Bernie Sanders brings working-class message to NHS

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders says the concept of redistributing wealth isn’t a novel one.

However, in his one-hour talk Saturday night to an enthusiastic, large crowd at the Newton High School’s Center for Performance, the 2016 Democratic presidential hopeful said the movement of money isn’t going where it’s needed.

“Republicans get nervous when you talk about redistributing wealth,” Sanders said. “They get scared, and start shaking. But they’ve been redistributing it for years — it’s just been going in the wrong direction.”

Sanders discussed the loss of American industrial jobs, and focused a great deal of his time on health care before taking a handful of questions from the audience during his first visit to Newton since announcing his candidacy. The Democratic frontrunner — in some polls — spoke to a mostly-filled auditorium.

Three speakers with Jasper County connections — Baxter Schools art teacher Liz Gaffney, Craig Armstrong of the City of Newton and Judi Mulbrook of Newton — all spoke briefly before Sanders took the stage.

The Vermont senator focused on many of the same talking points he’s used during his extensive time in Iowa this year. His most localized remark was when discussing the idea of losing factories, which, he said “you folks know all about that, around here” — an apparent reference to the 2007 closure of Maytag.

“Since 2001, we’ve lost 60,000 factories in the U.S. — 60,000,” Sanders said.

The Brooklyn native earned some of his loudest applause of the hour right after calling for equal pay for women by adding, “Men should be willing to stand next to women and demand equal pay for them.”

After joking in the beginning about “doing something radical — practicing democracy,” Sanders added that he believes virtually all Americans support the changes and ideas he supports. It’s how to get there, or if such ideas are realistic, where the philosophical difference seem to lie, he said.

Two of the questions asked were about measures taken to undo the impact of the No Child Left Behind Act. Sanders pointed out he was one of the 81 senators (Iowa’s Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst were both among them) to pass the Every Child Achieves Act in the Senate in July. The bill has yet to see the House floor for debate.

After about 15 minutes of questions, Sanders came down from the stage and signed autographs and allowed dozens of admirers to take photos with him as he slowly made his way toward the north exit.

Some in the audience live in Jasper County, but many traveled from other states to Newton simply to hear Sanders speak. Two of the people who came to see him were Austin Ray of Tulsa, Okla., and Madeleine Young of Fayetteville, Ark.

“I like the way Iowa has all of these small events set up, where you might actually get to meet the candidate,” Young said.

Contact Jason W. Brooks at 641-792-3121 ext. 6532 or jbrooks@newtondailynews.com