I can promise you this.....

 

I'm about an hour from stepping out onto a stage in front of thousands of people who came out to Waterfront Park in Burlington, Vermont to kick off my campaign for president.

Today, as I've walked around my hometown, I've seen families with young children as well as many seniors; folks who drove three or four hours and more to get here. They have come together united around a single purpose: starting a political revolution to take back our country from powerful special interests.

I will tell them shortly what I'll tell you now: This is our country, and it's time we took it back from the billionaire class. Today, we come together to say, "Enough is enough."

I'm asking you to add your $5 contribution to our campaign now to help us start this political revolution. Click here to make your contribution.

The Agenda for America I'm laying out this afternoon is a bold plan that can and will rebuild our country. Here are some of the components of that agenda:

• Address income and wealth inequality by demanding that the wealthy and large corporations start paying their fair share of taxes
• Make quality health care a right for all Americans
• Raise the minimum wage to a living wage and make sure women are paid as much as men
• Make higher education affordable by ending tuition at all public colleges and universities and by substantially lowering interest rates on student debt
• Expand and protect Social Security and Medicare
• Have America lead the world in addressing the planetary crisis of climate change
• Take on Wall Street to restore sanity to our economy

There's much more, of course, and you'll be hearing more detail about each of these issues in the weeks ahead.

But let's be clear about one thing. While you and I and most people in America see these proposals as common sense, they represent a very real threat to the political and financial establishments.

We are challenging powerful special interests, which is exactly what we have to do if we are to transform our society.

For years, the very rich have gotten richer while the rest of us have gotten poorer. Powerful corporations make billions emitting carbon into the atmosphere as they accelerate climate change and help destroy the planet.

 

Private insurance companies and drug companies make huge profits while 35 million Americans have no health insurance.

 

Now, a handful of billionaires are flooding our political system with huge amounts of money, drowning out the voices of the rest of America. They own much of the economy. Now they want to own our government.

 

But we're not going to allow that to happen. The forces of greed are enormously powerful but, when we stand together, we can beat them. And we're going to beat them not just for ourselves, but for future generations and for the survival of our planet.

 

Now I am asking you to help us build our campaign. Please contribute $5 now to our campaign.

Let's be clear about something in this campaign: we will be vastly outspent, not just by other candidates, but also by Super PACs and shadowy groups funded by some of the wealthiest people in this country.

 

I can promise you this, however. Every penny contributed to our campaign will go to building the platform on which we can launch our political revolution.

 

Already, more than 120,000 people have contributed over $5 million dollars to our campaign, with an average contribution of about $40 dollars. In other words, our campaign is not being funded by million dollar checks coming from the rich and the powerful.

 

Instead, we are powered by ten dollars from a park ranger in Florida; twenty dollars from a woman who cleans school buses in Colorado; thirty-five dollars from a union worker in Minnesota. Incredibly, we are receiving five dollar contributions from low-income folks who are retired, on disability, or who are struggling to get a job in this economy.

 

And if you can't donate right now, I understand that. Times are tough for too many people, and there are other ways that you can help. But if you're fortunate enough to be able to make a contribution to our campaign, it would be great if you could make a contribution right now.

 

Click here to donate $5 to our campaign for president.

It's almost time to go out and meet the thousands of Vermonters who are in Burlington today to join our campaign kickoff. As we hit the campaign trail, you'll hear more from us in the days ahead as we take our grassroots movement to New Hampshire, Iowa and elsewhere.

I cannot thank you enough for all you've done so far for our campaign, and all you'll continue to do.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

- Bernie

 

P.S. You can watch a livestream of my announcement online. Click here to watch at 5pm ET.