The concentration of political power in the hands of wealthy interests through unlimited super PAC spending undermines democratic representation, as evidenced by the defeat of Congressman Thomas Massie in Kentucky's 2024 Republican primary despite his alignment with public opinion on issues like opposing the Iran war and demanding the Epstein files be opened; this demonstrates that when citizens cannot afford to participate in the political process due to massive spending by special interests like AIPAC and crypto super PACs, democracy becomes unrepresentative of the people's will.
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Bernie Sanders PRAISES Thomas Massie After Crushing GOP Loss | Israel & AIPAC Bought Election?Added:
Here is the political reality of today.
A reality that we just saw yesterday in the election in Kentucky.
When Congressman Thomas Massie, somebody who I have very little in common with politically, was defeated by $9 million in contributions from AIPAC and $7 million from Trump mega donors.
And what was the great crime that Massie committed that gendered so much super PAC money in opposition to him?
Well, he opposed the war in Iran.
And so do the vast majority of the American people.
He demanded that the Epstein Epstein files be opened, which is what the American people have wanted, and he refused. What a crime.
What an outrage to be a rubber stamp for Donald Trump.
Does anyone believe we are in anything resembling a true democracy when in the 2026 cycle, right now, AI, crypto, and AIPAC aligned super PACs will be spending many, many hundreds of millions of dollars to protect their interest?
Here is the political reality of today.
A reality that we just saw yesterday in the election in Kentucky.
When Congressman Thomas Massie, somebody who I have very little in common with politically, was defeated by $9 million in contributions from AIPAC and $7 million from Trump mega donors.
And what was the great crime that Massie committed that gendered so much super PAC money in opposition to him?
Well, he opposed the war in Iran.
And so do the vast majority of the American people.
He demanded that the Epstein Epstein files be open, which is what the American people have wanted, and he refused. What a crime.
What an outrage to be a rubber stamp for Donald Trump.
Let's be honest.
The reality is that any candidate today who stands up to the AI industry, to crypto, to AIPAC and other special interests, will be hit with an onslaught of TV ads and social media attacks paid for by the richest people in this country.
As all of us know, 16 years ago, by a five to four vote, the Supreme Court in the Citizens United case issued one of the most disastrous decisions in the history of our country.
Since Citizens United, billionaires and large corporations have poured huge amounts of money into the political process, and in return, are getting policies that serve their interests at the expense of working families, the environment, and a decent foreign policy.
That is a major reason why the very, very rich in America are getting richer, while working families are struggling.
If we're going to create a government that works for all and not just the 1%, we have to end Citizens United. We have to get super PACs out of elections, and in my view, we have to move to public funding of elections.
Today, the legislation that Representative Lee and I are introducing begins to do just that.
Specifically, the Abolish Super PACs Act would limit individual super PAC contributions to $5,000.
Billionaires would not be able to pour huge amounts of money into super PACs, and it would end the era of unlimited spending and putting put power back into the hands of the people.
Way back in 1933, Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis made a very profound statement. He said, "Quote, we can have democracy in this country or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we cannot have both." End quote.
What Brandeis said back then was correct. It is even more accurate today.
For the sake of our democracy, for the sake of an economy that works for working people and not just the very rich, we must ban Super PACs and get big money out of politics. My pleasure to introduce Congresswoman Congresswoman Summer Lee.
Summer.
Thank you so much, Senator Sanders.
It is, and I believe, one of the most important issues that we can work on right now. In fact, there's very little more that we can say or need to say, but really what we need to accept is that if we don't do something about big money in politics, we will have no democracy to fight for anymore. Um I'm Summer Lee, I'm Congresswoman for Pennsylvania's 12th Congressional District. Last year, uh we introduced on the House side I introduced the Abolish Super PACs Act because this is a foundational issue facing our democracy. Today, we will ensure that we have bicameral um introduction here in the Senate in the Senate side because we can't afford to wait a single second longer. The Senator talked about it. Yesterday, we saw another record break.
