The Young Turks - Part 1: Bernie’s Birthday Bash

Episode Date: October 7, 2020

Part 1: TYT's Bernie Sanders Birthday Bash where we celebrate the progressive movement and take a look at Bernie in the early years, his time in Congress, and his legacy. Hosted by Cenk Uygur, Emma Vigeland, and Ben Dixon. Guests will include Nina Turner and Brianna Wu.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You're listening to The Young Turks, the online news show. Make sure to follow and rate our show with not one, not two, not three, not four, but five stars. You're awesome. Thank you. Jay Huger, Emma Biglin with you. Emma, how are you doing? I'm good. I'm good. He's 79 years old, which I've been told is 148 by the mainstream media, and that Biden is 52. So happy birthday, Bernie, happy 148. Okay. So I'm going to get to that in a second. So we're going to break this up in this segments. Later, Ben Dixon is going to join us. Nina Turner's going to join us. Brianna Wu's going to join us. And a special guest, one I think,

everyone will be surprised by. So, and I, first of all, you guys make this show possible. I'm going to explain to you the different segments in a second. But first, I'm going to read names of people who've donated at t.com slash go in order to make the Young Turks function. And guys, with you, we give a louder voice and we're the mothership of the progressive movement. And you guys make that possible. And that's why we do things like this. So you give you some context, not just about Bernie, but about the movement overall. And by the way, if you can like and share this stream, it takes about one second, it makes

a big, big difference. So the folks who helped out recently is at Teeds M in Garden City, Michigan gave 27 bucks. And David R in Elkridge, Maryland, 50 bucks. Nancy T in Beaverton, Oregon, $127 twice to get two T-shirts, good thinking, I guess. We press on T-shirt with a mic on it, so you get it $127 as a gift for your wonderful, generous donation. We appreciate it, Nancy, and Albert P. in Morton Grove, Illinois, at $27. In fact, before we do anything else, just real quick, let's look at the thermometer if you guys have that. So we showed her a little while ago, it was around 33,000, I think it's still up right around there.

And that is definitely not it, but t.y.com slash go. Well, that's what we have. Oh, I see. Okay, well, that's true. It is at t.y.com slash go. But I think right now the thermometers at 33,500. It'd be amazing to get it to 40,000 today, guys, and it make a big difference to us in our ability to get that progressive message out. All right. And get you guys change like Bernie's been trying to do. So the different segments are Bernie's early years, Bernie's congressional years, and then 2016, 2020, and then the future. But I want to talk to you about the early years, and of course I want to ask you before you leave also about what you think about the future.

So first fun facts, I knew this only earlier in this cycle. I did not know it in the first cycle. And I went over it again in studying out for this. And it's just a fun fact that I'm always slightly amazed by. So Bernie didn't win any elected office until he was 39 years old. He became the mayor of Burlington at 39, and he won by 10 votes. He'd already run for office four times and lost. He'd never gotten above 6%.

I know the feeling. To be fair, I got all the way up to 6.5. So, and then he wound up winning by 10 votes. If he loses by 10 votes there, maybe we never get Bernie Sanders. And then I don't know if there's an equal line of the progressive movement as Bernie. But luckily he does, and he wins the reelection several times. So we got a video from back then in a second, we'll show you guys. And then he wins his first congressional election at around the age of 49.

Am I the only one amazed by that or does that kind of give you a hope that it's never too late? Well, definitely. And also I loved the tidbit that when he actually did finally win elected office and he beat the incumbent mayor of Burlington, he initially won by 14 votes and then they recounted it and then he won by 10, which is gotta be so nerve pinching and terrifying if you're running in that close of a race. But he made Burlington, I think, I was up there for Super Tuesday, it's really just a beautiful place. It's like a utopia. It's just such a nice little ski town and such a wonderful community. And I know that he gained national recognition for the town being incredibly successful up there in Vermont. So it goes to show

that it's never too late to follow your dreams. Forty nine, that is a significant age to make that step and then he was in Congress until 2007. And then of course, or he was in the house until in 2000, until 2007, then he became a senator. So he was talked about all the time about being old. He has messy white hair, oh my God, but he's young in his political career in many ways. He didn't get into politics, he didn't go intern on the hill when he was in college. He didn't write for the Harvard Law Review. He didn't have the typical politician path. And I think that speaks to his philosophy in the way that he has been a strong progressive

for so many years. Yeah, so I was thinking, you know, 49 is pretty advanced age to run for Congress and win. Then I realized I ran for Congress when I was 49. Oops. Don't say anything, Emma. Don't say anything. I'm not.

