New members of the Congress were sworn into office on Wednesday. Sen. Bernie Sanders warned that Republicans who captured control of the House and picked up seats in the Senate want to “decimate” Social Security and Medicare and eliminate other programs that help the middle class. “Look beyond their rhetoric at what they really want to do. These guys are very radical. They want to decimate every piece of legislation that has protected Americans for the last 70 years.  We’ve got to say, ‘Unh-uh!” We’ve got to call their bluff. We cannot continue to be on the defensive.”

Interviewed by Ed Schultz on his nationwide radio program, Sanders said the next pivotal event will be a vote on whether to raise the national debt ceiling. As House Republicans laid plans for deep cuts in government spending to avert a debt crisis, Sanders noted that the $14 trillion national debt was amassed during the administration of President George W. Bush when trillions of dollars were spent on wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and for bailouts of big banks and Wall Street financial institutions.