In a statement released on Friday, the independent senator said the ruling was a “devastating blow” to Americans facing financial stress from mounting student debt.

Describing the decision as “legally unsound”, Sanders called on President Biden to use his authority to cancel student debt under the Higher Education Act of 1965.

“I am urging the Biden Administration to implement a Plan B immediately to cancel student debt for tens of millions of Americans who are struggling to pay the rent, put food on the table, and pay for the basic necessities of life,” he said.

Sanders also scolded the Supreme Court’s conservative justices for the decision, which comes after recent rulings on abortion and affirmative action

“In my view, if right-wing Supreme Court justices want to make public policy they should quit the Supreme Court and run for political office,” Sanders said.

“Frankly, I do not think their extremist views will gain much traction with the average American voter.”

Recent scandals which have engulfed the Supreme Court, including conservative justice Clarence Thomas’s friendship with billionaire Harlan Crowe, demonstrates the Court must be held to account, Sanders said.

“the time is long overdue for the Supreme Court to do what every other branch of the judiciary does.”

“They must establish a code of ethical standards so that justices cannot secretly accept lavish financial gifts from billionaire patrons.”

The post Sanders slams Supreme Court ruling on student debt appeared first on Bernie Post.

The Pay Teachers Act would require states to establish a minimum teacher’s salary of $60,000 per year and significantly increase federal investments in teachers and public schools.

Sanders says it is unacceptable that many teachers in the richest country in the world are working two or three extra jobs to make ends meet. In 36 states, the average public school teacher with a family of four qualifies for food stamps, public housing, and other government assistance programs.

“The situation has become so absurd that the top 15 hedge fund managers on Wall Street make more money in a single year than every kindergarten teacher in America combined – over 120,000 teacher,” Sanders said.

“If we are going to have the best public school system in the world, we have got to radically change our attitude toward education and make sure that every teacher in America receives the compensation that they deserve for the enormously important and difficult work that they do.”

More than half of public schools in the US report feeling understaffed, while the starting pay for teachers in nearly 40 percent of school districts is less than $40,000 per year.

Forty-three percent of all public school teachers make less than $60,000 per year, and hundreds of thousands of public school teachers have to work two or three jobs during the school year to make ends meet.

The pandemic has only worsened the situation, with the historic staffing shortages disproportionately affecting schools serving students of color and students from low-income backgrounds.

Recent studies show that K-12 public school teachers were the most likely to report higher levels of anxiety, stress, and burnout during the pandemic.

The Pay Teachers Act has garnered support from more than 50 major organizations, including the American Federation of Teachers, the National Education Association, and the American Association of State Colleges and Universities.

Sanders says the bill is a necessary federal investment to help sustain the teaching profession and provide greater opportunities for students.

The post Sanders seeks to boost teacher pay appeared first on Bernie Post.

Under the plan announced by the White House on Wednesday, student debts of up to $10,000 will be reduced for working class Americans and up to $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients.

It is expected 43 million Americans will benefit from a reduction in their student loans, with 20 million to see their student debt eliminated entirely.

In a statement released later on Wednesday, Senator Sanders said the president’s decision would “reduce the outrageous level of student debt” in the United States.

“The result of this decision is that millions of Americans will now be in a better position to start families, or buy the homes and cars they have long needed.”

“This is a big deal,” he said.

Sanders also acknowledged that there was more work to be done in making education more accessible.

“At a time of massive income and wealth inequality, education, from pre-school through graduate school, must be a fundamental right for all, not a privilege for the wealthy few,” the independent said in the statement.

“If the United States is going to effectively compete in the global economy we need the best educated workforce in the world, and that means making public colleges and universities tuition free as many other major countries currently do – and that includes trade schools and minority-serving institutions as well.”

The White House says details on how to claim relief will be available to borrowers in the coming weeks. More information can be found at studentaid.gov.

The post Sanders welcomes White House student debt relief plan appeared first on Bernie Post.

The independent senator likened the payment to a “bribe” and has questioned why members of congress are eager to support it.

In a statement, Sanders said he would not support the legislation, which could come before the senate next week, unless it meets a series of conditions. Among these is that the government would get an equity stake in the companies.

“When the government adopts an industrial policy that socializes all the risk and privatizes all the profits, that is crony capitalism,” Sanders said.

“The five biggest semi-conductor companies that will likely receive the lion’s share of this taxpayer handout, Intel, Texas Instruments, Micron Technology, Global Foundries and Samsung, made $70 billion in profits last year.”

Sanders pointed his finger at the industry for causing the shortage of microchips and semiconductors, saying 780 plants and 150,000 jobs had been eliminated over the past 20 years.

“The question before us now is whether these extremely profitable companies will work with the U.S. government on a solution to rebuild the U.S. microchip industry which is fair to the taxpayers of this country, or whether they will continue to demand a $53 billion bribe to stay here.”

