Sanders Campaign Press Release - Time for 'Change in America,' Sanders Tells Iowa Town Meetings

WATERLOO, Iowa – A crowd of 1,450 supporters on Saturday packed the gymnasium at Waterloo West High School to hear Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders call for "change in America" to "create an economy that works for the middle class and working families, not just a handful of billionaires."

Sanders spoke about what he called "a rigged economy" and the "grotesque level of income inequality that exists in America today" with most people working longer hours for lower wages while almost all of the new income is going to those on top. "It is heads they win, tails you lose," the senator said.

The Saturday night stop in this Black Hawk County city came during a weekend swing through the state where caucus goers on Feb. 1 will begin the process of picking the Democratic Party presidential nominee at precinct caucuses in living rooms and school gymnasiums across the state.

Earlier in Dubuque, at the Grand River Center hugging the banks of the Mississippi River, Sanders drew nearly 1,000 supporters at the second of three town meetings.

Over 600 people had turned out earlier in the day at a middle school in Clinton, Iowa, where Sanders spoke about a climate change accord unveiled this weekend at an international summit near Paris. The pact falls short of the bold actions needed to reverse global warming, he said. "I believe they have made some progress but have not gone anywhere near as far as we have to go," Sanders added.

The crowds at Sanders events continued to be more energized and bigger than other candidates have attracted so far this campaign. The turnout in Clinton, for example, was bigger than the turnout earlier in the week for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

In addition to the three town meetings, the day's first stop was a forum on criminal justice in Anamosa, Iowa. At a grade school in a town that also hosts a state penitentiary, the senator moderated a panel that featured two former prisoners.

At Anamosa and other stops, Sanders also discussed how the news media fail to focus on issues that most working families in Americans face, like the need for a massive federal jobs program, the shortage of quality child care for working families and the importance of making college available to all students who are qualified regardless of their income.

"They'd rather have us fighting against each other," he said of the campaign trail news that makes network news instead. "Let's ban all Muslims, let's talk about that. Let's not talk about how we all come together to create an economy that works for all rather than the top 1 percent."

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