WASHINGTON, Dec. 12 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) issued the following statement on a massive $1.01 trillion spending bill that the Senate plans to take up later today:
As the Senate prepared to take up a massive $1.01 trillion spending bill, Sen. Bernie Sanders explained why he plans to vote against the measure. “At a time when the middle class continues to disappear, and the gap between the very rich and everyone else grows wider, this bill comes nowhere close to reflecting the needs and priorities of America’s working families,” said Sanders.
“Instead of helping to strengthen Social Security, Medicare and other programs that help working families, this bill would allow the Pentagon to spend almost as much as the rest of the world combined on our military and seemingly never-ending wars in the Middle East. Instead of investing in rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure and creating millions of decent-paying jobs, this bill would let companies renege on promises they made to their workers by cutting the pension benefits of current retirees.
“Instead of cracking down on Wall Street CEOs whose greed and illegal behavior plunged the country into a terrible recession, this bill allows too-big-to-fail banks to make the same risky bets on derivatives that led to the largest taxpayer bailout in history and nearly destroyed the economy. Instead of cutting back on the ability of billionaires to buy elections, this bill outrageously gives the wealthy even more power over the political process.
“Instead of giving the Environmental Protection Agency the tools it needs to begin dealing with the planetary crisis of global warming, this bill would cut spending by the EPA.”
Hey Bernie old friend from our fight, years ago over the corporate raiding of Railroad jobs in St. Albans. I wish there were more of you in the Washington nut house! I am so disappointing that the 1.1 trillion bill was passed. Now after the fact as we look at the voting record it’s further insulting to read the justifying comments by those who voted for the bill. Their exaggerated statements do absolutely nothing to convince the constituents to believe their claims. For example “the bill will provide grants to help schools buy equipment” while the Department of Education was cut 133 million in addition to no funding for the controversial common core. “helps with new funds for senior housing” while for the first time the benefits of current seniors will be severely cut as a result of an effort to save some of the nation’s most distressed pension plans. A 93 million cut to the Infants and Children program that provides food for low income families. A 60 million cut to the Environmental Protection Agency. Over 5 billion to questionable countries like Jordan, Lybia, Syria, Egypt, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Not to mention 3.1 billion in aid and an additional 619.8 million in military aid to Israel. Now for the military spending! A 3 billion boost in procurement spending above the Pentagon’s fiscal 2015 budget request…..seriously????? The only winners here are the giant military and defense contractors like Lockheed Martin, Boeing, General Dynamics, and BAE Systems. Then there’s the modifications to the Dodd Frank Act which as I’m sure you know places the hard working taxpayers of this nation on the hook for untold millions of more Wall Street bail out money. Excuse me for my frustration but I must vent. Pat Leahy stated he feels the need to support the budget in his effort to secure federal dollars for our state of Vermont. The fundamental error here is that there is a much bigger picture to be seen. It does us no good to experience a very short term benefit from the federal table scraps that are thrown our way in exchange for an affirmative vote. The money involved with an enormous looming national debt and a historical 1.1 trillion budget is incomprehensible, and sooner or later the effects will be devastating to each and everyone of us. I don’t have the ability to even full understand what that much money even looks like!!!! Perhaps herein lies the problem with legislators in general…the securing of federal dollars most of which comes with strings attached, or hidden motives is not the only way to advocate for their respective states. In closing, I thank you Bernie for this opportunity to get some of this off my chest.