Under Sanders’ proposal, companies would have to guarantee not to buy back stock, outsource jobs, repeal collective bargaining agreements or interfere with union organising efforts.

“The demands I’m making are not radical,” he said.

“Let us rebuild the U.S. microchip industry, but let’s do it in a way that benefits all of our society, not just a handful of wealthy, profitable and powerful corporations.”

The post Sanders fights handout to microchip companies appeared first on Bernie Post.

The post Sanders endorses Canada’s Jagmeet Singh appeared first on Bernie Post.

Sanders describes the plan as “the most consequential piece of legislation for working people, the elderly, the children, the sick and the poor” since the New Deal of the 1930s.

“At a time of massive income and wealth inequality this is a budget that will end the days of billionaires and large, profitable corporations not paying a nickel in federal income taxes,” Sanders said in a statement earlier this month.

“Under this budget, however, no family making under $400,000 a year will pay a penny more in taxes and will, in fact, receive one of the largest tax cuts in American history.”

The Vermont Senator’s proposal will also provide universal pre-kindergarten to three and four-year-olds, guarantee paid family and medical leave, as well as make community colleges tuition-free.

While members of the Republican Party in the Senate are opposed to the plan, polling suggests it is supported by most Americans.

A Quinnipiac poll released earlier this month showed 62 percent of respondents were in favor of the plan.

On Friday, Sanders will hold a town hall in West Lafayette, Indiana. The city sits in a congressional district that Donald Trump carried by nearly 30 percent in 2020.

Sanders will then on Sunday travel to Cedar Rapids, Iowa for another event to sell the proposal.

Indiana and Iowa are considered red states, with both Senators from each state representing the Republican party.

“While it will have no Republican support in Washington, Democrats, independents and working-class Republicans all over the country support our plan to finally invest in the long-neglected needs of working families,” said Sanders in announcing the town halls.

The post Sanders to visit red states to pitch budget plan appeared first on Bernie Post.

In a tweet, the independent senator said Afghanistan was left with a “corrupt government and an ineffectual military” following 20 years of the United States being present in the country.

“At this moment, we must do everything we can to evacuate our allies and open our doors to refugees,” Sanders said.

Sanders’ progressive allies in congress backed his calls, taking to Twitter to demand the United States take in refugees fleeing Afghanistan.

“If we don’t start putting everyday people first, no matter what country they’re born in, this will keep happening,” wrote congresswoman Rashida Tlaib. “Let’s start by opening our country to shelter refugees fleeing the consequences of our actions.”

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said the United States has a moral obligation to the Afghan people.

“For all those who lost, sacrificed, suffered, and served in the last 20 years of war and occupation, the United States has a singular responsibility in extending safe refuge to the Afghan people,” she said on Monday.

In an address to the nation on Monday, President Joe Biden said he stands “squarely behind” his decision to withdraw from Afghanistan.

Biden warned Taliban leaders that they would face force if they impeded the United States’ evacuation from Kabul.

“As we carry out the departure, we made it clear to the Taliban, if they attack our personnel or disrupt our operation, the US presence will be swift and the response will be swift and forceful,” Biden said.

“Our current military mission will be short in time, limited in scope, and focused in its objectives: Get our people and our allies [out] as safely, as quickly, as possible, and once we have completed this mission, we’ll conclude our military withdrawal.”

The post Sanders calls for evacuation of refugees from Afghanistan appeared first on Bernie Post.

Sanders will headline a get out the vote rally for Turner at the Agora Theatre on the east side of Cleveland. The rally, to be held on Saturday 31 July at 11:30am, will also feature local leaders and musical artists.

Turner was an Ohio state senator between 2008 and 2014. She was also the Democratic nominee for Ohio Secretary of State in 2014. Turner supported Sanders’ presidential campaigns in 2016 and 2020. Following the 2016 campaign, she became president of Sanders’ political action organization Our Revolution. Turner served as co-chair of Sanders’ 2020 campaign.

Marcia Fudge’s appointment as Joe Biden’s Housing and Urban Development Secretary has caused the vacancy in Ohio’s 11th Congressional District. There are at least 13 candidates vying for the Democratic nomination, with the primary set for August 3.

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was in Cleveland on Saturday to support Turner.

“This is a deep blue seat. It’s a deep blue seat. Districts like Ohio’s 11th should be leading the country on issues,” Ocasio-Cortez told supporters at a campaign event.

“They are opportunities, they are very rare opportunities, very rare districts like this one that can take and be visionary.”

The special election will be held on November 2.

The post Sanders to campaign for Nina Turner in Ohio appeared first on Bernie Post.

The meeting is slated to begin at 7:30pm ET on Wednesday 10 June, and will be streamed on the live page of Sanders’ campaign website.

Sanders and Booker were both candidates for the Democratic nomination for president this cycle. The New Jersey Senator suspended his campaign before the first primary contest, while Sanders was the last candidate to exit the race.

