The People’s Climate March drew 400,000 demonstrators, including Sen. Bernie Sanders, to New York on Sunday. The massive turnout on the eve of a UN General Assembly meeting showed widespread support for bold government action to reverse global warming. On Friday, Sanders said strong majorities of Americans also want action on other critical issues – from jobs to income and wealth inequality to raising the minimum wage – but Republicans in Congress have blocked progress. “Ordinary Americans understand that the economy today is not doing well for the middle class or working families,” Sanders said on his weekly radio and Internet program with Thom Hartmann. “People know that the middle class is disappearing. They know more people are living in poverty and that the wealthy and large corporations are doing phenomenally well. And they want the government to take action.” Listen to Brunch with Bernie

American Values According to a recent American Values Survey poll:

• 66 percent of Americans agree that the government should do more to reduce the gap between the rich and poor.

• 57 percent of Americans favor increasing the tax rate on Americans earning more than $250,000 per year.

• 55 percent believe that one of the biggest problems in the country is that not everyone is given an equal chance to succeed in life.

• 69 percent Americans favor increasing the minimum wage from $7.25 per hour to $10.10 per hour.

• 78 percent of Americans favor requiring companies to provide all full-time employees with paid leave for the birth or adoption of a child.

• 81 percent of Americans favor requiring companies to provide all full-time employees with paid sick days if they or an immediate family member gets sick.

• 64 percent of Americans believe the economic system in the country unfairly favors the wealthy.

• 64 percent of Americans believe that the government is not run for the benefit of all the people.

People’s Climate March An estimated 400,000 people marched through Manhattan in the People’s Climate March on the last Sunday of the hottest summer ever on record. Sanders was there and told “Democracy Now!” host Amy Goodman that Republicans in Congress have blocked action on proposals to deal with the planetary crisis. “The major impediment right now is the Republican Party. We have to call them out on this. We don’t do it enough. These are people who do not even acknowledge the scientific reality because they are beholden to Big Energy money and the Koch brothers.” Watch the Democracy Now interview

Carbon Tax The World Bank said on Monday that 73 nations and some 1,000 companies will join forces to push for policies setting a price on carbon emissions to encourage a shift to cleaner energy technologies. Sanders and Sen. Barbara Boxer, the Senate environment committee chairman, have introduced legislation that would place a tax on carbon and methane pollution and use the revenue to lower consumers’ bills for new, cleaner sources of energy.

Mideast War U.S.-led coalition warplanes on Friday bombed targets in Syria, including oil installations that help finance the Islamic State terrorist group. Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern nations have joined airstrikes that began on Monday but Sanders questioned whether their participation carried more symbolic than military value. Sanders welcomed efforts by President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry to involve Arab nations in combatting the threat from the Islamic State. But he remains unconvinced that Saudi Arabia, with the fourth biggest military budget in the world, and other Arab kingdoms are doing enough. “These guys in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait are worth hundreds of billions of dollars. They’ve got to get some skin in the game. I’d like to see them get their hands a little bit dirty.” What do you think? Are you more concerned that the U.S. will go too far in getting involved in the situation in Iraq and Syria or are you more concerned that it will not go far enough in stopping Islamic militants? Take the poll

Health Care Divide A state line divides Fulton, Kentucky, and South Fulton, Tennessee. Most people going to work or running errands could lose track of which state they’re in – until they need to see a doctor. Working families on the Kentucky side of town have access to health care. Families in South Fulton face the financial and emotional stresses – and poor health – that are part of life without health insurance in America. The same thing is happening further east in a town called Bluefield, which straddles the Virginia and West Virginia border. West Virginia and Kentucky are among 27 states that have expanded Medicaid programs. Tennessee and Virginia are among 23 states controlled by Republican state legislatures or governors that have blocked expanded Medicaid coverage under the Affordable Care Act, according to a report that Sanders’ primary health care subcommittee on Thursday.

Read more about Fulton, Kentucky, and South Fulton, Tennessee

Read more about Bluefield, West Virginia, and Bluefield, Virginia