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IN THE ONGOING BILLIONAIRE HEIST, SCHUMER AND FETTERMAN ARE DRIVING
THE GETAWAY CAR  
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Mark Pinsley
March 18, 2025
Common Dreams
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_ While the senators claim to be fighting for the working class,
their actions—like voting for a government funding bill that slashes
social spending while protecting corporate interests—show they’re
just focused on keeping the same old machine running _

Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) and then-Senate Majority Leader Chuck
Schumer (D-N.Y.) give a thumbs up to reporters as they walk to the
weekly Senate Policy Luncheons together at the U.S. Capitol Building
on April 18, 2023 in Washington, D.C. , Anna Moneymaker/Common Dreams

 

Let’s discuss something happening under our noses: The middle class
is disappearing.

Last week, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and
Sen. John Fetterman
[[link removed]] (D-Pa.) teamed up
with Republicans to pass a government funding bill. If you ask them,
they’ll say, _“We did this to save American workers!”_

But, if they cared about American workers, they wouldn’t have cut
$13 billion from healthcare, education, and infrastructure while
adding $6 billion to defense. Unless the average American is now
classified as a fighter jet, that extra money isn’t going to help
you.

So the next time a politician tells you they’re fighting for you,
ask them: What are they doing to take wealth and power away from the
billionaire class?

And that’s the problem. Over and over, we’re told that these
decisions are in our best interest. Yet somehow, the rich keep getting
richer while the rest of us are left with higher bills, lower wages,
and a government that never seems to have money for schools or
healthcare—but always has billions for bombs.

Why? Because the billionaires at the top have turned the economy into
a giant vacuum—and guess what? It’s sucking up everything you own.

Here’s the kicker: Most people don’t even realize it’s
happening. Things cost more. Your savings may be shrinking. But you
still have food on the table, so it doesn’t feel like a
crisis—yet.

Seniors notice it first—property taxes and school taxes. Their fixed
income isn’t stretching as far, so they complain about taxes because
they assume the government can do nothing about rising prices but can
lower taxes.

Younger people? They know something is off, but they’ve been told to
blame immigrants. ”They’re buying up your homes! They’re driving
up rent!” That’s exactly what the rich want you to
believe—because as long as we’re busy fighting each other, we’re
not paying attention to the people rigging the system.

Are we going to fall for it again? Or are we going to start paying
attention?

While Schumer and Fetterman claim to be fighting for the working
class, their actions—like voting for a government funding bill that
slashes social spending while protecting corporate interests—show
they’re more focused on keeping the machine running than fixing
what’s broken.

What’s broken? The fact that wealth isn’t disappearing—it’s
just being moved.

The Pandemic Was Among the Biggest Wealth Transfers in History—And
You Paid for It

It started how these things always begin: with regular people getting
squeezed. Offices shut down. Businesses closed. Millions of people
were laid off overnight. Rent was still due, bills kept coming, and
suddenly, survival wasn’t just about avoiding a virus—it was about
making it to the next month without losing everything.

Meanwhile, something very different happened in a parallel universe
occupied by the world’s wealthiest men. In just two years, the 10
richest men on the planet doubled
[[link removed]] their
net worth—going from $700 billion to $1.5 trillion. That’s an
extra $15,000 per second. Not for doing anything new. Not for
inventing anything, building anything, or working harder than anyone
else.

At the same time, 160 million people fell into poverty. That’s
roughly half the U.S. population—wiped out financially while the
wealthiest men on Earth raked in $1 trillion.

This wasn’t an accident. It wasn’t a glitch in the system.
It _was_ the system. The pandemic proved that the real money isn’t
in work; it isn’t in clocking in early and staying late. It’s in
ownership. If you have read _Rich Dad, Poor Dad
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Robert Kiyosaki tried to teach us this; the rich listened.

Billionaires became more prosperous by owning companies that laid
people off, raising prices, and cashing in on government bailouts.
They owned the companies from which we bought food, mortgages, and
electricity. The system isn’t designed to reward labor but to reward
the people who profit from it.

Trillions of dollars in stimulus money flooded the market. Some of it
went to everyday people, but most of it—directly or
indirectly—ended up in the pockets of those who already had more
money than they could ever spend. And just like that, the most
significant wealth transfer in modern history was complete.