I would not dream of saying anything snarky about you losing Congress since you're my boss, so. Or how old I am. So, okay, one of the takeaways I got from, and we're going to go earlier in his life too, to a civil rights record. But one of the takeaways I got from his tenure at Burlington was. So of course, back then, by the way, he really was much more of a socialist, keeping it real.

And people freaked out, of course, there was the local version of Chris Matthews saying we're all going to be executed by the lake and stuff like that. And no one actually said those words, just to be clear. But they were like, oh my God, he's going to shut down all the business and center. No, actually Burlington boomed under Bernie Sanders. So they were going to build these condos by the water, and he's like, no, we're not going do that, instead we're going to create a beautiful park by the water. And they did. And everybody loved it. And it turns out that that was actually better for business. They're just giving a

giveaway to these particular real estate people who are very connected until Bernie Sanders won. So his, the reason, he only won by 10 was the first time. But by the time he was done being mayor, he was incredibly popular. And the media never liked them. They didn't like him back then. And one of the first things he talked about, he did his own public access show because he was trying to find a way around the media because the media was so conservative. But despite them bashing him for all those years, he just got more and more and more popular because people could see with their own eyes. You said he was going to ruin business, but business is better. You said he was going to ruin everything. And there's this gorgeous park and this

looks nicer. And it's almost like he cares about us. And that makes a difference. So, What was also interesting to me about was that he was a better executive, arguably, than he was as a person in Congress. You see what I'm saying? Yeah, well, he was able to kind of direct and I would probably imagine didn't run into as many ridiculously corrupt people in local politics in Burlington than he did in Congress. And you know what the media would say though, Jank, is, oh, they were also happy in Burlington because they're all white people. And those are the only people that like Bernie Sanders,

just those whites, it's the only people he cares about. It's so silly. I mean, obviously, when it comes to governance, a lot of it has to do with the politics of class. And Bernie Sanders, as Mayor of Burlington, he was intensely interested in that. And it didn't really matter what the demographics were because, as we all know, Bernie was also interested in combating racism and was attention the March on Washington was arrested in 1963 at the University of Chicago. And you also hear him talk, too. He wasn't fully political until later in his life. And then he just talks about it as if it's instinctive. And I think that's also just a really interesting wrinkle too, because he left Brooklyn. He was more educated, I guess, in politics. And he just was radicalized in the great

sense. And so he wasn't, again, growing up in this political dynasty family, he's not a Kennedy, it wasn't imbued in his DNA. He didn't go to have all the financial advantages that a lot of these legacy politicians do. He didn't take the traditional route. He didn't join skull and bones at Yale and get locked in a coffin or whatever they do. And then all of them kill brown people overseas. No, he did a different thing. And it's, I keep coming back to that. The difference in his path is reflective in the difference of his leadership. Yeah, so political did this hilarious 55 facts about Bernie Sanders in between him winning the Nevada primary this time around and him losing South Carolina. So this is the moment in time when the press was full blown attacking Bernie Sanders 100 miles per hour every single day.

And so I read it, it was hilarious, like 35 of the 55 facts reference like communism, socialism. I'm exaggerating, but not by much. If you read it, it's amazing. But he also has three houses. They had one fact for every house, and then another for his jacket. It's, I'll give you one example a little later that's just absolutely hilarious. But they did have something in there that I didn't know.

had a full list of his occupations. And in this I knew before, a lot of them I knew before, but not all of them. So he's apparently an aide at a psychiatric hospital in the 60s when he went back to New York City after graduating college. And then he was teaching preschoolers for Head Start. So that's pretty neat. And then in Vermont, he was researching property taxation for the Vermont Department of Taxes and registering people for food stamps for a nonprofit called Bread and Law Task Force. I'm like, okay, now that's beginning to make sense. He was for a while, he was a carpenter. So yes, if he had won our boss would have been a Jewish carpenter. Are they evangelicals? They should like that. They should like that. Or is he an

