While Trump Fiddles, Our Crucial Task Is Saving Mankind-- And Planet Earth-- Before It's Too Late

What's the absolutely single most important thing Bernie can achieve if he's elected president in 2020? Yeah, I know they're all import but pick just one.

 Medicare-for-All?

• Create a Medicare for All, single-payer, national health insurance program to provide everyone in America with comprehensive health care coverage, free at the point of service.
• No networks, no premiums, no deductibles, no copays, no surprise bills.
• Medicare coverage will be expanded and improved to include: include dental, hearing, vision, and home- and community-based long-term care, in-patient and out-patient services, mental health and substance abuse treatment, reproductive and maternity care, prescription drugs, and more.
• Stop the pharmaceutical industry from ripping off the American people by making sure that no one in America pays over $200 a year for the medicine they need by capping what Americans pay for prescription drugs under Medicare for All.

Revitalize democracy itself?

• Restore the Voting Rights Act and overturn Citizens United.
• End racist voter suppression and partisan gerrymandering.
• Make Election Day a national holiday, secure automatic voter registration, and guarantee the right to vote for every American over 18, including those Americans currently incarcerated and those disenfranchised by a felony conviction.
• Abolish super PACs and replace corporate funding with publicly funded elections that amplify small-doner donations.

Statehood for Washington, DC and for Puerto Rico?

College For All?

• Guarantee tuition and debt-free public colleges, universities, HBCUs, Minority Serving Institutions and trade-schools to all.
• Cancel all student loan debt for the some 45 million Americans who owe about $1.6 trillion and place a cap on student loan interest rates going forward at 1.88 percent.
• Invest $1.3 billion every year in private, non-profit historically black colleges and universities and minority-serving institutions
• End equity gaps in higher education attainment. And ensure students are able to cover non-tuition costs of attending school by: expanding Pell Grants to cover non-tuition and fee costs, tripling funding for the Work-Study Program, and more.

Fair taxation?

• Establish an annual tax on the extreme wealth of the top 0.1 percent of U.S. households.
• Only apply to net worth of over $32 million and anyone who has a net worth of less than $32 million, would not see their taxes go up at all under this plan.
• Will raise an estimated $4.35 trillion over the next decade and cut the wealth of billionaires in half over 15 years, which would substantially break up the concentration of wealth and power of this small privileged class.
• Ensure that the wealthy are not able to evade the tax by implementing strong enforcement policies.

Racial Justice?

• In order to transform this country into a nation that affirms the value of its people of color, we will address the five central types of violence waged against black, brown and indigenous Americans: physical, political, legal, economic and environmental.
• Whether it is a broken criminal justice system, or massive disparities in the availability of financial services, or health disparities, or environmental disparities, or educational disparities, our job is to-- and we will-- create a nation in which all people are treated equally. That is what we must do, and that is what we will do.

Jobs Guarantee?

• Enact a federal jobs guarantee, to ensure that everyone is guaranteed a stable job that pays a living wage.
• Create 20 million jobs as part of the Green New Deal, rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure and creating a 100% sustainable energy system.
• Create millions of healthcare jobs to support our seniors and people with disabilities in their homes and communities.
• Create new jobs in early childhood education.

All those things and the rest of Bernie's platform are absolutely crucial. But saving the planet may be the most important of all. And Bernie is a major backer of a Green New Deal. In short:

• Transform our energy system to 100 percent renewable energy and create 20 million jobs needed to solve the climate crisis.
• Ensure a just transition for communities and workers, including fossil fuel workers.
• Ensure justice for frontline communities, especially under-resourced groups, communities of color, Native Americans, people with disabilities, children and the elderly.
• Save American families money with investments in weatherization, public transportation, modern infrastructure and high-speed broadband.
• Commit to reducing emissions throughout the world, including providing $200 billion to the Green Climate Fund, rejoining the Paris Agreement, and reasserting the United States’ leadership in the global fight against climate change.
• Invest in conservation and public lands to heal our soils, forests, and prairie lands.
• End the greed of the fossil fuel industry and hold them accountable.

A bit more detail from the platform:

Climate change is a global emergency. The Amazon rainforest is burning, Greenland’s ice shelf is melting, and the Arctic is on fire. People across the country and the world are already experiencing the deadly consequences of our climate crisis, as extreme weather events like heat waves, wildfires, droughts, floods, and hurricanes upend entire communities, ecosystems, economies, and ways of life, as well as endanger millions of lives. Communities of color, working class people, and the global poor have borne and will bear this burden disproportionately.

The scientific community is telling us in no uncertain terms that we have less than 11 years left to transform our energy system away from fossil fuels to energy efficiency and sustainable energy, if we are going to leave this planet healthy and habitable for ourselves, our children, grandchildren, and future generations. As rising temperatures and extreme weather create health emergencies, drive land loss and displacement, destroy jobs, and threaten livelihoods, we must guarantee health care, housing, and a good-paying job to every American, especially to those who have been historically excluded from economic prosperity.

The scope of the challenge ahead of us shares similarities with the crisis faced by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the 1940s. Battling a world war on two fronts-- both in the East and the West-- the United States came together, and within three short years restructured the entire economy in order to win the war and defeat fascism. As president, Bernie Sanders will boldly embrace the moral imperative of addressing the climate crisis and act immediately to mobilize millions of people across the country in support of the Green New Deal. From the Oval Office to the streets, Bernie will generate the political will necessary for a wholesale transformation of our society, with support for frontline and vulnerable communities and massive investments in sustainable energy, energy efficiency, and a transformation of our transportation system.

