Mr. Sanders yikes we havent even started yet. Mr. Palomarez thank you very much for being with us, we have been looking forward to this and think you for making time to do this. It is important to us that [indiscernible] secretary clinton at about 60 the question is, mr. Senator are you, as they say what do you do plan to do to stay viable for the nomination . Mr. Sanders let me begin by thanking you for inviting me this is a wonderful turnout. Thank you all. We went into this campaign absolutely it has been wonderful,. If you and i were having a chat threeandahalf months ago and asking if i was running, i would have told you that i really did not know. My wife was not that excited about the idea. She is a very smart woman. We are cutting new into this game. I think its fair to say that secretary clinton has been thinking about this for a lot longer than i have. Let me tell you some of the issues we were struggling with when we were contemplating whether to get into this. It has everything to do with the answer to your question. Did we have a message that would resonate with the American People . Back message is that for 40 years the american middle class has been disappearing while the wealthiest people and largest corporations are doing phenomenally well and doing fundamental changes in economics and politics. I thought that message would resonate and it is. The other question we have to tackle is as a result of the Supreme Court decision which Citizens United which is one of the worst decisions ever which says the wealthiest people in america can buy elections. People can line up and they will give you hundreds of millions of dollars. We knew that we would be outspent. We thought we could raise enough money throughout the campaign and it turns out we were right. We have gotten over 300,000 individual contributions. The average is 35 each. That is a different way to raise money then going to a super pac where millionaires put down half a million or a million or 10 billion. Can we raise enough money, i think we can. The third issue is we understood that secretary clinton is very wellknown that we would have to develop a strong Grassroots Movement and we are doing that. Just last night we had 3500 organizational meetings in this country. We believe over 100,000 people came out. To answer your question, you are right, the poll numbers you gave are right. But we have the momentum in early states like New Hampshire and iowa. We are doing significantly better than the national numbers. I am not guaranteeing this victory but i think we have a very good chance to win if we can develop that Grassroots Movement all over this country. Mr. Palomarez congratulations certainly the message seems to be resonating. A followup question. How would you respond to governor omalleys likening of the recent surge to that of Donald Trumps . They are saying both of you are another summer flame. Mr. Sanders i am going to say what ive done for many years. When you have 100,000 people attending meetings last night when you have rallies and which 8, 10, 11,000 people come out. When you have a website which is being innovated by hundreds of thousands of people who are responding to our message. That in this great country it is unacceptable to have the most unequal distribution of wealth and income of any major western country honor. On earth. That we are the only country to deny health care as a right. The only country on earth that does not allow family and medical leave or paid sick leave or paid vacation time. That the rich get richer and everyone else is getting poorer. This is not a summer flame. These are issues resonating with the American People who loudly and clearly have said enough is enough. This economy and our political system are handing everything to a handful of billionaires. Mr. Palomarez on to the economy and small business. A Washington Post article you stated that you would not deny it for one second, you are a democratic socialist. One of the most distant wishing factors of your candidacy is that you have, very openly claimed to be a socialist. While they stand for a free market economy where all printers should be able to pursue their jury in American Dream with limited legislation i find it commendable to see you are not shying away from your beliefs. In fact we respect that. What we respect most of any candidate is transparency and consistency. However, as a Business Organization your views do concern me. The question is, how would the sanders economic platform translate into growth for american Small Businesses . Mr. Sanders good question. Before i answer this, let me back up and put it into context. , before we decide how to go forward we have to know where we are today. Sometimes we dont discuss that enough. Where we are today is the median Family Income in america at 5,000 less than it was in 1999. Where we are today is that we have the highest rate of childhood poverty of any major country on earth. Where we are today is the 45 million americans living in poverty. Where we are today is that a recent study came out from Economic Policy institute and it said this about youth unemployment. A High School Graduate between 17 and 20 that is white real unemployment is 33 . Hispanic is 36 . Africanamerican unemployment is 51 . 