The most expensive House race in the history of the United States. That comes just 2 years, very predictably, after the last time that we had the most expensive House race in the history of the United States. And this is just the beginning. What we see more and more and more are big money interests, whatever those interests may be. It may be this year or this cycle. Maybe APAC or crypto or AIPACs. It may be an individual like your Jeff Yasses in Pennsylvania or Paul Singer or Elon Musk.
But whoever it is, it's never the interest of actual working class people.
For for decades, we have watched as Republicans have worked to enshrine minority rule by investing in the courts and shaping the judiciary, stacking it with judges who will protect the wealthy and the powerful and never the people.
We've also seen a huge decline in our democratic safeguards. Most recently, we've seen the courts completely almost completely gut the fundamental right to vote itself through dismantling the Voting Rights Act, through gerrymandering, through voter ID laws, through closing polling locations in black and brown communities and through making it harder to register to vote in the first place, harder to cast a ballot, harder harder harder to have that ballot count. And we are seeing the courts suppress representation through campaign finance like when we saw Citizens United open the floodgates to dark money pouring into our elections, drowning out the voices of working people. Listen, this is a simple issue.
When we talk about what Americans actually want, there always is a gap a disconnect between the people in power and the people who are waiting for power to move on their behalf. We hear it every single election cycle. Everyday Americans who are urgent about our climate crisis or who are begging for educational equity for public education in the wealthiest nation on earth, who are begging for Medicare for all, who are watching their loved ones, who are they maybe themselves having to choose between their prescription drug costs or a medical bill, or their dental bill, or their rent, or their mortgage, or their groceries, or their gas prices. We're watching Americans who are watching our government continuously fall short on its charge to make sure that the least of these, that the most vulnerable, that working class people have the protections, the rights that they need. And when you look at the core of it, the foundation of why we are here, it is because at the end of the day, your members of Congress or your senators are more inclined to have to answer to moneyed interests than they are to their constituents. Because more often than not, it isn't just the money that pours into the the campaigns themselves, but that money follows them every step of their career. From the time that they first pledge to run to their inauguration or their swearing in, to every vote they take on the floor, it's a moneyed interest that's on the floor with a member of Congress, never the person who is suffering because of the policy decisions we make. And that And that has a simple solution.
I don't want to minimize it.
But there is a solution. Our bill would ensure that millionaires, billionaires, corporations, corporate interests, special interests would no longer be able to get around the guardrails, the limitations that everyday individuals like you and I have. They'll no longer be able to get around the $3,500 limit cuz $3,500, that's not a little bit of money, or $5,000 for a PAC. They would have the same limitations as everybody else, effectively effectively ensuring that they would no longer be able to pour money into these dark super PACs that often time have no accountability. They have no accountability to people, no transparency, and they're able to essentially spend limitless money in our elections. They would have to work like everybody else. It would essentially free our democracy, free our campaigns, and ensure that voters are able to pick their representatives and not their representatives pick them. It is critically important that we move on this bill. Yes, ending Citizens United is our ultimate goal. And we recognize that there are many steps to that. But right now, we can take a step to ensure that super PACs, that super billionaires, are no longer able to buy our election. And we have to call it what it is. If we will have a democracy, we have to reject an oligarchy. If we're going to have a democracy, we have to reject big money interests overwhelming the everyday people in my district and Senator Sanders' district and every in between. And that's why I think it's important that this be our priority.
That Democrats and Republicans should get behind this. As we saw, it does not discriminate. Whether you are a Republican, sometimes votes as an independent, or Democrat, who sometimes votes as an independent, and everyone else. Money in politics keeps us from having a representative democracy, and this is why I believe this is the most important issue that we're facing. So, I I I thank the Senator, and we look forward to to working to get this one over the finish line. Uh democracy relies on it.
Thank you very very much, Congresswoman.
Um let me just reiterate what you just said. Most important point.
People wondering why we're the only major country on Earth not to guarantee health care.
Why we have an insane $7.25 an hour minimum wage. Why we're doing very little on climate change, etc., etc. And there is one simple reason. And what she said is this is the most important reason.
