#450 – Bernie Sanders Interview

Bullish:

• $MINWAGE - Bernie Sanders strongly advocates for a significant increase in the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $17 per hour, arguing that it's necessary to ensure workers are not living in poverty in the wealthiest country in the world.

  • “I think that in the richest country in the history of the world, if you work 40 hours a week, you should not be living in poverty. And that means we should have a federal minimum wage, not absurdly 7 and a quarter an hour, but in my view, $17 an hour.”

    Bernie·51:36
• $PROGCAND - Bernie Sanders highlights the success of his presidential campaigns in inspiring and electing progressive candidates at various levels of government, from city councils to the House of Representatives.

  • “Out of that came dozens of candidates now in the house of representatives, people on city council, people on state legislature who did win.”

    Bernie·1:04:17

Bearish:

• $CORPDEM - Bernie Sanders criticizes the corporate wing of the Democratic party for prioritizing wealthy donors over working-class needs, suggesting a significant divide within the party.

  • “The struggle in the Democratic party is between the corporate wing and the progressive wing. And the corporate wing takes a whole lot of money, sees its salvation in getting a whole lot of money, from both the individuals, and large corporations, and is not very vigorous in my view, in representing the needs of working class people.”

    Bernie·56:53
• $PHARMA - Bernie Sanders criticizes the pharmaceutical industry for high drug prices in the US and their significant lobbying presence in Washington, suggesting potential regulatory pressures on the industry.

  • “We pay in the United States by far the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs. This is an issue I've been working hard on with some success. Take a wild and crazy guess. How many lobbyists are there from the drug companies in Washington DC? Well, over a 1,000.”

    Bernie·14:20
• $DEFENSE - Bernie Sanders criticizes the military-industrial complex, highlighting issues of revolving door politics and lack of financial accountability in the Pentagon's budget, suggesting potential risks for defense contractors.

  • “Military industrial complex. You got a revolving door. People go from the military into the General Dynamics, into Lockheed Martin and the other large companies. And what we see there is an institution in the Pentagon. We spend $1,000,000,000,000 a year on the Pentagon. It is the only federal agency that cannot is not able to submit to an independent audit.”

    Bernie·15:32