Sanders: Rethinking ‘Fundamental Tenets’ of America a ‘Silver Lining’ of Coronavirus

Sunday on ABC’s “This Week,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) called “rethinking some fundamental tenets about the way our government and society works,” a “silver lining” of the coronavirus pandemic.

Sanders said, “George, to tell you the truth, that if there’s any silver lining in this midst of this terrible, terrible, and unprecedented moment in American history in terms of the economy and in terms of the pandemic, is that maybe we start rethinking some fundamental tenets about the way our government and society works. And we should ask ourselves, among other things, is health care a human right that all of us deserve? Because we’re human beings. Or is it simply a health care benefit that somehow we lose when we lose our jobs?”

He continued, “You know, Mr. Navarro talked about the great economy, a beautiful economy that existed before the pandemic — well, half of people in America were living paycheck to paycheck. I don’t think it’s beautiful economy that when paychecks stop for two weeks, millions and millions of people don’t have enough money to buy the food that they need to feed their families. We need an economy that works for all, not just Trump and his billionaire friends. We need an economy that says we shouldn’t have three people on top owning more wealth than the bottom half of the American society. We need an economy that says health care is a human right, like every other country. We’re not getting ripped off by the pharmaceutical industry.”

He added, “There’s a lot to be done. And if there’s anything that I hope we learn out of this horribly painful experience is that maybe we create an economy and a government that works for all, not just the few and wealthy campaign contributors.”

Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN