Bernie Sanders wrote a piece that is up at his website about the not-so-grand “grand bargain.” I’ve never been a fan, nor has he, nor have most Progressives I know.

Why there hasn’t been more attention paid to the Congressional Progressive Caucus’s Back to Work Budget is beyond me. The Progressive describes it as “the humane budget”:

This is a fundamentally humane proposal. It has a stated goal of eradicating poverty, and a target of cutting poverty in half in ten years.

It puts the problem of the jobs deficit ahead of the budget deficit, and makes a major investment in infrastructure.

In many ways, it makes good on the promises that won President Obama both his first and second terms. [...]

As the Progressive Caucus puts it: “This is what the country voted for in November. It’s time we side with America’s middle class and invest in their future.”

Please link over and take a look.

Now back to Bernie Sanders’s piece:

The media appear fixated about when and if a so-called “grand bargain” on our economy will be reached. Wrong question! The question we should be asking is: What should be in a “grand bargain” that works for the average American?

At a time when the middle class is disappearing, 46 million Americans are living in poverty and the gap between the very rich and everyone else is growing wider, we need a “grand bargain” that protects struggling working families, not billionaires. [...]

We must not cut Social Security, disabled veterans’ benefits, Medicare, Medicaid, education and other programs that provide opportunity and dignity to millions of struggling American families. [...]

[T]he United States has the most unequal distribution of wealth and income of any major country on earth and that inequality is worse today than at any time since the late 1920s. [...] The distribution of income is even worse. [...]

We need a budget that puts millions of Americans back to work in decent-paying jobs by rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure and transforming our energy sector away from fossil fuels and into renewable energy and energy efficiency.

We need a budget that keeps the promises we have made to our seniors, veterans and the most vulnerable by protecting Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefits. [...]

We need a budget that makes sure that the wealthiest Americans and most profitable corporations pay their fair share of taxes. [...]

We must reject any approach that continues the economic assault on working families.

I chopped this one to bits, so please link over to read it in full.