Tag Archives: Bernie is Back

Bernie Sanders Tells 25,000 at Queens Rally: ‘I Am Back… We Will Win’

“I am back.” Bernie Sanders for President rally, Queens, New York © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

By Karen Rubin, News-Photos-Features.com

Pointing to how the park had to be closed once 20,000 people had jammed in, leaving some 5,000 more to take over the street, Senator Bernie Sanders declared, “There is no doubt revolution will sweep the country, sweep Trump out of office and bring the country the change long needed.

“This campaign is not just about defeating most dangerous president in history, it’s about transforming the country, creating economy and government that works for all of us, not just 1%.

“For 45 years, class war has been waged against working families by the billionaire class and corporate elite. I have bad news for them: things will change. We will have government of working people, not 1%.”

Sanders acknowledged the endorsement of Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, saying she “is the youngest woman elected to Congress. In one year, it is hard to believe the degree she has transformed politics in America. She has electrified the country with the concept of Green New Deal. She has been an inspiration to millions of young people who now understand the importance of participation and standing up for justice.”

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez endorses Bernie Sanders for president at rally in, Queens, New York © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

In his first major campaign rally since undergoing heart surgery, he said, “As far as my health, I am more than ready, more ready than ever to carry on. I am back.

“I was faced with adversity over last couple of weeks, but Americans throughout country are facing own adversity: 500,000 homeless. In NYC over 130,000 including 45,000 children slept in homeless shelters last year. Half our population – working class – is living paycheck ot paycheck, dealing with incredible stress of struggle just to stay alive and feed family.

“87 million are uninsured or underinsured, unable to go to doctor when get sick because the United States maintains the most dysfunctional and cruel health care system in the world.

Bernie Sanders for President rally, Queens, New York © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

“In a country that once led the world in education, millions of working class families search for affordable child care, thousands are unable to fulfill their dream because they can’t afford outrageous cost of higher education, tens of millions struggle with student debt.

“Millions of senior citizens unable to afford prescription drugs – government allowed price fixing and political bribery by the pharmaceuticals industry, while Trump and the Republicans cut Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid.

[Chant: “We will win.”]

“Damn right,” Sanders said.  “Justice is coming to America.”

Bernie Sanders for President rally, Queens, New York © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

“Income inequality: people are working two to three jobs to pay their bills, while 49% of all new money goes to the top 1%.

“The richest people live 15 years longer than poorest; poverty is a death sentence. We will end that.

 “The average white family owns 10 times more wealth than blacks; a black woman is three times more likely to die; the rate of infant mortality in black family is double white [boo].

“We have a broken and racist criminal justice system: blacks get 19% more jail time for the same crime; African Americans are jailed at 5 times the rate of whites.

Bernie Sanders for President rally, Queens, New York © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

 “These enormous problems can’t be solved by same old approach to politics. We tell corporate elite, enough is enough, no longer accept greed, corruption, attacks against working class.

Bernie Sanders for President rally, Queens, New York © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

Brothers and sisters, need new vision for America – that’s what this campaign is about.”

Quoting Nelson Mandela, “It always seems impossible until it’s done,” Sanders said, “They want us to believe real change is impossible – not just Republicans, Democrats on the Ohio debate stage, too.

“We disagree on the kind of America we will fight for:

“End all forms of discrimination.

Education, universal affordable child care, rebuild public education that gives teachers respect, compensation they deserve, make public colleges and universities tuition free, fund HBCUs, cancel all student debt.

“If Congress 11 years ago could bail out crooks on Wall Street and provide zero interest loans to banks and Trump and Republicans give over $1 trillion in tax breaks to big corporations and the 1%, if we can spend $750 billion year on military [boo], we can cancel all student debt with a modest tax on Wall Street.”

Bernie Sanders for President rally, Queens, New York © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

A Federal Jobs Guarantee program that pays good wages and affords union representation. “There is an enormous amount of work to be done – we  need new skilled workers.15 million jobs rebuilding crumbling infrastructure; expand child care, education, health care and services for senior citizens.

