On this Labor Day weekend, Sen. Bernie Sanders is making the case for creating millions of good-paying jobs and raising the minimum wage. Sanders spoke out against “corporate deserters” after Burger King on Tuesday said it would take over a Canadian firm in order to pay less in U.S. taxes. Sanders hosted jam-packed town meetings across the South after stopping on Wednesday at the American Legion convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he was honored for his work on a new law to help veterans.

Labor Day “In these tough economic times, government must respond to the needs of working people in this country and not just to millionaires and billionaires,” Sanders said. The economy is better than when George W. Bush left office and 700,000 jobs vanished every month, but the middle class today is continuing to shrink and real unemployment, at more than 12 percent, is much too high. Americans overwhelmingly want the federal government to play a strong role in creating decent-paying jobs by rebuilding our crumbling roads, bridges, railroads, water systems and other projects. The need for jobs to boost the economy is one of the many areas where Americans (except for Republicans in Congress) are overwhelmingly united. Take the poll

Sanders in the South Hundreds of people packed town meetings on Sanders’ tour through the South. He answered questions at gatherings in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Wednesday, Columbia, South Carolina, on Thursday, and Jackson, Mississippi, on Friday. Topics included income inequality in America and the collapse of the middle class. He called for raising the federal minimum wage from 7.25 to at least $10.10 an hour. He also pressed for a federal jobs program.  “All over this country, in so-called red states and in so-called blue states, people are profoundly disgusted about what is happening and that they want real change … The billionaire class can't have it all. The middle class has got to get some of it,” Sanders told Ed Schultz in an interview on MSNBC. Watch

Rally for Health Care South Carolina progressives on Thursday launched a door-to-door campaign to persuade poor, uninsured voters to turn out in November to oppose Gov. Nikki Haley's refusal to expand Medicaid eligibility. Sanders spoke briefly at a Statehouse rally. “In a number of states, including South Carolina, we’re running up against a right-wing political ideology,” Sanders said. “Despite the fact that the federal government is paying 100 percent of the cost of this expansion, ideologically some people believe that the federal government and perhaps state government should not be involved in the provision of health care. What they are essentially saying is they want a society where the wealthy and the powerful can get the best health care in the world, but if you’re a low-income working person, you get nothing.”

Burger King, Hold the Taxes   Burger King announced on Tuesday that it plans to buy a Canadian coffee-and-doughnuts chain and claim that Canada is its home for tax purposes in order to avoid U.S. corporate taxes. “Burger King’s choice to move to Canada is a part of the continued assault by corporate America against the needs of our country’s working families,” Bernie said. Corporate income taxes historically accounted for a much greater source of federal revenue. Back in 1952, corporations paid nearly one-third of all federal taxes, 32.1 percent to be exact. The figure dropped to 9.9 percent of federal revenue in 2013, Sanders pointed out in an interview with Jake Tapper on CNN. Watch        

The American Legion As chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, Sanders on Wednesday addressed the American Legion national convention in Charlotte, North Carolina. National Commander Daniel M. Dellinger presented Sanders the prestigious Patriot Award for his role crafting the legislation to improve access to timely, quality health care for veterans and to reform the Department of Veterans Affairs. President Barack Obama touted the bill when he addressed the Legion convention on Tuesday. But Sanders said more must be done to help veterans. He called for eliminating long delays for processing disability claims. He said all veterans should have access to VA health care for 10 years instead of the current five years after they leave the military. He advocated improved dental care and mental health services. And he said he supports expansion of a caregivers program to help family members who provide around-the-clock care for disabled veterans.

Global Warming Global warming is here, caused by humans and dangerous, according to a draft of a new United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report leaked to reporters on Tuesday. The language uses starker language than earlier reports. It also synthesizes scientific findings on problems caused by the burning coal, oil and gas. Sanders, a member of the Senate environment and energy committees, has called for a tax on carbon emissions. People should not have the freedom – quote, unquote – to destroy the planet,” he says in a new documentary – “Carbon” – by Leonardo DiCaprio and Thom Hartmann.  Watch