^{[Highly edited highlights. Transcription here.]}

Thank all of you for your efforts to create a government in America.

What is absolutely essential for us to bring about in this country, and that is a political revolution.

Our job is to fight for family farmers and take on corporate agriculture.

We are in a pivotal moment in American history. And to be honest with you nobody is quite sure the direction in which this country will go in the future.

Our job is to create a vibrant democracy where one person one vote dominates the political system.

Brave men and women fought and died for in the fight to maintain American democracy. It is ordinary Americans determining the future of this country.

All over this county, Republican governors, cowardly governors, who don't have the guts to run for office based on their ideas but who are attempting to suppress the vote.

We hear a President of the United States saying something that is untrue. No Democratic election official no Republican election official agrees with him when he says '3-5 million people in the last election voted illegally. That is an absolute lie.

We believe in democracy. Our job together is to bring more people into the political process.

In 2014 all of 37% of the American people voted.

We need to have automatic voter registration.

We must also restore voting rights to people who have lost those rights after you've paid your debt.

We need public funding of elections. No more super-PACs.

 

The truth is that Democracy is a very radical idea. It's rather new to human history. 100-150 years ago the belief was that we have Kings and Czars and very powerful people, the heads of countries, who had the divine right to rule. To determine, whether people went to war, what taxes people paid. People said 'No. We're going to end the rule of the few and replace it with the rule of the many'.

But right now I have to tell you that in many respects our democracy is facing enormous challenges:

• Citizens United
  
• gerrymandering
  
• voter suppression
  
• people giving up on the political process
  

We need to:

• revitalize American democracy
  
• get people involved in the political process
  
• have an agenda that speaks to the issues that impact people
  
• work together to resolve those problems
  

We love this country and we're going to fight for an American democracy that will make future generations proud!

 

Donald Trump told the people he was going to:

• stand up for the working class of this country
  
• take on the establishment
  
• take on Wall Street
  
• take on the pharmaceutical industry
  
• provide health care for "everybody"
  

Donald Trump lied.

He is currently supporting the most anti-working class legislation ever presented in the modern history of this country. That is a major attack on middle class and working class families.

If you're struggling for your life which a life threatening disease and they take away your health insurance, thousands of Americans will die every single year. In America we should not be giving tax breaks to billionaires and insurance companies and drug companies and taking away health insurance from people who have cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. If the Republican bill is passed they will not be able to get the insurance that they need and cannot afford.

We need 1 more Republican vote. Senator Grassley and Senator Ernst:

 Please take a hard look at what this disastrous legislation will do for the people of Iowa and the people of America.  
 Please vote no on this legislation.  
 Medicaid pays about 2/3rds of the funding for those people who are in *nursing homes*. What happens when Medicaid is severely cut and those people are forced out of the nursing homes?
 Please understand that if this legislation goes through a sixty year old worker here in Des Moines who makes $40,000 dollars a year could see their health increase from some $4,000 dollars a year today to some $8,000 dollars. An almost doubling of premiums for older workers.  
 If you don't believe me then why don't you listen to virtually every major health care organization in this country?  

Half of older workers have almost nothing in the bank as they prepare for retirement. That is a major crisis. This legislation would almost double premiums for older workers.

This legislation would defund Planned Parenthood.

This legislation is so bad that the Republicans have refused to hold 1 public hearing and all of their deliberations are behind closed doors.

12% of the American people support this Republican plan.

 

I will be introducing legislation, which is gaining more and more support all over this country, for a Medicare For All single payer program. And we're going to need your help on that.

On virtually all of the major economic crises we are not divided, we are united.

1. We should expand social security. And we should lift the cap on higher income people.

2. We can well DAMN afford to make public colleges and universities tuition free by imposing a speculation tax on Wall Street.

3. It is time to demand that the wealthiest people in this country start paying their fair share of taxes.

4. After the Republicans are finished with health care they are going to move to so called 'tax reform'. 'Tax reform' is just a codeword for more tax breaks for the rich and large corporations.

5. We've got to raise the minimum wage to a living wage: $15 dollars an hour!

6. Our job together is to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure. A trillion dollar investment will provide up to 15 million good paying jobs.

7. Pay equity for women, widespread agreement.

8. We're spending 80 billion dollars a year to lock up more people than any other country on Earth. We should be investing in jobs & education not more jails and more incarceration.

9. We need comprehensive immigration reform and a path towards citizenship.

 

They want it all.

There are those who want to divide us up because they understand that very few Americans believe in their policies
Our job is to not fall for that bait.
Our job is to stand together.
We are going to revitalize American democracy and create a system that has the highest vote turnout of any country on Earth.

 

The stakes in this struggle are about the lives of our children and our grandchildren. They are about whether or not we are going to have a planet that is healthy and habitable. Whether we're gonna have a system that is a vibrant Democracy. Whether we're going to have an economy that works for all or just a few.

Remember American history:

• Remember the difficult days.
  
• Remember the trade union movement.
  
• Remember segregated schools.
  
• Remember women stood up and they fought back.
  
• Remember today we have gay marriage being legal in every state in this country.
  

Nothing will stop us in achieving our goals.

 

You win elections by knocking on doors and talking to people.

I’m glad you’re running for school board because too often, we are not paying the kind of attention that we should to education at the local level. Knock on doors and you talk about your desire to have high quality education for all and maybe talking about moving toward affordable or free child care within school systems. You’re gonna find a lot of people nodding their heads whether they’re Republicans, Independents or Democrats.

Work hard, knock on every door in your district: You'll win the election.

 

All over the world the movement is towards energy efficiency and sustainable energy. Making sure that our homes and buildings are energy efficient can save an enormous amount of energy. When we invest in energy efficiency we create millions of jobs. Move towards improving our rail system, to the electrification of our vehicles. The moment is all with us.

 

We gotta think about the roles we play at every level of society.

• ask why more progressive voices are not being heard in the media
  
• run for the school board.
  
• run for the state legislature.
  
• bring people together at the local level and [confront] your state representative.
  
• Raise the stakes. Rethink your role in a democratic society
  
• When we stand together we are very very powerful. Never forget that.
  
• Your job in any and every way you can is to bring people together.
  
• Raise issues that other people are not talking about. Force discussion and create the kind of vibrant democracy that we need to see.
  

That's it.

 

You can go out and you can buy a new car at 2%, you can refinance your home at 3%. We’re gonna lower those student interest rates very substantially.

 

We don’t have an alternative.

The most important reason is from a moral perspective: We are fighting for the future of this planet and for our kids and grandchildren.

To do your best, you’ve gotta be involved in the political process.

There is an extraordinary level of beauty and decency all over this country.

We can do much much more in this country to create the kind of nation we should become.

Don’t believe everything you see on the tv.

There is a lot of beauty in this country. There is a lot of decency. The majority of the American people, they're hard working.

My reason for optimism is that having been all over this country:

• I see the decency in our people.
  

Our job is to bring our people together, not allow ourselves to be divided up. To think big, not small, to ask 'Why not?'
I am optimistic because we’re a beautiful country with beautiful people.

Thank you all very much.

-Bernie at CCI, July 15th