“Imagine if Caruso had sunk $62 million into affordable housing. Coincidentally, $62 million happens to be the goal of the United Way of Greater Los Angeles’s new Affordable Housing Initiative, to create homes for nearly 600 unhoused people.”
THIS! This is what Bass should be running ads saying; as many as she can afford. Along with her credentials, it speaks volumes about who really cares and can get the job done.
It’s sickening what these people are wasting billions of dollars on...to buy office for themselves or a lackey who will do as their told.
And then to say such huge imbalances in wealth make no difference. It makes ALL the difference. In so many ways.
And we need to tell Congress to remember who actually pays their salaries. Those on ballots must be able to pass a rigid test on government in a Democracy and be able to , in an essay tell how they would get an issue out to the American people to let them know their agenda.
Boy I wish. Lord knows that nearly 100% of those on the right and plenty on the left are DANGEROUSLY unqualified to work at a MCDONALD'S let alone be in GOVERNMENT! I think a yearly essay test fits a dire need in American politics.
Jean, it would be so good if we the people could require candidates to meet some basic standards, but Republicans don't want that. They currently want candidates who win office to be mostly ignorant of how government works so they can be manipulated into doing what the very rich white people want them to do and do it without question. Right now, there are a whole bunch of them in legislatures all across this country but the voters either like it that way or don't care, just as long as there is an "R" by the name since Mommy and Daddy always voted Republican.
If Americans were as BRUTAL as _rumplicans, there WOULD be advertisements like that every single hour of every single day! Unfortunately, most Democrats are known for being wimpy, milquetoast cowards. (Obviously not Mr. Raskin or Ms. Warren of course.)
Dems not cowards per se, apparently they try to take the high road, don't want to (think) speak poorly of opponents, and try to just speak of the issues. They need to grow more forceful. In other words, get down and dirty to promote their ideas, dear god, please!!
Deborah, you hit the mark with the Democratic need to stand up more forcefully and get a little dirty. When one party has given up all civility, the other can't stay totally on the high road or the voters will never see them. The media likes to be in the dirt with Republicans and if possible, ignore the Democrats' attempt at dealing with the issues. We saw that with the 2016 campaign when the media pretty much ignored the most qualified candidate in decades (Clinton) while rushing to report every stupid, angry, lying word and phrase of Trump, a man who was and is pretty ignorant about most things (except perhaps cheating, lying, undermining, race-baiting, etc.). The Democratic candidates need some help with dealing with Republicans who want to stay in the dirt with their lies, innuendos, and Willie Horton style ads. And the Republican ads, at least in Pennsylvania are getting nastier on the Republican side, now whining that the Democratic candidates have really done nothing and are lying about the Republican candidates, not true, but in Republican politics, who cares!
Sammijo, you are right about the zero sum game that arises with having a small cadre of super rich mostly white men who can dictate to the rest of us through their actions, where they put the little bit of money they are willing to sacrifice to keep the rest of us under control and out of their hair, and push products and services that are not particularly good for us. We the people need to find ways to curb their money and power and end the myths that anyone can become rich. That is just a foolish bit of junk the rich try to smother some people with to keep them from challenging their wealth.
About 'Citizens United' - I didn't hear anything about this ruling until - after the fact -. Hell, I'm a (Senior) Citizen and NOBODY asked me what I thought about that - 'C.U. case - and the Supreme
Court OK'd the decision to allow corporations (a banding together of citizens - ) to 'act' as individuals (??? my interpretation of this - garbage - ). but then I'm NOT one of the 'super rich, tax free, gun toting - whatever epithet you want to call - them ~ ~ ~
Something seems self-evidently >wrong< about that zero-sum game, nonsense. As the orthodox economists like to bang on about, dollar value is inversely proportional to how much of it there is - non-Keynesian. It's a hackneyed Republi-wanker trope when it comes time to relieve some of the financial burden on most US Citizens - i.e. Covid relief. They're blaming inflation on Covid relief, raising minimum wages, and whining about labor contracts, among other things they want to distract us with, while trying to wheedle tax cuts for the ones who have all the money driving the damn inflation up in the first place! Like the "special master" said to ol' Tweety: Y'can't have it >both< ways!