imposter on the sky god? I don't really know. Or the son of the sky god, sorry. So look, if they believed in, if they read the Bible and believed any of it, would they support Bernie or Trump, of course, of course they would. Look at the resume, I just read you. He helped the poor and the needy, whereas Trump only helped the billionaires. This is not a question, right? And so his first apartment in Vermont, or first house that he bought in Vermont, was really dirt cheap. I'm gonna try to find the price for you guys at the time. But that's because that was literal, it had a dirt floor and no running water or electricity. So when Bernie Sanders, he says he came from a humble background. No, he ain't joking. He had any money. When he won

the mayor's office, he made a little over $33,000, $33,824. And he's like, I couldn't believe how much money that was. He's like, I was making money for the first, like real money for the first time in my life. To him, $33,000 was like a small fortune. So, I I mean, and I've talked to people who've later became wealthy, but grew up poor. The guy I keep, it always pops into my mind is Joe Sandberg, founder of aspiration. And we all agree, like there's a little bit of PTSD you get from being poor. And in fact, my wife and I were talking about it over the weekend. And I think Bernie had that in a great way.

And that's part of what informed his politics. Well, they've done, you know, sociological and psychological studies on the effects on your brain of poverty. It is traumatic, it is long lasting. And the story you told there about the dirt floor reminded me of Cory Bush's story and the fact that she was successful her second time around in running for Congress and she's likely going to win, very, very likely going to win in November in the safe blue district. And she lived in her car and she was homeless for a while. And she was inspired to be a part of the Black Lives Matter protests and be an activist. So kind of a similar trajectory for her. And what's so beautiful about it and the full circle nature

of it is these are the kinds of candidates that Bernie Sanders is inspiring, working class candidates who have an experience that's very different from most people in Congress who, a lot of whom have grown up with a silver spoon in their mouth and are aggressively uninterested in understanding how that might have affected their worldview, which is the more important part of that. But it is really important that Cory Bush, other people like her, I mean, not even other people like her. She's going to be such an anomaly with her experience in a great way. And bringing that perspective to Congress is huge. And Bernie brought his own perspective, and now he's ushering in candidates.

who have the perspective of being poor in that way. Yeah, 100%. So I found how much his house, how much he bought the house for? $2,500. What? It was in Middlesex, Vermont. Okay, but I don't, I mean, I guess he paid for the plywood of the house or something, because again, it had no floor, it had no electricity or running water.

So I'm going to show you a video from back then in a second. I also found the hilarious tidbit that political put in to get Bernie Sanders. I'm going to read that to you guys, but first I'm going to read your names. New folks who are donors at t.y.com slash go, who give strength of the progressive movement. Jessica G and Hayward, California, 50 bucks, Anna Jane, Bradenton, Florida, 15 bucks, Liam W and Parkton, Florida, 27 bucks, Steven S and Richland Center, Wisconsin, 15 bucks, and Oliver W. Oh, sorry, Oliver V in Kern, which I assume is Germany, but I'm not sure, $8. So, and our thermometer is up to $34,025. Again, if we can get that the $40,000, it makes a giant

difference, guys. You make the progressive voice louder. I'm gonna keep pounding this in because I'm stunned by it. Dennis Prager's, Prager, you gets $23 million a year from right wing billionaires. We're just trying to raise less than 10% of that, but at least that way we're beholden to you guys and not the billionaires. TYT.com slash go. All right, let's take a look at Bernie's interview with C-SPAN back in the 1980s when he was mayor of Burlington. Why did you get involved in politics in the first place? Good question. I don't exactly know that I could give it the answer.

I think it's kind of instinctual. You wake up in the morning, and even when you're a kid, and you look around and you see things that bother you, see things that are stupid, that don't make sense, and you say, I want to do something about that. You know, I don't want to be a zombie and sleep through my life. I want to have an impact upon the world in which I live. You're mayor of Burlington, Vermont.

From your perspective in that job, what kind of a person would you like to see as President of the United States? Well, I would like to see somebody who has the guts to begin to stand up to the people who own this country to recognize that in our nation today we have an extreme disparity between the rich and the poor that elections are bought and sold and controlled by people who have huge sums of money. So my first concern is to have a president who has the courage to look reality in the face and say that we need some radical changes in this country so that every American can have

the opportunity to have a decent standard of living and live a decent life. Yeah, so he hasn't changed an inch. And the fundamental misunderstanding that Washington has about Bernie Sanders is that they think he found a way to appeal to young progressives. And they thought, that's a pretty good racket that he's got going there. But in reality, it's never been a racket. Same exact thing for decade after decade after decade. And it wasn't that he found progressives. It was that young progressives found him scouring all politics. You're not going to find too many people who actually are honest.