We need a president who has the courage, the vision, and the record to face down the greed of fossil fuel executives and the billionaire class who stand in the way of climate action. We need a president who welcomes their hatred. Bernie will lead our country to enact the Green New Deal and bring the world together to defeat the existential threat of climate change.

Bernie knows he doesn't have the support in the House-- let alone in the Senate-- to pass all of his proposals. He's counting on long-term citizen mobilization. In the Climate Crisis world he already has the Sunrise Movement. And today the Sunrise Movement added four more congressional candidates to its list of nominees. Remember, the first was Audrey Denney (CA). Then came Jessica Cisneros (TX). And now... these four:

You know what the four have in common, aside from the reasons Sunrise has endorsed them? Well, yes they are all Blue America candidates-- and you can contribute to their campaigns by clicking on the ActBlue thermometer on the right. But they are also all candidates the DCCC is furiously working to sabotage. The endorsements this week were for people in the early March primaries (Illinois, Texas and Ohio). "The endorsements,' they wrote, "span a range of political newcomers running on the Green New Deal, including Robert Emmons Jr. (IL-01) and Marie Newman (IL-03) of Chicago, IL, Morgan Harper (OH-03) of Columbus, OH, and Mike Siegel (TX-10), whose district spans between Austin and Houston, TX. With the exception of Siegel-- who is running to oust a Republican representative in a purple district-- the candidates plan to unseat Democratic incumbents in blue districts. Though this announcement signifies the first bracket of Congressional endorsements, it comes after the separate endorsements of primary challenger, Democrat Jessica Cisneros of Texas’ 28th district, and Republican challenger, Democrat Audrey Denney of California’s 1st district."

“The scientists are telling us that 2020 is our last opportunity to elect climate leaders that can immediately enact bold, transformational action over the course of the next decade to save our planet. Meanwhile, establishment politicians of both parties are complacent. So I think that’s why we’re seeing this wave of candidates joining the urgent calls from young people in launching campaigns across the country boldly championing the Green New Deal. These candidates, such as the four we’re endorsing today, come from communities tired of political corruption and neglect, and vigilantly attuned to the linked climate and economic crises we are facing as a nation,” remarked Evan Weber, Political Director of Sunrise Movement. “These insurgent campaigns are a clear indicator of the appetite for an entire new way of doing things, and a restructuring of our society under a populist agenda that guarantees things like living wage jobs, affordable and safe housing, universal clean air and water, and Medicare for All-- all policies which we see bundled into the Green New Deal framework.”

Siegel, a civil rights lawyer and former public school teacher, and Newman, business leader and progressive advocate, enter the race with some campaign experience, having run competitive races in 2018 against Democrat Dan Lipinkski and Republican Mike McCaul. The two now see the 2020 elections as a critical political moment to break through the field by championing popular platforms like the Green New Deal.

“In 2018, we built a broad coalition of unions, environmentalists, and progressives across urban and rural communities, in a district that has been red for a long time,” Mike Siegel, TX-10 explained. “We nearly beat McCaul. In 2020, energy from groups like Sunrise Movement and inspiring agendas like the Green New Deal are going to take us over the finish line.”

“I am proud to have the support of the Sunrise Movement and I am dedicated to joining them in the mission of advocating for and innovating and organizing toward 100% clean and renewable energy by 2030. Solving the climate crisis and expanding our economy are not mutually exclusive pursuits,” Marie Newman, IL-03 remarked. “We have the opportunity, particularly in districts like mine that are major transportation hubs, but across the entire country, to embrace new and innovative technologies, to build a green economy, to create good paying union jobs, and to save our planet from a climate crisis. Lipinski and his dwindling circle of fossil-fuel funded Democrats are a threat to the Democratic Party truly being a party of the people.”

Harper, a 36 community advocate and former staffer at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and Emmons Jr., a 27 year old community organizer, launched into politics after coming of age amidst the rise of the climate crisis, polarized racial tensions, and economic inequality. They began to realize their own political potential after witnessing the uprising of political newcomers, such as Green New Deal champion Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The two are running against establishment Democrats Joyce Beatty, 69 and Bobby Rush, 73 who both oppose the Green New Deal and have received hundreds of thousands of dollars from utilities and fossil fuel interests.

“The Green New Deal is the solution that the 1st District of Illinois needs to combat the climate crisis, reinvigorate our local economy, and curb the cycle of violence that plagues our communities,” Robert Emmons Jr., IL-01 said. “The Sunrise Movement understands that jobs, healthcare, clean water, clean air, and clean soil are essential to gun violence prevention and I am beyond grateful for their support.”

“Every day that Congress fails to address climate change with the same magnitude and urgency as the climate crisis we face, is a failure of leadership. Plain and simple,” said Morgan Harper, OH-03. “The Sunrise Movement has led with the forcefulness to deal with our climate crisis and it’s an honor to have their endorsement. We believe that our future exists without fossil fuels and with a green new deal to transform our economy for a more sustainable future.”

And what about Bernie? They haven't endorsed in the presidential race yet, but they did rate the candidates on a 200 point scale:

183 points

165 points

75 points