2015 is quickly drawing to a close and before we know it November of 2016 will be upon us and it'll be time for us to elect a new president. There's a lot of press coverage of both Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton, who seems to be the top two contenders for the 2016 race. However, while everyone is focusing on those two, Bernie Sanders has snuck up behind them and is giving them a run for their money.
Bernie may be the oldest candidate running, but his policies have helped him get in with the millennials and has given him a huge advantage. Almost overnight he went from being the underdog to beating Hilary in polls all over the country. There's a really good chance that he may be the one to receive the democratic ticket. While it would be cool to have a woman president, Bernie is certainly fit to run this country.
Not sure if Bernie is the right candidate for you? Check out the top 10 reasons why you should vote for him below!
1. His views on taxes
There's no doubt that we have some very wealthy people in this country. There's even less of a doubt that we have millions of people living just above or below the poverty line. Yet it seems that those who can barely afford to are paying the same amount of taxes that the people with more than enough food are paying.
Once Bernie becomes President he's going to try and fix this. He plans on imposing harsher tax rates on the wealthy and giving those with less a break because they're the ones who really need it.
2. He wants to close the wage gap
It's not a secret that even in 2015 women get paid significantly less than men do, women of color make even less than white women, for doing the exact same job. Bernie plans to close that wage gap so that women of every color earn the same wages that men do.
3. He wants to help the youth of America
The cost of college rises every year and by the time the current generation has college-aged children, college will pretty much be unaffordable. And we shouldn't punish people for wanting to further their education and give themselves a better life with thousands of dollars in loans. And sometimes even with a college education you can't find a job afterward to pay off those loans.
Because of this, Bernie is planning on trying to make tuition free at public colleges and universities all across the country. That way people can get a good, higher education without burying themselves in debt. To go along with this, Bernie plans on creating and funding a youth job program to help young people stay off of unemployment and put their lives in the right direction.
4. He supports women's rights
For some reason, old white men in congress think they have the right to control what women do and don't do with their uteruses. Weird right? If elected Bernie plans on becoming one of these old white men, but in a new way. Bernie plans on putting more funding into Planned Parenthood and other initiatives to protect women's health, allow easy access to contraception and make safe, legal abortions available.
To help keep this up he plans on only selecting supreme court judges that understand that Roe v. Wade (the supreme court case that made adoptions legal) is the land of the law and must be upheld, no matter what.
He also plans on making free child care and pre-kindergarten programs so that women can go out and work or go to school while their child is being taken care of and it's not breaking the bank.
5. He plans to take care of all citizens
A baby should be able to bond with a mother after birth, not be in daycare because their mom has to work to provide for them, a person should be able to retire comfortably and not have to worry about working until they die and every person should be able to visit the doctor or hospital when needed without fear of it costing a fortune.
Bernie hopes to be able to allow all of those things to happen. If elected he would try to have it required that all American workers receive specific allotments of paid time off so that they can stay with their children after birth, take vacations and can afford to be sick every once in a while. He also plans on making health care a right so every American has access to it. No more for going doctor's visits to avoid the bill. Once all of those workers retires he plans on making sure there are plenty of social security benefits to go around by expanding the benefits and increase the standard of living to cover all medical expenses and drug prescriptions.
6. He wants to help those who have helped us
It's no secret that many veterans in our country are poor and homeless because of the lack of programs in place to help them deal with the mental and physical ailments their time in the war cost them.
If elected Bernie hopes to be able to expand the VA so that every veteran gets the medical help they need. He also plans on expanding the mental health services for veterans and the caregivers program so that every veteran is helped no matter what their ailment is.
7. He wants to make sure we have a safe place to live
Climate change is a real problem, people. Despite what people (*cough* republicans *cough*), try to tell you. If we don't make major changes now in a hundred years there won't be any place on this planet that is livable.
Bernie hopes to secure economic grants to help reduce the emission of greenhouse gases. Now is the time to make the world better for later.
8. He wants to help people of color
African-Americans and other people of color face some of the highest unemployment rates. Bernie hopes to end this by starting programs to help the unemployed POC youth become and stay employed. He also wants to make it so there isn't such a bias against those with criminal records finding employment. Not everyone with a record is a bad person and people change.
POC are a majority of the population in this country and it's time we started to treat them fairly.
9. He wants to reform Wall Street
It's no secret that Wall Street houses some of the wealthiest people and businesses in the country. They often take advantage of people just because they have power and others don't.
Bernie plans to tax the transactions these people and corporations are making and using the funds to help make all public colleges and universities free. That way the taxes of the normal citizens don't have to go up.
10. He wants war to become the last resort
War is expensive. We all know that. Yet, it seems that the US is always in a war in some far off country. Bernie hopes to put an end in this. Fighting to get past differences is not the best and most logical option.
Bernie hopes to work on diplomacy and foreign policy to try and resolve issues with other countries, and using war as an absolute last resort.
Bernie Sanders is a tough contender with rock solid policies and the drive to get it done. He's the best candidate for the 2016 race and I hope you agree.
I found all of my information for this article on Bernie's campaign website which you can find here.
