From the Bernie
Sanders Campaign:
Dear Sisters and
Brothers,
“I like to give on a scale where I can see
impact...” - David Koch
Earlier this year, a
number of Republicans flew to California to make fundraising pitches to more
than four hundred wealthy conservative donors attending a private conference
hosted by the Koch brothers.
It’s worth taking a
moment to ask the question, who are the Koch brothers, and what do they want?
The Koch brothers are
the second-wealthiest family in America worth $82 billion. For the Koch
brothers, $82 billion in wealth apparently is not good enough. Owning the
second-largest private company in America is apparently not good enough. It
doesn’t appear that they will be satisfied until they are able to control the
entire political process.
This issue isn't
personal for me. I don't know the Koch brothers, but I do know this. They have
advocated for destroying the federal programs that are critical to the
financial and personal health of middle class Americans.
Now, most Americans
know that the Koch brothers are the primary source of funding for the Tea
Party, and that’s fine. They know that they favor the outright repeal of the
Affordable Care Act, and that’s their opinion. It’s wrong, but that’s fine as
well.
But it is not widely
known that David Koch once ran for Vice President of the United States of
America on the Libertarian Party ticket because he believed Ronald Reagan was
much too liberal. And he ran on a platform that included the following:
·
“We favor the repeal
of the fraudulent, virtually bankrupt and increasingly oppressive Social
Security system.”
·
“We favor the abolition
of Medicare and Medicaid programs.”
·
“We support repeal of
all laws which impede the ability of any person to find employment, such as
minimum wage laws…”
·
“We support the
eventual repeal of all taxation.”
In 1980, David Koch’s
presidential ticket received one percent of the vote from the American people.
And rightly so. His views were so extreme they were rejected completely out of
hand by the American people.
But fast forward
almost thirty-six years, and one of the most significant realities of modern
politics is just how successful David Koch and the like-minded billionaires
attending his retreat have been at moving the Republican Party to the extreme
right. The ideas above that were dismissed as downright crazy in 1980 are now
part of today’s mainstream Republican thinking.
The Koch brothers, and
billionaires like them, have bought up the private sector and now they’re
buying up the government. It’s up to us to put a stop to them, but it will
require all of us standing together with one voice on this issue.
Here’s the truth: The
economic and political systems of this country are stacked against ordinary
Americans. The rich get richer and use their wealth to buy elections, and I
believe that we cannot change this corrupt system by taking its money. If we’re
serious about creating jobs, health care for all, climate change, and the needs
of our children and the elderly, we must be serious about campaign finance reform.
So far in this
election, less than four hundred families have contributed the majority of all
the money raised by all the candidates and super PACs combined. According to
media reports, one family will spend more money in this election than either
the Democratic or Republican Parties.
This is not democracy.
This is oligarchy.
Our job is not to
think small in this moment. The current system of campaign finance in this
country is utterly corrupt. That is one of the reasons I am so proud of how we
have funded our campaign — over 2.5 million contributions from working
Americans giving less than $30 at a time. But our campaign is unique.
We must pass a
constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United, and I will not nominate
any justice to the Supreme Court who does not make it abundantly clear that she
or he will overturn that decision. We need legislation that requires wealthy
individuals and corporations who make large campaign contributions to disclose
where their money is going. And more importantly, I believe we need to move
towards the public funding of elections.
Our vision for
American democracy should be a nation in which all people, regardless of their
income, can participate in the political process, can run for office without
begging for contributions from the wealthy and the powerful.
Tomorrow afternoon
I’ll be in New York City to deliver a major speech about our need to create a
financial system that works for all Americans, not just the few. I’ll be in
touch shortly after. I hope that you’ll keep an eye on your inbox for my
message.
In solidarity,
Bernie Sanders
No comments:
Post a Comment