DZK, yep, inflation is bad and of course, working people and the stimulus money that saw them through COVID are being blamed loudly by the rich and their surrogates. We should know by now that when the rich and their surrogates are proclaiming something, it is pretty much a guarantee that the truth is exactly opposite of what they are saying and that they, themselves are likely to be the actual culprits. We the people just don't seem to get it even though they do it to us over and over. Amazing!
Ruth Sheets ; at this very moment, the rich are publishing newspapers, magazines and online media also TV 'news' that lies, lies and lies some more. From the gamed 'polls' to the complete black out of the facts, they brainwash most of us constantly. This costs money and requires that media be owned by them .
I was sickened when I read the NYT column how Corporate financial donations have returned to the 136 MAGA deniers, who voted against certifying Biden’s election. Now these same big money donors are back in the game with donations for these same insurrection supporting candidates.
Frank, I too am furious about those rich corporations back supporting insurgent candidates who should not even be allowed to run. The 14th Amendment is clear about that, but like so much of our Constitution, parts of our government seem to ignore or falsely interpret what it says. (Another example is amendment 27 which declares that every citizen 18 years and older has the right to vote. It does not say, stuff like well, not if they don't have this kind of ID that they have to pay for, or not if they want to vote by mail, or not if they are Black or other persons of color yet states are pumping out voter suppression laws as quickly as they can get their pathetic legislatures to vote on them, legislatures that often have been bought and paid for by those same rich mostly white corporations.)
Frank IA : In a fair. Working Democracy, what is happening and you describe so well would be illegal. Period. It guarantees that Democrats Independents and estranged Repunlicans who believe in Democracy will lose!
I agree we need full funding disclosure. I do not support the use of any tax funds on candidates, but do support limiting citizen funding to a max of $50, and support making any commercial funding a federal felony with a minimum sentence of 20 years.
Oh Kendrick, I like your idea of no citizen being able to contribute more than $50.00 to a candidate. I think corporations and unions should be limited to $100.00 per candidate. Also, I would add that all PACs need to go. They have been permitted, under the guise of presenting an issue, to slander, malign, and otherwise defame candidates of the party they oppose even though they don't necessarily have to show who is making donations. Enough of this money hiding and corporate sponsored candidate bashing or over-support!
I agree with your comment on the current behavior of PACs, but in fairness, believe they were started by unions. When I was on the Board of Directors for a teachers union, we started a PAC in response to the objection of some conservative teachers who did not want any portion of their union does going to support the Democratic Party. Understandably they were refusing to pay any dues. So we formed a voluntary PAC to support the majority views and continued to collect union only dues from all teachers. As I recall (and it was a long time ago) the PAC collected an additional $20/ month. Part of the PAC fees paid for expenses (lunch) when the Board members went to the State capitol to lobby for a pro-education piece of legislature (since I believe you said you were from California also, it was prop 98)
I agree we desperately need to get money out of politics, But we also need to educate the voters. I am ashamed to admit that my State, California, has a very poor voter turnout in most elections. I have heard a lot of lame excuses, "my vote doesn't count" (BS, every vote cast in California is counted) "if I register to vote, I'll be called to jury duty" (shame on you, serving on a jury, like voting is both a duty and a privilege of citizenship) "they're all bad, in both parties, no one cares about the little guy" (exaggeration, if you're unhappy about your choices, attend your local preferred party and insist they promote a candidate who cares). Why don't we, as citizens, insist that civics is taught in all public schools beginning in kindergarten and enlarging through grade 12? Even little 5 year olds understand "fairness" - hey, that's part of Civics. If most of the voting age public understood the reason for voting they would be sufficiently informed to pick the candidate who most represents their ideals. This alone would give them reason to vote. Here, in California, we have universal vote by mail, we even have ballot tracking for both computer and smart phone, which notifies you when your ballot was received by the election office and when it was counted - all free! you don't even need postage. And still they don't vote.
The problem you describe is not only common to California, but it also applicable to all the states. I agree wholeheartedly that we MUST educate all of our citizens at an early age throughout their schooling. An uneducated citizenry is a danger to democracy.
Thank you, Elias, I agree an uneducated citizenry i definitely a deterrent to democracy, the lesser educated citizens are looking for Daddy to tell them what to think and do.
Fay you are right about the uneducated citizenry. And we know what Daddy will tell them to vote for and it won't be something that will either help them or anyone else, but they will do it well, just because.
