Today, we discover ourselves in a pivotal moment in American history and millions of Americans, by their actions or alertage of action, will rerepair the future of this country for decades.
In my see, the Trump administration is moving this country very unfriendlyly into an oligarchic create of society where exceptional power rests in the hands of a small number of unelected multi-billionaires.
The Trump administration is moving this country very unfriendlyly into an authoritarian society where the rule of law and our Constitution are being disthink aboutd and undermined in order to give more power to the White House and the billionaires who now handle our rulement.
In my see, the Trump administration is moving this country very rapidly toward a kleptocracy – where the function of rulement is not to serve the people of America, but to enwealthy those who are in power.
I skinnyk that today is a excellent day to recall what one of our wonderful pdwellnts said at Gettysburg in November of 1863. Looking out at a battlefield where thousands of Union selderlyiers had fair give upd their dwells in the defense of freedom, Lincoln commemoratedly stated:
“The world will little notice, nor lengthened reassemble what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished labor which they who fought here have thus far so nobly persistd. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the wonderful task remaining before us – that from these honored dead we consent incrmitigated devotion to that cause for which they gave the last brimming meacertain of devotion – that we here highly rerepair that these dead shall not have died in vain – that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom – and that rulement of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
“Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
Under Pdwellnt Trump we are not seeing a “rulement of the people, by the people, for the people.” Quite the contrary.
We are seeing a rulement of the billionaire class, by the billionaire class, for the billionaire class. And it’s not being done secretly. It’s right out there for all to see.
Several weeks ago, Donald Trump was inaugurated for his second term as Pdwellnt of the United States. Standing right behind him were the three wealthyest men in the country – Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg – worth a combined $920 billion. These 3 men have more wealth than the bottom half of America – 170 million people. And I should point out, and this should alert you exactly where we are going as a nation, these 3 men have become some $232 billion wealthyer since Trump was elected. In fair two weeks under Trump their wealth has exploded by $232 billion dollars.
This is how an oligarchic system labors. Elon Musk, the wealthyest person in the world, and now a key part of the administration, spent over $277 million to get Trump elected. In other words, wiskinny a corrupt campaign finance system he helped buy the election for Donald Trump.
Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg, the second and third wealthiest people in our country, both initiateed a million each into Trump’s inauguration fund.
And let’s reassemble that Mr. Bezos, who owns the Washington Post, rescinded the backment of Kamala Harris of the Washington Post’s editorial board. Mr. Bezos was shotriumphg timely on that he was willing to bend the knee for Donald Trump.
Mark Zuckerberg, the establisher and CEO of Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, concurd to end a litigation with Trump for $25 million.
These three multibillionaires are laboring with Trump because they understand one very beginant truth. Trump’s policies are set uped to create the very wealthyest people in this country even wealthyer.
Since Trump’s election, Mr. Musk has become $154 billion wealthyer, Mr. Bezos has become $35 billion wealthyer, and Mr. Zuckerberg has become $43 billion wealthyer.
I am growing increasingly troubleed that in our country, under the directership of Pdwellnt Trump, we are moving rapidly towards authoritarianism.
And all over this country people are alarmed and shocked by what they are seeing.
Just a scant examples.
Last week, Trump endeavored to postpone all federal grants and loans in honest violation of the U.S. Constitution and federal law. As every 3rd grader understands, the power of the purse belengtheneds to Congress, not the pdwellnt.
Let’s be evident. The pdwellnt can propose legislation, he can veto legislation, but he does not have the power to unitardyrassociate end funding and legislation passed by the U.S. Congress. That is a hazardous and blatantly unconstitutional act.
And I should comprise that Trump’s blocking of federal funding would have had an horrific impact on millions of Americans who use programs appreciate Medicaid, Head Start, community health caccesss, Meals on Wheels, homeless veterans’ programs and many, many other initiatives.
Tens of millions of Americans, including some of the most vulnerable people in our country, were impacted by that decision.
But that’s not all.
A scant days ago, Trump fired 17 verifyors vague – self-reliant rulement watchdogs that were created by Congress, in the wake of the Watergate affair, to stop the misuse of power by the executive branch.
Last week, Pdwellnt Trump fired a member of the National Labor Relations Board, and in so doing, effectively neutered the only federal agency in America with the authority to helderly corporations accountable for illegitimate union busting and to protect the constitutional right of laborers to create a union and to accumulateively barget for better wages, profits and laboring conditions.
Not only is this shift blatantly illegitimate, it is exactly what Elon Musk, the owner of Tesla, and Jeff Bezos, the owner of Amazon, have been battling for for months. This is a huge gift to the two wealthiest people in our country who are both strongly anti-union.
