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President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) speak to the supporters during a rally in Lexington, Kentucky. (Photo: Preston Ehrler/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
To Keep Americans Safe, We Have to Get Billionaires Out of Politics
Billionaires and the super rich have spent 40 years, since the beginning of the Reagan Revolution, telling us how wonderful America would be if only rich people ran the show. That's called oligarchy, not democracy.
Jul 08, 2020
Jim Jones, who only killed 900+ people, was a piker, perhaps because he just wasn't rich enough to be truly effective. Billionaire Donald Trump has beat him more than 130 times over--with far more death and destruction to come.
Canada, a country run by competent leaders and actual civil servants at the provincial and federal level, largely has the coronavirus under control and have closed their border to Americans.
The Guardian is reporting how Mexican border towns are asking Americans not to come, for fear of further spread of the virus there.
Parts of California are experiencing a surge in coronavirus infections, but can't perform tests on people because they have run out of reagents. Our billionaire-led federal government, of course, has refused to invoke the Defense Production Act to make more reagent and testing kits.
The billionaire running our education department, Betsy DeVoss, is trying to force teachers back into the classroom nationwide regardless of their age or health, and regardless of the consequences of school children bringing the coronavirus home with them.
The billionaire Trump chose to run our commerce department, Wilbur Ross, says that the coronavirus spreading in China will be good for the American economy.
Over at Popular.info, Judd Legum is reporting that billionaire-led Facebook is spreading far and wide the nonsense story that if you wear masks you could suffer from an oxygen deficiency.
Billionaire Rupert Murdoch's Fox News is relentlessly promoting defiance of reasonable public health measures, leading to an explosion of hospitalizations and deaths in those states were Fox News is popular.
Arizona, where the governor is deeply in the pocket of billionaire interests, has now declared that some people are going to get treatment and others won't, based on a complicated formula about who is most likely to live the most years after they leave the hospital.
Multiple billionaires and their companies, it turns out, have received piles of cash from the monies Congress appropriated to help small businesses and average working people through this economic crisis.
Back in 2000, when George W. Bush lost the election by a half-million votes but the Supreme Court put him in the White House anyway, the media was celebrating the fact that he and Dick Cheney were both oil industry executives. They talked about how a "CEO presidency" would be a good thing for America. It didn't work out that way: instead, they lied us into two wars, gave away trillions of dollars to billionaires, and destroyed our reputation and credibility around the world.
Billionaires and the super rich have spent 40 years, since the beginning of the Reagan Revolution, telling us how wonderful America would be if only rich people ran the show.
That's called oligarchy, not democracy.
Until we get billionaires and the dirty money of corporations and the ultra-rich out of politics and and return competent leadership to all levels of government, Americans will continue to die in numbers even greater than we've seen in all the wars we've fought since 1945.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
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Thom Hartmann
Thom Hartmann is a talk-show host and the author of "The Hidden History of Monopolies: How Big Business Destroyed the American Dream" (2020); "The Hidden History of the Supreme Court and the Betrayal of America" (2019); and more than 25 other books in print.
Jim Jones, who only killed 900+ people, was a piker, perhaps because he just wasn't rich enough to be truly effective. Billionaire Donald Trump has beat him more than 130 times over--with far more death and destruction to come.
Canada, a country run by competent leaders and actual civil servants at the provincial and federal level, largely has the coronavirus under control and have closed their border to Americans.
The Guardian is reporting how Mexican border towns are asking Americans not to come, for fear of further spread of the virus there.
Parts of California are experiencing a surge in coronavirus infections, but can't perform tests on people because they have run out of reagents. Our billionaire-led federal government, of course, has refused to invoke the Defense Production Act to make more reagent and testing kits.
The billionaire running our education department, Betsy DeVoss, is trying to force teachers back into the classroom nationwide regardless of their age or health, and regardless of the consequences of school children bringing the coronavirus home with them.
The billionaire Trump chose to run our commerce department, Wilbur Ross, says that the coronavirus spreading in China will be good for the American economy.