You do have a government that works very hard for the billionaires.
And what Summer and I are saying is that maybe just maybe we should have a government that works for working people, not wealthy campaign contributors. All right, any questions?
Yes, sir. Um given that these dark money super PACs, the corporate donors, expect a return on investment in terms of time, energy, sometimes policy, rhetoric, uh do you think that what they're doing in these elections, pouring the money in, constitutes bribery? Are these politicians taking bribes?
>> Well, you know, it it's a good question.
If somebody would have give someone a $5 bill and say, "Someone, I want you to vote against that thing." That's called bribery. It's illegal.
If somebody would have spend $50 million on a campaign against her, that's not bribery. That's legal.
So, what you have is a legally corrupt system.
All right? These guys have paid a lot.
They want to spend $50 million, they can do it.
But, it is clearly a corrupt system.
Yeah. Thank you both for joining us. I have a question for the congresswoman.
We found last night an incumbent was defeated by big money. The previous election that you referred to in 2024, an incumbent was defeated. Two incumbents. Yeah.
But, I'm curious from your perspective, given all the money [snorts] that's been spent on against you, uh how does it discourage people who are interested >> Good question.
>> a part of the political process? I know we're talking about policy >> No, you're right. and how the big money corrupts the political process, but how does it prevent Yeah. from your perspective, folks from even participating in the first place? Thank you so much for that question. And it's precisely that. It corrupts, it discourages, uh I call it functionally disenfranchising the political process from every aspect, from every angle. When you think about what it takes for a candidate to even put their hat in the ring, we talk about issues of viability, we talk about how does a candidate get their name out, how do they get their message out? Everyday people are going to find it harder and harder and harder to be able to participate in our democracy. The more money that floods into our elections, the less likely a candidate themselves are uh to A, be responsive to their constituency, to be responsive to working class people, because they have to compete. They have to, as I say, audition. You see so many candidates who are auditioning, spending all of their time auditioning for big money to come into their districts. Oftentimes because they recognize that they probably couldn't win if those types of dollars are not flooding districts. But also, the dollars themselves have an effect. I can talk about my race when I first ran, what it was like to sustain a $3.5 million attack, disinformation campaign, where we know that sometimes the loudest message is the message that resonates.
But what it does is it denies people the ability to make their best decision, an informed decision, especially when we have loose laws on what they can spend on those dollars. We're talking a flooding.
Where a person, a PAC, an entity can essentially say whatever it wants. And the other candidates who usually have less money [laughter] have harder, harder, harder. It makes people also, predictably, not want to engage the process. I can't give you a statistic for how often money in politics, big super PACs, spend on positive versus negative ads.
But I can tell you that every time a negative ad drops on air, it disenfranchises a voter. It reinforces this idea that there are no good politicians, that politics is inherently evil, and that it is a a rigged game that regular people shouldn't get in.
But also what it does is it ensures that black and brown and poor and working-class people are ever less are ever more and more less likely to be able to break in in the first place. How much does cost to run a Senate race in 2026?
A Senate race in Pennsylvania, in Ohio, Texas. in Texas, in Florida, and Georgia.
These races are exorbitant. It keeps everyday working-class people out as candidates and as voters because again, in a representative democracy, we shouldn't have a democracy only of wealthy people, and a democracy where only the wealthiest people or the best connected people or the ones who are willing to take the brunt, are able to participate. So, eventually what we'll see is uh the government that we've been trying to perfect from the very beginning. One that is probably overwhelmingly uh run by wealthy people, wealthy men.
Women are less likely to have money.
Black women, particularly, are less likely to receive campaign donations, and when they do, usually at a much lower rate than other candidates. And our candidate crop will start to reflect that if we do not fix it. Let Let me just add to that. No, I agree with everything that the congresswoman said.
Just on a personal level, all right?
Let's just say you're an ordinary person.
You think there's something wrong when the very rich getting richer and working people are struggling.
