(The image on the left, from sanders.senate.gov, shows Senator Sanders marching in a Vermont 4th of July parade.)The sad fact is that our government is currently controlled by the monied interests from Wall Street and the giant corporations. They exercise this control mainly through their lackeys in the Republican Party, but truth be told, too many Democrats are willing to go along with it. This must be changed, and that can only happen by sending more progressives to serve in Congress.
The most progressive member of Congress currently serving is neither a Democrat nor a Republican. It is Senator Bernie Sanders -- an Independent from the state of Vermont. Senator Sanders has consistently stood up for the little guy (you and me) and opposed the control of our government by the financial titans -- to the detriment of 99% of this country's citizens.
Senator Sanders believes (and I agree wholeheartedly) that this country can only be put back on a sane economic footing through a grassroots movement that sends more progressives to help him in Washington. To that end, he makes the following plea:
As you know the Republican Party, once a moderate-conservative party, has become a right-wing extremist party. With the help of the Koch brothers and their other corporate sponsors, Republicans in Congress are now trying to roll back virtually every piece of legislation passed in the last 80 years which protects the needs of working families. Whether it is Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, education, nutrition, child care, tax policy, women’s rights or workers’ rights, the main function of Congressional Republicans is to protect the interests of the wealthy and powerful against the middle class. They have also become an anti-science party -- rejecting the research of virtually the entire scientific community regarding the planetary crisis of global warming.
Poll after poll tells us that today’s Republican ideology -- tax breaks for billionaires and massive cuts to important social programs -- is way out of touch with what the American people want. And yet, Republicans stand likely to retain control over the U.S. House in 2014, have a chance to become a majority in the U.S. Senate and are doing well in state elections. Why is that? How is it that a party with such an extremist ideology has not been relegated to marginal status in American political life?
All of which brings me to the Democrats. While the Republicans have moved from a center-right party to a right-wing extremist party, the Democrats have also moved to the right -- going from being a center-left party to a centrist party. This means that while they attempt to address the needs of trade unions, seniors, low income Americans, environmentalists, women, students, minorities and the gay community, they also pay a great deal of attention to Wall Street, the wealthy, corporate America and their big campaign contributors. Needless to say, these competing forces have irreconcilable differences.
In my view, the great crisis of American politics today is the demoralization of the American people and their belief that virtually no one in Washington is fighting for the collapsing middle-class. In 2009, after eight disastrous years of George W. Bush as president, the Democrats controlled the White House and had large majorities in the House and Senate. Where was the simple, straight-forward legislation that took on the insurance companies and provided health care to all, that ended Wall Street domination of our economy, that created the many millions of jobs we desperately needed, that made college affordable, that allowed America to become the world leader in reversing global warming? Where was the political offensive which made clear to all Americans that the Democrats were fighting for working families while the Republicans were the party of Wall Street and the big money interests?
Now, in 2013, the Democrats control the White House and the Senate but it appears to many Americans that the Republicans determine the agenda. Why hasn’t there been a major effort to overturn Citizens United and move toward public funding of elections? Why has almost all of the recent emphasis been on deficit reduction, rather than creating the millions of jobs we desperately need? Why is anybody in the Democratic Party (least of all the President) talking about cutting Social Security and benefits for disabled veterans? Where is the outrage regarding the massive NSA surveillance practices recently revealed?
Clearly, what is needed right now is a massive grass-roots movement which fights for the needs of working families and which elects progressives at the national, state and local level. We should not accept the conventional wisdom of a red state/blue state America. There is no state in this country which is not heavily populated by working families. And they all need strong and effective representation to stand up to the billionaire class which dominates our economic and political life.
Please help me work with Americans all over this country in helping to build a progressive movement which elects strong candidates, at every level of government, who are prepared to change our national priorities and fight for working people.
Please tell us about progressive candidates in your state or community that we should be working with.
These are tough times for our country. Let’s go forward together.
Sincerely,
Senator Bernie Sanders
P.S. Your early support of Progressive Voters of America is critical to electing a more progressive Congress and electing progressive candidates at all levels of government. Please donate as generously as possible today.
If you can help put America back on a progressive course with a financial contribution, then please do so. If not, at least help with your activism and/or your vote. If we do not all take part and stand together, we will just see our country sink ever deeper into a fascist-style plutocracy.