I mean, you can count them on one hand probably. Now because of Joe Stenberg has maybe two hands. And a guy that's been that progressive for that long, it just didn't exist. And so that's why he had the success that he had. Before I give you the political fact, I'm gonna read a couple more names. Maria M in Antwerp, Ohio, 50 bucks, Deb C in Prescott, Arizona, $127, Jared H in West Sacramento, California, 15 bucks, Erin G in Louisville, Kentucky, 15 bucks, and Simo, is that Simo or Himo, in New Orleans, Louisiana, three bucks, thank you guys, you make this show possible.

All right, Emma, you're gonna love this. So 55 facts about Bernie Sanders, Politico has, and the heat of the primaries in 2020. And in fact number 31, fact number 31, they say he, and they have air quotes around it. He honeymooned in the USSR in 1988. I don't know if they put honeymoon in quotes, because it wasn't actually his honeymoon, and they just want to call it his honeymoon. But anyway, they say he honeymooted the USSR in the Soviet Union, basically in 88. While on the 10-day trip, an official visit to help establish Burlington's sister city relationship

with the Yaroslav, he praised the lower cost of healthcare and housing in the Soviet Union and rebuked the US for its intervention in foreign countries. And video of one stop in Yaroslav shows him bare chested in a sauna drinking vodka with his entourage and Soviet officials while listening to Russian folks. songs and singing this land is your land. It sounds like Putin, it's hilarious. That sounds like an awesome time drinking vodka and a sauna and singing songs. I wanna be in on that party.

When you go to Russia or Soviet Union or any other country, you find one or two nice things to say about your host country, that's your sister city of Burlington, Vermont. And then you say, hey, you know what, if I don't like imperialism, that's a good moment to point out I don't like imperialism. By the way, when the Soviets do it or when America does it, et cetera. And when in Russia, I'm pretty sure you drink vodka. But they made it sound like he's like, oh yeah, finally, my Soviet comrades. And the part they didn't clarify there is Bernie actually had an album because why not?

He did everything. And one of the things that he sang in the album was. This land is your land. That's the reference to America, not the Soviet Union. But it was probably some secret message being sent to Vladimir Putin that far back about how he was going to help Hillary get weakened for Donald Trump. And here we are, it all comes back to the Russian sauna and the vodka and, you know, all of the Russian agents that were there, the KGB. The KGB's all over that, chink. Obviously.

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For a limited time, get 15% off your entire first order at happy mammoth.com with code next chapter at checkout. Visit happy mammoth.com today and get your old self back naturally. It was more updates for you guys in the next segment. We're going to take a quick break. But more importantly, in the next segment, his congressional record, you're going to get to hear some great speeches from the 1990s. And then I do want to go back and touch upon his early work in the civil rights movement. All right. We'll be right back. All right, back on a young church, Bernie birthday bash, special Janky or Emma Biglin with you guys.

So we've got a lot of clips for you guys from Bernie's congressional days. And he winds up winning his congressional seat around the age of 49 in 1990. We've got that coming up for you guys. But first, let me read more of your names because we cannot do these specials without you guys. TYT.com slash go is the way to participate. So Sarah P in Pasadena, Maryland, $27. Hasam A in Woodland Hills, California, $250.

Thank you, Natalie K, $27 from Iowa, Thomas D from Portland, Oregon, $127, and Todd H from Coral Springs, Florida, $15. Love every single one of you. Thermometers up to 34,549. Can we get to 35,000 by the end of this segment? That would be great. A shop, by the way, is doing a special as well. So in honor of Bernie, if you spend $30 at shop, t.com, you're gonna get a free Bernie So Punk poster. That's old school, that's from the 2016 campaign. So there's not, I don't think there's that many of those left. That's a cool poster. That is, I love that one. That's one of my favorites. Yeah, absolutely. So use the code Bernie So Punk at checkout, okay? Make sure you use that code.

