Everyone talks about this problem of Money in Politics.
Some Candidates have been talking about it long before "it was kool."
Bernie Sanders on What Money Does to Politics (with Video)
on billmoyers.com -- Sept 7, 2012
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“You’re looking at a nation with a grotesquely unequal distribution of wealth and income, tremendous economic power on Wall Street and now added to all of that is big money interests -- the billionaires and corporations now buying elections,” Sanders tells Bill. “I fear very much that if we don’t turn this around, we’re heading toward an oligarchic form of society.”
Transcript:
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BILL MOYERS: Tell me how that money works. I mean, you've been on the inside 20-some-odd years, as I sit. How does it actually work? We hear "money in politics."
BERNIE SANDERS: Well, this is how it works. And-- and this is what people do not appreciate. And it's true for Republicans and Democrats, as well. You do not know how many hours every single week, how many hours every single day people walk into the-- what we call the d-- Senate-- Democratic Senate Campaign Committee or the Republican Committee. And you know what they do? They dial for dollars. They dial for dollars, hour after hour after hour.
BILL MOYERS: Who are they calling?
BERNIE SANDERS: They're calling a list of people who have money. That's who they're calling. And what happens when you do that day after day, month after v-- month, your worldview becomes shaped by those people. And most of the money coming into your campaign coffers comes from those people. And you begin representing their perspective.
BILL MOYERS: Well, there are more-- it's more than that, isn't it? Because you just-- within the last few days or at least-- a long report on the billionaires--
BERNIE SANDERS: Absolutely.
BILL MOYERS: --who are pouring money into the--
BERNIE SANDERS: Absolutely. We have right now-- and this should frighten every American. As a result of this disastrous Citizens United decision, we're looking now at people-- like the Koch Brothers, putting in-- one family, $400 million. Adelson, worth $20 billion, putting in $100 million. We have over 23 billionaire families making large contributions, and I think that's a conservative number. So what you are looking at is a nation with a grotesquely unequal distribution of wealth and income, tremendous economic power on Wall Street, and now added to all of that is you have the big money interests, the billionaires and corporations now buying elections. This scares me very much. And I fear very much that if we don't turn this around, Bill, we're heading toward an oligarchic form of society.
"The United States of 23 Billionaires" -- it kind of has a nice ring to it, don't you think?
Ummm ... No!
You know how Senator Sanders says he's worried about how since Citizen United, Elections are now can be bought and sold by the Billionaires.
Well in this next article the good Senator, gives a concrete example of what he means:
Bernie Sanders: Rahm Emanuel's Re-Election Is Proof Citizens United Decision Stinks (with Video)
by Joseph Erbentraut, huffingtonpost.com -- 04/08/2015
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[Sanders] added he was especially disappointed by the drastic disparity between the more than $23 million in campaign cash Emanuel raised in the race -- money that bankrolled what the Chicago Tribune called a “nonstop stream” of TV ads -- and the $6 million Garcia challenger raised. (Among Emanuel's campaign contributors were hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin and billionaire finance executive Michael Sacks.)
“[Garcia] was outspent in that election 5-, 6-, 7-to-1, and I am wondering whether as a result of this terrible Citizens United decision, which says to billionaires you can now spend as much money as you want on elections, I am worried about whether any candidate who represents the working class and the middle class of this country will ever be able to beat the billionaire class,” Sanders said.
“So the lesson of Chicago is, you know, big money put a lot of money into Rahm Emanuel. We’re seeing this all over the country,” Sanders continued, “and unless we overturn this disastrous Citizens United Supreme Court decision, I worry about the future of American democracy.”
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So much for the quaint democratic concept of one person, one vote.
If you have enough "mad money" kicking around, you just might be able to buy all you need.
You can help to take a stand against this system of Billionaire-roulette:
berniesanders.com
Take a stand for "regular people" deciding who can run, and ultimately who can win, in our endangered Democracy, while we still can.