Friends -
For many years, our country has been moving in the direction of an oligarchic form of government in which a small group of wealthy individuals control our economic and political life. There is nowhere that this move toward oligarchy is more apparent than in the way billionaires buy our elections. Oligarchs will work with Republicans. They will work with Democrats. It doesn’t matter much so long as they get their way.
Last week, the Intercept reported that "moderate" Democrats are joining forces with Republicans through a PAC to try to stop progressives who launch primary challenges against establishment Democrats. Their group, the Moderate PAC, is currently funded entirely by one right-wing mega-donor. And by the way, this same mega-donor spent $47 million last year in support of Republicans in federal elections.
Members of the establishment are worried. They have seen that, with your help, we've elected a number of strong progressives during the last several election cycles. In fact, to the shock and concern of the Oligarchs, there are now more strong progressives in the U.S. House of Representatives than at any time in modern history. Now they are prepared to spend tens of millions on primaries in order to stop our movement, and they are relying on a Republican billionaire and other right-wing forces in order to fund their efforts.
Let’s be clear: the disastrous Citizens United Supreme Court decision is undermining American democracy. Today, we have a handful of billionaires who spend obscene amounts of money in support of candidates who protect the wealthy and the powerful, and against candidates who will fight for the working class of this country.
In the last election cycle, right-wing billionaires funded millions of dollars in outside spending against progressive candidates in competitive primaries. Those funds were often used by super PACs to run outrageous and dishonest attack ads. The good news is that, despite being heavily outspent, many of our candidates were able to prevail. The bad news is some excellent candidates were defeated by this right-wing money.
Here is the simple truth. If the Democratic Party stands for anything, it must not allow Oligarchs and their super PACs, sometimes aligned with Republicans, to buy Democratic Party primaries. If Democrats really believe in democracy and campaign finance reform, we must ban super PACs in primaries.
This week, the DNC is holding a meeting where there will be a resolution introduced to ban dark money in primaries. Unfortunately, during the last DNC meeting the establishment wouldn’t even allow the resolution to come to a vote. Now, it will be introduced again.
Before this resolution is put in front of the DNC, it is vitally important that we show our movement is united on this issue. Oligarchs and billionaire-funded PACs should not be able to buy Democratic primaries. So I am asking you directly:
It is not a radical idea to say that the very wealthiest people in this country should not be able to control our political system and our representation in government. This great nation and its government belong to ALL of our people, and not to a handful of billionaires and their super PACs.
To understand just how corrupt our political system is, look no further than the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). They launched a super PAC that spent some ten million dollars to defeat Jessica Cisneros, Nida Allam, Summer Lee, and other progressive candidates. Summer was able to overcome incredible odds against this outside spending and won her congressional election in Pennsylvania. But Jessica and Nida, unfortunately, came up short against this onslaught of billionaire money.
And by the way, this same super PAC also backed Republican members of Congress who voted to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
AIPAC and other groups rely on right-wing billionaires in order to influence primary races and defeat progressives. They spend unlimited amounts of money to undermine our democracy, mislead voters, and maintain the status quo. When we talk about billionaires buying candidates and elections, this is exactly what we are talking about.
Enough is enough.
Virtually all Democrats talk about the need for campaign finance reform. Talk is easy. Now it’s time to walk the walk. If you are sick and tired of the billionaire class influencing our political process, I am asking you to join me today in calling on the Democratic Party to end super PAC spending in primaries.
Let’s stand up for democracy.
Thank you for adding your name today to show that we're all in this together.
In solidarity,
Bernie Sanders
Paid for by Friends of Bernie Sanders
PO BOX 391, Burlington, VT 05402
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