Bernie So Punk. Limited posters are available. It's while supplies last. And you have to add the Bernie So Punk poster to your card, but then it'll be free if you use that code, okay? So check that out at shopty.com. All right, and I'm going to give shoutouts to folks who who just joined and became members on YouTube, James Carr, Time Clock Fraud, Michelle H, Tao or Dow Scotty, Roxanne Johnson, Jacob Hartman, Brooke Montfort, and Stephen Warwick. Lots of birthday messages to Bernie too, Coeli Walker, using YouTube super chats said happy birthday Bernie and our member sections. Our shell said, did I say birthday section? Our member section, Arshel said, happy birthday, Bernie, I never wanted a tattoo until you ran for president

in 2016. It'll be your hair and glasses on my left wrist for my protesting fist. I just want to get it in Vermont where my sister-in-law lives, so it's more legit there. Okay, I love that. And finally, Pedro, not Pedro, writes in, Jake's Russian accent is very German. That is so true. I was, it sounded Israeli to me too. It was kind of a, It's kind of a German-Israeli blend, but I couldn't call you out. I didn't have the hard to do it. No, no, what do you mean? I don't know what you're talking about.

Here's more Russian for you. Yeah, Machsnel. All right, anyways, speaking of Machschnell, let's get going. So when he joined Congress, Bernie Sanders was a force of nature, like, the likes of which which they hadn't really seen before. And so in this clip from the early 1990s, Duke Johnson, I'm sorry, Duke Cunningham, Duke Johnson is a mediocre running back in the NFL. You have our fantasy football league on the mind, Jank.

Yeah, Duke Cunningham, who later wound up being a convicted felon, one of my favorite stories is how on his way to finding Jesus Christ at a press conference after having a been convicted, he had thrown out a laundry bag full of money in his wife's yard so that she could launder it. That's who Duke Cunningham is. And he spoke out against gay soldiers in the military, but Bernie wasn't having any of it. So let's watch that. Is there any shocking doubt? The same people that would vote to cut defense 177 billion, the same ones that would put homos in the military, the same ones that would not fund BRAC, the the same ones that would not clear up.

No, I will not. Sit down, you socialist. Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, now my ears may have been playing a trick on me, but I thought I heard the gentleman a moment ago say something, quote unquote, about homos in the military. Was I right in hearing that expression? Absolutely. Putting homosexuals in the military.

You said something about homos in the military. Was the gentleman referring to the many thousands and thousands of gay people who have put their lives on the line in countless was defending this country. Was that the group of people that the gentleman was referring to? I'm talking about the military people in the military do not support. That's not what we were talking about. You use the word homoes in the military. You have insulted thousands of men and women who have put their lives on the way. I'm talking about you and liberals like you that keep. So that's in an era before Bill Clinton even gets the don't ask, don't tell. Later,

Joe Biden would get all the credit in the world from the mainstream media for coming out in favor of gay marriage in the year 2013. There's Bernie defending gays in the military in 1990, early 1990s, and there's even a clip of him in Burlington in the 1980s saying that we got to stand up for gay rights. It's almost as if young progressives can tell who's true. Well, exactly. So Duke Cunningham, by the way, went to prison for taking bribes from defense contractors. You know how hard that is to go to prison for corruption in the United States when it's so quotidian in Congress? But he did. So that's the kind of guy he is. Bernie voted

against the Defense of Marriage Act. He voted against Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Even when liberals were supporting these policies, Bernie Sanders stood firm there. And he always stood up for members of the military. The right gets to galvanize the discussion when it comes to respecting the troops as they send them to needless wars and ensure that they die or have PTSD or missing limbs for the rest of their life. Bernie Sanders, as the head of the veterans, I'm skipping ahead a little as head of the Veterans Affairs Committee in the Senate, he fought tooth and nail to ensure that veterans had the adequate care that they needed. And he'd often bump up against John McCain and other Republicans in terms of that kind of funding.

