Bernie Sanders sets out to sell big government in red states – By Will Weissert (AP News) / Aug 27 2021
WASHINGTON (AP) — Bernie Sanders has long argued, but not proved, that his big government populism can win over voters in the largely white, rural communities that flocked to Republican Donald Trump in recent elections.
Now as the chief Senate shepherd of a $3.5 trillion budget proposal, Sanders believes he has another chance to test the theory.
The Vermont senator is embarking on two-stop swing through Trump country this weekend, promoting a budget plan packed with progressive initiatives and financed by higher taxes on top earners. He’s specifically targeting two congressional districts where Trump’s vote totals increased between 2016 and 2020.
“What we are doing is precisely what working-class families, Republican, Democrat, independent, want,” Sanders, who helped negotiate the proposal as chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, said in an interview. “And we’re going to pay for it by demanding that the wealthiest people, and largest corporations that are doing phenomenally well, start paying their fair share of taxes.”
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