By Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) - 01/27/14 06:55 PM EST
The problems facing our country are monumental. Tragically, Congress is dysfunctional, and more and more Americans are giving up on the political process. The people are hurting. They look to Washington for help. Nothing is happening.
On Tuesday, the president will give one of the most important State of the Union addresses in modern history. It is absolutely imperative that, in a powerful way, he addresses the crisis facing our nation and rallies the American people to resolve these issues. In a democratic society, government must work to protect the interests of all Americans, not just big campaign contributors and the very wealthy.
Let me briefly touch on some of the issues that President Obama must address.
A nation will not survive morally or economically, when so few have so much while so many have so little. It is simply not acceptable that the top 1 percent owns 38 percent of the financial wealth of the nation, while the bottom 60 percent owns all of 2.3 percent. We need to establish a progressive tax system that asks the wealthy to start paying their fair share of taxes and ends the outrageous loopholes that enable 1 of 4 corporations to pay nothing in federal income taxes. We need to use that new revenue to rebuild the disappearing middle class and protect the most vulnerable members of our society.
JOBS
We need to make significant investments in our crumbling infrastructure, energy efficiency and sustainable energy, early childhood education and affordable housing. When we do that, we not only improve the quality of life in our country and combat global warming, we also create millions of decent-paying new jobs. I hope that the president will also inform us that he is going to slow down the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade bill so that we can eventually pass legislation that creates decent-paying jobs in our country, rather than continuing to see our trade policies send our jobs to low-wage countries.
WAGES
We need to raise the minimum wage. We should pass the legislation, which will soon be on the Senate floor, to increase the federal minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $10.10 now and more in the future. My hope is that the president will use his executive powers to make federal contractors pay their low-wage employees at least $10.10 an hour immediately.
RETIREMENT SECURITY
At a time when only 1 in 5 workers in the private sector has a defined benefit pension plan, half of Americans have less than $10,000 in savings, and two-thirds of seniors rely on Social Security for more than half of their income, we must expand and protect Social Security so that every American can retire with dignity. I hope very much that the president will be clear that, in these difficult economic times, he will no longer support any cuts to Social Security or Medicare.
WALL STREET
During the financial crisis, huge Wall Street banks received more than $700 billion in financial aid from the Treasury Department and more than $16 trillion from the Federal Reserve because they were “too big to fail.” Yet today, the largest banks in this country are much bigger than they were before taxpayers bailed them out. I would very much like to see the president make clear that these behemoth banks should be broken up, so they cannot cause another recession that could wreck the global economy. The middle class of this country will not grow, unless we deal with the greed, recklessness and illegal behavior on Wall Street.
CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM
As someone who was forced to raise nearly $1 billion in his reelection effort, the president fully understands the horrendous role that big money plays in politics. It is imperative that he speaks out for a constitutional amendment to overturn the disastrous Supreme Court decision in Citizens United and reignite efforts toward public funding of elections.
SOCIAL JUSTICE
While we have made progress in recent years in expanding the rights of minorities, women and gays, it is important that we finally remove 12 million undocumented workers from the shadows and pass meaningful immigration reform. If immigration reform is done properly, it will not only help the impacted families but be a step forward for our economy.
CIVIL LIBERTIES
The president must go much further than he has in addressing the civil liberties crisis we face. Our government must be vigorous in protecting the American people from terrorism, but we can and must do that in a way that protects our constitutional and privacy rights. As a former constitutional law professor, the president must address the dangerous role that exploding technology has on our civil liberties.
This is a tough and historical moment in American history. Despair is not an option. We must fight for the America our people deserve.
Sanders is the junior senator from Vermont, serving since 2007. He is chairman of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee and sits on the Budget; Energy and Natural Resources; Environment and Public Works; and Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committees.
