Bernie Sanders Fights Hard for Votes in South Carolina

By Scott Galindez, Reader Supported News

23 November 15

 

uring a forum on criminal justice reform in Charleston, South Carolina, on Saturday, Bernie Sanders took aim at politicians who use “tough on crime” rhetoric to get elected. The forum was also attended by Dr. Ben Carson and Martin O’Malley. Hillary Clinton declined an invitation to participate.

“For too long in this country politicians have used getting tough on crime as a wedge issue to win elections. It is clearly about time to start talking – as we have in this election – about the really disastrous effects of too many politicians trying to win too many elections by locking too many people up,” Sanders told the forum held at Allen University.

“And we should lay it all right out on the table,” Sanders added. “People in American jails are disproportionately people of color. That’s the reality in America today. That’s a reality that has to change.”

According to a press release from the Sanders campaign, among what he called “shocking statistics,” Sanders said that one in four black males born today can expect to spend time in prison during their lifetime, that blacks are imprisoned at six times the rate of whites, and that minorities are sentenced to death at significantly higher rates than whites. He also noted that the Department of Justice found that blacks were three times more likely to be searched during a traffic stop, compared to white motorists.

Sanders also spoke about what he called an “endless stream of tragedies” that he said “screams out for justice” involving blacks killed by police during arrests or while in custody.

“The Black Lives Matter movement which has arisen in response to these deaths has done a needed and commendable job in raising public awareness of this issue. The proliferation of cell phone video has brought the reality of these deaths into the living room and onto the computer screens of people across this country. I know you have heard these names before but they bear repeating so we do not lose sight of the real human price being paid: Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Walter Scott, Freddie Gray, Sandra Bland, Tamir Rice, Samuel Dubose, Rekia Boyd and too many more. But people must do more than just echo the phrase Black Lives Matter. We must put actions behind those words. Actions that will bring about the fundamental reform that is needed in the face of this crisis,” Sanders said.

Declaring that “the killings of African-Americans has got to stop,” Sanders put police reform at the top of a list of proposals to remake the criminal justice system in the United States. “Too many African-Americans and other minorities find themselves subjected to a system that treats citizens who have not committed crimes like criminals,” Sanders said.

During the question and answer period, Sanders promised that police reform would be a major priority of his administration. Sanders also said he believed his agenda will resonate in South Carolina and by the time votes are cast he will have closed the gap in the palmetto state.

Sanders’ proposals include:

• Eliminating for-profit prisons within two years.


• Ending mandatory minimum sentencing and giving judges the discretion to better tailor sentences to the specific facts of a given case.


• Removing marijuana from the federal list of controlled substances and letting states decide whether possession should be a crime.


• Establishing a new federal police training program that trains police to de-escalate confrontations and to humanely interact with people with mental illnesses.


• Making police forces reflect the diversity of our communities.


• Requiring greater civilian oversight of police departments and ongoing and meaningful community engagement.


• Making law enforcement officers wear body cameras to help hold them accountable, while protecting the privacy of innocent people.


• Providing federal funding to help state and local governments adopt new policing standards. State and local governments who participate in police reform should be rewarded by the federal government. Those who do not should have federal justice funding withheld.

Bernie’s Sunday Began in Black Churches

Bernie Sanders made two appearances Sunday morning in African-American churches in North Charleston, South Carolina. The first stop was at Mount Moriah Missionary Baptist Church. The second was at Royal Missionary Baptist Church. He spoke for 5 to 8 minutes at each congregation.

“I am running for president of the United States because I believe in our great country we can do a lot better for working people and for poor people than we are currently doing.”

“I think as you know we are economically a lot better off today under President Obama than we were seven years ago.… But what we should also remember: We are the wealthiest country in the history of the world, but most people wouldn’t know that because a lot of that wealth rests in the hands of the few, and many, many people have very little.”