Wow! Fay, that was an amazing push for voting. I, too, don't understand people not voting. I remember being so excited when I turned 18. I could register to vote, but the amendment giving 18-year-olds the right to vote was just about to be certified. I think I have missed 2 elections since then, both primaries due to moving and an unplanned hospital stay. How is it other citizens don't feel like they have a duty to vote? It should be like a rite of adulthood. Then there is civics that as you say should be taught at every level. I would like to see it incorporated into every subject. I'm sure talented educators can figure out how to do that meaningfully, smoothly, and accurately. Thanks for your comment.
Linda, I'm inclined to agree. I've been thinking that humans are on an evolutionary down hill slide, and taking the rest of the planet with us ~ ~ ~ Think about this : Humans, the most invasive, deadly and dangerous species on the planet, the whole planet. And to be 'looking' to
outer space to 'find' intelligent life out there, when we have - intelligent - life here on earth, i.e.
OTHER species = cetaceans, cephalopods, and, well, every other species on this planet (the only
planet we have). In my mind, every species is - intelligent - to survive on it's own and in it's own
I just read an article on the importance of the microbiome of the Earth and how our species has greatly reduced its diversity. I have a little hope that there are people who are interested in the Truth of how LIFE works and what we need to respect it and protect it. Regenerative farming to protect and restore soil. More understanding of how fungus, and other microbes are the main supporters of homeostasis on this planet. I do believe that humans have gone from normal cells to pathogenic cells like cancer, and maybe it is too late, but if we don’t recognize the problem and make laws to enforce protection of LIFE, and I don’t mean the potential life like the cells of a fetus, or a sperm or an egg, then we are doomed.
Citizens United is a lie. There is nothing United about it. It is not good for We the People. Get rid of Electoral College which is a way for racists to cheat. The Filibuster is another way to cheat We the People out of our votes. These 3 laws are not for a Democratic Republic. They are a way for the Republicans to cheat and steal our votes.
Agree, we could, through carefully worded legislation,get rid of 'citizens united' (a misnomer if ever I heard one). The filibuster could be easily defeated, it is not a law, only a Senate rule, we just need courageous senators who care more for their constituents than themselves (good luck with that). However, the Electoral College is written in the Constitution of the United States of America. It would require an amendment to get rid of it. All amendments to the Constitution require approval of 3/4 of the States, Which means 13 States not ratifying the amendment loses. There are a minimum 30 States with small populations and hence very few representatives in both houses. Getting 16 of those States to give up their power is the challenge.
Exactly what I've been thinking since Caruso's first big personal donations. If he'd just given all that money to building low-income housing in LA (or something that benefitted so many needs in the city), he wouldn't have had to spend much on campaign stuff. It's a perfect example of putting your money where your mouth is...
I like Bass, but I was unnerved when she spoke about L.Ron Hubbard and was in favor of what they are doing. They are a cult and should not be supported politically.
She what!!??? Good Lord, no! If she's into Scientology it would be difficult for me to choose between her and the billionaire. Rational people should run for office, but why would they want to given the current state of affairs?
Another incredibly important column, Robert. Thank you so much. You and Health Cox Richardson's daily "Letter from an American" are two of the places I go for truth.
Thank you for this: public matching funds for small donors; and full disclosure of all sources of campaign funds. Yes!
Buying political positions (and buying ballot propositions) is just another form of the unrelenting cynicism within both the GOP and conventional thinking within the DNC, which often screws over the people with the truly bright ideas and passion.
As you know, all political office is for sale in this country. That is what led to Trump. If this trend is not checked and the rich keep tightening their hold, the country that we thought we knew will disappear. Start thinking of what you want the future to look like
“Imagine if Caruso had sunk $62 million into affordable housing. Coincidentally, $62 million happens to be the goal of the United Way of Greater Los Angeles’s new Affordable Housing Initiative, to create homes for nearly 600 unhoused people.”
THIS! This is what Bass should be running ads saying; as many as she can afford. Along with her credentials, it speaks volumes about who really cares and can get the job done.
It’s sickening what these people are wasting billions of dollars on...to buy office for themselves or a lackey who will do as their told.
And then to say such huge imbalances in wealth make no difference. It makes ALL the difference. In so many ways.
And we need to tell Congress to remember who actually pays their salaries. Those on ballots must be able to pass a rigid test on government in a Democracy and be able to , in an essay tell how they would get an issue out to the American people to let them know their agenda.
