He needs no introduction since he is currently vying for a spot in the 2016 Presidential Race but Bernie Sanders is wasting no time claiming a spot. Well-liked by his peers, Bernie Sanders is just a normal guy from Vermont who wants to make the world a better place and by doing that is claiming the democratic spot for the Presidential Race. Throughout the whole race leading up to the Democratic Nomination, Bernie talks about a wide range of topics from Healthcare to Education. The top three issues that I thought he nailed perfectly are Healthcare, Education, and Reproductive Health.
Healthcare
Bernie has always believed healthcare is a human right and should be guaranteed to all people regardless of income. He also includes that the challenges the American healthcare system needs to be addressed immediately. One issue he manages to tackle is something that hits close home to me: Mental Health. Bernie believes everyone should receive equal mental healthcare. One of his Affordable Care Act (ACA) provisions dramatically increased support for community health centers, which provide affordable primary care and mental health counseling to the undeserved. The law authorized $11 billion to improve and expand community health centers over a five-year period. How cool is that for people living with mental health? Outside of the election, he currently serves as the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs and would like to expand healthcare services to veterans.
Education
Bernie wants all students to have an affordable education. Recently he has sponsored bills to make public colleges and universities tuition-free, as well as to drastically reduce interest rates on student loan debt. College Tuition is a topic neither parents or students do not want to discuss.
The image above shows the change in tuition costs since 1980. Currently, average public in-school tuition rates are over $9,000 per year. Sanders created the S. 1373: College for All Act claiming all public colleges and universities to be tuition-free.
Reproductive Health
Women have the fundamental right to control their bodies when it comes to sexual and reproductive health. Bernie Sanders is on stranger on this subject matter since he’s pro-choice. In 1993, he co-sponsored the Freedom of Choice Act, which aimed to bar states from restricting the right to terminate a pregnancy before fetal viability or at any time when a termination is necessary to protect the health of a woman. In addition to creating the Freedom of Choice Act, He has voted on numerous occasions to allow women to travel interstate for abortions, supported permitting federal funding of organizations that conduct abortions and co-sponsored the Women’s Health Protection Act of 2013, which prohibited many limitations on abortions.
After looking at a variety of what Sanders accomplished throughout his life, its no wonder he is lovable by his peers! Bernie Sanders political career has spanned three decades of pure awesomeness, interested in solving problems than impressing others and building a grassroot campaign without corporate money.