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<\/p>\nBETHLEHEM, Pa. \u2014 More than 5,000 people gathered at Lehigh University\u2019s Stabler Athletic & Convocation Center this afternoon as U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders brought his national \u201cFighting Oligarchy\u201d tour to the Lehigh Valley, delivering a rage-fueled critique of economic inequality and the Trump administration.<\/p>\n
The 83-year-old Vermont senator, flanked by U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio, local labor leaders, and Lehigh Valley working-class residents, focused his message on expanding social programs and challenging what he called a \u201cgovernment of the billionaire class, by the billionaire class, and for the billionaire class.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Sanders specifically criticized the administration\u2019s nominations of the nation\u2019s wealthiest individuals to head federal departments, among Trump\u2019s other efforts to elevate the top 1% within his first 100 days.
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Sanders directed pointed remarks at District 7 Congressman Ryan Mackenzie regarding pending legislation: \u201cIn your district and all across the country, millions are struggling to put food on the table,\u201d Sanders said, referencing a reconciliation bill that would cut over $800 billion from Medicaid, nutrition programs, and housing. \u201cDon\u2019t vote for that terrible piece of legislature.\u201d<\/p>\n
Third-generation retired steelworker and navy veteran Tom Seegers praised Sanders\u2019 Social Security Expansion Act, which would require all income brackets to contribute to the Social Security system.<\/p>\n
This would eliminate the current cap on taxable earnings and ensure the wealthy contribute their fair share to expand benefits for all recipients.<\/p>\n
Healthcare reform remained a central theme of his address. \u201cThe U.S. is the only major country today to not guarantee healthcare to all people as a human right,\u201d Sanders said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe function of healthcare is not to make money for pharmaceutical and insurance companies.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rep. Deluzio emphasized unity in his remarks: \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter how you pray, the color of your skin, or who you love \u2014 we are all in this together. The oligarchs, they want to divide us. We stand together and we fight for the common good.\u201d<\/p>\n
The rally featured several local speakers, including Enid Santiago, who said, \u201cWe must demand a government that puts people over profit. We cannot be led by billionaires. We gotta stick together, or we\u2019re never going to get through the next three and a half years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tim Hertzog of Local 677, representing workers at Mack Trucks, delivered one of the day\u2019s most powerful messages: \u201cAs long as we stand together, we have the power. We\u2019re not asking for handouts, we\u2019re demanding justice.\u201d<\/p>\n
He challenged Ryan Mackenzie and like-minded politicians with a direct question: \u201cAre you with the people that built this country? Or the ones that bleed it dry?\u201d
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\u201cWe must defeat Trumpism, but that is not enough,\u201d Sanders continued. \u201cWe are the richest country; there is no reason anyone shouldn\u2019t have a decent standard of living. We need a political revolution in the deepest sense. We are here to transform America, and the only way we do it is to transform ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sanders received some of his loudest cheers when discussing education: \u201cYoung people shouldn\u2019t have to go into a lifetime of debt in order to get the education they need, and the education our country needs from them.\u201d<\/p>\n
The senator concluded with a call to action: \u201cIf we stand together around an agenda that speaks for working people, there is nothing that can stop us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Catherine Wilbur, a Lehigh University student who attended today\u2019s rally, expressed her support after the rally: \u201cBernie Sanders is doing what he needs to speak for the rest of America that Donald Trump is not supporting and not fighting for.\u201d<\/p>\n
The rally began at 1 p.m., with doors opening at 10:30 a.m., and was free to registered attendees.<\/p>\n
During his presidential campaign, Sanders last visited the Lehigh Valley in April 2019 for a Fox News town hall at ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks in Bethlehem.<\/p>\n
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