kids. They got to worry about health care. They got to worry about housing. They're worried.

It seems to me that, if new technology is going to make us a more productive society, the benefits should go to the workers. And it would be an extraordinary thing to see people have more time to be able to spend with their kids, with their families, to be able to do more in cultural activities, get a better education.

So the idea of using -- making sure that artificial intelligence, robotics benefits us all, just not the people on top, is something absolutely we need to be discussing.

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But 60 percent of American workers are living paycheck to paycheck.

So, UAW is standing up against corporate greed, and I applaud them for what they're doing.

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That's right.

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I do.

And I think what we have got to appreciate -- and you're absolutely right, Jake. This is not a progressive issue. It's not a conservative issue or a moderate issue. What we have got to do is come together as a nation and tell the people on top they just cannot have it. Well, what does that mean specifically?

We are the only major country on Earth, Jake, that doesn't guarantee health care to all people as a human right, despite spending almost twice as much as any other country. We pay the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs.

Meanwhile, while people can't afford housing, while the price of food in the grocery stores are going up, what you are seeing is, corporate profits are soaring. So, we need to deal, by the way, with a corrupt political system. And, as a result of Citizens United, people in Washington too often represent the rich and the powerful, not the middle class, not the working class.

But we need to bring our people together around an agenda that says, you know what, health care is a right. Let's not pay more for prescription drugs than people around the rest of the world. If our kids want to go to college, they should be able to, regardless of their income.

So we have got to bring people together around an agenda that works for all, not just the few.

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No, that's quite right.

Look, what we put in that tax credit that substantially lowered childhood poverty in America, we put that into the American Rescue Plan.

We tried to put it back into so-called Build Back Better plan, which had zero Republican support and did not have the support of Mr. Manchin and Ms. Sinema. We only had 48 votes to pass it.

Jake, take a deep breath. We're talking about the head of General Motors making $29 million a year. We're talking about the rich getting richer, and yet we have the highest rate of childhood poverty of almost any major country on Earth. What a disgrace. What a disgrace.

So, of course, we have to restore that child tax credit. We have to end this obscenity of how we treat our children. We have to deal with income and wealth inequality. We need health care, for these are not radical ideas. These are ideas that exist in many countries all over the world.

But, essentially, now the people on top, once again, they think they have a right to have it all, and to hell with everybody else. And that's a mentality that has to be changed. And what the UAW is doing is saying, let's all come together. Let's stand up for the working class of this country and the middle class of this country. And now is the time to do that.

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Thank you very much, Jake."

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