On the Bernie Fighting Oligarchy tour stops that I've watched his speech is pretty much the same until the last 10 minutes or so, which he changes for each stop. Today's closing argument in Montana moved me. Right now I'm calling it the best so far. Here it is:

"You know, back in 1944, Franklin Delanor Roosevelt, one of the great presidents in American history. He gave a State of the Union speech which didn't get a lot of attention because it was in the middle of World War II. But what he said, he said in so many words, he said, you know in America we have this Constitution. It's great. Freedom of speech, you have the right to vote. Freedom of religion, freedom of assembly. But he said you know what we don't fully appreciate? We don't appreciate that economic rights are human rights.

"See what the system does, we are taking on a system of enormous power. And one of the things they are trying to do is to say you have no rights. Say hey, we'll let you vote every four years to somebody that we paid for. That's fine, no problem. Hey, we bought this guy. You could vote for him - you ain't going to win anyhow. It doesn't matter if you do win. But this is what we will not give you. We will not allow you as an American system – American citizen – the right, the right to have health care, the right to have decent housing, the right to have a job that pays you a living wage. That we're not going to give you.

"So brothers and sisters our job is to really take that on in as bold a way as we can. And to stand up and say, you know what we are? Human beings. We want the right to vote, very important. Freedom of speech, very important. But you know what? In the richest country in the history of the world, where technology is going to make us richer, we want an economy that works for every single man woman and child – not just Musk and his billionaire friends.

"So what does it mean? It means that no, we are not going to cut social security. We are going to expand social security. It means that at a time when millions of workers are earning starvation wages we're going to raise the minimum wage to a living wage. No worker who works 40 hours a week should live in poverty. It means that no, we're not going to give Musk and his billionaire friends a tax break. We're going to demand they start paying their fair share of taxes.

"Does anybody here think that the American health care system is working? Well, we are spending almost twice as much per capita on health care - over $14,000 a year - double what other countries are spending. And yet we are the only major country on earth not to guarantee healthcare to all people as a human right. 85 million of us are uninsured or underinsured.

"Anybody here have a high deductible? 60,000 people a year die because they don't get to a doctor on time. Brothers and sisters it is not a radical idea to understand that health care is a human right. We must pass a Medicare For All, single payer program.

"In Vermont and all over this country we have a housing crisis. And it is not just 800,000 who are homeless. It is 20 million people who are spending half of their limited income on housing. Maybe, maybe, just maybe instead of spending a trillion dollars on the military industrial complex we build 5 million units of low income and affordable housing.

"We live in a global economy. And we need the best educated workforce on Earth. Young people who want to get a higher education - either in college or in trade school - should not have to go tens of thousands of dollars into debt. Education not only makes it, not only makes important sense for our economy. Education growing intellectually is something that every human being is entitled to. We must make public colleges and universities tuition free and cancel all student debt.

"Now, Donald Trump thinks that climate change is a hoax. He is dangerously, dangerously wrong. And our job is to lead the world in transforming our energy system away from fossil fuel - into energy efficiency, and sustainable energy, and create millions of jobs as we do that.

"You know, a lot of my Republican friends they talk about freedom, and freedom, and freedom. Well, if this is going to be a really free country every woman in America has the right to control her own body!

"Let me read something to you which was a statement made in 1857 – few years ago by the great abolitionist Frederick Douglass. You all remember Frederick Douglass? I want you to hear what he said. This is in the years preceding the Civil War when the great struggle of the time was whether or not this country would end the nightmare of slavery. Listen closely what Douglas said back then and see its relevance for today.

"So what he said, and I quote "Power concedes nothing without a demand." Got that? In other words nobody on top is ever going to give you something unless you demand it. Then he continued "It never did and it never will. Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be
imposed upon them. And these will continue till they are resisted with either words, or blows, or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress."

"Brothers and sisters we are tired of being oppressed! We believe in democracy - not authoritarianism! We believe in an economy that works for all, not just for Musk and his fellow billionaires.

"Brothers and sisters let's stand together. Let's go forward. Let us win this struggle.

"Thank you
"Thank you"

Bernie called for the new New Deal. Pretty much the Town Hall Citizen agenda, here:

FAQ

So you’re forming a new political party? No. Because of how our political system works a third or fourth party is never going to be viable. Instead, the goal is to form a citizens group that drives Democrats to work for us - otherwise they won’t win elections. We

Town Hall CitizenPaul Kulas

1. A good paying job, good education, good and affordable housing
2. Clean and healthy environment - clean air, food, and water
3. Medicare For All
4. The Open Web
5. Free speech
6. Publicly funded elections
7. Freedom from unfair competition and monopolies
8. Economic protection during sickness, accident, old age, or unemployment
9. Department of Peace
10. Legalize Marijuana

Then he brought up a favorite quote from the great Frederick Douglass:
“Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them, and these will continue till they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.”

The Democrats aren't going to change unless we the people demand them to. We the people need to organize and form a citizens group so powerful that Democrats work for us, instead of their donor class.

tty next time,