Your Wealth Didn’t Vanish—It Was Transferred Upward

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the government injected massive cash
into the economy to prevent total collapse. And let’s be
clear—that was the right move. Despite all the hand-wringing about
inflation on the news, people needed money to survive.

But then, when workers didn’t immediately rush back to low-paying
jobs, the rich threw a tantrum. Suddenly, they claimed that the
government had “overstimulated” the economy—suggesting that
people were so flush with cash that they just decided to stop working.

You’re not struggling because of bad luck or bad budgeting. You’re
struggling because the rich own everything—and they’re making sure
you own nothing.

Like most economic takes from the ultra-wealthy, this was a complete
lie. Yes, increasing the money supply can contribute to inflation, but
this kind of inflation is easy to manage. You can pull money back out
of the economy through taxation or adjustments to monetary policy. The
real problem wasn’t too much money—it was that, for once, regular
people had a tiny bit of breathing room, and billionaires didn’t
like it.

Here’s how they pulled off the biggest wealth heist in modern
history:

We Pay Them for Everything

The rich don’t make money by working. They make money because they
own everything, and because they own everything, we’re forced to pay
them for everything.

* They own our homes → We pay rent.
* They own the businesses where we shop → We pay for goods and
services.
* They own the farms and energy companies → We pay them every time
we eat or turn on the lights.
* They own the banks → We pay them interest when we borrow money.

They Raise Prices—Because They Can

Now, here’s where it gets worse. Since they own everything, they set
the prices. And what do they do? Raise them.

* Housing is unaffordable. That’s because investors buy homes and
turn them into overpriced rentals.
* Grocery prices are ridiculous. That’s because big corporations
own the farms, the processing plants, and the grocery chains.
* Energy bills keep rising. That’s because the same handful of
companies own the power plants, oil refineries, and gas pipelines.

And when everything gets more expensive, what do we do? We pay them
more, and now they have us blaming immigrants.

They Loan Us Money—And Make Us Pay Them Back With Interest

Since prices are rising faster than wages, most people can’t keep
up. But instead of fixing the problem, the rich found another way to
profit: debt.

* Can’t afford a home? Here, take out a mortgage—and pay them
interest for 30 years.
* Struggling with everyday expenses? Just put it on a credit
card—and pay them interest forever.
* Want to get an education? Take out student loans—and keep paying
them long after you graduate.

So, we pay them for necessities, and when we can’t afford those
things, we borrow from them—and pay them even more in interest.

The End Result?

Every year, the rich own more because they’re constantly collecting
our money. Every year, we own less because we’re constantly paying
them for necessities. And it gets worse. The more money they collect,
the more they buy up assets—houses, land, businesses—making it
even harder for the rest of us to catch up.

Schumer and Fetterman Just Helped Keep This Rigged System in Place

So why does this all matter? Because instead of addressing these
problems, our leaders keep making them worse. Schumer and
Fetterman’s latest vote shows exactly where their priorities are.
They passed a funding bill that keeps the government running but at
the cost of cutting billions from social programs. Meanwhile, defense
spending—where corporations and wealthy investors make billions in
profits—keeps growing.

It’s Time to Face the Truth

You’re not struggling because of bad luck or bad budgeting. You’re
struggling because the rich own everything—and they’re making sure
you own nothing. And as long as our leaders keep protecting them,
things will only worsen.

So the next time a politician tells you they’re fighting for you,
ask them: What are they doing to take wealth and power away from the
billionaire class?

And let’s be clear—Chuck Schumer is not the leader we need right
now. Under his watch, Democrats failed to deliver real economic
relief, leaving millions frustrated enough to turn to
President Donald Trump
[[link removed]]. Under his leadership,
the party keeps acting like taking the high road will somehow fix a
rigged system. It won’t.

It’s time to fight back. And that starts with demanding new
leadership—because Schumer has already shown us whose side he’s
on.

_[MARK PINSLEY is the Lehigh County Controller. He is focused on
shining a light on issues important to the citizens of Lehigh County
and the Commonwealth.]_

* Sen Charles Schumer
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* Chuck Schumer
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* John Fetterman
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* Senate
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* Senate Dems
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* Senate Democrats
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* Trump Budget
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* GOP Budget
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* Donald Trump
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* Elon Musk
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* Republican Tax Cuts
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* Trump tax cuts
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* Continuing Resolution
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* CR
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