You think that maybe the United States should join every other major country and guarantee health care to all people.
You think that maybe we should be concerned about the impact that AI is going to have on all of our lives.
You think maybe we should have a just foreign policy and not be supporting a government which has committed genocide.
All right.
Millions of people hold those views.
And then you're thinking, "Hey, if I decide to run for Congress, you know what I'm going to be up against? Not just the huge amounts of money.
I'm going to be up against personal attacks of the worst kind, all kinds of lies."
You going to run for office? No, forget it. Let somebody else do it.
So, what this does to ask to answer your very, very good question. We believe in democracy. We want people to run for I don't give a damn what your political view is. Get involved.
Stand up and defend yourself. But how many people are going to do that where they got to have millions and millions of ugly dollars in ugly ads?
You know, there was one with them in the Massa case, what he was Were you part of his date in the hotel room or was it just the I think it was two others of our friends. I mean, a completely total AI fiction.
That's what you got That's what you have to deal with. See, you ask me, are you going to Are people going to jump into our little election? There's going to be a lot of hesitancy. It takes very brave people to run. Yes, ma'am. Um can you explain the real world human cost of these super PAC politics? Like how does unlimited spending affect health care, >> Good.
Right. Sometimes, I don't want people to think this is just another issue. You know, what somebody said is like it is the most important issue.
If you are If we are the only major country on Earth not to guarantee health care Well, why is that?
You think it may have something to do with the power of the pharmaceutical industry and the insurance companies who spend zillions of dollars making sure we don't move to a Medicare-for-all system?
Do you think the fact that we have a starvation minimum wage has something to do with the fact that a lot of these corporations and business people don't want to pay their workers a living wage, don't want workers to join unions?
So, the point here this is not another issue.
This is an issue that touches every bloody issue facing working people in this country.
And one of the things on top of everything else that concerns me is people in large numbers are basically giving up on democracy. They say, "Why the hell should I vote? Rich are getting richer. I'm going nowhere in a hurry. My kids will be worse off than I am. You want me to vote? Forget about it."
Maybe we need a real strong man who's going to break through everything.
Let's not worry about these phony elections that don't result in anything benefiting me. So, good question, but this is the most important political issue we face. Yes, sir. How do you get this through? I know the McCain-Feingold passed a Republican president and a Republican Congress. How do you get this even a vote through your your elected Well, it's a great question.
When you take on the billionaire class and we got representatives here in Congress representing the billionaire class, it is going to be hard for us, admittedly, to pass legislation which takes away power of the billionaire class. In my view, the way we do it is the way we bring about change and always have brought about change is that at the grassroots level.
That millions of people stand up and demand an end to a corrupt campaign finance system. I want the day to come when somebody is running for office, I want somebody at a town meeting to say, "Hey, candidate, do you support this legislation or not?
Do you think we should end super PAC control over the political process?"
When we can begin to do that, I think we have a chance to get this thing through.
>> to convince them that this is about working for the Pittsburgh paper. Okay.
Thank you. No, it's the that is the answer. When we think about every major change that has happened in American history, it has come from the people.
From the Civil Rights Act to the Voting Rights Act to every anti-war movement that we've seen. It was people it started with people from the outside setting the tone, creating the language, and then the accountability mechanisms for us and uh positions of power um to actually move on it. So, right now, more than ever, we will need people to use this as a foundational issue. I often say, "If you are somebody who believes in Medicare for all, the money in politics is your number one issue." If you believe in ending mass shootings in our country that we have seen in our mosques and synagogues and schools and grocery stores and concerts, the money in politics is your number one issue. If you believe in environmental justice, uh climate change, money in politics. If you believe uh that we should not go in debt because of uh our prescription drug costs, money in politics. You are tired of the oil and gas line, money in politics. What we need to do is is part of our organizing effort that will be again on the inside and the outside, but critically on the outside, the organizing effort is helping bringing people from their various silos to this one Good. issue that will actually free each and every one of them, but it will also help us to focus as we're for our agenda, our affirmative vision for the country that will have gone into not just November, but of course into 2028.
