Vermont’s Senator Bernie Sanders, author of the new book, The Speech, appeared on The Daily Show last night to explain why he delivered an eight and a half hour "filibuster" on the Senate floor last year. "We have a middle class, which in many cases is collapsing," says Sanders, and the 400 wealthiest individuals in the country own more wealth than the bottom 150 million. "It’s insane to think the only way to move toward a balanced budget is by slashing college Pell grants" and making devastating cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and other programs. "And at the same time," Sanders concludes, "our Republican friends say, we’re going to do all these terrible things to the most vulnerable Americans, but you know what? We’re not going to ask billionaires to pay a nickel more in taxes."

—Kevin Gosztola