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Bernie Sanders response was perfect
Bernie Sanders stood his ground. In one of the better exchanges in the Democratic Debate, Bernie Sanders points out Hillary Clinton’s failure to think big enough.
Here is the text/transcript of the clip.
Bernie Sanders: Now the question, though, you know, I have been criticized a lot for thinking big. You know, that’s for believing that we can do great things as a nation. One of the things we should not be doing obviously is punishing people for doing what we want them to do and that is to get an education. But here is the point. My program, making public colleges and universities tuition-free, allowing people with debt to refinance at the lowest possible interest rates is a fairly expensive proposal, about $70 billion a year. You know how I’m going to pay for it? I’m going to pay for it by imposing a tax on Wall Street speculation. We bailed out — Secretary Clinton was one of those who voted to bail out Wall Street. Now I think it’s time for Wall Street to help the working families of this country.
Hillary Clinton: Well, I’m going to respond to that, because I think it’s a very important issue. And by the way, everybody, who, quote, “got money” in the quote, “bailout”, that also included money for the auto rescue has paid it back. So, the Treasury was out nothing. Now that will no longer happen because we have Dodd-Frank and we will break up banks that pose a systemic threat to our economy. But let me say this. Senator Sanders has talked about free college for everybody. He’s talked about universal, single payer health care for everybody. And yet, when you ask questions, as many of us have and more importantly, independent experts, it’s very hard to get answers. And a lot of the answers say that this is going to be much more expensive than anything Senator Sanders is admitting to. This is going to increase the federal government dramatically. And, you know, my dad used to say, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Bernie Sanders: All right. Let me respond to this.
Hillary Clinton: And we deserve answers about how these programs will actually work and how they would be paid for. SANDERS: I want you all to think. What Secretary Clinton is saying is that the United States should continue to be the only major country on earth that doesn’t guarantee health care to all of our people.
Bernie Sanders: I think if the rest of the world can do it, we can. And by the way, not only are we being ripped off by the drug companies, we are spending far, far more per capita on health care than any other major country on earth. You may not think the American people are prepared to stand up to the insurance companies or the drug companies. I think they are.
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