The MeidasTouch Podcast - Whoa! Bernie Brings the House Down at Town Hall

Episode Date: April 10, 2025

MeidasTouch host Ben Meiselas reports on Senator Bernie Sanders speaking at a CNN town hall where Sanders was electrifying and didn’t mince words. Dose: Save 30% on your first month of subscription by going to https://dosedaily.co/MEIDAS or entering MEIDAS at checkout. Visit https://meidasplus.com for more! Remember to subscribe to ALL the MeidasTouch Network Podcasts: MeidasTouch: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/meidastouch-podcast Legal AF: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/legal-af MissTrial: https://meidasnews.com/tag/miss-trial The PoliticsGirl Podcast: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-politicsgirl-podcast The Influence Continuum: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-influence-continuum-with-dr-steven-hassan Mea Culpa with Michael Cohen: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/mea-culpa-with-michael-cohen The Weekend Show: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-weekend-show Burn the Boats: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/burn-the-boats Majority 54: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/majority-54 Political Beatdown: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/political-beatdown On Democracy with FP Wellman: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/on-democracy-with-fpwellman Uncovered: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/maga-uncovered Coalition of the Sane: https://meidasnews.com/tag/coalition-of-the-sane Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Bernie Sanders sat for a town hall with Anderson Cooper on CNN, but Bernie Sanders was not afraid to call out corporate news directly to Anderson Cooper's face. Senator Bernie Sanders was not afraid to call out the cowardly law firm submitting and making deals with Donald Trump, turning their back against the Constitution. Senator Bernie Sanders was not afraid to call out American universities for turning on their students. Senator Bernie Sanders was not afraid to call out the United States health care system and the United States government for not providing health care services as a guarantee to its citizens and to the people of this country.

Senator Bernie Sanders standing up for workers, showing it how it's done. Let's take a look at what he said here. Senator Bernie Sanders said, I sure hope that when other people come into power, when this Trump regime era is done, we remember who the cowards were, who the people who turned against the Constitution are. Here, play this clip. They ashamed of themselves. And when Trump is out of office and others gain power, I hope we do not forget the cowardice, not only of these law firms, but by the way, you've got major universities like Harvard and Columbia. These are some of the great universities in the world. And yet, out of fear of losing their grants, and I understand that, they got a lot of money there, they are willing to change their curriculum to bow down before Trump. You add all of that together,

the attack on law firms. You have Trump for the first time in history saying to a judge, oh, you ruled against me. I don't like the decision you rendered. We're going to impeach you. That's not America. What our Constitution is about is a separation of power, executive, judiciary, legislative, and independent judiciary.

You don't threaten and intimidate judges because they rule against you. That is a movement toward authoritarianism. And I would hope very much that not only Democrats and independents, but my Republican colleagues, we can disagree on all the issues, but for God's sake, let us not become an authoritarian country where one guy, one guy assumes all of the power. That is not what people fought and died to create in this country. If somebody gets next, Senator Bernie Sanders goes after the law firms who have bent the knee and submitted to Trump. Play this clip. The idea that the president of the United States would threaten and harass attorneys and law firms that defended people he did not like is a major step forward toward authoritarianism. And by the way, some of these big law firms, was it Paul Weiss is one of them?

One of the biggest. Caved in. We look to these law firms who have hundreds of well-paid lawyers to defend the Constitution, to defend the rule of law. And these guys, big law firms, who often, by the way, defended Democrats, they were more interested in getting millions of dollars from their lobbying or whatever the hell they do in Washington, D.C., making huge amounts of money than standing tall and defending the Constitution. They should be ashamed of themselves. Next, Senator Bernie Sanders looks at the crowd

and says, raise your hand if you think the American health care system is broken. Everybody raises their hand. And Anderson Cooper tries to say, okay, it looks like the majority. And Sanders is like, nope, everybody just raised their hand. Let's be clear. What I love about Senator Bernie Sanders here is that he's not just going along with the corporate news narrative. He's saying, here's what's going down. Here, play this clip. Raise your hand if you think the American healthcare system is broken. Raise your hand. Majority? Everyone? Not a majority. Everybody in the room. I can see behind that guy. And that is, all right, question again. How many nations, wealthy nations in the world, do not guarantee health care to all people as a human right?

