US: Sanders announces a farmers’ right-to-repair and antitrust proposal

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders on Sunday, May 5, proposed a sweeping agriculture and rural investment plan to break up big agriculture monopolies and shift farm subsidies toward small family farmers.

“I think a farmer that produces the food we eat may be almost as important as some crook on Wall Street who destroys the economy,” Sanders said during a campaign event in Osage, a town of fewer than 4,000 people. “Those of us who come from rural America have nothing to be ashamed about, and the time is long overdue for us to stand up and fight for our way of life.”

Sanders’ plan expands on themes that have been central to his presidential campaign in Iowa since the start, including his emphasis on rural America and pledge to take on and break up big corporations.

During his Sunday speech, Sanders outlined the dire circumstances confronting rural America: population decline, school and hospital closures, and rising addiction and suicide rates in many rural counties nationwide as the impetus for his policy.

Sanders is the second candidate, following Senator Elizabeth Warren, to get serious about trying to win over traditionally red regions by rolling out comprehensive policy plans that seek to restructure government programs and step up antitrust enforcement.