So who's actually advocating for members of the military there? And of course, Bernie was advocating for gay Americans. So that's, you mentioned young people. It strikes me just how much, how often people in Washington believe that different demographics of people are just pieces of chess on a chess board that can be moved around and manipulated and pandered to. And they're flummocks by the fact that Bernie Sanders appeals to young people. When it's nothing about his appearance, it's not a trick, it's not a spell that he put on people ages 18 to 35, it's the fact that he's been consistent for his entire career. And the fact that we as, you know, millennials and younger people embrace people who are LGBTQ and the differences in sexuality and

identity. And Bernie Sanders has been doing that for decades already. And that's what it comes down to. Yes, and so look, he's been fighting for civil rights of all sorts for as long as he's been in the public eye. So he started doing civil rights movements when he was the University of Chicago as an undergrad, got arrested, had to pay a $25 fine when he was protesting segregation. And what did the media do? And by the way, he did three different efforts, basically, whole movements at the University of Chicago to fight different kinds of racism, knee segregation, the segregation within

the schools, within housing, etc. And what did the media do? The media said both in 2016 in 2020, oh, Bernie can't get black votes, Bernie's not this, Bernie's not that, he's not of a Democrat. And the reality was the exact opposite. And that's why I keep talking about the difference between TV and internet culture. Because if you get your news from television, I mean, half the time you don't find out any of the details. And you certainly don't find out the policy. There's this comical stat where the Boston Globe wrote about whether the media was fair or unfair to Bernie Sanders. And they were quoting a Harvard study. And they said, well, you know, it's 50, 50, and it turns out they didn't cover him much.

And I guess he was right about that. But the coverage wasn't so bad. The media actually covered his policy 7% of the time. Not 70, 7% of the time. And when they did, people seem to like his policies. I'm like, that is not on the other hand. That means 93% of the time they didn't bother covering his policies, which are incredibly popular. So, you know, they just give people the opposite impression.

And look, best case scenario is they don't inform you. Worst case scenario is they actively try to manipulate you. Because between Bernie's, he also was part of the March on Washington as a young guy went to, went to it just organically, wasn't planning on being a politician. As we told you earlier, and obviously with Martin Luther King there, Joe Biden. on the other hand, honestly, has not been truthful about a civil rights record. But that's not the impression you would have gotten at all if you watch television. You would have gotten the exact opposite impression.

And finally, why did you guys find out? Why did we find it? Because we had a thing called the internet. We can look things up now. And so among the things we look up as his speeches, Emma was referring to how Duke Cunningham took bribes from defense contractors. Now here's what Bernie Sanders thought. about military spending. So this is going to be our third video, Asher. And as you're gonna see,

it's a little different than what not only do Cunningham thought the Republican Party thought, but also with a Democratic Party thought back then or now. So let's run that video. In case you don't know, and you haven't seen the latest polls, the American people hold the president of the United States in contempt. They hold this institution in contempt. They hold the Republican Party in contempt. They hold the Democratic Party in contempt. They think that maybe, given all of the crises facing this country, it's about time that there was some bold leadership here

and that this institution made some hard choices. And this is what the choice is about. We are spending $270 billion a year on the military, but we don't have a major enemy. I know it hurts your feelings. I know you're upset about it. I know you're hoping and praying that maybe we'll have another war. Maybe somebody will rise up.

But it ain't happening. The Soviet Union doesn't exist. The Warsaw Pact is through. Who you're worried about? Iraq, Panama, who you're worried about? I'll tell you who I'm worried about. I'm worried about the fact that our workers are seeing a decline in their standard of living. They want to see our industry be rebuilt.

That's what they want to see. No more B-2 bombers. No more Star Wars. Let's make the quality products we need. Let's invest in American industry. No, I won't yield. The American people want to see our kids educated. They want a Head Start program. They want their kids to be able to go to college. They want to wipe out the fact that 5 million children in this country go to bed hungry. They want child care for their kids. They want decent education. Let's have the guts that gives us. some leadership to this country. Okay, that online is known as the no, I won't yield the speech. But let's be honest, his entire career could be characterized as, no, I won't yield. And why don't have having a little bit of downsides at some point politically, too? But overall, I love it, I'm here for it. And by the way, as he's given that speech, he's about my. age now.