Boy I wish. Lord knows that nearly 100% of those on the right and plenty on the left are DANGEROUSLY unqualified to work at a MCDONALD'S let alone be in GOVERNMENT! I think a yearly essay test fits a dire need in American politics.
Jean, it would be so good if we the people could require candidates to meet some basic standards, but Republicans don't want that. They currently want candidates who win office to be mostly ignorant of how government works so they can be manipulated into doing what the very rich white people want them to do and do it without question. Right now, there are a whole bunch of them in legislatures all across this country but the voters either like it that way or don't care, just as long as there is an "R" by the name since Mommy and Daddy always voted Republican.
If Americans were as BRUTAL as _rumplicans, there WOULD be advertisements like that every single hour of every single day! Unfortunately, most Democrats are known for being wimpy, milquetoast cowards. (Obviously not Mr. Raskin or Ms. Warren of course.)
Dems not cowards per se, apparently they try to take the high road, don't want to (think) speak poorly of opponents, and try to just speak of the issues. They need to grow more forceful. In other words, get down and dirty to promote their ideas, dear god, please!!
Deborah, you hit the mark with the Democratic need to stand up more forcefully and get a little dirty. When one party has given up all civility, the other can't stay totally on the high road or the voters will never see them. The media likes to be in the dirt with Republicans and if possible, ignore the Democrats' attempt at dealing with the issues. We saw that with the 2016 campaign when the media pretty much ignored the most qualified candidate in decades (Clinton) while rushing to report every stupid, angry, lying word and phrase of Trump, a man who was and is pretty ignorant about most things (except perhaps cheating, lying, undermining, race-baiting, etc.). The Democratic candidates need some help with dealing with Republicans who want to stay in the dirt with their lies, innuendos, and Willie Horton style ads. And the Republican ads, at least in Pennsylvania are getting nastier on the Republican side, now whining that the Democratic candidates have really done nothing and are lying about the Republican candidates, not true, but in Republican politics, who cares!
or just Steal from the "republican" Playbook
and make ads that appeal not to the head
but to the Heart. their Base responds way
better to the Emotional than the Rational.
.
silly Humans
aren't we All?
Sammijo, you are right about the zero sum game that arises with having a small cadre of super rich mostly white men who can dictate to the rest of us through their actions, where they put the little bit of money they are willing to sacrifice to keep the rest of us under control and out of their hair, and push products and services that are not particularly good for us. We the people need to find ways to curb their money and power and end the myths that anyone can become rich. That is just a foolish bit of junk the rich try to smother some people with to keep them from challenging their wealth.
"It’s sickening what these people are wasting billions of dollars on...to buy office for themselves or a lackey who will do as their told."
oh, but it isn't a Waste
their ROI is Fantastic!
Billionaires get $100
in tax guts or Dereg-
uation for every dol-
lar spent and Big Me-
dia could NOT be any
Happier. Spend Spend
SPEND they say. We LOVE it!
Unless we can somehow overturn Citizens United and McCutcheon v FEC, the money beats us. They've got the courts, the money, and the guns.
About 'Citizens United' - I didn't hear anything about this ruling until - after the fact -. Hell, I'm a (Senior) Citizen and NOBODY asked me what I thought about that - 'C.U. case - and the Supreme
Court OK'd the decision to allow corporations (a banding together of citizens - ) to 'act' as individuals (??? my interpretation of this - garbage - ). but then I'm NOT one of the 'super rich, tax free, gun toting - whatever epithet you want to call - them ~ ~ ~
Truer words Martha!!
Something seems self-evidently >wrong< about that zero-sum game, nonsense. As the orthodox economists like to bang on about, dollar value is inversely proportional to how much of it there is - non-Keynesian. It's a hackneyed Republi-wanker trope when it comes time to relieve some of the financial burden on most US Citizens - i.e. Covid relief. They're blaming inflation on Covid relief, raising minimum wages, and whining about labor contracts, among other things they want to distract us with, while trying to wheedle tax cuts for the ones who have all the money driving the damn inflation up in the first place! Like the "special master" said to ol' Tweety: Y'can't have it >both< ways!
