Good morning my fellow Americans. I come to you this morning to tell you that I truly believe I have what it takes to make real change in this country. Year after year, Americans get poorer, their schools get worse, and they waste away under the weight of our own society. 

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We pride ourselves on being a nation of equals. But let me remind you today, of what true equality is. Equality means that children, regardless of their socioeconomic backgrounds, have access to quality education. Equality means that everyone has the ability to support their family without sacrificing their own freedoms. Equality means that no one has to die on account of substandard health coverage. Equality means that all Americans are given the same chance.

Our nation, great as it is, is no longer quite to the caliber of other such industrialized nations. That is a hard truth to face, but it is one we must face if we ever wish to change that fact. 

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According to the 2018 Census, there are 38.1 million people in poverty in America. We are no longer a beacon to the rest of the world. It is time now to recognize these issues. It is time now to change this. It is time now to reform this great nation. 

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Our education system is floundering. We have fallen behind. Now more than ever it is vital to reform our public education. We have not done enough for our children and it is not due to a lack of resources; the United States is one of the wealthiest nations in the world. We spend more on each student than almost any other nation, but we need better policies.

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That means adopting standardization programs to make sure all schools are held to the same performance standard, paying teachers a living wage, and equalizing the share of resources among all school systems. 

This extends to college. I will fight to make colleges more accountable for the exorbitant fees they charge students. This means erasing student debt and making college more affordable and more accessible because it is imperative to ensure the prosperity of the future of America. 

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While in office, I will also fight for the working class as no president before me has. The level of wealth disparity in this nation is simply unacceptable. Data from the Federal Reserve shows that the top 1% owns nearly ⅓ of all US household wealth. My colleagues in this race provide no real solution for this, but with my plans for tax reform and healthcare I can tell you that no longer will the poor bear such a heavy burden. 

Right now, men like Jeff Bezos are able sit on billions of dollars while those in need suffer. Billionaires like him are the Carnegies of today and no longer should our nation heed to things so foolish as the Gospel of Wealth. We propose a wealth tax on our nation’s wealthiest individuals that raises the revenue the nation needs without dealing a heavy blow to those currently trying to accumulate wealth. According to CNBC, the richest 1% of the nation averaged about 23 million per household in 2016. A tax that takes even 1% of that wealth each year would yield about 4 trillion dollars over a decade giving us the resources to implement vital reforms. 

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This brings me to my healthcare program. We will implement a single-payer healthcare program that guarantees every single American access to quality healthcare. In the year 2019 it is simply unacceptable that there are people in this nation dying because they simply cannot afford the medication they need to survive. I firmly believe that it is the government’s duty to provide this health insurance for our people because life is a right, not a privilege. 

Our nation must fight to restore its international reputation as well. We must stop participating in and funding meaningless wars abroad, particularly in the Middle East. While these wars may continue to break out on account of relations between those countries in the Middle East, it is time for America to stop adding fuel to that fire.

We also need to establish ourselves as leaders in clean and renewable energy. In office we will launch the Green New Deal; shifting our nation’s reliance on green power by building new solar, wind, and geothermal energy sources, and creating 20 million jobs in the process. We will rejoin the Paris Agreement and overall seek to cut our carbon emissions to ensure that we will maintain a livable Earth for generations to come.

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These changes may not be easy and they may not be cheap, but for 236 years this nation has been trying and failing to live up to the values of freedom and equality that it claims to be built upon. Once I am in office, I will ensure that the United States finally live up to what our founding fathers aspired for this great country of ours.

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