Al Franken Didn’t Support the Funding Bill Because It Gives the Wealthy Even More Influence

Although Democrats managed to get 24 of President Obama’s nominees in the Senate as the Senate passed the Cromnibus government funding bill due to Senator Ted Cruz’s messing around, not all Democrats were pleased.

Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) issued the following statement condemning the gutting of campaign finance reform and putting taxpayers on the hook for another Wall Street bailout:

“I didn’t support this spending bill because Minnesotans deserve a government that helps make the economy work for the middle class and those aspiring to be in the middle class—not a government that puts U.S. taxpayers on the hook to bail out Wall Street,” said Sen. Franken.

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“This bill reverses important rules that were put in place after the 2008 financial crisis, putting tens of millions of Americans back at risk. And this bill further erodes our nation’s campaign finance laws by giving wealthy individuals even greater influence in our election system. After closely studying the legislation, I could not in good conscience vote for it.”

Conservatives try to falsely equivocate the stand that liberal Senators like Warren, Sanders and Franken have taken against Wall Street giveaways with what Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) has done with his confused stand against “amnesty”, but there are huge differences. It was Republicans who added this give away into a totally unrelated bill, proving once again that they are the party of corporatist tools. They deliberately chose a must-pass bill like the government funding bill and put the rider in at the last minute so there would be no/little debate.

Democrats were caught between tough choices, but it would be inaccurate to paint the Democratic Party with the same brush as the Republican Party. Had the Republicans not attached the rider to the bill, this would not even be an issue and that matters.

Citizens are left with yet another reason to check the money behind their purchases, to make sure they aren’t funding a government that is stealing from them and destroying democracy. It would behoove liberals to download something like the Buycott App and use it with every purchase. The Republicans are trying to hand this country to the wealthy, but that only works if the wealthy pay no price for harming the majority of citizens.

Sarah Jones

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