It will give us the structure, the foundation to actually build that type of agenda. Americans see our party, the Democratic Party, serving two masters, and there is a demand that we pick. We cannot be the party of corporate interests and a party of working people at the same time. By centering money in politics, by running on it, by organizing around it, and by helping people understand that their power lies in taking this piece, this bit of influence from these billionaires, then this is how we will actually grow the party, grow the coalition, expand the electorate, and then be able to get people with gavels who will actually then move on these things. Senator Merkley, some of the Democrats we've spoken to in the past couple of days beyond campaign finance have expressed concerns about the Trump administration interfering in the election in ways beyond like subpoenaing ballots, defunding for ICE.
Do you have any concerns about Do you have any concerns about other interference by the Trump administration in this election?
Yeah, I do.
I think Trump is an authoritarian.
I think he happens not to believe in democracy.
Uh and I think in a variety of ways he will do everything he can uh to stifle opposition and to make sure Republicans uh win the election.
Uh and our job obviously is to fight him at every in every way that we possibly can.
But I think it is very clear this whole gerrymandering began with uh Trump in in Texas, etc. Voting Rights Act, you know, a a Supreme Court that the billionaires put into place.
So, uh yeah, the answer to to your question is yes. We've got to be vigilant and we're going to fight him uh tooth and nail.
Any other questions? Yes, sir.
We have seen cycle after cycle the the of money sort of growing and growing and growing.
I mean last cycle we had our first half billion dollar Senate race in Ohio. Yep.
They're talking about maybe this year we get to 700 million in North Carolina.
Um Ohio also kind of looks like half a billion. You know, the the Republican >> uh It uh It feels bad saying it, doesn't it? The Repub- Well, the Let me get to my point, but the the Republicans are openly begging the crypto super PAC to repeat their 40 million more against Sherrod Brown again in Ohio. Um and [snorts] their ads are not on the crypto, of course. They're Right. They're uh different, but in the grand scheme of things, the amount of money they're putting in is actually very small percentages of their wealth and they're very small percentages of what the corporations could spend. Right.
And the issues here, as you know, are trillion dollar issues, and in some cases many trillion dollar issues.
I'm just wondering if you are worried or sense that this thing that you've identified as a problem could get much It's not a problem. It is a fundamental crisis in American democracy.
>> Right, but that this could get much You you you you Look, look, look. What?
Look, if you are worth several hundred billion dollars, what is the problem with spending couple hundred million dollars on politics to elect the candidates of your choice if in return you're going to become the head of DOJ, if in return you're going to get all kinds of federal contracts, if you're going to get a trillion dollars in tax breaks for the 1% while we throw 15 million people off of health care. So, the point is, look, this goes hand in hand with oligarchy.
All right? The rich have unlimited amounts of money, and spending a few hundred million dollars if you're a multi-billionaire, what's the problem?
But what you're identifying is the corruption of American democracy and what Summer and I are working going to work so hard to try to change that. All right, any other Yes. Uh let me get to Anybody else want to ask the first question?
Yeah, ma'am. Um I just wanted to ask there are a lot of Americans who feel like they're ignored, like they're invisible, and like they don't even matter. They feel like the system is rigged against them That's right. unless they're connected or they're wealthy.
What would you say to them to tell them to not give up on voting and not give up on the electoral process?
I would say that where we are right now is not by accident, right? There are people who have been working tooth and nail to bring us to this point. And I think that it's important that for those people who do believe in a better America, who believe in a society where representation actually answers and meets our needs, and whatever that may be, whether it be health care or environmental justice or economic justice or labor rights, whatever that means, we have to be willing to fight just as hard as the people who are trying to tear it down. And, you know, right now, there is always something that will come next. I think that the billionaire class has us underestimated because their money for so long has been able to to buy them anything that they want. But, what they aren't able to account for is that the sheer numbers of people in American society who are feeling left behind, the sheer numbers of people in American society who feel like this does not work for them, this system does not work for them, will always outnumber those folks. And when we organize with the things that we have, we have two sources of power that actually is more powerful than what they have, and that's the power of our organized labor and our organized dollars, however few or plentiful they may be. And it feels like maybe that is a oversimplification, but what we've seen throughout history is example after example after example of just this. When there is overreach by whether it's our government or whether it is a robber baron, people organized, people disciplined, have come forward and have beaten back those attacks on our democracies and our communities time and time again. And right now is a time that more than ever calls for that type of commitment. And we are seeing this right now. I would say to that person, and you're quite right in phrasing the way you phrased your question.