The virtual event is Sanders’ first since protests swept the United States in response to the death of George Floyd.

Since the coronavirus pandemic caused much of the United States to shutdown, Sanders has held a series of virtual meetings, on subjects from safely reopening the economy to climate change.

The post Sanders to hold virtual meeting with Booker appeared first on Bernie Post.

In a statement, Sanders said the virtual discussion and Q&A would look at the “existential threat of climate change and the bold action we must take to leave a livable, thriving planet for young people and future generations.”

The town hall will start at 8pm Eastern on Wednesday 13 May, and will be available for streaming on Sanders’ live page and social media accounts.

During his campaign for the Democratic nomination, Sanders held several virtual roundtables and town halls focused on the coronavirus pandemic.

This online live event is Sanders’ second in as many weeks. Last week, the Vermont Senator held a virtual town hall focused on the rights of the incarcerated during the coronavirus crisis.

Sanders ended his second bid for the Democratic nomination at the beginning of April, making Joe Biden the presumptive nominee.

The post Sanders to hold climate change virtual town hall appeared first on Bernie Post.

In a livestreamed Washington Post interview with Robert Costa on Monday, Sanders was asked whether he would run for president again.

“I think the likelihood is very, very slim at that,” Sanders told Costa.

“I think next time around you’re going to see another candidate carrying the progressive banner.”

Costa pressed Sanders, noting he wasn’t fully ruling out running for the presidency again, to which Sanders replied, “let’s not be a media person worried about what’s going to happen four years from now.”

Sanders said that while his campaign for president was suspended, “we certainly do not suspend the movement.”

“That grassroots movement must continue, it will continue, and we will transform this country.”

The post Sanders says there is a “slim chance” of another presidential run appeared first on Bernie Post.

The program would provide a monthly $2,000 check to every individual with an income below $120,000 throughout and for three months following the coronavirus pandemic.

Senators Kamala Harris and Ed Markey co-sponsored the legislation with Sanders.

“As a result of this horrific pandemic, tens of millions of Americans are living in economic desperation not knowing where their next meal or paycheck will come from,” Sanders said on Friday.

“The one-time $1,200 check that many Americans recently received is not nearly enough to pay the rent, put food on the table and make ends meet. During this unprecedented crisis, Congress has a responsibility to make sure that every working-class household in America receives a $2,000 emergency payment a month for each family member.”

“I am proud to be introducing legislation with Senators Harris and Markey to do exactly that. If we can bail out large corporations, we can make sure that everyone in this country has enough income to pay for the basic necessities of life.”

The legislation would also ensure that every US resident receives a payment, regardless of whether or not they have filed a recent tax return or have a social security number. Debt collectors would be unable to seize the payments.

The post Sanders introduces bill to provide $2,000 payments during pandemic appeared first on Bernie Post.

The live event is Sanders’ first since he hosted a livestream with Elizabeth Warren, Pramila Jayapal and Mark Pocan in April about priorities for the next coronavirus relief package.

The town hall will start at 8pm Eastern on Thursday 7 May, and will be available for streaming on Sanders’ live page and social media accounts.

“The United States incarcerates more people than any other country on Earth, disproportionately Black, Latino and Native American,” Sanders said in a statement on Wednesday.

“Now, U.S. jails and prisons have become epicenters in the COVID-19 pandemic.”

During his campaign for the Democratic nomination, Sanders held several virtual roundtables and town halls focused on the coronavirus pandemic.

Sanders ended his second bid for the Democratic nomination at the beginning of April, making Joe Biden the presumptive nominee.

The post Sanders to hold virtual town hall on incarceration rights appeared first on Bernie Post.

Congressional correspondent for CNN Manu Raju asked Sanders about his timeframe for making a decision about the future of his campaign.

“I’m dealing with a fucking global crisis,” Sanders is reported as saying.

“Well right now, right now I’m trying to do my best to make sure that we don’t have an economic meltdown and that people don’t die. Is that enough for you to keep me busy for today?”

Sanders’ campaign staff were quick to respond to the Vermont Senator’s comments on Twitter. Mike Casca, the campaign’s communications director, tweeted, “current mood,” referring to Sanders’ choice of words.

“You think Bernie saying the word fuck is scandalous? Wait till you hear about how many ventilators we need to defeat coronavirus that we definitely don’t have,” tweeted senior communications aide Roger Ouellette.

Earlier on Wednesday, Sanders’ campaign manager Faiz Shakir emailed supporters, saying Sanders would return to Vermont to hold conversations with supporters and assess the path forward for the campaign.

“No sugarcoating it, last night did not go the way we wanted. And while our campaign has won the battle of ideas, we are losing the battle over electability to Joe Biden,” Shakir said in the email.

The post Focused on coronavirus response, Sanders rebukes reporters appeared first on Bernie Post.