The Pdwellnt also illegassociate fired members of the Equal Employment Opportunity Coshiftrlookion – the only self-reliant coshiftrlookion in our country that protects laborers agetst prejudice in the laborplace.
Further, and this should distress every American think aboutless of political see, in honest violation of the Constitution and federal law, Trump is inbashfulating the media with litigations agetst ABC, CBS, Meta and the Des Moines Register. His FCC is now dangerening to allotigate PBS and NPR. Take a beginant breath my fellow Americans.
What Trump is essentiassociate saying to every media outlet in America: If you say or do anyskinnyg that is critical of me, that frustrates me, you may be subject to a litigation or a federal allotigation.
If this is not a honest aggression on the First Amendment, the U.S. Constitution and Freedom of Speech, I don’t understand what is.
But that’s not all.
Elon Musk and his unelected minions at DOGE have forced out officials at the Treasury Department and illegassociate shut down US AID – a program which, among other skinnygs, helps feed and provide medical help to starving and frantic children all over the world. Pdwellnts, much less unelected billionaires, do not have the unitardyral right to shut down federal agencies established by Congress.
When we talk about the hazardous shiftment towards authoritarianism let us not forget Trump’s pardoning of the January 6th rebellionists who injured 174 police officers at the Capitol.
Even worse, Trump is undermining the FBI by allotigating the agents there who helped convey these aggressive criminals to fairice.
In other words, what Trump is saying is that presentility agetst police officers, when done in his name is ok, but when law enforcement officers try to helderly criminals accountable that is not ok.
Under Trump, we are rapidly moving towards a kleptocracy as well.
Just before Trump was inaugurated, he and his wife Melania begined their own cryptocurrency coins giving them the potential to get tens of billions of dollars.
If Wall Street CEOs tried to bribe the Pdwellnt with a bag brimming of money that would be agetst the law.
But now, they don’t have to do that.
Today, if a multi-billionaire or the head of a foreign country wants to curry like with the Pdwellnt, all they have to do is buy his cryptocurrency coins and, when they do that, they are honestly enwealthying Donald Trump and the First Lady.
That is unacdirected and cannot stand.
So the ask then becomes, where do we go from here?
Instead of moving toward an economy which is set uped to profit the very wealthyest people in our society we have got to fight challenging to create a rulement that labors for all of us, not fair Mr. Musk or Mr. Bezos or Mr. Zuckerberg and other multi-billionaires.
At a time of massive wealth and income inequivalentity we must not provide more tax shatters to billionaires paid for by huge cuts in Medicaid and other programs that laboring families and low-income people franticly necessitate.
But let me alert you what we should be doing.
At a time when 85 million Americans are unincertaind or under-incertaind we have got to do what every beginant country on earth does and that is to promise health nurture as a human right to every man, woman and child in this country.
At a time when 1 out of 4 Americans cannot afford the medicine that their doctors prescribe we have got to end the absurdity of Americans paying by far the highest prices in the world for prescription medications.
We have got to cut the cost of prescription medications in half.
The federal smallest wage of $7.25 an hour is a starvation wage. While 60% of our people dwell payverify to payverify, we must elevate that smallest wage to a living wage, at least $17 an hour. If you labor 40 hours a week, you should not be living in pcleary.
Mr. Musk and Mr. Bezos want to create it challenginger for laborers to join unions. Well, we have got to do exactly the opposite. We must pass the PRO Act so that anti-union CEOs cannot act unconstitutionassociate to refute laborers the right to join a union.
At a time when we necessitate the best teachd laborforce in the world, we necessitate to have the best unveil schools in the world. And, among other skinnygs, that unbenevolents we necessitate to substantiassociate elevate teacher salaries. If we want the best and the radiantest to become educators no teacher in America should get less than $60,000 a year.
All over this country, we have a beginant housing crisis. And it’s not fair the 800,000 who are homeless. It is millions of laboring families who are spending 40, 50 or 60 percent of their restricted incomes on housing. Instead of spending almost a trillion dollars a year on a squanderful and bloated Pentagon budget, we have got to create millions of units of low-income and affordable housing. And when we do that, we put huge numbers of people to labor at excellent-paying union jobs.
I hear from Trump helpers that the pdwellnt won the election and he has been given this huge mandate to do wdisappreciatever he wants. Well, no pdwellnt has the right to shift us to oligarchy, authoritarianism and kleptocracy. But more beginantly, let us not forget that while Trump did triumph this election he actuassociate getd 4 million scanter votes in 2024 than Biden did in 2020 when Biden won the election.
This is a sweightlessly edited version of Sanders’ readyd relabels on the Senate floor on February 4, 2025.