People in many ways are distressed.
They're giving up on democracy. They don't see the government responding to the very serious needs that they have. But I would say to that person, you're not just fighting for yourself, you're fighting for your kids, for your grandchildren, you're fighting for the planet, you're fighting for the future of humanity. I would also say is that if you look at what's happening right now, we are as progressives, people who are standing up for the working class of this country, winning election after election, precisely for all of the reasons that Summer and I are talking about. People are disgusted with status quo politics. All right, in New York City, as you know, Zohran Mamdani took on the oligarchs, took on the Democratic establishment, took on the Republican establishment, took on the President of the United States. But you know what he also did? He organized 100,000 volunteers to knock on doors.
And when you have that kind of grassroots movement, whether it's New York City, you know, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, anyplace else, when you have that grassroots movement, we're going to win.
So our job is to mobilize people at the grassroots level. They have the money.
You know, it's what Summer is just saying. We got the people. And at the end of the day, if we mobilize our people, we win. All right, thank you all. All right, yes, back there.
Senator, it's out of topic, but given that fact that today the Department of Justice indicted, well, Castro from Cuba, I would like to have your reaction on that. And do you think President Trump should ask Congress for to for an authorization before he uh perhaps to take military action in Cuba just as he did I think Trump's actions in Venezuela were illegal and unconstitutional. I think his actions in Iran are unconstitutional and illegal and I think what he is doing now, starting to do in Cuba, is unconstitutional and illegal and it is not what the American people want. This guy ran, remember?
He ran on the goal of ending endless wars. He ran on America first. This country faces crisis after crisis in terms of health care, the economy, education. People want the government to start paying attention to the needs of working people, addressing those crises, not going into endless wars.
All right, last question.
Uh you spoke about using the bill as more of an organizing tool so that constituents in the working class on the ground can go and press perhaps their representatives, whether that's sort of an establishment Democrat or maybe a Republican, to try to get them to come on board and support your bill. And I think that more broadly, you know, AIPAC specifically has become really toxic in Democratic primaries, even in some Republican primaries, to the point where they have to spend $9 million in a Republican primary. How can are you able to extend that toxicity and that reputation that AIPAC has gotten to all of the other lobbies, whether that's pharmaceutical or big oil, so that you can try to tackle these other issues that you've rightly identified are sort of a un I'm happy to answer. Do you want to do it or Yeah, I treat them all largely the same. At the end of the day, it is we want to abolish super PACs. We want to get big money out of politics.
Whatever the PAC is called, whatever industry is behind the PAC, what we're trying to do, and I think what is the most important thing that we can do right now, is to reclaim our democracy for the voters, for Americans. And this is a part of that. So, at the end of the day, again, we have talked about the connection between all of the big issues that Americans want us to solve and all the industries that are keeping us from doing so. When we do this, it is an equalizer. So, yeah, it is absolutely an organizing tool, but it is also a common-sense democracy reform effort that we, if we are serious in light of the gutting of the Voting Rights Act, if we're serious in light of all of the endless gerrymandering that we're seeing, and if we're serious in light of how much money is being spent, then this is a common-sense tool. It is a common-sense piece of legislation that should, as we see, garner support from both ends. So, we talk about it as it is. I don't care if it's crypto, I don't care if it's the charter school lobby, I don't care if it's AIPAC, or any one else. People deserve the right to their government, and they cannot have that if they can't even afford the entry ticket in.
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