By John Wagner February
16
Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders greets supporters at a campaign rally at
the United Auto Workers in Dearborn, Mich., on Monday. (Reuters/Jim Young)
YPSILANTI, Mich. -- In the
Democratic presidential race, it’s become a familiar refrain: Bernie Sanders is
a “single-issue candidate,” according to his rival, Hillary Clinton.
No doubt, the Vermont senator
has more to say about economic policy than anything else. But as evidenced by a
campaign stop here Monday, Sanders’s pitch is far broader than the caricature
that’s been offered by the former secretary of state.
During an hour-long speech to
a crowd of about 9,400 people at Eastern Michigan University, Sanders touched
on issues including health care, immigration, criminal justice, climate change
and marijuana policy, among others. All told, we tallied 20 issues -- give
or take a few, depending on how one counts.
As is often the case, Sanders
said little about foreign policy other than a mention of the Iraq war. But his
topics were more diverse than Clinton has suggested in recent campaign stops.
Here’s a look at the issues
Sanders covered:
1. Universal health care.
Sanders backs a single-payer, “Medicare-for-all” system, saying that “America
must join the rest of the industrialized world and provide health care for
all."
2. Federal intervention in
Flint, Mich. Sanders condemns the water contamination crisis, saying it is
stunting children's development. He calls for the resignation of Michigan Gov.
Rick Snyder (R) and says: “If the local government cannot protect those
children, if the state government cannot protect those children, then the
federal government better get in.”
3. Minimum wage. Sanders calls
the current federal rate of $7.25 “a starvation wage” and says it should be
raised to $15 an hour.
4. Wealth inequality. Sanders
decries the disparity between families like the Waltons, who own Walmart, and
most Americans. He has offered several changes to the tax code to address the
gap.
5. Jail population. Sanders
noted that the United States has the largest incarcerated population in the
world and says that will no longer be the case if he is president.
6. Planned Parenthood
funding. While Republicans want to “defund” the women’s health
organization, which has been caught up in a controversy over abortion services,
Sanders wants to expand its funding.
7. Same-sex marriage. Sanders
pledges to protect new rights in all 50 states for gay couples to marry.
8. Paid family and medical
leave. Sanders wants to guarantee three months of paid leave after the birth of
a child.
9. Federal jobs program.
Sanders wants to spend $1 trillion to create 13 million jobs to “rebuild our
crumbling infrastructure.”
10. Child care. Sanders wants
to invest more money to create a “world-class” child-care system.
11. Trade policy. Sanders cites
his past opposition to NAFTA and other “disastrous” deals and vows to fight the
pending Trans-Pacific Partnership being championed by President Obama.
12. Prosecute Wall Street
offenders. Sanders bemoans how financial giants like Goldman Sachs could pay a
$5 billion settlement for fraudulent behavior without any of its executives
going to jail.
13. Marijuana policy. Sanders
wants to remove marijuana from the federal government’s list of dangerous drugs
and allow states to decide whether to legalize possession without intervention
by Washington.
14. Voting rights. Sanders
opposes efforts by Republican governors to impose additional barriers to
voting, says those who do should “get another job.”
15. Supreme Court appointment.
With a vacancy created by the unexpected death of Justice Antonin Scalia,
Sanders urges Republicans to “obey the Constitution” and consider for
confirmation any nominee put forward by President Obama.
16. Campaign finance reform.
Sanders wants the Supreme Court to overturn the Citizens United decision, which
allows unlimited campaign contributions. He says that would be a litmus test
for any new justice he appoints.
17. Free college tuition.
Sanders calls for making tuition free at public universities and colleges and
says lower interest rates should be available for those who currently have debt
for “the crime of getting a college education.”
18. Tax on Wall Street speculation.
Sanders proposes a tax on Wall Street trades, saying it’s the financial
sector’s turn to help out the middle class after being bailed out by taxpayers
after the 2008 meltdown.
19. Climate change. Sanders
says policymakers have a “moral obligation” to curb emissions contributing to
the warming of the planet.
20. Iraq war. Sanders argues
that the U.S. invasion destabilized the Middle East and says his 2002 vote
against it shows his judgment on foreign policy. He also argues that if the
country can spend so much on the war, it can invest in other priorities at
home.
John Wagner is a political
reporter covering the race for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination.
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South Carolina's GOP primary
and Nevada's Democratic caucuses are today. Get caught up on the race.
What to watch for when Nevada
votes
How will the nonwhite vote
break out?
Nevada is the first state
where polling of voters will be able to break out how white voters compared to
nonwhite voters since there will be a statistically significant number of the
latter.
How liberal is the electorate?
Democrats have been
identifying as liberal more strongly in recent years. If Nevada skews more
heavily liberal, that may suggest that liberal turnout will continue to be
high.
Will Sanders turn out young
voters?
Sanders has an advantage with
younger voters. He needs to keep turning out young voters as a counterweight to
Clinton's advantage with older voters.
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Democrats in Nevada: What the
polls say
Polling this year in Nevada
has been scattered and sketchy. Plus, Nevada holds caucuses, like Iowa, so
horse-trading and negotiating are built in.
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48%
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47%
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