Our Revolution: on Welfare & Poverty


Bernie Sanders: Burlington Community Land Trust for affordable housing

We developed some of the most innovative affordable housing concepts in the country. Against opposition from some members of the local real estate industry, we became the first city in America to fund community land trust housing. Through the Burlington Community Land Trust, working-class people were able to purchase their own homes at a lower cost than was available on the commercial market. The housing remains affordable in perpetuity because the owners must agree not to resell the property at market rates, accepting only a reasonable and limited return on their investment.

This community land trust concept has not only spread all across our country, but it has been adopted in other nations as well. The United Nations acknowledged the Burlington Community Land Trust as one of the most creative approaches to affordable housing in the world.

Source: Our Revolution, by Bernie Sanders, p. 37 Nov 15, 2016

Bernie Sanders: Grotesque inequality is unsustainable and immoral

There is something profoundly wrong when the top one-tenth of 1 percent owns almost as much wealth as the bottom 90 percent, and when 99 percent of all new income goes to the top 1 percent. There is something profoundly wrong when, in recent years, we have seen a proliferation of millionaires and billionaires at the same time as millions of Americans work longer hours for lower wages and we have the highest rate of childhood poverty of any major country on earth. There is something profoundly wrong when one family owns more wealth than the bottom 130 million Americans. This grotesque level of inequality is immoral. It is bad economics. It is unsustainable. This type of rigged economy is not what America is supposed to be about.
Source: Our Revolution, by Bernie Sanders, p.120 Nov 15, 2016

Bernie Sanders: Senior poverty AND childhood poverty are increasing

At a time when millions of Americans are struggling to keep their heads above water economically, when senior poverty is increasing, when millions of kids are living in dire poverty, my Republican colleagues, as part of their recently passed budget, are trying to make a terrible situation even worse. The Republican budget throws 27 million Americans off health insurance, makes drastic cuts in Medicare, throws millions of low-income Americans--including pregnant women--off of nutrition programs.

Well, let me tell my Republican colleagues that I respectfully disagree with their approach. Instead of cutting Social Security, we're going to expand benefits. Instead of cutting Head Start and child care, we are going to move to a universal Pre-K system for all the children of this country. As FDR reminded us, a nation's greatness is judged not by what it provides to the most well-off, but how it treats the people most in need. And that's the kind of nation we must become.

Source: Our Revolution, by Bernie Sanders, p.125-6 Nov 15, 2016

  • The above quotations are from Our Revolution
    A Future to Believe In
    by Bernie Sanders    .
  • Click here for definitions & background information on Welfare & Poverty.
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  • Click here for more quotes by Bernie Sanders on Welfare & Poverty.
2020 Presidential contenders on Welfare & Poverty:
  Republicans:
Gov.John Kasich(OH)
V.P.Mike Pence(IN)
Pres.Donald Trump(NY)
Gov.Bill Weld(MA) 		Democrats:
Sen.Michael Bennet (D-CO)
V.P.Joe Biden (D-DE)
Gov.Steve Bullock (D-MT)
Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D-IN)
Sen.Cory Booker (D-NJ)
Secy.Julian Castro (D-TX)
Mayor Bill de Blasio (D-NYC)
Rep.John Delaney (D-MD)
Rep.Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI)
Sen.Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)
Sen.Mike Gravel (D-AK)
Sen.Kamala Harris (D-CA)
Gov.John Hickenlooper (D-CO)
Gov.Larry Hogan (D-MD)
Gov.Jay Inslee (D-WA)
Sen.Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)
Rep.Seth Moulton (D-MA)
Rep.Beto O`Rourke (D-TX)
Rep.Tim Ryan (D-CA)
Sen.Bernie Sanders (I-VT)
Rep.Eric Swalwell (D-CA)
Sen.Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)
Marianne Williamson (D-CA)
CEO Andrew Yang (D-NY)

2020 Third Party Candidates:
Gov.Gary Johnson(L-NM)
Gov.John Kasich (R-OH)
V.P.Mike Pence (R-IN)
Howard Schultz(I-WA)
Pres.Donald Trump (R-NY)
V.C.Arvin Vohra (L-MD)
Gov.Bill Weld (L-MA)
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Page last updated: May 04, 2019