Bernie Sanders
2016 Democratic Presidential Candidate
About Bernie Sanders
Bernie Sanders is a candidate running for President as a democrat in the 2016 election. He was previously the senator of Vermont. Even though he's running as a democrat, he's actually an independent candidate, which means he's unaffiliated with any parties. He identifies as a democratic socialist. This means that the government does provide most things for an equal living opportunity, he believes everyone should contribute to the economy's growth.
Bernie's Views on:
National Security
Bernie Sander's view on ISIS is that they are a dangerous threat that should be stopped. He believes that the U.S shouldn't try to fight ISIS on their own, and that we should learn from the war in Iraq so we don't make the same mistakes again. He doesn't like the idea of starting a war, because he also voted against the war in Iraq. His views on border control aren't as severe. He believes that our border should be secured to stop things like illegal weapons, drugs and people from crossing, but doesn't think we should build a wall/fence to do so.
Health Care
Bernie believes that healthcare is a human right. He believes that everyone should have an equal chance to get care regardless of their income. He thinks Obamacare, Medicaid, and Medicare should all be expanded and improved to reach more people. He wants to start Healthcare for All, which just means that everyone regardless of wealth should be able to have access to healthcare.
Education
Bernie wants all students to be given he opportunity to recive affordable and quality education from the start to the end of their schooling.Bernie Sanders wants to make all public colleges to be tuition free and lower the interest rates on student loan debt. He believes that undocumented children should be given an opprotunity to stay in the U.S and get an education to contribute to society. He calls this the DREAM act.
Women's Rights
Bernie Sanders believes all women should get equal pay and opprotunities as men do. He believes that women should get high quality reproductive and sexual healthcare. He supports the idea that women should get to choose whether or not they get an abortion. One of his main focuses is to decrease poverty levels which decrease the likelihood of a woman having an abortion, especially in teenage pregnancy.
Immigration
Bernie wants to give undocumented immigrants a chance to become legal and earn their citizenship. He believes that we can secure the border to stop illegal immigration without the use of building a fence. He believes we should have a reasonable immigration reformation process, and doesn't agree with the idea of self deportation. He wants to enforce the DREAM act (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors) which will give illegal immigrants who entered the United States before the age of 16 permenant residency.
Economy
Bernie Sanders thinks the minimum wage should be raised to a living wage. What he means by this is that cost of living over the years has increased and wages haven't moved much at all. He says that the pay rate hasn't been keeping up with inflation. He believes that the problem is that all the money being made is going straight to the rich. He wants to stop economic inequality because there is a huge gap between the lower and upper class. It's getting to the point where the middle class is becoming smaller and smaller. He says the rich is getting richer and the poor is getting poorer. His solution to this is raising the minimum wage and creating better jobs.
Taxes
He says that the largest, richest corporations today don't pay their fair share of taxes. He thinks that the rich should be taxed more and the poor should be taxed less. His solution is called progressive taxation, which essentially means that as your income goes up your taxes goes up. This idea is to keep the same ratio of taxes for everyone instead of having the rich paying way less and the poor paying way more.
Climate change
Bernie believes that climate change is a real and serious problem. He believes that it is mostly caused by human activity and wants to help stop that. Bernie sponsored the Climate Protection Act of 2013, which would tax greenhouse gas emitters by their carbon pollutant emissions. He funds investments in developing energy efficient technology like wind and solar power.
Gun Violence
Bernie thinks that gun control is a state issue. He says most people who own guns obey the law, but there are different attitudes towards guns in urban and rural areas. He believes all people should get background checks before being able to purchase guns to prevent criminals and mentally ill people from getting them. He thinks assault weapons should be banned as a nation, but everything else should be up to the state.
Interesting Facts
- If he gets elected he'll be the first Jewish president.
- If he gets elected he'll be the first independent president elected besides George Washington
- His father was a Jewish immigrant from Poland