He? Emma, before you said, but I want to make one more point about facts that he was talking about there. At that point in the early 1990s, as you saw in his chart, the fast budget is a little over $250 billion. And he shows you the charge about chart showing you how outrageous it is, how we're overspending everyone else in the world by an order of magnitude. Well, that $250 billion over the last couple of decades.

over the last couple of decades has now ballooned to over $750 billion. Even though we did not have those wars and he preciently predicted that we would invade Iraq, obviously there was the first Persian Gulf War II. But we've tripled the defense budget and mercilessly taking all the resources that could have gone to Americans, whether they're poor or middle class, and giving it all to the defense contractors, even though there was no reason for it, no major enemies, we didn't have to invade Iraq. And he was right then, we never addressed it, and he's still right today. Well, yeah, that was definitely going to be my point, too, because I just seeing that graphic

where he's showing that huge red column that says $287 billion, it's not like that anymore. He lost that battle, but fortunately now, because of what he is paved and the progressive movement that he started, we will have more voices who can be in the room and advocate for policies like that when Bernie was the one chugging away back then. But still not enough. Bernie Sanders proposed a 10% cut in the middle of the pandemic to military spending. And none of that would go away from soldier salaries, from military personnel salaries from healthcare, none of that stuff. But it would go away from weaponry. And that vote failed in the Senate, 23 to 77. And a lot of Democrats joined against Bernie Sanders' bill there.

So we have some people, but not enough, not enough. But Bernie is still fighting that battle that he was fighting back there in 1992. Before I was even born. That was before I was even board. Yeah, me too. Yeah, right. We're talking about Jenks age. Let's talk about it. Okay, so speaking of which we're actually going to go to a campaign finance reform video next, because that's really at the heart of this. But before we do that, let me read some names again. And guys, if you can, just take one second to like and share this stream, because it really does help get the progressive message out. Because as you can tell, this isn't just about Bernie's birthday. Obviously, it's about the policies, and it always has been for progressives. And you see in these

clips, unfortunately, you know, over the last 30 years, we've gone backwards. And we haven't fixed that thing. And the Democratic Party has been a willing participant in that, unfortunately. So, but the folks who are making things possible for us are you guys. I did a video about this this over the weekend, man, whenever I go backstage at Act Blue and I see all your names and all different places that you live, I'm amazed by it. There's over 28,000 of you have given to this campaign. It's page after page of fellow Americans and people all across the world who are saying, nope, I'm progressive and I'm gonna make sure the loudest progressive voice gets out there and I'm gonna be part of that voice and I love you guys for it.

So Tony C and Whipple Ohio are 15 bucks. Larry H and Bethesda, Maryland, 54 bucks. Judy M in West Palm Beach, Florida, 27 bucks. Janie P in Portmouth, Port Washington, Wisconsin, 15 bucks. Timothy S in Jacksonville, Florida, also 15 bucks. Thermometers up to $34,780. We try to get to at t.yt.com slash go. We try to get to 200,000 every month just for this year, and then we'll wrap it up. And the reason, guys, that's less than 10% of what two right wing billionaires give Prager you every single year. It's so amending, but your $3 donations and $15 and $127, you make this possible.

All right, now let's look at Bernie on campaign finance reform. Why is campaign finance reform important? Is this some kind of esoteric intellectual debate? or does this, in fact, strike at the heart of American politics and is vitally important to every working person, every elderly person, every low-income person in America? Mr. Speaker, the United States today is one of two nations in the industrialized world that does not have a national health care system. That has to do with campaign finance reform.

The United States today, the chief executive officers are seeing their salaries sore and the gap between the rich and the poor grows wider, 10 million Americans are unemployed. That has to do with campaign finance reform. The system by a large is owned and controlled by big money interests and the president of the United States and much of the Congress does the work of protecting the big corporations and the wealthy people who control the economic and political life of this nation. And what this whole debate is about is fine. Finally saying, let us limit the amount of money that can be spent on elections. Let us have a level playing field.

So I'll state my first critique of Bernie here, and not ever, but in this special. It is his birthday, I don't want to be a Debbie Downer, but we are celebrating because he should be celebrated. But that was a great, great clip from about 30 years ago on campaign finance reform. And honestly, even Bernie, I don't think, has fought hard enough on it. Because I mean, are we not getting the memo? This, we're like Sisyphus. We keep trying to push every boulder up every hill, Green New Deal, Medicare for all, 15

non-min wage, and none of them ever make it. Why do you think none of them ever make it? Why do you think the defense budget tripled in the last 30 years, even though it didn't even make sense that it was that high 30 years ago? This is the money, Lavalski, it's the money. So honestly, I think, and I know it sounds harsh, but I think we're wasting our time working on any other issue, even the massively important ones. Because we're never going to pass them.

