Asked to draw distinctions between himself and rival Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on Sunday morning, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders had a veritably unending list of sharp policy disagreements with the Democratic front-runner.
Fresh from the Democratic National Committee meeting in Minneapolis, the self-described socialist senator eschewed his usual Sunday morning tactic of not expressly confronting Clinton, and instead fired off a long list of policy disagreements. He cited trade policy, breaking up big banks, ending the power of Wall Street, the Keystone pipeline, Social Security, raising the minimum wage, and the Iraq war as just some of the areas that the two candidates do not see eye to eye on.
“I think that the business model of Wall Street is fraud,” said Sanders. “I think these guys drove us into the worst economic downturn in the modern history of America and I think they’re at it again. I believe that when you have so few banks with so much power you have to … break them up. That is not Hillary Clinton’s position.”
“I believe our trade policies [the North American Free Trade Agreement], [the Central American Free Trade Agreement], [permanent normal trade relations] with China have been a disaster,” said Sanders, who added that he is “helping to lead the effort against the Trans-Pacific Partnership.”
“That is not Hillary Clinton’s position,” said the independent senator.
“I believe … we have to be aggressive in transforming our energy system away from fossil fuel … and defeat — and defeat — the Keystone pipeline,” said Sanders with emphasis. “That is not Hillary Clinton’s position.”
“I believe that … we should expand Social Security by raising the cap on taxable income. That is not Hillary Clinton’s position,” he said.
Sanders said he wants to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, which is “not Hillary Clinton’s position.”
“I voted against the war in Iraq; Clinton voted for it,” he said.
Sanders said he believes his campaign is drawing enthusiastic base support and some of the largest crowds because “people do not like the idea that as a result of Citizens United our campaign finance system has become corrupt and politicians are dependent on super [political action committees] and billionaires for money. People want us to deal with climate change, and make college affordable. Those are the issues I have been talking about; those are the issues that are generating enormous enthusiasm from one end of the country to the other.”
“The powers that be in Washington, Wall Street, the huge campaign donors, the Koch brothers, are so powerful, that the only way we bring about real change in this country … is when millions of people stand up, and say enough is enough,” said Sanders. “No president … can do it unless millions of people say … this country belongs to all of us, our government must represent all of us and not just a handful of billionaires. It can’t be done within the beltway itself, we need a mass movement. And that’s what we’re trying to create, and are succeeding in creating.”
