EDWARDSVILLE - Bernie Sanders arrived on the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville campus like a rock star to loud chants of “Bernie, Bernie, Bernie,” and those in attendance seemed to leave the campus energized by his message.
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The Sam M. Vadalabene Center at SIUE was filled to capacity as hundreds waited outside to get in through the early morning, starting at 1 a.m. on Friday. The center was also filled with “A Future To Believe In” signs waving throughout, supporting Sanders.
“Why not become the country we can become?” Sanders asked the group at the beginning of his speech. “Too many people have given up emotionally and intellectually.
“The middle class has been crushed emotionally and almost given up,” he continued. “Why this campaign is important is we can create the nation we want to become. We cannot allow the Trumps and the others of Wall Street to divide us up.”
U.S Sen. Sanders pointed out that the wealth of today is only distributed in the top one percent of those with money.
“We have more living in poverty in this country than any other country throughout the world,” he said. “How about investing in education and jobs for young people?”
The Democratic presidential candidate stressed that over the last 30 years, millions have been arrested for possession of illegal marijuana.
“You can argue the plusses and minuses of marijuana but it isn’t heroin,” he said. “Stay away from heroin.”
He continued later about the drug issue, saying, “Substance abuse is a healthcare issue and we need to significantly expand our capability to treat drug and alcohol addictions.”
Sanders said his campaign is about telling the truth about issues and formulating ways to fix them.
“The truth is not always pleasant,” he said. “The only way to move forward is hearing truths. We have a corrupt campaign financial system. Democracy is not about spending billions of dollars buying elections.”
Sanders said he wants to make it easier for those over the age of 18 to vote and feels Republicans suppress some of that vote, not encouraging participation.
“I believe we need to make election campaigns funded by the public,” he said. “I think we need to overturn Citizens United and show we are not for sale.”
The presidential candidate was harsh on the Walton family and Wal-Mart, saying the wages are so low that many of the employees are forced to go on food stamps or substandard housing. He described not paying people a decent wage as “welfare abuse.”
“I say to the Walton family pay your workers a living wage,” Sanders said. “The federal minimum wage is now $7.25 per hour. I think we need to raise it to $15 an hour.”
The presidential candidate also advocates increasing Social Security amounts to senior citizens and for disabled veterans.
“A moral people does not turn its back on those who made us strong and built this country,” Sanders said. “You cannot make it on $12,000 a year. Many Republicans want to cut Social Security. I don’t want to cut Social Security but expand Social Security.”
Sanders said he hates that many students come out of college a total of $30,000 to $50,000 in debt. He pointed out that everybody in America should be encouraged to get the education he or she needs, not discouraged because of the debt potential.
He said a college education is so important to youth today, while 50 years ago a 12th-grade education was acceptable. Sanders is an advocate of free tuition at colleges and universities. He said Germany and many Scandinavian countries already offer free college tuition.
“Over the last 30 years there has been a massive redistribution of wealth in the wrong direction,” he said. Sanders said a Wall Street type of tax would be used for education under his plan.
“What we are going to do is impose a tax on Wall Street speculation," he said. "All of you know Wall Street greed led us to the worst economic downtown in our history. Congress bailed them out. Now is time for Wall Street to help the middle class and impose a tax on Wall Street speculation.”
Sanders has proposed a speculation tax, a small levy on every stock, bond or derivative sold in the United States. He said the revenue would go toward free tuition at public colleges and universities and would also be used to pare down student debt and pay for work-study programs. Hillary Clinton, the other top Democratic presidential candidate, has proposed a similar tax on high-speed trading, but Sanders' plan goes much further.
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The presidential candidate also mentioned that he would like to see early education to those ages 1 to 4 drastically improved. He said those ages are so formative in every person’s life.
He talked some about police officers, praising them for their efforts nationwide. He said the ones who aren’t honorable, though, should be held accountable for their actions. Another key issue for Sanders is establishing a new set of trade policies. He also said to the crowd that “healthcare is a right of all people,” and he wanted to see additional changes made in that area.
At the end, Sanders walked around and shook hands and signed autographs for many of those in attendance, rare for a person at his political spectrum.
Sanders encouraged those present to get out and vote for the primary election. He said every vote counts and he stressed: “Change comes from the bottom up.”
He said also in regards to his free tuition plan for colleges, it will take millions of people to push legislators to make a change, but if enough demand it, “it will happen.”
Sanders wanted one message to stay with people when they went to the polls soon: “A great nation is not judged by how it treats millionaires, but the weakest and most vulnerable among us.”
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