Bernie Sanders, a Violin and the Disappearing Middle Class

In December, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., made a noble attempt to filibuster against the extension of the Bush tax cuts. Predictably, his effort failed, and President Obama and members of the 111th Congress assumed responsibility for $858 billion in public money lost over the following two years.

Sanders’ testament serves as a rare archive of grim and disgusting statistics rarely mentioned by U.S. politicians and the mainstream press. Fortunately, Nation Books published his eight-and-a-half-hour speech in March, and excerpts have appeared in numerous articles and videos all over the Internet, including this especially moving piece by multimedia artists Nora Ligorano and Marshall Reese. —ARK