00:00He demanded that the Epstein files be open, which is what the American people have wanted,
00:06and he refused, what a crime, what an outrage, to be a rubber stamp for Donald Trump.
00:14Here is the political reality of today, a reality that we just saw yesterday in the election in Kentucky,
00:22when Congressman Thomas Massey, somebody who I have very little in common with politically,
00:30was defeated by $9 million in contributions from AIPAC and $7 million from Trump megadonors.
00:38And what was the great crime that Massey committed that gendered so much Super PAC money in opposition to him?
00:49Well, he opposed the war in Iran, and so do the vast majority of the American people.
00:55He demanded that the Epstein files be open, which is what the American people have wanted,
01:02and he refused, what a crime, what an outrage, to be a rubber stamp for Donald Trump.
01:09Let's be honest.
01:11The reality is that any candidate today who stands up to the AI industry, to crypto, to AIPAC,
01:19and other special interests will be hit with an onslaught of TV ads and social media attacks
01:25paid for by the richest people in this country.
01:29As all of us know, 16 years ago, by a 5-4 vote, the Supreme Court in the Citizens United
01:38case
01:38issued one of the most disastrous decisions in the history of our country.
01:43Since Citizens United, billionaires and large corporations have poured huge amounts of money
01:50into the political process and, in return, are getting policies that serve their interests
01:56at the expense of working families, the environment, and a decent foreign policy.
02:02That is a major reason why the very, very rich in America are getting richer
02:07while working families are struggling.
02:10If we are going to create a government that works for all and not just the 1%,
02:15we have to end Citizens United, we have to get Super PACs out of elections,
02:20and in my view, we have to move to public funding of elections.
02:24Today, the legislation that Representative Lee and I are introducing begins to do just that.
02:31Specifically, the Abolish Super PACs Act would limit individual Super PAC contributions to $5,000.
02:39Billionaires would not be able to pour huge amounts of money into Super PACs,
02:44and it would end the era of unlimited spending and putting power back into the hands of the people.
02:51Way back in 1933, Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis made a very profound statement.
02:58He said, quote,
03:00We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few,
03:07but we cannot have both, end quote.
03:10What Brandeis said back then was correct.
03:13It is even more accurate today.
03:16For the sake of our democracy, for the sake of an economy that works for working people,
03:20and not just the very rich,
03:22we must ban Super PACs and get big money out of politics.
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