Bernie Sanders visits Native American settlement in Iowa

[Cheese Sandwich]

MESKWAKI SETTLEMENT, Ia. – Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders made a rare stop at this central-Iowa Native American settlement on Friday, and won an enthusiastic response to his liberal populism.

Sanders, an independent U.S. senator from Vermont seeking the Democratic nomination, hit his regular talking points on addressing income inequality, enacting universal health care, making public higher education free for students and reforming campaign finance.

But he also addressed Native American concerns directly, invoking tribal respect for the land in his call for action on climate change and answering questions on the federal-tribal relations.

“Native American people, perhaps more than any other people in our country, have always known the relationship and the importance of treating nature with respect,” Sanders said, to rising applause from a crowd roughly evenly divided between white and Native American attendees.

He went on, “Native Americans forever have understood that we gain sustenance, we gain life from nature. You destroy nature, you destroy life and that is what we’re doing globally right now and that has got to change.”

In response to a question on the relationship between the government and Native American tribes, Sanders called for federal action to address economic, education and health care issues on reservations and other tribal lands – but with local autonomy.
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more: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/elections/presidential/caucus/2015/09/04/bernie-sanders-iowa-meskwaki-cedar-rapids/71599838/

[Enthusiast]

1. Bernie is simply awesome!

[merrily]

2. That's it. The man hates kids. I'm so over his primary run!

[Le Taz Hot]

3. This is awesome.

He doesn't miss any opportunity nor does he bypass any community. This is how a populist gets elected. This right here.