The Speech (Sanders book)

The Speech: A Historic Filibuster on Corporate Greed and the Decline of Our Middle Class

Author	Bernie Sanders
Language	English
Publisher	PublicAffairs, Bold Type Books
Publication date	March 1, 2011; 2015
Publication place	United States
Pages	288
ISBN	978-1-56858-554-3

The Speech: A Historic Filibuster on Corporate Greed and the Decline of Our Middle Class is a 2011 political book authored by U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders and published by PublicAffairs. In 2015, it was reprinted by Bold Type Books with a new foreword.^[1]

The book is a transcript of the filibuster Sanders delivered on the U.S. Senate floor on December 10, 2010, against the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010. The speech lasted 8 hours and 37 minutes.^[2]

Content

The book contains the text of the 8+1⁄2–hour speech Sanders delivered against the 2010 Tax Relief Act. The compromise bill proposed extending the Bush-era tax rates, while extending some of the provisions of the 2009 Recovery Act. Sanders argued that the legislation would favor the wealthiest Americans, mocking the need for the wealthy to own multiple homes. "Enough is enough! ... How many homes can you own?" he asked.^{[3][4][5][6][7]}

Despite his objections, the bill eventually passed the Senate with a strong majority, and was signed into law on December 17, 2010.^[8]

Reception

Matt Taibbi of Rolling Stone praised the book, saying, “Bernie Sanders is such a rarity, and people should appreciate what he’s doing not just for his home state of Vermont, but for the reputation of all politicians in general.”^[9]

In response to the speech, hundreds of people signed online petitions urging Sanders to run in the 2012 presidential election, and pollsters began measuring his support in key primary states.^[10] Progressive activists such as Rabbi Michael Lerner and economist David Korten publicly voiced their support for a prospective Sanders run against President Obama.^[10] While Sanders declined to run for president in 2012 (instead running for re-election to the Senate), he would later run in 2016 and again in 2020.^[11]

On February 28, 2020 a lo-fi edit of the speech was published on Youtube and has over 3.8 million views as of November 2024.^[12]

References

1. Sanders, Bernie (March 2011). "The Speech: A Historic Filibuster on Corporate Greed and the Decline of Our Middle Class". Google Books. ISBN 9781568586847. Retrieved February 5, 2020.
2. Toeplitz, Shira (December 10, 2010). "Sanders's last stand". POLITICO.
3. Memoli, Michael A. (December 10, 2010). "Sen. Bernie Sanders ends filibuster". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 1, 2011.
4. Burleigh, Nina (October 25, 2011). "Bernie Sanders' war on the banks". Salon. Retrieved July 19, 2015.
5. Condon, Stephanie (December 10, 2010). "Bernie Sanders Holds Old-School Filibuster Against Obama-GOP Tax Cut Deal". CBS News. Retrieved May 14, 2018.
6. Bedard, Paul (March 15, 2011). "Sanders's 8.5 Hour Tax Cut Filibuster Gets a Book". US News. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
7. Wing, Nick (December 10, 2010). "Bernie Sanders Filibuster: Senator Stalls Tax Cut Deal". The Huffington Post. Retrieved February 6, 2020..
8. Beutler, Brian (December 16, 2010). "House Passes Tax Cut Plan, Obama To Sign |". Talking Points Memo. Retrieved December 17, 2010.
9. "The Speech (Paperback)". Retrieved February 5, 2020.
10. Nichols, John (December 29, 2010). "That 'Sanders for President' Talk is Real Enough, But Bernie's Not Going There". The Nation. Archived from the original on January 2, 2021. Retrieved February 6, 2020.
11. Scott, Detrow (December 18, 2019). "'The Speech': How Sanders' 2010 Filibuster Elevated His Progressive Profile". NPR.
12. Mojoblitz (2020-02-28). Bernie Sanders 8 1/2 hour Filibuster but it's Lofi. Retrieved 2024-11-06 – via YouTube.

External links

• "Full Congressional Record Transcript of Sanders Filibuster". 2010-12-10. Archived from the original on 2020-12-10.
• Senator Bernie Sanders Filibuster, C-SPAN.