35 Million People have no Health Insurance. We have a child care system which is a disaster. Working families in most cases are not comfortable they can find affordable, quality child care. That is some of the realities of the economy today. If u. S. Me if im a democratic socialist, i am. It means i have the courage to look at countries around the world that are, in fact, doing things better than we are just as there are things that we do that are better than what other countries do. Smart people look and steal the best ideas available. We look at cities all over america, what a San Francisco doing . What can we steal . This is what we can still. From a business perspective People Struggle every day and spend huge amounts of time on Health Insurance. I would think that a small businessman would like to spend his or her time worrying about the business and how it will grow, not figuring out talking to 87 different people as the how they will get Affordable Health care for their workers. Is a fair statement . Mr. Palomarez absolutely. Mr. Palomarez mr. Sanders every other major western country has health care as a right. Not only would that be a benefit of the people, it would take the burden off small business. We are the only major country that does not do this. What about family and medical leave . Today in america a low income woman gives birth, she has to get back to work in five days. Is that morally right . I dont think so. We are the only major country that does not provide family and medical leave. What about education . We both know a country doesnt grow without education. There are hundreds of thousands of qualified bright young people today who desperately want a higher education. They cannot get it. They cannot afford it. That is why i believe we should bring free tuition to public colleges and universities. It helps america. When i talk about democratic socialism, im saying take a look at whats happening in sweden. Free college, free health care. I think it makes sense to look at countries that are doing good things for working families. Taxes. We may have disagreements. But let me be very frank when you have the most unequal level of income and wealth inequality of any major western country. When you have major corporations, im not talking about small, major multimillion dollar corporations with money and the Cayman Islands not paying money and taxes. That is wrong and i will do away with those loopholes. Mr. Palomarez i did want to hear from you, in particular, how would president senders address the needs of minority owned businesses, specifically hispanic businesses . Can you share a bit about that . Mr. Sanders when real unemployment is as high as it is right now, i think you have to invest in rebuilding our infrastructure. I have introduced legislation that would spend a trillion dollars over a fiveyear. Five year perido. The Hispanic Community is heavily involved in the rebuilding and a very significant percentage of hispanic businesses are involved in construction. If we rebuild our roads, Water Treatment plants, this will make america stronger and more efficient. It will provide millions of jobs and i think it will be a significant boost to the Hispanic Community. Mr. Palomarez thank you for the response. I would like to chat about something we feel strongly about here. That is equal pay. As you know, in this country womens wages continue to stubbornly lag behind mens even when doing the exact same job. With women more or less earning . 70 on the dollar and Hispanic Women more like . 54 on the dollar. Why do you think that is and as president , what would you do to address that disparity . Mr. Sanders i think it has to do, to be honest, with sexism. That many businesses are owned by men. I think it is also part of a historical trend where 50 years ago and 40 years ago, when and maybe were working for a few hours a week and went home and took care of the kids. As you know we have the best majority of people with working women, many have kids and are now in the workforce. It is unacceptable. As statistics tell us, we are discriminating against women and i applaud organizations that can say it is indefensible, i dont know how anybody can defend women making less, whatever the money may be, dollars or cents per hour compared to men. I very strongly believe in two things. One, you may agree with and one you may not. First i agree with and i strongly support it, we have to move toward pay equity for all women and a discussion. And a discussion end of discussion. We may not be on the same page. I believe the federal minimum wage is a starvation wage and is inadequate so i am supportive of efforts of los angeles and San Francisco and new york and seattle to raise the minimum wage over a few years to 15 per hour. I have introduced legislation in the senate for a 15 per hour minimum wage. Mr. Palomarez we are on the same page with both counts. We are doing very well. [applause] maybe this isnt a summer flame. Mr. Sanders it surprising to me, as you know, we are being forced by many businesses who do not want to strengthen us and i applaud you. You and the organization for having the courage to say that people cannot survive on 7. 25 per hour. Mr. Palomarez if you look at the track record, 13. 