Five years ago today, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down one of the worst decisions in our nation's history, Citizens United. My friend Russ Feingold said it best: "Speech doesn't corrupt, money corrupts. And money isn't speech."
Want proof? Read any of the boilerplate "Road to 2016" stories about potential candidates and read what conservative insiders say when they compare Jeb Bush vs. Chris Christie, or Mitt Romney vs. Scott Walker -- the most important factor for them is which potential candidate has the most millionaire and billionaire supporters. And it's not just presidential candidates -- a whole class of senators was just elected and reelected in 2014 by riding a wave of corporate money -- and one of them is now Senate majority leader.
Washington can't be an auction house for corporate interests. That's why I'm uniting with progressives across the country to demand that congressional leadership slam the door on the corporate wish list of regressive policy like slashing Social Security.
We can't let history repeat itself. Back in the 1990s, we saw a different kind of unlimited cash: soft money flowing from corporations to both political parties. And what happened? Both parties sold out on Capitol Hill, voting to deregulate Wall Street and send our jobs overseas. It wasn't just what happened in elections -- it's what happened in the chambers of both the House and the Senate. Vote after vote went to the huge corporate interests whose money my colleagues came to rely on.
We're all working day and night to overturn the lawless Citizens United decision. But it's only half the battle. With Republicans in control of both houses of Congress, we must fight every day to stop the wholesale auctioning of our government.
Tell congressional leaders: our democracy is not for sale!
Thanks for uniting as a progressive,
Bernie Sanders
Nobody got rich on their own. Nobody.Sure, people who built great businesses worked hard. Most successful entrepreneurs worked their tails off. But those businesses need good soil to grow – and that meant they need roads and bridges to get their goods to market, dependable and affordable power grids, access to clean water and safe sewers, up-to-date communications – the kind of basic infrastructure that we build together.
Coming out of the Great Depression, we built those roads and bridges and power grids that helped businesses grow right here in America. We plowed money into our future, and as those businesses grew, they created great jobs here at home.
But by the 1980s, our country sharply cut back on making those investments in our future, and now we’re getting left behind. Today China spends 9% of its GDP on infrastructure. Europe spends about 5% of its GDP on infrastructure. They are building a future for their businesses – and better jobs for their people. But the United States is investing only 2.4% and looking for more ways to make cuts. Today, the American Society of Civil Engineers says we have about $3.6 trillion worth of deferred maintenance, repairs and upgrading – and every day we’re falling behind.
Focus for a minute on just one piece of this: highways and mass transit. The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials says a highway bill would create 8 million jobs over the next four years.
A highway bill could put people to work in good jobs right now and fix crumbling roads and bridges that will support future businesses and future jobs – right here in America.
We know how to create the basic building blocks for a strong economy and a strong middle class. We celebrated success, but we always paid ahead, making sure that the basic conditions would be right so the next generation could do even better. We did it before, and we can do it again.
Join me in calling on Congress to invest in American infrastructure in 2015. Sign our petition now.
Thank you for being a part of this,
Elizabeth Warren
