BRISTOL - Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., met with more than 130 Vermonters in Bristol's Holley Hall last Sunday to discuss a range of issues, from health care to women's rights. But the bulk of conversation centered on an eroding middle class, a need to raise incomes and a risk of leaving future Americans with a lower standard of living.

Rep. Dave Sharpe, D-Bristol, commended the U.S. senator for his persistence in addressing the country's socioeconomic disparity.

"I worked on (Sanders') first campaign in 1972," said Sharpe. "His message was the same then as it is now. The unfortunate piece is that it needs to be the same."

Sanders delivered a grave message on Sunday, saying economic inequality is killing America, and the country's distribution of wealth is more top-heavy than at any period in the country's history.

"The United States today has the most unequal distribution of wealth and income of any major country on earth," he said with exasperation, adding that the top 1 percent of America earns more than the bottom 50 percent, and the top 400 wealthiest people in America have more wealth than the bottom 50 percent.

"In my view that's a moral disaster. It's an economic disaster. And it's a political disaster," said Sanders, who is discouraged by the state of the nation.

Read the full article