Anybody know the answer? Which country? Now, you're not going to hear much about that on corporate television. You're not going to hear much about that in the United States Congress. We're the only major country on earth that doesn't guarantee health care to all people. Eighty-five million of us are uninsured or underinsured. Sixty thousand die each year because we can't get to a doctor on time. That's the bad news. You know what the good news is? The insurance companies are making tens of billions of dollars every year denying you coverage. The drug companies charge us the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs. So how does it happen that in the wealthiest country in the history of the world,

we're spending twice as much per capita as the people in other countries, and yet we have one of the worst outcomes, health care outcomes, of any country on earth. And it gets back to money in politics and the domination of big money, in this case, insurance companies, drug companies, over the Republican and Democratic. I want to try to get some more of our audience questions. Joel. I know you do. But I want to talk about.

I know. No, I want to, you know, sometimes these issues about health care, about income and wealth inequality are not talked about in the corporate media. And it's time that we did talk about them. That's why the question a moment ago, why are people losing faith in the American system? We don't talk about it on CNN. We don't talk about it in Congress. It's because they understand that a handful of billionaires exert enormous influence, and that has got to change. Senator Bernie Sanders talks about the broader implications that if Elon Musk can do this to the federal government, think about your jobs and what he's going to do to everybody as AI gets more advanced as well.

Play this clip. I think many people are saying, wow, that's outrageous. I really feel for these federal employees thrown out on the street. But I want you to think about this I think many people are saying, wow, that's outrageous. I really feel for these federal employees thrown out on the street. But I want you to think about this. If Musk can do this to federal employees, some of whom are in unions, some of whom will work for years, what do you think he's going to be doing

when artificial intelligence and robotics comes for your job? Guess what? The job you have today ain't going to be here in 10 or 15 years. And you think Musk and his friends are saying, oh, my goodness, how do we protect American workers from the explosion in technology that we're seeing? They don't give a damn about you.

If this is what they could do to federal employees, think about what they could do to people in the private sector. So bottom line there is I am not a Luddite. I think technology has many positive things to say. But we have got to understand that new technology, AI, robotics, has got to work for working people, not just for the billionaires and Mr. Musk. Senator Bernie Sanders next talks about the United States having the highest rate of childhood poverty of almost any major country.

And that apparently that this is something that corporate news doesn't want to talk about. I love how no matter what the questions Anderson Cooper was trying to frame in the framework of corporate news, Bernie Sanders brought it right back to the central issues that are truly impacting the American people. Here, play this clip. So when I'm running around the country with Alexandria and other people, what we are trying to do is demand that working class people begin to stand up and fight for their rights. There is no reason we should be the only major country not to have health care, not to have paid family and medical leave, et cetera, et cetera. Why? We have the highest rate of childhood poverty almost any major country. 22% of our seniors living on $15,000 a year. Anybody here think that makes sense? All right. It doesn't. But you got

to get CNN to talk about these issues. You got to get your members of Congress to talk about these issues. We're literally talking about it right now. Yeah, but I'm forcing you to talk about it, Anderson. This is Joe. We invited you. This is Joe Pritikin. Did you know that the liver is the second largest organ in your body? It's responsible for over 500 functions in your body.

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over the coming days. So keep checking back on our YouTube channel that I think what Trump's been doing is market manipulation as well, tanking the market and then signaling to his family and to his, my opinion, to his oligarch friends when to buy while they keep screwing the markets. Here, play this clip. You've talked about concerns about a kleptocracy in the United States. This morning, President Trump posted on social media that it was, quote, a great time to buy stocks. A few hours later, he announced a pause on tariffs, which sent the market skyrocketing. Your colleague, Senator Adam Schiff, says Congress should investigate whether Trump

and his inner circle engage in insider trading. I noticed that. And that's just one of another outrageous things. Imagine, do I have, I don't know for a fact, but would I be surprised if there were people who hours before knew exactly what Trump was going to do in rescinding his tariff proposals, understanding that the stock market would soar and you make huge amounts of money?

Would I be shocked if we learned about that in the days to come? No, I would not. Does that announcement that he gave cover to anybody who did buy stocks? Well, what it does do, look, if you know two hours earlier that the stock market's going to go, what are you going to do? You're going to buy a hell of a lot of stock. You're going to invest in the stock market. But it's not only that. I mean, you've got a president of the United States who is now working to give government cover to crypto and who now, whose family is involved in crypto, makes money by selling coins, crypto coins.

Anybody can contribute, which is a direct line to the president. So, you know, I have serious problems about all that. This is next. Senator Bernie Sanders says, look, if you use tariffs the right way, there are ways that tariffs could potentially work. However, if you're applying some cockamamie formula and playing tariffs against the world and your allies and rolling it out in such a disorganized fashion, it's a mess. It's dangerous and it's economy crashing. Here, play this clip. Answer Nate's question. Look, what I think is tariffs used selectively are a good idea if they're going to protect

American jobs. But to arbitrarily, out of nowhere, come up with a tariff that they can't even justify or explain to virtually every country on earth is absolutely counterproductive. Those tariffs are aimed at part, and the president talks about bringing manufacturing jobs to America. The White House talked about iPhones being made here in America. Some economists have said that it would cost thousands of extra dollars to buy an iPhone. Is that realistic? I don't know the answer to that. But what I do know is the immediate harm is going to be very significant. And it is going to... I was just in Target the other day buying something. And I looked around there. virtually all of those products sold in stores like Target are going to see significant increases in prices if Trump

gets his way with tariffs. That's going to hurt working people a whole lot. And then let me show you how this all kind of started off here, where Anderson Cooper wanted to direct the conversation in one area. And then Senator Bernie Sanders is like, okay, Anderson, relax. Let me make the point that I want to make here, play this clip. We've got a lot of questions on tariffs, and I'm going to get to one from the audience in just a moment. But I do want to start off, President Trump just put a 90-day pause on a new round of sweeping tariffs. He's keeping- Okay, before we get to that, because I know tariffs are in everybody's mind, I think we all want this to be a serious discussion about some of the most important issues facing America. And as you indicated, I've been running all over the country.

And what I hope we can do tonight is do something pretty radical, and that is tell the truth. It's a radical idea here in Washington DC and that is to really take a look together all of us together No matter what your political point of view may be about what is in fact going on in this country today And as you indicated I have been running all over the country And I got to tell you that there is a lot of anxiety out there. There's a lot of fear people in the richest country in The history of the world are wondering why 60% of our people are living paycheck to paycheck. All of you guys know what paycheck to paycheck is?

All right. You know, I grew up in a family that was living paycheck to paycheck. And one of the manifestations of living paycheck to paycheck is working class people in America now live six years shorter lives than the rich. Anyone have an idea why that is? Poverty and what else? Stress. When you are living paycheck to paycheck and you're wondering whether you can pay the rent, whether you can provide, get your kid to a doctor when you need to, that eats away at your mind, and it eats away at your body, and you die younger.

And what I have seen, Anderson, all over this country is people living under incredible stress, wondering why in the richest country in the world they can't afford health care, they can't afford child care, why the cost of housing is soaring. And in the midst of all of that, while 60 percent of our people are living paycheck to paycheck, why is it that three people on top now own more wealth than the bottom half of American society? And you've got some zillionaire named Mr. Musk going all over Washington, D. dc dismantling social security and

the veterans administration so those are some of the issues we've got a lot of questions we've got a lot of questions you know what as as a bonus let me just share with you a short portion of when i did the interview with senator bernie sanders what he had to say this is what he said to me play this clip um and here is the reality which is not talked about very much the reality is that in america today our life expectancy is about four years less than other wealthy countries but even worse is the fact that if you're working class in America, on average, you live seven to eight years shorter life than people who are wealthy. Now, why is that? And the answer is not just healthcare, which is important. Working class people, low income people do not have access

to the kind of healthcare that the rich do. But it is the stress, the day-to-day stress that working class people live under. And I grew up in a working class home. I know a little bit about what it's like to have a family living paycheck to paycheck. And what I did, that was in Altoona, Wisconsin. I said, okay, all right, tell me what it's like to live under economic stress. And people just stood up and one woman says, you know, it's a question of whether I buy shoes for myself or my kids, whether I can afford eyeglasses, whether I can afford to go to the doctor,

whether, you know, I'm going to have the money to prepare a decent meal for my kids, that I live every day not knowing what to expect. How do I survive? And what that is about, that is the reality that tens of millions of our people are living under. We don't talk about it. And what I have learned over the years, that some of the most important issues are the issues that get least discussion. And one of those issues is not just the working class people who have six years shorter lives, seven years shorter lives than the rich. That's important. Why is that? But what's equally important is 60% of the American people in the richest country on

earth live paycheck to paycheck. That means they go to work and if their landlord raises the rent, they don't know how they're going to be able to pay for it. Kid gets sick, don't know how to afford to send the kid to the doctor. Car breaks down, don't know how to get it fixed, etc., etc. That is the reality facing tens of millions of Americans in the wealthiest country on earth. And that is the issue that we got to focus on. And that is why we got to transform our economy so that it works for everybody, not just billionaires. There you have it, folks.

Great town hall by Senator Bernie Sanders. Hit subscribe. Let's get to 5 million subscribers. Oh, check out MidasPlus.com as well. M-E-I-D-A-S-P-L-U-S.com. Go check it out. It's where our editor-in-chief, Ron-P-L-U-S dot com. Go check it out. It's where our editor in chief, Ron Filipkowski, writes these great daily summaries. Tell me what you think. Midas plus dot com.

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