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Sanders Files

By ADAM URQUHART - Staff Writer | Nov 1, 2019

Telegraph photo by ADAM URQUHART Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who won the 2016 New Hampshire primary with 60% of the vote, on Thursday filed for the 2020 race. He then conducted a brief rally on the New Hampshire State House lawn.

CONCORD – Four years ago, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders came to New Hampshire with an agenda many saw as extreme, although he has been preaching the same policies for decades – and he won the first-in-the-nation primary with 60% of the vote against eventual Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

The U.S. senator from Vermont took to the New Hampshire State House on Thursday to celebrate Halloween in style by filing for the 2020 primary. He then conducted a brief rally on the front lawn of the New Hampshire State House, despite a bit of rain.

Sanders is now the second major presidential candidate to do so, joining Pete Buttigieg of Indiana. Sanders said he plans to visit more communities across New Hampshire than any other candidate from now until the day voters head to the polls to determine who will face President Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election.

“I’ve been talking about health care as a human right and Medicare for All for decades,” Sanders said. “I’ve been talking about the need to raise the minimum wage to a living wage for decades. I’ve been on more picket lines, I suspect, than all my opponents combined. I am a son of the American working class, that’s who I am. And standing with workers against the greed and corruption of large corporations, that’s who I am. That’s what I have done for decades. That is what I will do in the White House.”

Sanders said when he filed to run in the 2016 primary, he came forward with an agenda that many in the political establishment, corporate world and others thought was radical and extreme. He presented the same ideas then as he is campaigning for now, including establishing health care as a human right, not a privilege; raising the minimum wage to a living wage of $15 an hour; making public colleges and universities tuition-free; and underscoring the urgency of climate change being the greatest national security threat to not only the country, but the world. Many of the other Democratic candidates are now pushing similar concepts. In any event, these are not new ideas that Sanders is fighting for, rather he said these are ideas that should have been implemented a very long time ago.

In terms of health care, Sanders’ plan includes eliminating premiums, which he defines as a tax that insurance companies collect.

Moreover, his plan includes eliminating copayments, which means folks can walk into the doctor’s office when they are sick and not have to worry about how to pay the bill. Additionally, his plan eliminates deductibles, which means no more out-of-pocket expenses.

“When you eliminate all of that, the result will be that the average American will pay substantially less for his or her health care costs than is currently the case,” Sanders said.

By promoting the $32 trillion Medicare for All strategy, along with a $16.3 trillion Green New Deal, Sanders promises about $50 trillion in new federal spending if elected.

For some perspective, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office shows the entire federal budget for fiscal year 2019 was $4.4 trillion.

“The American people increasingly understand that health care, whether you are a wealthy person, whether you’re poor, whether you’re middle class, health care is a human right, not a privilege. And health care should be about guaranteeing health care to very man, woman and child as a right, not seeing large corporations making billions of dollars a year in profit,” Sanders said.

On the other hand, when questioned about his own health after a heart attack he endured along the campaign trail recently, he said he is feeling great and plans to do bring forth a vigorous campaign.

Sanders said he wants younger people to know that they are the future of America, and that if they are concerned about student debt, racism, sexism or homophobia, and climate change, that they must get involved in the political process.

Sanders then called out New Hampshire Republican Gov. Chris Sununu.

“The difference between us is, I want to make it easy for all people in our country to be able to vote because we have the lowest voter turnout of almost any major country on Earth,” Sanders said. “So, I want more people to vote. Apparently, your governor thinks differently and he is going to make it harder for young people to vote with what I would call a ‘poll tax’ on young people. I think it’s an outrage. I think it is designed to keep young people from participating in the political process because they are not supportive of the Republican agenda.”

Moreover, in terms of Trump and his agenda, Sanders also said his campaign and its supporters are going to defeat him because they are putting together the strongest grassroots political movement in the history of the country. He also underscored the importance of grassroots activism and the person-to-person contact that wins elections.

“We’re going to win also because you know and I know that this campaign is not about me – it is about us,” Sanders said.

A poll released by the University of New Hampshire this week shows Sanders leading the Democratic race in the Granite State. The primary is tentatively slated for Feb. 11, although Secretary of State Bill Gardner has said he reserves the right to change the date.

Adam Urquhart may be contacted at 594-1206, or at aurquhart@nashuatelegraph.com.

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