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Sanders campaign group forms

A new group has formed to support U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders’s campaign for president.

Calling themselves the Waupaca Bernie Sanders Coalition, the group held its first meeting Wednesday, Jan. 13.

“The members of the group are, like so many of our neighbors, frustrated with broken state and federal political systems. We understand that the deck is being stacked against us,” said Dmitri Martin, one of the group’s organizers. “The middle class keeps shrinking, making it harder and harder for most households to pay their bills and for local businesses to find customers who can afford their products and services.”

Martin said members of the group worry about how climate change will impact the the world their children will inherit. They are also frustrated by politicians who deny climate change or who lack the courage to take action.

“We understand that the lack of progress on these issues is due to the corruption of our elected officials. The Republicans and Democrats keep getting elected by telling their constituents what they want to hear. However, once they get elected, they do the bidding of their wealthy individual and corporate donors,” Martin said.

“So Wall Street gets bigger and more dangerous, health care reform is written to benefit insurance and big pharma companies, environmental policy gets sabotaged by corporate interests, the GEs and Walmarts of the world avoid paying taxes. The system benefits the rich, who keep getting richer as the politicians pass ever more laws that protect and favor them,” Martin said.

Martin noted that Sanders does not have a super PAC and that his campaign is primarily funded by small donations.

Noting that Sanders has served nine years in the Senate, 16 years in the House of Representatives and eight years as mayor of Burlington, Vermont, Martin stressed that Sanders is an independent.

“He may be running as a Democrat now but people should know that Bernie has always been an independent,” Martin said. “He is not afraid to take on either party or to work with either party when appropriate.”

The Waupaca Bernie Sanders Coalition’s will hold its next meeting at 5:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 22. Anyone interested in joining the group should email their contact info to [email protected].

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