Health care: “We must end the international embarrassment of the USA as the only major country that doesn’t guarantee health care to all. End the absurdity of spending twice as much per capita as every major country when 87 million are uninsured or underinsured.30,000die each year for lack of care; 500,000 go bankrupt [over medical bills]. We will pass Medicare for All single payer.

Green New Deal to address climate change – the most comprehensive plan of any candidate. I propose legislation holding the fossil fuel industry accountable. A Green New Deal would create 20 million jobs as we transform away from fossil fuel to energy efficiency and sustainable energy, and develop the tools we need to help lead the world in combating climate change and save planet.

“A Green New Deal will end environmental racism. It will clean the environment and end environmental racism.

“In the richest country in history of world, Alexandria and I believe every American should have fundamental right to safe, decent affordable housing. It is unacceptable and un-American for veterans and families with young children to sleep on the streets.

“18 million families pay over half of their income on housing, and wealthy real estate developers are gentrifying neighborhoods.

“We will fund 10 million apartments and homes, eliminate homelessness in America, end gentrification in New York, Seattle, San Francisco and across America. I will create a National Rent Control Standards, and provide $20 billion to the New York public housing authority to repair, modernize, make accessible and access to hi speed broadband.

Bernie Sanders for President rally, Queens, New York © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

“I will end broken, racist criminal justice system in America, end the embarrassment of having more people in jail in America than any country. We spend $80 billion on jails and incarceration instead of investing in jobs and education. I will end the war on drugs, legalize marijuana [big cheers]. End the disgrace of 400,000 locked up because they are too poor to afford cash bail. I will redefine criminal justice –it is absurd to jail someone for selling marijuana when the crooks on Wall Street and at drug companies who killed thousands are not facing criminal charges. Equal justice under law, rich or poor.

Bernie Sanders for President rally, Queens, New York © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

“Instead of demonizing undocumented immigrants, I will pass comprehensive immigration reform and create a path to citizenship. On my first day, I will sign executive order legalizing the status for 1.8 million DACA recipients and extend it to parents. I will develop a humane border policy for those seeking asylum; I won’t snatch babies from mothers, throw children in cages; I will end ICE raids.

“Our administration will take on the NRA, move aggressively to end the epidemic of gun violence, pass commonsense gun legislation that an overwhelming majority of Americans want. People who should not have guns will not have.

“Women have the right to control own bodies, not politicians. I would never nominate anyone to Supreme Court not 100% pro-Roe v Wade.”

As for how he would pay for his progressive agenda, Sanders said, “I will tell the wealthiest they are going to start paying their fair share of taxes; rescind the Trump tax breaks for billionaires and corporations, end the insanity of tax breaks and subsidies to the fossil fuel industry. And we don’t’ have to spend more than next 10 nations combined on defense.”

“I believe more than ever we are going to win.”

__________

© 2019 News & Photo Features Syndicate, a division of Workstyles, Inc. All rights reserved. For editorial feature and photo information, go to www.news-photos-features.com, email [email protected]. Blogging at www.dailykos.com/blogs/NewsPhotosFeatures.  ‘Like’ us on facebook.com/NewsPhotoFeatures, Tweet @KarenBRubin

AOC, Michael Moore, Stars of Progressive Politics Endorse Bernie Sanders at Queens Rally

Bernie Sanders for President rally, Queens, New York © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

By Karen Rubin, News-Photos-Features.com

Amid a sea of “Bernie” signs and chants of “We are the 99%” and “We will win”, Jane Sanders, looked out over the massive crowd of 25,000 that overflowed Queensbridge Park, beneath the Queensborough Bridge, onto the street, and said, “Here are people from every background in the melting pot called New York. Most of our ancestors came to America for a better life- mine from Ireland to escape famine, poverty; Bernie’s from Poland escaping anti-Semitism, poverty.

Jane Sanders at Bernie Sanders for President rally, Queens, New York © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

“All believed they could have a better life. But in the last 40 years that promise has eroded. Bernie plans to change that.” And, noting that this is his first rally since his heart attack, she said to massive cheers, “Bernie is back. He’s healthy and more than ready to continue his lifelong fight for working people of America.”

