We can have paid family and medical leave. We can make public colleges and universities tuition-free. These are not revolutionary, radical ideas. They're kind of common sense.

The right wing in this country is waging a war against women, and let me be very clear, it is not a war that we are going to allow them to win.

There are many major crises facing our country. At the top of the list is the need to overturn Citizens United. If billionaires are able to buy elections and elect right-wing candidates, there is no way we will ever address climate change, college education, affordability, job creation, raising the minimum wage and taking on Wall Street.

How can the United States be competitive globally if higher education is unaffordable? Germany, Austria, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Scotland and Sweden have no tuition for college. Other countries have low tuition. We need the best educated workforce in the world. Instead of spending endless amounts on the military, we need to invest in our young people.

I am the longest- serving independent in the history of the United States Congress. People of Vermont sent me to Washington as an independent. That is true.

Politics in a democratic society should not be treated like a baseball game, a game show or a soap opera. The times are too serious for that.

A job should lift workers out of poverty, not keep them in it.