[ [link removed] ]Will you sign the petition to demand that J.D. Vance release his tax
returns?
Dear MoveOn member,
My name is Matt Hildreth. As someone who grew up on a small farm in
eastern South Dakota, my work at Rural Organizing is personal. Unlike
politicians like Senator J.D. Vance, who seems to have disdain for the
small towns and rural communities he is supposed to serve, I care deeply
about the people and families who live and work in rural areas across
America. And I believe rural voters deserve transparency from their
elected officials. Now that Senator Vance has been named Donald Trump's
vice presidential running mate, we're calling on him to release his tax
returns—just as Vice President Mike Pence did, just like Vice President
Kamala Harris did, and just like President Joe Biden did.
[ [link removed] ]Sign the petition and urge J.D. Vance to release his tax returns from
the past 10 years!
Over the course of his relatively short political career, Senator Vance
has claimed a "rags-to-riches" story, authoring "Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir
of a Family and Culture in Crisis," a book detailing his childhood in the
Ohio suburbs, raised by parents from the Appalachians in eastern Kentucky.
The book has largely been criticized for its erasure of Black communities
and structural racism shaping rural Appalachia, as well as its
stereotypical, classist, and at times disdainful descriptions of poverty,
addiction, and struggle in rural America.^1
In his book, Senator Vance paints the picture of a "culture in crisis" and
blames rural communities for the opioid crisis, meanwhile failing to
disclose his connections as a lawyer for a lobbying firm hired by Purdue
Pharma, the makers of Oxycontin.^2 And his political rise was funded not
by grassroots efforts but rather far-right tech billionaire and 2020
election denier Peter Thiel and dark money.^3 Which leaves us questioning,
what else is Senator Vance hiding?
I lived in Ohio as Senator Vance was rising in the ranks. At that time, he
was anti-Trump and seemed to be willing to talk about the topics everyday
people in small towns were struggling with. But his memoir (which
perpetuates the harmful "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" myth), his
connection to billionaires (none of which have financially benefited the
rural communities his book and career exploited), and his extreme pivot to
MAGA politics have left rural communities with more questions than
answers.
[ [link removed] ]It's time we expose the truth behind Vance's tall tales. Add your name
and demand that Senator Vance release his tax returns NOW!
Add your name to urge Senator J.D. Vance, Donald Trump's running mate, to
release 10 years of his tax returns and disclose the source of his
wealth!
[4]Sign the petition
Transparency is the foundation of any functioning democracy, but we still
know very little about Senator Vance, and the source of his wealth remains
undisclosed. The media has only recently started to expose the major holes
in Senator Vance's resume, including his now-shuttered shady nonprofit,
Our Ohio Renewal—an organization founded in 2016 with a murky mission and
ending with an even more unclear impact. The nonprofit came under fire
when it was revealed that they employed an addiction specialist for a
yearlong residency in Ohio who also had ties to Purdue Pharma and commonly
denied the connection between prescription painkillers and the opioid
epidemic.^4 It was also revealed that the nonprofit spent $0 on charitable
activities and grants.^5
Taking a page from Trump's playbook, Senator Vance wants to trick everyday
Americans into thinking he is "self-made" when in reality his career has
been funded by special interests and the wealthy. Billionaire Thiel
appears to be responsible for major developments in Senator Vance's
career, including helping him get his first "venture capitalist" job and
donating a staggering $15 million—the largest donation ever given for a
single Senate candidate—to get him elected to the Senate in 2022.^6,7 This
should really make us question whose interest he is really looking out
for. Before voters head to the polls this November, they deserve to know
the truth about Senator Vance and to have transparency into his financial
records.
[ [link removed] ]Click here to sign the petition and demand Senator Vance release 10
years of his tax returns like other vice presidential candidates have done
in the past, and then share with three friends to help spread the word.
Thanks for all you do.
–Matt Hildreth, Rural Organizing
Sources:
1. "JD Vance’s confusing evolution from liberal touchstone to Maga
superstar," The Guardian, July 21, 2024
[ [link removed] ][link removed]
2. "J.D. Vance has a Big Pharma problem," Salon, August 20, 2022
[link removed]
3. "A mole hunt, a secret website and Peter Thiel's big risk: How J.D.
Vance won his primary," Politico, May 3, 2022
[ [link removed] ][link removed]
4. "Vance's anti-drug charity enlisted doctor echoing Big Pharma,"
Associated Press, August 18, 2022
[ [link removed] ][link removed]
5. "Super PAC backing JD Vance publishes opposition file on him,"
Washington Examiner, May 5, 2022
[ [link removed] ][link removed]
6. "JD Vance owes almost everything to Peter Thiel, a pro-Trump
billionaire and 'New Right' ideologue," Salon, July 22, 2024
[ [link removed] ][link removed]
7. "A mole hunt, a secret website and Peter Thiel's big risk: How J.D.
Vance won his primary," Politico, May 3, 2022
[ [link removed] ][link removed]
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