I have not heard almost anybody suggest that raising the minimum wage to the level we have in Vermont has been an impediment to our economy which is doing reasonably well ... If somebody is going to work that person has got to receive at least a wage that they can go out and live with dignity on. That's an extremely important point.

Bernie Sanders

Categorized in : Important Levels Minimum Wage

A nation will not survive morally or economically when so few have so much and so many have so little.

Bernie Sanders

inequality economic-inequality littles

I am going to do my best to try to create a country in which children are not living in poverty, in which kids can go to college, in which old people have health care. Will I succeed? I can't guarantee you that, but I can tell you that from a human point of view it is better to show up than to give up.

Bernie Sanders

giving-up country children

The problems we face, did not come down from the heavens. They are made, they are made by bad human decisions, and good human decisions can change them.

Bernie Sanders

decision faces heaven

Finally, let understand that when we stand together, we will always win. When men and women stand together for justice, we win. When black, white and Hispanic people stand together for justice, we win.

Bernie Sanders

white winning men

What my campaign is about is a political revolution - millions of people standing up and saying, enough is enough. Our government belongs to all of us, and not just the hand full of billionaires.

Bernie Sanders

political-revolution government hands

Real change never occurs from the top on down, [but] always from the bottom on up.

Bernie Sanders

real-change bottom real

If the environment were a bank, it would have been saved by now

Bernie Sanders

has-beens environment saved

Now is the time to alter our government. Now is the time to stop the movement toward oligarchy. Now is the time to create a government which represents all Americans and not just the 1%... No more excuses. We must all become involved in the political process.

Bernie Sanders

movement political government

Let us wage a moral and political war against the billionaires and corporate leaders, on Wall Street and elsewhere, whose policies and greed are destroying the middle class of America.

Bernie Sanders

wall war america

The struggle to create a nation and world of economic and social justice and environmental sanity is not an easy one. The struggle to try and create a more peaceful world will be extremely difficult. But this I know: despair is not an option if we care about our kids and grandchildren. Giving up is not an option if we want to prevent irreparable harm to our planet.

Bernie Sanders

giving-up struggle kids

They talk about class warfare -- the fact of the matter is there has been class warfare for the last thirty years. It's a handful of billionaires taking on the entire middle-class and working-class of this country. And the result is you now have in America the most unequal distribution of wealth and income of any major country on Earth and the worst inequality in America since 1928. How could anybody defend the top 400 richest people in this country owning more wealth than the bottom half of America, 150 million people?

Bernie Sanders

class country america

It's better to show up than to give up.

Bernie Sanders

giving-up shows giving

What democratic socialism is about is saying that it is immoral and wrong that the top one-tenth of 1 percent in this country own almost 90 percent - almost - own almost as much wealth as the bottom 90 percent. That it is wrong, today, in a rigged economy, that 57 percent of all new income is going to the top 1 percent. That when you look around the world, you see every other major country providing health care to all people as a right, except the United States.

Bernie Sanders

democratic-socialism country people

An America where every person, no matter their race, their disability or their sexual orientation realizes the full promise of equality that is our birthright as Americans.

Bernie Sanders

race america promise

The only way change happens is when people become more significantly involved in the political process.

Bernie Sanders

political people way

Americans' right to free speech should not be proportionate to their bank accounts.

Bernie Sanders

bank-accounts speech media

What kind of nation are we when we give tax breaks to billionaires, but we can't take care of the elderly and the children.

Bernie Sanders

elderly giving children

Income and wealth inequality have reached obscene levels, the threat of climate change is more frightening than ever, and the billionaire class is now allowed to spend unlimited amounts of money to buy the candidate they want. And it is up to us to stand up and fight back. If we stand together, there is no limit to what we can accomplish.

Bernie Sanders

fighting together class

Today, the top one-tenth of 1% owns nearly as much wealth as the bottom 90%. The economic game is rigged, and this level of inequality is unsustainable. We need an economy that works for all, not just the powerful.

Bernie Sanders

powerful games needs

It's time to make our government work for all of us... and not just the 1%.

Bernie Sanders

government-work government