Bernie Sanders is the cantankerous champion American labor needs
Win or lose, Bernie Sanders' unapologetic populism will change American politics, and the workplace, for the better
By SEAN ILLING
As we celebrate Labor Day 2015, it’s worth pausing to consider which candidate running for president best represents the working class. The Republicans, despite their folksy rhetoric, are the party of Big Business. For decades, their policies have undermined the economic interests of their social base. They support corporate tax cuts; they push trade deals that outsource jobs to low-wage countries; they oppose raising the minimum wage; they want to shrink social safety nets; they refuse to invest in America’s crumbling infrastructure and their pro-corporate policies, which masquerade as small government initiatives, have increased income inequality and put the squeeze on the middle class.
If you doubt the GOP’s indifference to working and middle class issues, re-watch the last Republican presidential debate. Among the many things not mentioned were campaign finance, the wealth gap, institutional corruption and student debt. These are all problems that disproportionately harm working class voters; Republicans ignore them because their policies are responsible for them and because they don’t have (or desire) solutions.
So that leaves the Democrats. As I wrote last month, there are two candidates who matter in the Democratic race right now: Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. If you’re concerned with the rights and welfare of workers, it’s not even close: Bernie Sanders is the most credible candidate. Clinton is conscious of Sanders, so she’s moved slightly to the left in recent months, but if you look closely at their positions on middle class issues, the contrast is clear.
In the last week or so, an image has gone viral which highlights the opposing views of Clinton and Sanders. From Wall Street chicanery to worker-owned cooperatives to the Trans-Pacific trade deal to financial corruption to military adventurism, Sanders is on the side of the working class — and Hillary is not. And even on an issue like raising the minimum wage, something of direct and immediate benefit to the poor, Clinton is tepid in her support, and opposes a national $15 minimum wage — the goal of the “Fight for 15? movement. Sanders, on the other hand, is unequivocal in backing the Fight for 15, as he is on most subjects.
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http://www.salon.com/2015/09/07/bernie_sanders_is_the_cantankerous_champion_american_labor_needs_why_hes_the_most_authentic_pro_worker_warrior/
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and recommended a whole bunch! 
