• distantsounds@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    64
    arrow-down
    5
    ·
    15 days ago

    “We must overturn the disastrous Citizens United Supreme Court decision and move to public funding of elections,” said Sen. Bernie Sanders.

    ‘That’s Oligarchy,’ Says Sanders as Billionaires Pump Cash Into Trump Campaigns

    ftfy, Common Dreams

    • Telorand@reddthat.com
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      36
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      15 days ago

      You’re not wrong, but let’s not lose sight of the fact that the ratio is decidedly in favor of ultra-Conservatives

      • distantsounds@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        8
        arrow-down
        10
        ·
        edit-2
        15 days ago

        imo, painting this as a ratio thing or a lib v conserv problem, is language that will not help to remove CU. Money should not be the metric for policy

        • Telorand@reddthat.com
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          13
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          15 days ago

          I agree, which is why I said you’re not wrong. But when focusing efforts, you need to know what you’re up against and not presume they’re all created equal.

          • distantsounds@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            6
            arrow-down
            1
            ·
            15 days ago

            Definitely. I’m not trying to be combative here either. This is a class issue and both established political parties operate through the means of their financial backers. Looking at this as “both sides are wrong” may be the best way to get a push for non-partisan resolution and actually get citizens u removed

      • crusa187@lemmy.ml
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        5
        arrow-down
        8
        ·
        15 days ago

        Which makes it even dumber that Dems prioritize fundraising above the wishes of their constituency. Just look at how far to the right Kamala has been dragged by the donors, and marvel at the Dem strategists’ head scratching as to why she’s slipping in the polls. This system is totally broken for all but the rich and corporations.

        • Telorand@reddthat.com
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          8
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          15 days ago

          Tbh, I don’t see things the way you see them.

          Ignore the polls. Know what’s at stake, like judicial reform, LGBTQ rights, climate action, women’s rights, etc.

          Most importantly, show up and vote. It matters.

          • crusa187@lemmy.ml
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            6
            arrow-down
            1
            ·
            edit-2
            15 days ago

            Under the democrats’ watch with Biden as president, we have endured the following:

            • let the repugs rush through ACB to Supreme Court in 2020, refusing to use the same legal principle applied by the republicans in 2016 to delay (which they leveraged to appoint Gorsuch instead of Garland)
            • Biden announced early in his term he considered gays to be a security risk in the military, perpetuating harmful don’t ask don’t tell policies.
            • RECORD oil and gas drilling, even more than Trump’s term, by a wide margin (over 50% more drilling permits)
            • ended tax rebates for electric vehicles, but banned imports of affordable EVs from China, continuing Trump’s trade war
            • overturn precedent to end abortion rights, instead of codifying Roe

            If you look at the actual policies and bills proposed by elected officials, they consistently work on behalf of their donors, even when it’s harmful to their constituents. When asked about such actions, Pelosi has said they prefer to “lean to the green.” Fundraising appears to be the only concern of DNC leadership. Voting does not line their pockets - infer from that what you will.

            Democratic strategists began emulating republicans’ pandering to corporations for donor money in the 80s, and Dems have been consistently losing seats at the state and local level since then. The reason why is quite simple - they are abandoning populists policies which benefit the working class, and instead are embracing pro-corporate policies. Consider Trump’s historic $2T tax cut for the rich and corps - Biden could hardly bring himself to agree to roll back half of it, and he still hasn’t implemented a rommback successfully. This leaves some of the most profitable companies in the world paying only 21% income tax. Most of us are paying more than that, especially when you consider that many of them utilize offshore accounts to pay effective taxes under 10% in most years. How are we going to pay for this theft of public resources by these corporate entities? This is not sustainable, and yet, here we are.

            These are all facts. I’m sorry you don’t recognize them as such, or at least don’t “see them the same way.” If you actually care about these issues, it might be time to question the motives of DNC leadership with a bit more scrutiny.

            • Telorand@reddthat.com
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              3
              arrow-down
              1
              ·
              15 days ago

              I’m not questioning anything until the election is over. There’s a lot of dumb voters who go whichever way the wind takes them, and the last thing we need is division right now.

              Also, don’t think I didn’t notice the fact that you didn’t mention anything good they’ve done, as if it’s only the bad things you listed. Also…

              overturn precedent to end abortion rights, instead of codifying Roe

              This is a prime case of hindsight. Dems did not have the benefit of future sight to know that a 40 year precedent would be overturned with such specious reasoning. We can whine all we want about what Congress should have done, but that’s because we live in the timeline where SCOTUS has been revealed to be wholly rotten.

              Either way, I can argue with Democrats at a future time, but Republicans will find glee ignoring us plebs, so I don’t really see the point moaning about it now—as if there’s some viable alternative three weeks from the election.

        • skeptomatic@lemmy.ca
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          4
          ·
          14 days ago

          I think it’s because historically, elections are won by the more well funded party. And they don’t have the incel-capital the GOP has.