Bernie Sanders stopped by Real Time With Bill Maher to speak about many issues that have come to define his record-breaking presidential campaign. According to The New York Times, Sanders labels himself a "Democratic-Socialist" and aims to lead a political "revolution" with his message of income equality and government beneficence.
Upon his arrival, Maher immediately pressed Sanders on the term "socialist" and its ugly connotation in American politics. Maher told Sander that 53% of American voters would not vote for a socialist. This stood in contrast to 75% who would vote for a gay president, 60% for a Muslim, and 58% for an atheist. Maher expressed support for Sanders, saying, "I want to help the campaign. I want to see you win the nomination. I want to see you be president."
He then appeared to make a concerted attempt to "un-demonize" the word socialist. As USA Today reports, 60% of Americans have a negative view of socialism. He argues that America is already a socialist nation, and its programs like Social Security and Medicare are among the most popular electorate. Bernie Sanders took issue with the claim, asserting that America is not a Socialist nation and the American public agrees with his entire political platform.
Maher continued to press Sanders on the feasibility of his proposals. He explained that a single-payer Medicare program, like the one Bernie Sanders supports, failed in Vermont because it was too costly. Bernie Sanders replied, "I'm not the Governor from the state of Vermont, I'm the Senator from the state of Vermont." Sanders claimed that our current health-care system is the least cost-effective of any "major" country, and that all others provide a single-payer option for their citizens. He said, "The function of health care should be to provide quality care to all people-not to make huge profit for the drug companies or the insurance companies."
The candidate also mentioned his plan to pay for free public universities to all, paid for by a tax on Wall Street speculation. Maher asked, "So you're saying we can pay for all this without taxing anyone but the 1%?" to which Sanders replied "May have to go down a little bit lower than that, but not much lower."