DZK, yep, inflation is bad and of course, working people and the stimulus money that saw them through COVID are being blamed loudly by the rich and their surrogates. We should know by now that when the rich and their surrogates are proclaiming something, it is pretty much a guarantee that the truth is exactly opposite of what they are saying and that they, themselves are likely to be the actual culprits. We the people just don't seem to get it even though they do it to us over and over. Amazing!
Ruth Sheets ; at this very moment, the rich are publishing newspapers, magazines and online media also TV 'news' that lies, lies and lies some more. From the gamed 'polls' to the complete black out of the facts, they brainwash most of us constantly. This costs money and requires that media be owned by them .
DZK
I was sickened when I read the NYT column how Corporate financial donations have returned to the 136 MAGA deniers, who voted against certifying Biden’s election. Now these same big money donors are back in the game with donations for these same insurrection supporting candidates.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/03/us/politics/republican-election-objectors.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
Frank, I too am furious about those rich corporations back supporting insurgent candidates who should not even be allowed to run. The 14th Amendment is clear about that, but like so much of our Constitution, parts of our government seem to ignore or falsely interpret what it says. (Another example is amendment 27 which declares that every citizen 18 years and older has the right to vote. It does not say, stuff like well, not if they don't have this kind of ID that they have to pay for, or not if they want to vote by mail, or not if they are Black or other persons of color yet states are pumping out voter suppression laws as quickly as they can get their pathetic legislatures to vote on them, legislatures that often have been bought and paid for by those same rich mostly white corporations.)
You are exactly right! Why are they allowed to run?
Frank IA : In a fair. Working Democracy, what is happening and you describe so well would be illegal. Period. It guarantees that Democrats Independents and estranged Repunlicans who believe in Democracy will lose!
I agree we need full funding disclosure. I do not support the use of any tax funds on candidates, but do support limiting citizen funding to a max of $50, and support making any commercial funding a federal felony with a minimum sentence of 20 years.
I love your idea of a felony LOL
Oh Kendrick, I like your idea of no citizen being able to contribute more than $50.00 to a candidate. I think corporations and unions should be limited to $100.00 per candidate. Also, I would add that all PACs need to go. They have been permitted, under the guise of presenting an issue, to slander, malign, and otherwise defame candidates of the party they oppose even though they don't necessarily have to show who is making donations. Enough of this money hiding and corporate sponsored candidate bashing or over-support!
I agree with your comment on the current behavior of PACs, but in fairness, believe they were started by unions. When I was on the Board of Directors for a teachers union, we started a PAC in response to the objection of some conservative teachers who did not want any portion of their union does going to support the Democratic Party. Understandably they were refusing to pay any dues. So we formed a voluntary PAC to support the majority views and continued to collect union only dues from all teachers. As I recall (and it was a long time ago) the PAC collected an additional $20/ month. Part of the PAC fees paid for expenses (lunch) when the Board members went to the State capitol to lobby for a pro-education piece of legislature (since I believe you said you were from California also, it was prop 98)
I agree we desperately need to get money out of politics, But we also need to educate the voters. I am ashamed to admit that my State, California, has a very poor voter turnout in most elections. I have heard a lot of lame excuses, "my vote doesn't count" (BS, every vote cast in California is counted) "if I register to vote, I'll be called to jury duty" (shame on you, serving on a jury, like voting is both a duty and a privilege of citizenship) "they're all bad, in both parties, no one cares about the little guy" (exaggeration, if you're unhappy about your choices, attend your local preferred party and insist they promote a candidate who cares). Why don't we, as citizens, insist that civics is taught in all public schools beginning in kindergarten and enlarging through grade 12? Even little 5 year olds understand "fairness" - hey, that's part of Civics. If most of the voting age public understood the reason for voting they would be sufficiently informed to pick the candidate who most represents their ideals. This alone would give them reason to vote. Here, in California, we have universal vote by mail, we even have ballot tracking for both computer and smart phone, which notifies you when your ballot was received by the election office and when it was counted - all free! you don't even need postage. And still they don't vote.
The problem you describe is not only common to California, but it also applicable to all the states. I agree wholeheartedly that we MUST educate all of our citizens at an early age throughout their schooling. An uneducated citizenry is a danger to democracy.
Thank you, Elias, I agree an uneducated citizenry i definitely a deterrent to democracy, the lesser educated citizens are looking for Daddy to tell them what to think and do.