Michael Moore: “This is not just about defeating Trump, but the rotten system that gave us Trump’

Democracy, said documentary filmmaker Michael Moore, is where “Everyone gets a seat at the table, a slice of the pie and not fight for last crumbs. We don’t just need a democratic politics, we need a democratic economy.”

Filmmaker Michael Moore at Bernie Sanders for President rally, Queens, New York © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

Moore said, “The powers that be are very unhappy you’re here, that Bernie is back. The pundits, the media [boo] are throwing everything out there to get people to think differently:

“That Bernie is too old. Here’s what’s too old: the Electoral College, the $7 minimum wage, women not being paid the same as men, thousands and thousands of dollars of student debt, $10,000 deductible for health care, Super Delegates, the fossil fuel industry – that’s what’s too old.

“It’s a gift we have 78-year-old American running for president. The experience he has, what he has seen. He knows what a pay raise is, a pension – look it up. What it looks like to defend against fascism and white supremacy, to have the library open every day, what regulations are (Boeing). I’m glad he’s 78.

“Health? We should be talking about the health of planet that’s dying [crowd chants “Green New Deal”]; the health of kids in Flint Michigan, of 40 million living in poverty, of young black males shot in back by police [chant Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Count]. The only heart attack we should talk about is the one Wall Street will have when Bernie wins.

Bernie Sanders for President rally, Queens, New York © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

“Next, that Bernie can’t win. He will win he has won 8 times to the House, 2 times to the Senate, 22 states in 2016 – almost half [chant “We will win.]. In 2016 [Democratic primary], Bernie won Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota. Of the 11 states that border Canada, Bernie won 10 (not NY) [boo] – we can fix that. Of the 5 states that border the Pacific, he won 4; of 6 in New England, won 4; Bernie won West Virginia – all 55 counties. According to a poll, he is #1 in Nevada, a dead heat in Iowa, #1 in New Hampshire. He has raised more money from more donors with the smallest amount.

“Why say Bernie can’t win? Because they are lying to the American people. Bernie will win. [Chant, “We will win”]

“They say he can’t win because he is a [Democratic] socialist [yay!]. That’s not going to fly. The American people have loved socialism for the last 70 years. Social Security, free public school, Medicare, Medicaid, fire department – all are socialist.

“What they don’t want to do is tell the truth, what would happen if they structured economic policies with democracy instead of capitalism. And this isn’t capitalism of your great grandpa, this is a form of greed, selfishness so that just few at the top succeed, the  rest struggle paycheck to paycheck.

“Afraid taxes on rich will go up under Sanders? It was depressing during the debate to watch Democrats go after Medicare for All. What would Franklin Roosevelt say?

“They say we can’t afford it? How does Canada afford it? Every other industrialized country has figured it out, why can’t we? They don’t want us to figure it out.

“They say taxes will go up? That is part of the big lie – your taxes already are up. We don’t call it a tax – in Canada, France, Finland they get free health care, free or nearly free day care and college, but pay more in tax for these things. The average American family pays $12,000 a year for child care, $4000 in student loans, $6000 for deductibles, co-pays and premiums for health care – too damn much – the average is $20,000/year but we don’t call it a tax.

Over 25,000 turned out for the Bernie Sanders for President rally, in Queensbridge Park, Queens, New York © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

“We are here in Queensbridge Park, Manhattan Island just across the river is headquarters of corporate America [boo], corporate media [boo], Wall Street

[boo]

. So much misery has been visited on the American people from a half mile away. It must stop.

“They must hear us at Goldman Sachs, Fox News, Trump Tower – the scene of the crime.

“This [election] is not just about defeating Trump, but the rotten system that gave us Trump…. beating Trump isn’t enough.  We must crush Trump at the polls, then fix the rotten corrupt economic system that gave us Trump.”

Bernie Sanders for President rally, Queens, New York © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

San Juan Mayor Cruz: “Move forward on the path of progressive agenda. We are equal. We will win. We must win.”

Calling herself a “climate change survivor,” San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz Soto, attacked Trump for “killing us with inefficiency” that contributed to 3,000 Puerto Ricans dying after being smacked by back-to-back hurricanes.

