As many of you will recall, Nelson Mandela, one of the great political leaders in modern history famously said: “It always seems impossible until it is done.”
And what he meant by that profound statement is that the greatest obstacle to real change has everything to do with the power of the corporate and political establishment to create a culture which limits our vision as to what is possible and what we are entitled to as human beings.
If we don’t believe that new parents are entitled to bond with their children after childbirth, then we will never get paid family and medical leave.
If we don’t believe we are entitled to affordable prescription drugs, we will never get to a place where Medicare is able to negotiate for lower prescription drug prices or cap the cost of insulin.
If we don’t believe that dental, vision and hearing are basic health care needs and that seniors deserve to be able to chew their food, see their loved ones, and hear the world around them, we will never expand Medicare to cover those services.
If we don’t believe the wealthy and powerful should finally pay their fair share of taxes in this country, then we will never be able to afford any of these programs and will continue to have obscene levels of income and wealth inequality.
Focusing on what is possible in this country and what every American is entitled to has always been what our movement — the political revolution — has been working on.
During our 2016 presidential campaign, we fought for a $1 trillion infrastructure package that would rebuild our crumbling roads and bridges, invest in our country’s physical infrastructure, and create and maintain good-paying jobs.
At the time, that was thought to be a “radical” and unachievable goal. Well, that was, more or less, the infrastructure bill that Congress just passed.
For years, we’ve said climate change was one of the greatest threats to the future of our country and our planet, and that we must begin the process of cutting carbon emissions and transforming our energy systems away from fossil fuels and into energy efficiency and sustainable energy.
That is an important part of the current version of the Build Back Better plan.
For years, we have said we must provide free, full-day high-quality childcare for every child and that all children must be guaranteed a pre-kindergarten education regardless of family income.
That is in the current version of the Build Back Better plan.
But we can do more.
We must do more.
The Build Back Better plan is our chance to respond to the pain and injustice that impacts the working people in this country and, finally, to address their long-neglected needs. We cannot miss this opportunity, because there is no telling when our next chance will be to create this kind of transformational change.
So we must think big.
Bigger than the current plan.
Instead of talking about what should be cut, we should be talking about what must be added to the bill before it passes.
Yes: we can and we must pass paid family and medical leave.
Yes: we can and we must substantially lower the cost of prescription drugs.
Yes: we can and we must expand Medicare to cover dental care, hearing aids and eyeglasses.
Yes: we can and must make community colleges tuition-free and increase Pell grants.
And yes: at a time of massive income and wealth inequality the wealthy and large corporations must start paying their fair share of taxes.
Many of these ideas — the ones we’ve passed and the ones we continue to fight for — were once considered radical and fringe.
It seemed impossible that they would ever become reality.
Well, all of that has changed. Today, despite the massive opposition of the corporate elite, poll after poll shows that these ideas are exactly what the American people want. Not just Democrats, but Republicans and Independents as well.
And this Build Back Better plan is our chance to get them done.
But it will NEVER happen unless you believe that this is the future we are all entitled to.
So today, I am asking you to make your voice heard:
Sign my petition urging the House and the Senate to pass a BIG and BOLD Reconciliation Bill. We should not be cutting from the current bill — we must ADD to its framework.
The progress we’ve made on these issues, and many others that are already being implemented in cities and states across the country is what we have accomplished together.
Not me. Us.
But we cannot stop now. The next few weeks are too important.
In solidarity,
Bernie Sanders
Paid for by Friends of Bernie Sanders
PO BOX 391, Burlington, VT 05402
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