Over at Popular.info, Judd Legum is reporting that billionaire-led Facebook is spreading far and wide the nonsense story that if you wear masks you could suffer from an oxygen deficiency.
Billionaire Rupert Murdoch's Fox News is relentlessly promoting defiance of reasonable public health measures, leading to an explosion of hospitalizations and deaths in those states were Fox News is popular.
Arizona, where the governor is deeply in the pocket of billionaire interests, has now declared that some people are going to get treatment and others won't, based on a complicated formula about who is most likely to live the most years after they leave the hospital.
Multiple billionaires and their companies, it turns out, have received piles of cash from the monies Congress appropriated to help small businesses and average working people through this economic crisis.
Back in 2000, when George W. Bush lost the election by a half-million votes but the Supreme Court put him in the White House anyway, the media was celebrating the fact that he and Dick Cheney were both oil industry executives. They talked about how a "CEO presidency" would be a good thing for America. It didn't work out that way: instead, they lied us into two wars, gave away trillions of dollars to billionaires, and destroyed our reputation and credibility around the world.
Billionaires and the super rich have spent 40 years, since the beginning of the Reagan Revolution, telling us how wonderful America would be if only rich people ran the show.
That's called oligarchy, not democracy.
Until we get billionaires and the dirty money of corporations and the ultra-rich out of politics and and return competent leadership to all levels of government, Americans will continue to die in numbers even greater than we've seen in all the wars we've fought since 1945.
Thom Hartmann
Thom Hartmann is a talk-show host and the author of "The Hidden History of Monopolies: How Big Business Destroyed the American Dream" (2020); "The Hidden History of the Supreme Court and the Betrayal of America" (2019); and more than 25 other books in print.
Jim Jones, who only killed 900+ people, was a piker, perhaps because he just wasn't rich enough to be truly effective. Billionaire Donald Trump has beat him more than 130 times over--with far more death and destruction to come.
Canada, a country run by competent leaders and actual civil servants at the provincial and federal level, largely has the coronavirus under control and have closed their border to Americans.
The Guardian is reporting how Mexican border towns are asking Americans not to come, for fear of further spread of the virus there.
Parts of California are experiencing a surge in coronavirus infections, but can't perform tests on people because they have run out of reagents. Our billionaire-led federal government, of course, has refused to invoke the Defense Production Act to make more reagent and testing kits.
The billionaire running our education department, Betsy DeVoss, is trying to force teachers back into the classroom nationwide regardless of their age or health, and regardless of the consequences of school children bringing the coronavirus home with them.
The billionaire Trump chose to run our commerce department, Wilbur Ross, says that the coronavirus spreading in China will be good for the American economy.
Over at Popular.info, Judd Legum is reporting that billionaire-led Facebook is spreading far and wide the nonsense story that if you wear masks you could suffer from an oxygen deficiency.
Billionaire Rupert Murdoch's Fox News is relentlessly promoting defiance of reasonable public health measures, leading to an explosion of hospitalizations and deaths in those states were Fox News is popular.
Arizona, where the governor is deeply in the pocket of billionaire interests, has now declared that some people are going to get treatment and others won't, based on a complicated formula about who is most likely to live the most years after they leave the hospital.
Multiple billionaires and their companies, it turns out, have received piles of cash from the monies Congress appropriated to help small businesses and average working people through this economic crisis.
Back in 2000, when George W. Bush lost the election by a half-million votes but the Supreme Court put him in the White House anyway, the media was celebrating the fact that he and Dick Cheney were both oil industry executives. They talked about how a "CEO presidency" would be a good thing for America. It didn't work out that way: instead, they lied us into two wars, gave away trillions of dollars to billionaires, and destroyed our reputation and credibility around the world.
Billionaires and the super rich have spent 40 years, since the beginning of the Reagan Revolution, telling us how wonderful America would be if only rich people ran the show.
That's called oligarchy, not democracy.
Until we get billionaires and the dirty money of corporations and the ultra-rich out of politics and and return competent leadership to all levels of government, Americans will continue to die in numbers even greater than we've seen in all the wars we've fought since 1945.
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