Friend,

The headline this morning included the quote, “We’ve never seen spending like this.”

So what was being bought and who was doing the buying?

It turns out that the two billionaires now running for the Democratic presidential nomination, Tom Steyer and Michael Bloomberg, have gone on a combined shopping spree of $200 million trying to make themselves viable in the 2020 primary.

And why are they doing this? So that they can win a chance to defeat another billionaire, Donald J. Trump, in next year’s general election.

This insanity has got to stop. While some (quite reasonably) argue that individual billionaires should not even exist, can’t we all agree that the very rich spending their vast fortunes to purchase an election is a sign of a severely sick and twisted democracy?

Because where is all this money going? Into the pockets of other very wealthy people, of course—the ones who own the media companies, television stations, social media platforms, and newspapers where all these Bloomberg and Steyer campaign ads are appearing.

But to upend a system where elections can be bought and democracy subverted by corporate interests and power-hungry billionaires, we must build a media system that puts people and the common good above all else.

That is what Common Dreams represents. Our people-powered funding model is the antidote to a system controlled by the rich and powerful. But this model only works if readers like you support it. It’s that simple.

Our end-of-year campaign is now underway, but we have to raise $63,000 to reach our must-hit goal. Can you join us today? If you can give now, every donation will be matched.

We don’t need any billionaires…. but we do need you.

On behalf of the entire Common Dreams team,

Andrea Germanos
Senior Editor