2 million of them collectively contributing 486 billion to the economy and growing at a rate of three to one compared to the general market if you look at their employee base. It vastly, they are paying much more than minimum wage to their own employees. Mr. Sanders im going to give you some applause for that. Mr. Palomarez on to trade. We are doing well but on the trade. An issue that the ushcc has worked on that we dont always agree with we have worked hard on the administrations trade dress agenda 98 of u. S. Businesses that do actually export, we believe that access to markets abroad is a good thing for the entrepreneurs we represent with more than 90 of the Global Market being outside the United States. Can you tell us a bit about your concerns with the Transpacific Partnership . Mr. Sanders mr. Sanders please do not misunderstand my position as being something we put a wall around america. Trade is a good thing. The question is what kind of trade agreements do we establish . I voted, when i first got into congress in 1991. I voted against permanent trade relations with china and im hoping to leave the opposition against the tpp. I have always believed and i think the acts show that these trade agreements were essentially written by Corporate America and bigmoney interests by wall street, by the pharmaceutical industry. They were not written with the goal of improving the life of the people of the United States. What they were written to do was say you do not have to pay workers in this country 15, or 25 per hour. You can shut down in america and moved to vietnam or mexico. You can pay substantially lower wages and bring profits back to america. I believe that was the intention of these pieces of legislation and i believe that is what is happened. Since 2001, we have lost almost 60,000 factories. Im not going to tell you thats all it to be the low to trade all attributable to trade. A lot of Companies Say if you dont take a pay cut we will go to china because we can. I believe in trade but not unfettered trade. I do not believe American Workers should be forced to compete with workers around the world who make pennies per hour. That is unfair. The tpp has additional provisions which i do not like. We need a trade agreement which works for workingclass families as well as people around the world, not just at the ceos of large corporations. Mr. Palomarez your track record against nafta and tpp, which you classify or characterize yourself as antitrade . Mr. Sanders no. I am against these philosophies of trade agreements. I am against a trade agreement which result in job loss of america. We have lost millions of jobs as a result of these agreements. I am against that. I believe we can establish policies that work with Small Businesses and work with workers in our country and people in other countries. That is not in the philosophy behind the trade agreements that i have seen in the last 20 years. Mr. Palomarez on to one of your favorites. Financial institutions. The ushcc works with the broadest array of Financial Institutions in this country because they provide billions of dollars every year in loans. They are a reliable source and a ready source of credit and capital for Small Businesses. When it comes to large Financial Institutions you have a similar position to governor omalley regarding free and starting reinstating something that i think would break up some of the largest banks. By the way, a position that secretary clinton does not support. Can you explain to us, and my numbers, why we should be supportive of your stance on Financial Institutions . Mr. Sanders heres where we are. And it has been in my view for a very long time. We have six of the largest Financial Institutions in this country. Who have access to assets of 10 trillion, which is equivalent to 60 of the gdp of the United States. You have a handful of huge Financial Institutions that have Enormous Economic clout. They issues significant amounts of mortgages in this country and credit cards. The first issue is, for a vibrant economy do we think it is a good idea for a handful of Financial Institutions to have that much economic clout . Vibrant green enterprise economy, i think no. I think of Teddy Roosevelt were alive today he would insist on breaking these guys up because they are too big. Everyone in this room were membered what happen in 2008. In my view, to a significant degree the Business Model of wall street is not to get money out to your people. I believe in a Banking System that people put money into banks, banks lend out money to small or mediumsized businesses that make jobs and help people by homes. That is what i believe in. What wall street has done is create a Business Model which says we really dont care about small or mediumsized businesses. We care about being an island unto ourselves coming up with the most esoteric financial tools imaginable that nobody knows that enables wall street to make huge amounts of money in highly dangerous and speculative activities. That led us to the wall street crash of 2008 which created the worst economic downturn since the great recession. I personally believe the Business Model of wall street is broad. Fraud. I do not trust or believe these guys or believe that they care about the economy. They care about themselves. I wanted Banking System where you have small or mediumsized banks where your people can walk in and somebody can know who you are and know your history and give a reasonable priced loan. You are part of a community. I do not want people as an island separate from the productive economy. I believe number one, if you check my record you will find i was a member of the House Financial Service committee that that with deregulation. We had the clinton and broken people republican people. They said it would be a good idea to merge investment banks with commercial banks with large insurance companies. It would be great for a internationally and i never believed it for one second. In my mind what we have to do is reestablish and maintain separate entities but more importantly we have to break them up. The economy will do better. Small businesses will have access to affordable loans much more readily. [applause] mr. Palomarez i want to clarify, i know when you say your people, you mean american Small