>> Bernie Sanders recently took 12 individuals from the United States to Canada in order
to prove a point about pharmaceutical drug prices.
Now, most of the people who went to Canada, did so, in order to purchase insulin, which
is price is extremely high here in the United States.
What I loved about what he did though, was that, the people who agreed to be part of
this trip, didn't know that Bernie Sanders was behind it.
They didn't know that Bernie's campaign paid for it.
Because he didn't want to make this some political, hey, Bernie Sanders is sponsoring a trip to
Canada, thing.
He really wanted to draw attention to the fact that there's a huge disparity between
what people in the United States, spent on these drugs and what people in Canada spent.
So take a quick look at this video, which kind of highlights what happened during the
trip, and then I'll give you some numbers.
We're saving $10,000 today.
>> So they are paying here less than 1/10 of what they are paying in Indiana-
>> Yes.
>> At a time when the manufacturers of insulin made $14.5 billion in profit Last year.
>> How can we be the greatest country, and I am paying that much?
>> Shame.
>> How can you sleep at night knowing that kids can't afford insuiln?
>> I realized what my mom and my family had to take on.
I realized that they were giving up and sacrificing so much just to keep me alive.
I decided that I'm going to take one for the team this time.
>> We made hard decisions.
We say, okay, we'll not pay the electric bill this month, but we'll catch up next month.
Because we've fallen into this loophole where at the beginning of the year, we have a high
deductible.
So how do I meet Meet paying tuition?
How do I meet paying our household bills?
How do I meet paying for the medicine that I have to have to keep my son alive?
>> So I wanna break down the cost of insulin in the United States versus Canada.
A vial of insulin costs around $340 in the United States, but it was $36 over the counter
in Windsor, which is where they went.
The result of more vigorous government price controls.
One prescription drug sold in the United States, NovoLog, which people with Type 1 diabetes
(and some with Type 2) need to survive, went up 353 percent in price between 2001 to 2016.
Even at Canadian prices, it's still turning a profit for drugmakers.
So, that last sentence, honestly, shouldn't matter, but it does.
Because the big argument is, that these companies spend so much money on research and development,
even though the US taxpayer actually subsidizes quite a bit of that.
And they wanna make their money back.
It a BS argument, plain and simple.
And I like that people are waking up to this, they're aware of what things look like in
other countries.
And I like that Bernie did this.
Because it's not just about pushing a policy, it's about walking the walk and making a point.
He really did that with this trip.
>> Yeah, this trip had a lot wrapped up in it, which really tells you a lot about Bernie.
He's the real thing.
He's truly authentic as Anna says.
He didn't really seek sort of self aggrandisement or a political moment, the way you'd see from
many of the other.
If not all the other candidates that I can think of.
And the other thing is, it points up the issue which is taking on Big Pharma.
So when, and I don't mean, but it is a political season, so why not talk about it?
When you talk about taking on Big Pharma, who seems as though they really have the courage
of their convictions, Bernie sanders.
You can argue also, Elizabeth Warren, and then after that, there might be a diminishment
of that.
I mean, certainly, not Joe Biden, right?
We know that.
But again, this is an issue that the democrats can make hay on, and certainly, Bernie can
make hay on it because he's really out there as part of it.
>> We talked about, as you mentioned that the, I guess the fact based on reality version
of what the Sanders campaign was doing here.
Without knowing what it was, most campaigns will do, make sure their follow-up is right,
make sure people that are gonna be saying something or saying something on message.
It's easy when the message is reality, so you don't have to guess what are they gonna
say when they realize that they saved $10,000 just on insulin medication.
Which, by the way, the lady had to pay $1,000 that day for 24 or some, 23 to 24 of them,
right?
>> Six months worth, yeah.
>> And just that $1,000, how many families wouldn't be able to do that either?
It's the other part of this.
So, we’re talking about dropping it from 10,000 to 1,000, and that’s still crazy,
in my mind.
But also, people said they voted for this president that’s in office now because he’s
going to help with drug prices.
Drug prices are exorbitant and he’s going to do something about it.
And he’s had these initiatives and saying he’s doing something about it, then the
drug companies give him the middle finger and say stop, and then stops.
