Photos: Bernie: Thank you Los Angeles for our biggest rally ever. 36,000 people came out today ...

[usonian]

14. Email from Bernie today.

I am sure he would want it to be shared.

Bernie and AOC. Fighting for the people.

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So far, as you may know, we’ve been to Nebraska, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, Nevada, Colorado, and Arizona - and the turnouts have been extraordinary - with more than 100,000 people coming out.

And Republicans are getting nervous. Both Trump and Musk have had to respond - with lies. Musk claimed that many of the 34,000 who came to the Denver rally were “paid organizers.” Trump was busy boasting, falsely, that his turnouts were always larger than ours.

On Saturday, the next phase of the Fighting Oligarchy tour begins. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and I will be starting off in Los Angeles. We’ll then be going to Utah, Idaho, back to rural agricultural areas in California, and finishing up in Montana. Most of these events will be in conservative districts that have Republican members of Congress.

What are we trying to accomplish with these events? There are four main reasons.

First: I want people in the communities that we’re in, and people throughout the country, to understand that they’re not alone when they are outraged by what Trump is doing to our country. In fact, when they stand amidst thousands of their neighbors in opposition to oligarchy, authoritarianism, xenophobia and attacks on the working class, they learn that they are not part of some fringe minority but belong to a majority of Americans who want this country to move forward in a very different direction than Trump is taking us. These rallies give people confidence and provide hope for a better future.

Second: Given the nature of corporate media and the dominance of big money over the two-party political system, it’s vitally important that we provide a progressive political and economic analysis that many people have rarely or never heard. In other words, we must raise political consciousness. One of the ways that the Establishment is able to maintain the rigged economic and political systems that we have is by ignoring the most pressing problems that working class people face. When people are not provided with rational explanations as to what’s going on in the world in which they live, they may give up on the political process. And that is exactly what the moneyed interests want.

For example: When is the last time that you heard a serious national discussion about the unprecedented level of income and wealth inequality that we are currently experiencing? What are the moral and economic implications of the three wealthiest people in America owning more wealth than the bottom half of our country – 170 million Americans? This, perhaps the most important economic reality that we face, is almost completely ignored by the corporate media and corporate politicians. Well. I TALK ABOUT IT AT OUR RALLIES.

And what about the economic crises facing the working class of this country? In the richest country in the history of the world, which is what we are, 60% of our people live paycheck to paycheck and working class people, as a result of the stress they experience trying to survive, have a seven years shorter life expectancy than the wealthy. Over 20% of senior citizens in this country are trying to survive on less than $15,000 a year. We have the highest rate of childhood poverty of almost any major country on earth. Over 800,000 Americans are homeless and 20 million Americans spend half of their incomes or more on housing. Do you hear much discussion about those realities on TV or in Congress? Well. I TALK ABOUT IT AT OUR RALLIES.

And what about our dysfunctional and wildly expensive health care? Republicans want to slash Medicaid. Most Democrats are content to preserve the status quo. When is the last time you heard serious discussion about the need to approach health care as a human right and guarantee health care to all Americans through a Medicare for All single-payer system. Well. I TALK ABOUT IT AT OUR RALLIES.

And what about, perhaps, the most important issue of all? The need to end the disastrous Citizens United Supreme Court decision and move to public funding of elections. Both parties raise huge amounts from the billionaire class which allows them to use their influence to shape the government’s agenda. Musk spent $270 million to elect Trump and was given the right to decimate programs that working families desperately need. AIPAC and other super-PACs contribute heavily to Democrats (and Republicans) and are prepared to punish any elected official who stands up to Netanyahu’s barbaric war against the Palestinian people in Gaza. You’re not hearing much lately about our corrupt campaign finance system. Well. I TALK ABOUT IT AT OUR RALLIES.

Third: While it is absolutely imperative that we, as progressives, take on Trump and his extremist agenda every day, it’s equally important that we bring forth a bold agenda for the future that addresses the pain that millions of working class families are experiencing. Working class Americans are not voting Republican because they support tax breaks for billionaires or want to decimate Medicaid, Social Security, or the Veterans Administration. They are voting Republican because they perceive, correctly, that most Democrats are not prepared to forcefully address the economic crises that they face. Democrats are wildly perceived as the party of the status quo - a status quo which has been a disaster for most Americans. That has got to change. We need a clear economic program that takes on the Oligarchs and the greed of corporate America. An agenda that raises wages and supports unions, ends poverty for seniors, children and the disabled, makes housing affordable, guarantees health care and education for all and creates millions of good paying jobs by combatting the existential threat of climate change. In other words, after 10 years of simply criticizing Trump, we have to give Americans something to vote FOR.

Fourth: It is no secret to anyone that the current Democratic Party is a top-down institution. It is largely funded by a small group of individuals in the “donor class,” run by well-paid (and out of touch) consultants and elects most, not all, candidates through massive amounts of advertising. That is the political approach of the Democratic Establishment. It is an approach which will not only continue to lose elections but will never bring about the profound changes this country needs.

Our approach is different. We know that real political and social change never takes place from the top on down. It always takes place from the bottom on up. It’s what happens when millions of Americans - Black, White, Latino, men and women, gay and straight, native born or immigrant - stand together for economic, social, racial, and environmental justice.

And that is why we are now hiring organizers all across the country to help build that movement. We’re holding town meetings, we’re door-knocking, we’re on the phones and on social media. It’s why we’re beginning to recruit strong progressive candidates to run for office, from school board to U.S Senator.

That’s what the Fighting Oligarchy tour is all about.

In solidarity,

Bernie