A good dose of Vermont reality is what U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., is looking for when he meets with everyday people Saturday night in Morrisville.
Sanders will hold a town meeting on the economy Saturday, Aug. 16, at the Peoples Academy cafeteria, 202 Copley Ave., Morrisville.
His town meetings follow a familiar format: First, some food; then, lots of talk. A free dinner starts at 5:30 p.m., and the meeting at 6 p.m. Anyone interested is welcome.
“I love doing them because I think it gives people the opportunity in a very informal, open session to exchange ideas with me and other people, and tell me what’s on their mind,” Sanders said Tuesday in a telephone interview. “It’s the only way I can be a good senator.”
How does what he hears in Vermont contrast with the talk in Washington?
Sanders sighed and said, “Two different worlds. Two completely different worlds.”
The concerns raised by the people of Vermont are not priorities in Washington, and the issues that most politicians in Washington focus on are not priorities in Vermont, he said.
Generally, he said, Vermonters at his meetings talk about financial issues, and how difficult it is for middle-class people to make it economically. They’re worried about their kids, the cost of college, the future of Social Security and Medicare. While people think things are better than they were five years ago, “they’re not doing well, and many new jobs don’t pay people enough to live comfortably on.”
Often, there’s a lot of discussion about campaign finance reform.
“People are profoundly disgusted that billionaires can buy elections,” Sanders said.
And he hears a lot about income inequality. “It’s profoundly wrong when 95 percent of all new income” goes to the richest Americans, the senator said.
In Washington, Sanders said, there’s a very different litany of issues — even though he thinks that the issues Vermonters raise are issues all over the country.
“That speaks to why Congress has a very low approval rating,” Sanders said. “They’re out of touch with where people live.”
Sanders will actually hold three town meetings on the economy this Saturday. The first is in Barnet at 10 a.m., the second in Cabot at 12:30. He has one booked for Sunday, too, at 6 p.m. at Mt. Mansfield Union High School in Jericho. As usual, food will be served 30 minutes before each meeting.
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