The provided source material does not contain any information about free samples, promotional offers, no-cost product trials, brand freebies, or mail-in sample programmes. The documents focus exclusively on Bernie Sanders' political career, his policy proposals, and related editorial commentary. Therefore, it is not possible to write a detailed, comprehensive article on the requested topic based on the given sources.
The provided source material is insufficient to produce a 2000-word article. Below is a factual summary based on available data.
The source documents provide an overview of Bernie Sanders, an American politician. He is a United States Senator from Vermont, serving since 2007, and is described as the longest-serving independent in U.S. congressional history. He caucuses with the Democratic Party. A self-described democratic socialist and a New Deal-era American progressive, Sanders is pro-labor and emphasizes reversing economic inequality. He was born in Brooklyn, New York, and graduated from the University of Chicago in 1964. He was active in the Civil Rights Movement as a student protest organiser for the Congress of Racial Equality and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.
After moving to Vermont in 1968, Sanders worked as a union carpenter and freelance journalist. He became involved in the anti-Vietnam War movement, which led him into electoral politics. He ran unsuccessful campaigns for governor of Vermont and the U.S. Senate in the early to mid-1970s. In 1981, he was elected mayor of Burlington, Vermont's most populous city, by a narrow margin and was re-elected three times. In 1990, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Vermont's at-large congressional district. He co-founded the Congressional Progressive Caucus in 1991. He served in the House for 16 years before being elected to the U.S. Senate in 2006. He was re-elected to the Senate in 2012 with 71% of the popular vote.
Sanders announced his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination on April 30, 2015. Initially considered a long shot, he won 23 primaries and caucuses and received approximately 43% of the pledged delegates to Hillary Clinton's 55%. His 2016 campaign platform focused on domestic issues, including universal health care, tax increases on the wealthy, free tuition at public universities and colleges, campaign-finance reform, and stricter regulations on Wall Street.
In his legislative work, Sanders is noted as a reliable opponent of the George W. Bush administration and the Republican Party. He voted against the Iraq War and opposed tax cuts for wealthy individuals and corporations and cuts to social welfare programs. In 2010, he held a nearly nine-hour filibuster against the extension of the Bush tax cuts, which was later published as a book. He was a vocal opponent of the 2013 federal government shutdown, attributing it to the undue influence of big-money interests. His legislative sponsorships and amendments have concerned climate change, veterans’ affairs, and renewable energy.
A specific policy proposal mentioned is a bill introduced by Sanders to transition to a 32-hour work week (a four-day work week) over four years, with no reduction in pay. The bill would require overtime pay for any work beyond 32 hours per week and prevent companies from reducing pay or benefits. At a Senate committee hearing, Sanders presented testimony from Juliet Schor, a Boston University sociology professor, who cited trials indicating the reform could increase worker happiness and productivity. An editorial opinion piece in the source material criticises this proposal, stating it has no chance of passing and would be a reckless disruption to commerce and productivity, potentially driving up prices. The piece suggests Sanders should first test the proposal in Vermont.