Corporate money is dominating
our democracy.
It's difficult to do anything –
increase the minimum wage,
reverse climate change, get
Medicare for All,
end police killings, fight
systemic racism,
shrink our bloated military –
it's difficult to do any of this
when big money controls
our politics
and dictates what policies are
and aren't enacted.
The pandemic has made that
clearer than ever.
The CARES Act,
passed in late March as our
pandemic response began,
quietly provided huge benefits
to wealthy Americans
and big corporations.
One provision doled out $135
billion in tax relief
to people making at least half
a million dollars.
That's the richest 1% of
American taxpayers.
This $135 billion is three times
more than the measly $42 billion
allocated in the CARES Act for
safety-net programs
like food and housing aid.
It’s just shy of the $150 billion
going to struggling state
governments,
and vastly more than the
$100 billion being spent
on overwhelmed hospitals
and other crucial public
health services.
As Americans are still suffering
massive unemployment
and the ravages of the pandemic,
lobbyists are crawling all over
Capitol Hill and the White House,
seeking continued subsidies for
the rich and for corporations —
while demanding an end to
supplemental assistance
for average working people, the
poor, and the unemployed.
It’s corruption in action, friends.
And it’s undermining our
democracy at every turn.
Ask yourself how, during a
global pandemic,
the total net worth of U.S.
billionaires has climbed
from $2.9 trillion to $3.5 trillion,
when more than 45.5 million
Americans
filed for unemployment benefits.
Is it the billionaire's skill?
Or the billionaire's luck?
Or the billionaire's insight?
No.
It’s their monopolies,
enabled by their stranglehold on
American democracy.
Monopolies like Amazon, Google,
and Facebook,
which have grown even larger
during the pandemic.
It’s also their access to
insider information
so they can do well in the
stock market,
like Senator Richard Burr,
chairman of the Senate
intelligence committee,
and Senator Kelly Loeffler,
whose husband
happens to be chairman of the
New York Stock Exchange.
Both were fully briefed on the
likely effects of the coronavirus
last February and promptly
unloaded their shares of stock
in companies that would be
hit hardest.
And it’s the tax cuts
and subsidies
they’ve squeezed out of
government.
You are paying for all of this —
not just as taxpayers but also
as consumers.
When you follow the money,
you can see clearly
how every aspect of American life
has been corrupted.
Take prescription drugs…
We spend tens of billions of
dollars on prescriptions
every year, far more per person
than citizens in any other
developed country.
Now that millions of Americans
are unemployed
and without insurance,
they need affordable prescription
drugs more than ever.
And yet, even the prices of drugs
needed by coronavirus patients
are skyrocketing.
Big Pharma giant Gilead is
charging a whopping $3,120
for its COVID drug, Remdesivir,
even though the drug
was developed
with a $70,000,000 grant from
the federal government
paid for by American taxpayers.
Once again, Big Pharma is set to
profit on the public's dime.
And they get away with it
because our lawmakers
depend on their campaign
donations to remain in power.
As you watch this,
Mitch McConnell is actively
blocking a bill
drafted by Senate Republicans
to reduce drug prices —
after McConnell took more
than $280,000
from pharmaceutical companies
so far this election season.
Big Pharma is just one example.
This vicious cycle is found in
virtually every sector,
and it’s why we continue to be
met with politicians
who don’t have our best
interests at heart.
So how do we get big money out
of our democracy?
A good starting point
can be found in the sweeping
reform package
known as H.R. 1 —
the For the People Act.
The bill closes loopholes
that favor big corporations
and the wealthy,
makes it easier for all of
us to vote,
it strengthens the power of
small donors
through public financing
of elections —
a system which matches $6 of
public funds
for every $1 of small donations.
The For the People Act would
also bar congresspeople
from serving on corporate boards,
require presidents to publicly
disclose their tax returns,
and make executive appointees
recuse themselves in cases
where there is a conflict
of interest.
These are just a few examples
of tangible solutions
that already exist to rein in
unprecedented corruption
and stop America’s slide
toward oligarchy —
but there’s much more we can
and should do.
The important thing to remember
is that the big money takeover
of our democracy
prevents us from advancing all of
the policies we need
to overhaul our racist,
oppressive system
and to create a society that
works for the many,
not the few.