Fay you are right about the uneducated citizenry. And we know what Daddy will tell them to vote for and it won't be something that will either help them or anyone else, but they will do it well, just because.
Wow! Fay, that was an amazing push for voting. I, too, don't understand people not voting. I remember being so excited when I turned 18. I could register to vote, but the amendment giving 18-year-olds the right to vote was just about to be certified. I think I have missed 2 elections since then, both primaries due to moving and an unplanned hospital stay. How is it other citizens don't feel like they have a duty to vote? It should be like a rite of adulthood. Then there is civics that as you say should be taught at every level. I would like to see it incorporated into every subject. I'm sure talented educators can figure out how to do that meaningfully, smoothly, and accurately. Thanks for your comment.
It seems too many checks and balances and social norms have been eroded. It would appear that our species deserves to go,extinct
Linda, I'm inclined to agree. I've been thinking that humans are on an evolutionary down hill slide, and taking the rest of the planet with us ~ ~ ~ Think about this : Humans, the most invasive, deadly and dangerous species on the planet, the whole planet. And to be 'looking' to
outer space to 'find' intelligent life out there, when we have - intelligent - life here on earth, i.e.
OTHER species = cetaceans, cephalopods, and, well, every other species on this planet (the only
planet we have). In my mind, every species is - intelligent - to survive on it's own and in it's own
capacity (if left alone by humans). S I G H ~ ~ ~
I just read an article on the importance of the microbiome of the Earth and how our species has greatly reduced its diversity. I have a little hope that there are people who are interested in the Truth of how LIFE works and what we need to respect it and protect it. Regenerative farming to protect and restore soil. More understanding of how fungus, and other microbes are the main supporters of homeostasis on this planet. I do believe that humans have gone from normal cells to pathogenic cells like cancer, and maybe it is too late, but if we don’t recognize the problem and make laws to enforce protection of LIFE, and I don’t mean the potential life like the cells of a fetus, or a sperm or an egg, then we are doomed.
I'm not so sure that there's a lot of intelligent life here on earth.
I think viruses, bacteria, and fungi might be very intelligent. They at least know how to cooperate, support, and nurture life
Too many checks, for sure!
How do you think Florida got Rick Scott? Enough said!
Citizens United is a lie. There is nothing United about it. It is not good for We the People. Get rid of Electoral College which is a way for racists to cheat. The Filibuster is another way to cheat We the People out of our votes. These 3 laws are not for a Democratic Republic. They are a way for the Republicans to cheat and steal our votes.
Agree, we could, through carefully worded legislation,get rid of 'citizens united' (a misnomer if ever I heard one). The filibuster could be easily defeated, it is not a law, only a Senate rule, we just need courageous senators who care more for their constituents than themselves (good luck with that). However, the Electoral College is written in the Constitution of the United States of America. It would require an amendment to get rid of it. All amendments to the Constitution require approval of 3/4 of the States, Which means 13 States not ratifying the amendment loses. There are a minimum 30 States with small populations and hence very few representatives in both houses. Getting 16 of those States to give up their power is the challenge.
Exactly what I've been thinking since Caruso's first big personal donations. If he'd just given all that money to building low-income housing in LA (or something that benefitted so many needs in the city), he wouldn't have had to spend much on campaign stuff. It's a perfect example of putting your money where your mouth is...
I like Bass, but I was unnerved when she spoke about L.Ron Hubbard and was in favor of what they are doing. They are a cult and should not be supported politically.
She what!!??? Good Lord, no! If she's into Scientology it would be difficult for me to choose between her and the billionaire. Rational people should run for office, but why would they want to given the current state of affairs?
Or...
POOP: Professional Organization for Obfuscation in Politics
GREED: General Recognition of Essential Economic Details
Maga - Mad Angry Gullible Americans
Another incredibly important column, Robert. Thank you so much. You and Health Cox Richardson's daily "Letter from an American" are two of the places I go for truth.
Thank you for this: public matching funds for small donors; and full disclosure of all sources of campaign funds. Yes!
Buying political positions (and buying ballot propositions) is just another form of the unrelenting cynicism within both the GOP and conventional thinking within the DNC, which often screws over the people with the truly bright ideas and passion.
As you know, all political office is for sale in this country. That is what led to Trump. If this trend is not checked and the rich keep tightening their hold, the country that we thought we knew will disappear. Start thinking of what you want the future to look like