My Name is Larry David

Press Release

That's how Bernie Sanders introduced himself on Sunday night.

He was joking.

He spoke to about 500 people at the Richardson Elementary School in Fort Madison, Iowa, one day after the real Larry David of "Seinfeld" fame played Bernie during a "Saturday Night Live" skit making fun of last week's Democratic debate. Earlier Sunday, Sanders had joked about how he might take advantage of David's impersonation. "I think we'll use Larry at our next rally. He does better than I do," Sanders said on ABC's "This Week"

But at the grade school in Fort Dodge, it didn't take long for Sanders to turn serious in remarks to the overflow audience.

"You can't solve problems unless you know what the issues are," Sanders said before listing challenges confronting, including first and foremost the greatest wealth and income inequality in the United States than at any time since before the Great Depression.

"What you have is an economy that is rigged. Heads Wall Street wins and tails the average Americans are losers," said Sanders. "Enough is enough."

He laid out a series of detailed proposals.

He called for tuition-free public colleges and universities. Every child in this country must know that regardless of their families' income they will be able to get a college education."

He advocated criminal justice reforms and declared that "it is far more important to invest in jobs and education than in jails and incarceration."

He spoke about the "corrupt" campaign system in the United States and pledged to only appoint justices to the Supreme Court who would overturn the Citizens United ruling that has let millionaires and billionaires buy elections.

He warned that global warming was a planetary crisis and said "we have the moral responsibility to lead the world and transform our energy system away from fossil fuels."

He said consumers in the United States pay by far the highest prices for prescription drugs and suggested that the best way to bring down costs for health care would be to adopt a Medicare-for-all, single-payer health care system.

The Iowans paid close attention as they listened to Sanders' hour-long speech.

Maybe Larry David and "Saturday Night Live" can make a skit about that.

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