“In America today, we should not have the highest rate of childhood poverty of any major country on earth. In America today, we should not have 29 million people without any health insurance, and many more with large deductibles and copayments. In America today, we should not have a situation where 51 percent of African-American high school graduates between 17 and 20 are unemployed or underemployed. And in America today, we should not have more people in jail than any country on earth.”

“So I think it makes a lot of sense for us to be investing in education and jobs rather than jails and incarceration.”

“And in America we should not be seeing what we’re seeing on our television sets in terms of what some police officers have done to unarmed people. That we should not be seeing, and we need major criminal justice reform in this country. All Americans should know when they walk down the street, they are not going to be harassed by police departments. They’re not going to be unfairly arrested. So I want to see us as a nation which does not have more people in jail than any other country, but has the best educated population on earth.

“And that is why I believe in the year 2015, 2016, we should make public colleges and universities tuition free. I want to see every child in South Carolina regardless of the income of his or her family know that if they study hard in school, they pay attention, they will be able to make it to college, regardless of the income of their families.”

“There are some people out there – I’m not going to be political – who talk about cutting Social Security or cutting Medicare. It doesn’t make a lot of sense to me when people are trying to get by on 11, 12, 13,000 dollars a year. We’ve got to expand Social Security, not cut it.”

“I just wanted to thank all of you for allowing me to say a few words, and I look forward to working with all of you to make sure our great country fulfills its promise for all of our people and creates the kind of nation that you and I know we can become. Thank you so much.”

At Royal Missionary Baptist, Sanders was introduced by the Rev. Joseph Spann, who praised Sanders’s commitment to helping the poor. Sanders’s remarks were similar to the remarks above, though Sanders spoke a little longer, almost eight minutes, touching on a few more subjects.

Sanders Draws Contrast With Clinton on Family Leave, Social Security

According to a press release sent out by the Sanders Campaign, Bernie spoke to 600 people packed inside the Penn Center’s Darrah Hall on Sunday and called for paid family leave for new parents and expanded benefits for seniors who rely on Social Security.

Sanders is one of 19 Senate co-sponsors of the Family and Medical Leave Act introduced by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand.

Under the measure, workers would be entitled to three months of paid leave to care for a newborn child. Former secretary of state Hillary Clinton does not support the legislation. Sanders urged all presidential candidates to join him in supporting guaranteed family and medical leave.

He also called on other White House hopefuls to join him in supporting expansion of Social Security benefits for seniors and the disabled.

Sanders blasted the lack of a cost of living increase for Social Security recipients this year and explained that his legislation would change the formula for determining the cost of living increase. Sanders would implement a formula that takes into effect the rising cost of health care and prescription drugs.

Legislation Sanders has introduced in the Senate also would increase Social Security benefits and scrap a cap on income subject to the payroll tax. Now, someone making millions of dollars a year pays no more than someone making $118,500 a year. Levying the same tax rate on annual income greater than $250,000 would only impact the top 1.5 percent of wage earners while boosting benefits for millions of retirees.

“I would hope that every Democratic candidate for president of the United States is prepared to lift the cap and expand benefits for millions of seniors in this country who desperately need to see those benefits expanded,” Sanders said.

According to published reports, Hillary Clinton has not categorically ruled out benefit cuts including an increase in the retirement age.

Sanders’s plan to expand and extend Social Security would boost the income of a typical senior making less than $16,000 a year by about $1,300 a year. It would also make sure that Social Security could pay every benefit owed to every eligible American for the next 50 years.

Sanders spent the weekend in South Carolina and Georgia. The three-day swing will close with a rally in Atlanta on Monday.

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Scott Galindez attended Syracuse University, where he first became politically active. The writings of El Salvador's slain archbishop Oscar Romero and the on-campus South Africa divestment movement converted him from a Reagan supporter to an activist for Peace and Justice. Over the years he has been influenced by the likes of Philip Berrigan, William Thomas, Mitch Snyder, Don White, Lisa Fithian, and Paul Wellstone. Scott met Marc Ash while organizing counterinaugural events after George W. Bush's first stolen election. Scott will be spending a year covering the presidential election from Iowa.

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