Look at what Emma just told you. Bernie Sanders said a modest 10% cut in defense department spending in the middle of coronavirus And half the Democratic Party voted with the Republicans and going, hell no, you'll never touch Lockheed Martin's money. We don't care what kind of an emergency there is for actual Americans. And that was less than the increase just under Trump. So that would have been a cut to pre-Trump levels or still higher than when Trump came into office.

But yeah, I completely agree with you, Jang, it's not enough of a focus. Elizabeth Warren hammered corruption during the primary. And I was thrilled to hear about it. But let's be honest, I think Bernie Sanders would fight harder on that front in terms of campaign finance reform than she would. But she knew it was popular and she kept talking about it. And Bernie didn't talk about it enough. So this is a critique of your presidential campaign and I'm sure still stings Bernie on your birthday. So enjoy. Yeah, no, I hear you. But look, it's not about hurting Bernie's feelings. No, I know. I'm on the ground, yeah. No, but seriously, it's for the folks who are still there, including Bernie, who's still a United States Senator. For God's sake,

focus, focus on money in politics. If you don't, I don't understand how they can't see it. Look, at least half the Democratic Party is fundamentally corrupt and we'll never vote with you. How could you not see that money in politics has to go first? Actually, they drive me nuts. All right, anyway, I'm gonna read a couple of comments here before we wrap this segment. Notra Science says Bernie Sanders was the best president we never had. These are young Turks members, so t.yt.com slash join to become one. Sina Hougaboon writes in, no, I won't yield.

Put that on a t-shirt. Maybe we should. t.com, make sure if you're using the promo code Bernie soap punk today, you buy over $30 worth of stuff and you put it into your that poster into your cart, they will give you the Bernie soap punk poster for free. And it's limited quality, limited quality. Okay, the quality is great, limited quantity. ShopTYT is going to break your kneecaps, jank. All the thugs at ShopTYT, they're coming after you. So that's just today on shot off tyd.com.

And Vicki says Bernie Sanders, voice of the people for over 50 years, happy birthday, Bernie. Love you, are so grateful for your leadership. And here are new young tourist members on YouTube. You could hit just the join button below and that gets you to Young Turks membership on YouTube. David Putnam, Miss Eva, Stephen Piggott, C.J. Fights and Lauren Marshall all just joined. And we love you guys, thanks for being members. And I want to give you the last word here, because I wanted to make sure you got a word in about the future. I know we're doing that a little bit later in the program, but what's your take on Bernie's effect on the future of the progressive movement and of American politics?

I said this when he dropped out. I think they're, I think he'll be remembered as one of the greatest Americans of the past 100 years. when it's all said and done. And I do believe that the fact that young people have such a high opinion of him will bode well in the history books. But I know Bernie doesn't care about that. I know he cares more about the legislative legacy that he will lead or leave behind and the people he's inspired to take up the mantle. And he's inspired so many candidates and more are just coming. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Talib, Ilhan Omar, Corey Bush, Jamal Bowman, and countless others that are still going to be fighting and in this for the long haul. So the ripple effects of Bernie are so beyond Bernie, and that's what I couldn't stand about

the media narrative about him, that he was in some way selfish. It was the most ridiculous claim, it's the opposite. And it always has throughout his career, and it will be. And the people he's inspired will be similarly unselfish, I believe. Yeah, I'm positive we own the future. I'm writing a book called Justice is Coming. And it's about how Americans progressives are going to take over America. If you guys want to pre-order, I'm not going to stop you, just this is coming book.com.

But seriously, guys, I know we're gonna take over, but it is still super frustrating to see how the Democratic Party, Republican Party, and the media function today. And so when we come back, we're gonna talk about that. We're gonna talk about the 2016 run, and then the 2020 run that Bernie had. And honestly, a giant part of the story is how the media knee-capped him. And also, honestly, that's why progressive movement needs media like us, not just. just us, but definitely like us. Because otherwise, mainstream media is just going to brainwash people into voting against their interest every time. So t.yt.com slash go. Emma, thank you so

much. And up next, Ben Dixon, and later, Nina Turner, and then a very big surprise, a guest wishing birthday, happy birthday. We'll show that to you when we return. to the Young Turks, support our work, listen to ad-free, access members-only bonus content, and more by subscribing to Apple Podcasts at apple.com slash t-y-t. I'm your host, Shank Huger, and I'll see you soon.