There is an imperative that we not allow our fear of a Trump re-election to lure us into selling our souls. Running one corrupt billionaire against another corrupt billionaire will NOT defeat Trump or bring us the enormous systemic changes we need to stop our trajectory right off into extinction. Truly, let us choose to save ourselves and be part of the political revolution led by Bernie Sanders that Will defeat Trump AND that WILL fight for economic, racial, social, and environmental justice.
The corrupt system that allows the insanity and deadly power and propaganda of the .01% to continue unabated in America is something to fear much, much more than any Russian interference. This interference and brainwashing and power of the oligarchs is what puts our nation and our planet more at risk than anything else. We all need to stand up to this madness! The lives of our children and grandchildren are dependent upon our doing so. — Molly
Michael Bloomberg has already spent more of his own money than Trump or Tom Steyer. He’s making a joke of our democracy – and Democrats should be appalled
By Ross Barkan
With an estimated worth of $3bn, Donald Trump is just barely a member of the billionaires’ club.
Michael Bloomberg, on the other hand, boasts a reported net worth of $60bn. While the president of the United States plays a monstrously wealthy oligarch on TV, Bloomberg is the genuine artifact – and he’s already spent more than $250m on a presidential bid that has, through the power of money alone, catapulted him to the edge of contention. On Sunday he’ll be airing a $10m Super Bowl ad.
This is not one of those columns that will argue Bloomberg can seize the Democratic nomination. With a national polling average still below 10%, he has daunting odds as long as some combination of Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren remain in the race. Democratic voters will always favor a liberal stalwart over a former Republican who aggressively boosted George W Bush’s re-election bid, unleashed a militarized police force on black and brown New Yorkers, and once mocked the idea of raising taxes on the rich.
But Bloomberg has bought himself a ticket outside the basement of the primary, and this should alarm far more professional Democrats and progressives than it has so far. Even Tom Steyer, a fellow billionaire, is a pale imitation; he’s reportedly spent less than half of what Bloomberg has, despite entering the race earlier.
This should not be normalized. Bloomberg is unleashing an unprecedented, inordinate amount of personal wealth on an advertising blitz that demonstrates just how frail our democratic institutions really are.
But his shamelessness seems to be working. Some Democrats, convinced they could use a useful foil to boost their own bids, are inviting him on the debate stage. Amy Klobuchar, the Minnesota senator, wants Bloomberg in the debates so he can “go back and forth” with candidates and voters can “evaluate” him. There is a belief, among certain Democrats, that the notoriously wooden Bloomberg will be undercut in a televised debate. Letting him on stage, in theory, makes him more accountable to voters.
Instead, allowing Bloomberg there will only further elevate and legitimize his candidacy, which exists chiefly as a gusher of 30-second TV and radio hits. Putting him on stage will send a message: this man deserves to be there. Through sheer amounts of wealth none of us will fathom, he can break democracy and walk into the arena.
Please continue this article here: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/feb/01/michael-bloomberg-oligarch-billionaire-democrats-20202
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