The Week in Review

This week Sen. Bernie Sanders praised Pope Francis for condemning the unrestrained capitalism that has caused income inequality and poverty around the world. Pope Francis warned that our economic systems will “devour everything which stands in the way of increased profits, whatever is fragile, like the environment, is defenseless before the interests of a deified market.”  Later in the week CBS’ 60 Minutes aired a critique Sen. Sanders made of the program’s recent report called The Giving Pledge. In the report, 60 Minutes applauded billionaires such as Pete Peterson for their so-called philanthropy. Sanders wrote 60 Minutes saying, "What Pete Peterson has done is throw hundreds of millions of dollars into lobbying campaigns to cut Social Security, Medicare and disabled veterans’ benefits. That, to my mind, is not philanthropy.” In an interview with MSNBC this week Sen. Sanders discussed his work on the budget conference committee saying “Poll after poll shows that large profitable corporations have got to contribute to help reduce the deficit.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders today applauded Pope Francis’ recent papal pronouncement, which condemns the “new tyranny” of unrestrained capitalism, causing income inequality and poverty, and calling on leaders to curb “the absolute autonomy of the marketplace and financial speculation,” and act “for the common good.” In his first independently written apostolic exhortation called “Evangelii Gaudium” (The Joy of the Gospel), Pope Francis calls for a rejection of the “new idolatry of money.”  He notes that “the earnings of a minority are growing exponentially, so too is the gap separating the majority from the prosperity enjoyed by those happy few.”  He calls for “more politicians who are genuinely disturbed by the state of society, the people, the lives of the poor,” and for the commitment of political and financial leaders to “ensure that all citizens have dignified work, education and healthcare.” Read Sen. Sanders’ full statement here.

The Giving Pledge

A CBS 60 Minutes report interviewed billionaires taking The Giving Pledge, a promise to give away at least half of their wealth while alive or in their will. 60 Minutes applauded billionaire Pete Peterson, but Sen. Bernie Sanders questions the nature of Peterson's so-called philanthropy. "I am not quite sure why 60 Minutes calls Wall Street billionaire Pete Peterson a philanthropist," Sanders wrote to 60 Minutes. "You said his cause is cutting the national debt. Does he want his wealthy friends and large corporations to pay higher tax rates to reduce the deficit? No. Does he support a tax on Wall Street speculators who caused the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression?  No.  What Pete Peterson has done is throw hundreds of millions of dollars into lobbying campaigns to cut Social Security, Medicare and disabled veterans’ benefits. That, to my mind, is not philanthropy." Watch the 60 Minutes report here and watch Sen. Sanders' response here.

Fighting for a Fair Budget

In an interview on MSNBC, Sen. Sanders told host Joy-Ann Reid “Most of the people in the United States believe that at a time when the wealthy and large corporations are doing quite well that we should reduce the deficit on the backs of the elderly the sick and the poor.” Sen. Sanders discussed the ongoing budget debate saying “I have worked within the budget committee to put a significant sum of money into rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure, into energy efficiency and if we do those things we can create a significant number of decent paying jobs.” Watch the interview here.