Sanders will rebuild middle class

Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont deserves your support in his run for president.

Sanders — or simply Bernie — will not accept corporate money and is campaigning on the issues with no negative ads whatsoever. Liberals and conservatives in Vermont have elected him for decades. Further, Bernie never utilizes his office to personally profit — thus he is not controlled by corporate entities.

You may recall there was once a substantial middle-class. You might also recall that our Founding Fathers warned against transforming into a country of only a few mega-rich people and of the vast majority lacking a great deal.

Yet this is precisely the transformation we have seen, with over 45 million Americans now living in poverty, including about 11 percent of Minnesotans. Our middle-class has been greatly reduced and weakened.

Bernie understands this problem of income inequality, and he has proposals for actively addressing it. The actions Bernie proposes are to keep and increase jobs in America (and so oppose trade agreements that are contrary to this), rebuild our infrastructure, increase minimum wage, expand regulations covering overtime pay, strengthen Social Security, and help those burdened with student loan debt.

Such actions will radically reduce obscene levels of income inequality.

Among Bernie's deepest strengths is he is firmly rooted within the long tradition of American populism.

In recent years, out of fear of losing support from Wall Street institutions, both major political parties have ignored or even shunned populism. Bernie, however, is unafraid, and through supporting him we can resurrect the middle-class of which many of us still have fond memories.

Please join me in talking with friends, family, and neighbors about Bernie Sanders and his proposals — and in voting for Sanders. Let's elect him president. Let's fix our great country.