(CBS) - Senator Bernie Sanders believes that the super-rich and large corporations are actively working against working class Americans and in an interview with CBS News compared some of the ultra-wealthy to drug addicts. Ending corporate greed was the theme of a five-stop, two-day swing through Iowa this week – marking his return to a first in the nation state since suffering a heart attack 25 days ago.
"There's always been greed in this country -- no question about it. But I think 40, 50 years ago, the big money interest in this country made a decision that they were going to go to war against the working families of this country," Sanders told CBS News in an interview Friday.
"I think there has been a decision on the part of corporate America and the corporate elite that says, 'We want it all,'" he said.
According to a September report from the U.S. Census Bureau, the wealth gap between rich and poor Americans is the largest it's been in 50 years. On the trail with Bernie Sanders, that disparity is discussed on nearly constant refrain.
To rebalance the gap, Sanders' campaign earlier this month introduced a plan for "corporate accountability and democracy" which would raise federal income tax on major Americans corporations, including Amazon, GM, and Delta, from their current rate of zero. The plan would also make it more difficult for large businesses to merge and widen the reach of anti-trust laws.
Sanders also has a plan to implement a wealth tax, which would, according to the campaign's economists, in 15 years reduce the average billionaire's wealth by fifty percent.
In addition to restructuring corporate tax law, Sanders has the "Workplace Democracy Plan" aimed at elevating workers voices by ensuring 45% of board members are employees. The senator would also have workers establish unions with just a majority vote, including federal employees.
Sanders wants to change the way corporations do business, but he also believes a shift needs to occur in American values.
"We have to change, in a very fundamental way, the priorities of our nation," he said.
Asked by CBS News how that notion squares with the concept that the United States is the "land of opportunity" where anyone has a chance to accrue great success and wealth, Sanders said that there is a difference in ambitions between the working class and the rich.
The senator considers President Donald Trump to be an example of that wealth-driven corruption.
"Most people do not want to step on other people as they advance to the top. We have a president who, when he was in the private sector, lied and cheated and stole in order to make his money. I don't think that's where most people are," said Sanders.
Corruption, says Sanders, runs through American politics as well.
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