Carmen Yulín Cruz Soto at Bernie Sanders for President rally, Queens, New York © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

“Why we have to win” she says is for Medicare-for-All, so no one has to choose between groceries and insulin; to be able to afford college and life after college, to “stand against those who earn $100 million and pay workers starving wages; who take away women’s right to choose; the crime of separating families at southern border; climate change.

“I am a climate change survivor. Climate change is real – 3000 Puerto Ricans were killed because Trump Is a racist, xenophobic, paper throwing demagogue.” [Chant, “Lock him up. Vote him out.”]

“The time is now to be fearless, relentless. I stand with Sanders – I respect every other candidate but there is one name only who can get the job done. Be united in one progressive voice, cross generations. Move forward on the path of progressive agenda. We are equal. We will win. We must win.”

Nina Turner: “We must knock out Billionaire class that doesn’t believe working people deserve a good life.”

National co chair Nina Turner quoted Congresswoman Barbara Jordan who said American people want an America as good as its promise. “That means an America where people don’t die because have to ration insulin; hospitals are not closing; where there is clean water, air, food; a justice system that doesn’t gun down black folks in their houses.

Nina Turner at Bernie Sanders for President rally, Queens, New York © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

“We need to clean up the criminal injustice system, Truth & Reconciliation about the ravages of racism, a health care system not commodified. We need to take care of Mother Earth.”

Alluding to the Democratic candidates, she said, “There are many copies but only one original. We finally have somebody in our lifetime, his own special interest is people of nation.

“We must knock out Billionaire class that doesn’t believe working people deserve a good life.”

Bernie Sanders for President rally, Queens, New York © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: “We need a United States truly, authentically operated, owned by working people.”

“We must bring revolution of working class to the ballot box of America,” declared Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. She prompted chants of “Green New Deal,” saying, “Queensbridge Park is ground zero in the fight for public housing and environmental justice.

“Last February I was working as a waitress in Manhattan, shoulder to shoulder with undocumented workers who were putting in12 hour days with no healthcare, not a living wage. We didn’t think we deserved it. That is the script we tell working people: your inherent worth, value as human depends on income another underpays. Turn around that basic language… We must change the system that puts corporate profit ahead of all human and planetary costs.”

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at Bernie Sanders for President rally, Queens, New York © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

After her parents put all they had to buy a house, she said she learned from an early age that “kids’ destiny determined by zipcode. Income inequality is a fact of life of children.” Her father died of cancer when she was 18 and she learned, “We all are one accident away from everything falling apart.

Sanders, she said, has fought for Planned Parenthood, for public education, for CHIP, for single-payer health care, for gender rights, to end “life-crushing” student debt.

“He didn’t do it because it was popular. He fought when it came at the highest political cost in America.

“In 2016, he changed politics in America. We now have one of the best Democratic fields – much because of Sanders.

“I’m in Congress today but one year ago I was a sexually harassed waitress. This freshman class in overwhelming numbers rejected corporate money – thanks to Bernie – endorsed Medicare for All, sees the climate crisis as an existential threat.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at Bernie Sanders for President rally, Queens, New York © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

“[In Congress] it is no joke to stand up against corporate power and establishment interests. Arms are twisted, political pressure psychological and otherwise applied to make you abandon the working class.

“I have come to appreciate the nonstop advocacy of Sanders. It’s not just what he fights for but how: mass mobilization of the working class at the ballot box, a movement (against) racism, classism of Hyde Amendment, imperialist and colonial histories that lead to endless war and immigration crisis.

“NYCHA is underfunded by $30 billion –that is not an accident, but an outcome of system that devalues poor, Logic that got us into this won’t get us out.”

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at Bernie Sanders for President rally, Queens, New York © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

“We need a United States truly, authentically operated, owned by working people.

“Bernie showed you can run a grass roots campaign and win in America when others thought it impossible.”

__________

© 2019 News & Photo Features Syndicate, a division of Workstyles, Inc. All rights reserved. For editorial feature and photo information, go towww.news-photos-features.com, email [email protected]. Blogging at www.dailykos.com/blogs/NewsPhotosFeatures.  ‘Like’ us on facebook.com/NewsPhotoFeatures, Tweet @KarenBRubin