Bernie on the march..

Sanders stays on the attack against Clinton

By Nick Gass

Bernie Sanders is making no apology for the increasingly sharp tone of his attacks against Hillary Clinton.

In a recent interview with Charlie Rose on PBS , the independent Vermont senator drew extensively on his long-held views about the Keystone XL pipeline, the trans-Pacific trade deal and economic inequality to drive home the contrasts between the two candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination, contrasts that he suggested go beyond the discrete issues and his opponent's policy evolutions.

"I have known Hillary Clinton for 25 years. I have enormous respect for her. She’s a friend. But when you’re running for president of the United States, it’s important to differentiate the differences between the candidates, and there are real differences between Hillary Clinton and myself. I have been extremely consistent on my views for many, many years," Sanders said, referencing the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which Clinton had called "the gold standard" of trade deals, Rose noted.

Sanders said he was "glad that, you know, years after I came out against it, she said 'Well, no, I think it’s a bad idea.'"

"In terms of the Keystone pipeline, you know, I am extremely worried, along with all of the scientists who have studied this issue that climate change is already causing devastating problems, and it’s only going to get worse unless we are bold in transforming our energy system," Sanders explained. "Well, if you’re going to be bold about transforming your energy system, you know what? You don’t give one second’s thought to supporting the Keystone pipeline, which is excavating and transporting some of the dirtiest fossil fuel on Earth. You don’t give a second thought. I opposed that from the very, very beginning."

Clinton "came around," Sanders said, again remarking that he was "glad" that she did so.

"In terms of Wall Street, you’re looking at a guy who helped lead the opposition to the deregulation of Wall Street. Wall Street spent $5 billion over a 10-year period to tell us what a great idea it would be if commercial banks and investor banks and large insurance companies would merge. I never believed it, and I believe we need to re-establish Glass-Steagall, and I believe we need to break up these large financial institutions," he said.

The former secretary of state has ideas about dealing with Wall Street, Sanders said, "but frankly, they don't go as far as they should."

"When you have banks with such economic and political power, with the six largest financial institutions, the equivalent of 60 percent of the GDP, in my view, you gotta break ‘em up," he said.

Rose pressed further: "Anything else she ought to change on that she has not changed on yet?"

"Yeah, this is what it’s about, Charlie. You know, what it’s about, it’s not just this issue or that issue. I guess she just recently came out, you know, a month, two months ago, I came out against the private corporations running prisons. And I understand now she’s come out against that as well. The issue is to understand what are the most important problems facing our country, and they are huge. To me, it comes down to the fact that its not just income and wealth inequality. It’s not just corporate control over the media. It is not only the fact that we have more people in jail than any other country on earth. It is not only that we have a campaign-finance system which is corrupt. The real issue is, who’s going to stand up to all of that? Who’s going to take on the corporate interests and Wall Street and try to create a government that works for all the people in this country rather than a small number of billionaires," he said. "That’s the issue. And if people think Hillary Clinton is that candidate, go for it."

Sanders told Rose that it is "not a question" of who stands tallest on those issues.

"I think any look at my life’s work, any look at what my agenda is today, suggests there is one candidate in this race who is prepared to stand up to the billionaire class, to stand up to Wall Street, corporate America, the big-money interests running a rigged economy in a rigged campaign-finance system," he said.

Those satisfied with establishment politics have a candidate, he said, adding that, "if you want real change, I’m the candidate."