VermontTimes

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S a n d e r s : I ' m n o t P a r t 0 1 t h e C l u b
U.S. House to make fundamen-
tal changes in national priori-
ties. I am proud to be a co.
founder of the House Progres-
sive Caucus. That group and the
Black Caucus introduced an al-
ternative budget which, now
that the ColdWar isover, would
reduce military spending by 50
percent over the next four years.
In the process, we could create
millions of decent-payingjobs as
werebuild America. Members of
the club rejected our budget and
instead opted for maintaining
military spending at high levels.
Finally,let's take onthe issue
of campaign finance reform and
PACs. In several editorials, the
Vermont Times has criticized me
for accepting PAC money. Let's
set the record straight.
First, the Vermont Times got
it wrong when it said I promised
not to accept PAC funds in pre-
vious campaigns. In 1988, I
received $300 in PAC funds; in
1990, $70,000.
Second, I've stated my posi-
tion on PACs a dozen times
before: until there is complete
public financing of campaigns,
there is no reason why the rich
people of this country - the
bankers, the board presidents
and their wealthy friends -
should be able to dump
thousands of dollars into elec-
tion campaigns, while working
people and union members, en-
vironmental groups and women,
do not have a voice. I am proud
to accept PAC funds from such
groups. And if the Vermont
Times thinks that PAC money
fromagroup fighting {ornation-
al health care is the same as
money from a group fighting
against national health care, the
Vermont Times understands
very little about politics.
I'm extremely pleased to have
voted for campaign finance
reform legislation - which un-
fortunately President Bush is
., B ring your q uality men's and women's clothing likely to veto. The election
- watch-dog organization Com-
J
.
for consignment to: mon Cause has termed this
legislation "the- most important
~ T he P.O . Z one at: government reform anti-corrup-
. '. I t r 3 " \ < 'i Q tion legislation since the Water
vi ~ gate period" because itlimits the
" 28ChurchStreet- Burlington amount of money that can.
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L . . . -: : . . . . _ -= -= --= - -= -= -: : . . : : . . . . _ _ ......: L = : .... --Jpartial public financing of elec-
tions.
I intend to continue to work
for similar, even more progres-
sive legislation. That's my
record. I'll leaveit to Vermonters
to decide if I'm a "member of the
club."
ByBernie Sanders
I
want to thank the Vermont
Times for this opportunity to
respond to its editorial of
March 19('Welcome tothe Club,
B ernie").
The Vermont Times alleges
that I've joined the Congres-
sional Club. Really? That's a
piece of news that I'm sure
would come as a shock to Presi-
dent Bush and the leadership of
the Democratic and Republican
parties.
When I ran for Congress in
1990, and was elected as the first
Independent in 40 years, I
promised the people of Vermont
that I would fight for radical
changes in national priorities so
that government would work for
all Americans, not just the rich
and powerful. Let's look at the
record to see whether I joined
the "Club," instead of keeping
m y promises to Vermonters.
When I ran for officein 1990,
I stated that I would stand up to
the insurance companies. the
American Medical Association
and the pharmaceutical com-
panies to fight for asingle-payer
national health care system
which would guarantee health
care for all Americans. I am
proud to say that in June of
1991, I became the first con-
gressman in Vermont's history
tointroduce that kind oflegisla-
tion, a bill which has won nation-
al recognition from organiza-
tions fighting for national health
care.
When I ran for Congress, I
told Vermon ters that I would
support the boldest tax reform
possible: ask the rich, whose
taxes had been dramatically
lowered under Reagan, to start
paying their fair share of taxes
so that we could lower taxes on
working people and the middle
class. The amendment I offered
to the Democratic tax proposal
would have doubled the
proposed tax relief package -
up to$800 per working and mid-
dle-class family. It was the
strongest tax reform package in-
troduced in Congress.
When I ran for Congress, I
told Vermonters that I would
vigorously oppose dumping the
cost of the savings and loan
bailout onto working and mid-
dle-income Americans. As a
member of the Banking Com-
mittee, I am proud to have led
the opposition to the regressive
bailout supported by both the
Democratic and Republican
leadership.
A member of the club? Then
why was lone of only two (out of
52) members of the Banking
Committee to receive a 100per-
cent positive voting record from
the pro-consumer Financial
Democracy Campaign?
When I ran for Congress, I
told Vermon ters that I would
work with the best people in the
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Bernie Sanders is Yermont's
independent U.S. congressman.