People aren’t holding to count in that one.
They’re talking about how he’s still trying to push for his wall, and how he’s still
trying to push for the immigration changes and the halt of immigrant refugees in the
first place.
But once he fails on something like this, somehow we just don’t care.
So once the message is given from real people rather than a politician, where they’re
saying, hey, he’s trying to fool you.
Is this lady trying to fool you?
Is her kids trying to fool you, when he says, yeah, I decided to risk death?
>> My gosh, so much to unpack with that.
Because, again, it goes back to the fact that he's the real deal.
He's had the same message, and he's been fighting for the same policies since the beginning
of his political career.
But what I thought was so interesting was, part of the reason why he didn't want to let
these people know, that he was behind this or helping to sponsor and pay for this, is
because he didn't want it to be Bernie Sanders supporters who get to go.
He wants everyone, regardless of your political affiliation to go, because it's about an educational
experience.
It's about seeing firsthand what a different system would look like.
And so, let me just give you the details on who was behind it in addition to Bernie Sanders.
The Americans on the bus again didn't know Sander`s campaign was paying for the trip
when they signed up for it.
The advocacy group Insulin for All, which helped find diabetics for the bus ride, designed
it that way.
Several of the participants didn't even know what Sanders was about.
So this quote from a Trump voter is so important because this is how you change hearts and
minds.
You don't do it by hyperfocusing on his racism, right?
You do it by talking about candidates would actually help them when it comes to the things
that matter most.
So Rachel Lockwood, again, a Trump voter said, I honestly have no opinion opinion about Bernie
Sanders, except that if he can help us, he's my guy.
I actually don't really know much about Bernie's Medicare-for-all plan.
So again, I get frustrated, because the debates about whether or not Trump is racist are stupid
because he's racist, we already know that, we've adjudicated it.
I'm not saying you don't cover his racism and condemn his racism because people get
hurt as a result of the things he says.
But if you want to change hearts and minds, you focus on the issues that Americans are
suffering from.
Like the high cost of prescription drugs, the fact that most people don't have health
care that's affordable and that actually works for them.
You talk about the reality of the economy.
You don't just regurgitate Trump's talking points about how the economy is fantastic.
It's not just about what's happening in the stock market.
What are happening with wages?
What are the quality of these jobs?
>> People have to convince themselves when they change their mind.
It's why it's so hard to do one.
I guess the Neanderthal approach is to say, is to throw out lies and it’s easier for
that to be read for folks.
But then, when you have to have such a roundabout argument that first of all brings up the point,
asks them if they care about it, then you have to trick people almost to convince themselves
to change their mind.
You actually care about this?
Here, let me show you what the reality of it is, so you can see it rather than you listening
to me because they’ve been brainwashed by whoever they support.
Telling them, everything that that person tells you is a lie, they hate America.
And that's such a simple, stupid point.
But when somebody shows you the reality, and then they go, wow, I'm getting ripped off.
You can't say, hey, Miss Miller, you're getting ripped off.
She's gonna say, get out of here.
>> Right.
>> She has to tell herself, I'm getting ripped off.
And that's so much harder to do.
>> But his lies about Big Pharma and taking on Big Pharma, I think Ana is 100% right.
And, in fact, I couldn't have said it better.
Everything Ana said is so right on, because the racism conversation takes you way, way
into deep space, away from the real Big Pharma issues.
And he will take on Big Pharma, but leave Bernie Sanders out.
Let's just talk about Donald Trump and how he's disappointed you.
He promised you this, that he would take on the big drug companies.
That he wouldn't be beholden to big money cuz he's got so much money for himself that
he'd drain the swamp.
All of that, lies.
But the healthcare debate, and I put that in quotes, the healthcare points you can score
with Big Pharma at its center.
That's a huge political win for the democrats.
It has to be exploited, at every turn.
I'd turn the racism argument around and say, of course MSNBC or mainstream media, whoever's
being interviewed.
Of course, he's righteous.
We know he's righteous.
But this distracts from the real disappointment and obscenity that this presidency has been.
Because he led people that really needed help, help taking on Big Pharma.
He led them astray, and now he's disappointed them once again.
I would constantly return to the drum beat of how he's lied.