The light bulb going off in my head was a fear that in this pivotal moment in history, when America faces so many serious problems, when the middle class and working class of this country are being decimated, that there were not voices out there representing the tens of millions of people who needed a voice. And the idea of going through a campaign where there is not a serious discussion about the most important issues facing America, where there are not voices out there representing people who are hurting - that seemed to me unacceptable.

People are tired of working longer hours for lower wages, of seeing decent paying jobs go to China and other low-wage countries, of billionaires not paying any federal income taxes and of not being able to afford a college education for their kids - all while the very rich become much richer.

We live in a country where a small number of people have incredible wealth and power. America has more income and wealth inequality than any other major country.

I do not believe that we must maintain a bloated military budget which spends almost as much as the rest of the world combined and may lead us to perpetual warfare in the Middle East.

We are going to fight to pass the long over-due Equal Rights Amendment.

I think the way for [Marco] Rubio to say to [Donald] Trump supporters, hey, essentially he's conned you. He's a con man. That's what they do. You pour gold people.My goodness, that's not the way to bring them in.

If jazz education in our colleges were free to all it would provide thousands of good jobs in the music industry which has been taken over by corrupt millionaires and billionaires.