What do you think about the FIGHT OLIGARCHY TOUR?

[AviatorTom]

Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) are conducting a tour in several US cities called the Fight Oligarch Tour. Bernie Sanders, an admitted socialist, is handing the torch to AOC to carry on the fight for socialism in America. The tour attracted 35 thousand people in Denver, which is impressive, about equal to the crowds Barack Obama drew during his campaigns.

Both Liberal and Conservative media are questioning the tour, though. MSNBC journalists have asked if the middle class, who the Democrats are trying to reach, understand the word oligarchy; do they know what it means? Other CNN and FOX reporters have questioned if the Democrats are themselves an oligarchy, with wealthy career politicians like Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer.

Journalist Battya Ungar-Sargon points out...

• During the 2024 election, for every one billionaire that supported Donald Trump, Kamala Harris had 2 billionaires supporting her
• 9 of the 10 richest counties in the US are run by Democrats
• 65% of Americans making more than $500 thousand are Democrats
• 75% of hedgefund managers who make political donations, donate to Democrats
• 95% of the top 3 consultant management firms in the US donate to Democrats

Makes one wonder if the Democratic Party is really against oligarchy or are they themselves the Party of the Wealthy, and Bernie and AOC are just trying to push a socialist agenda.

What do you think of Bernie and AOC and their Fight Oligarchy Tour?

[Lliam]

This is a joke. Democrats love oligarchs. This is just a bunch of political posturing for the ignorant masses who don't know how things really work.

This is all about treating one man, Elon Musk, as a boogeyman just because he is working with Trump.

Look at all the wealthy Democratic office holders and former office holders.

This past election, billionaires supported Kamala/Democrats with a 5 to 1 ratio which is massive. Same as in the 2020 election Biden/Democrats had a 3 to 1 ratio of billionaires lobbying for them. In 2016 it was oustounding Hillary/Democrats had a 20 to 1 ratio of billionaires lobbying for them.

A total of 83 billionaires (or more) backed Harris. Forbes identified these 28 billionaires who donated $1 million toward groups supporting Harris through August
Arthur Blank (Atlanta Falcons)
Michael Bloomberg (Bloomberg, former New York mayor)
Neil Bluhm (Real estate)
John Doerr (Kleiner Perkins)
Amy Goldman Fowler (New York real estate)
Avram Glazer (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
Reid Hoffman (LinkedIn)
Robert Hale, Jr. (Granite Telecommunications)
Amos Hostetter, Jr. (Cable)
Bruce Karsh (Oaktree Capital Management)
Vinod Khosla (Khosla Ventures)
Seth Klarman (Baupost)
Henry Laufer (Renaissance Technologies)
Stephen Mandel, Jr. (Lone Pine Capital)
George Marcus (Marcus & Millichap)
Michael Moritz (Sequoia Capital)
Dustin Moskovitz (Facebook)
John Pritzker (Hyatt hotels)
Haim Saban (Fox Family Channel)
Sheryl Sandberg (Facebook)
Eric Schmidt (Google)
Lynn Schusterman (Samson Resources)
David Shaw (D. E. Shaw)
The late Jim Simons (Renaissance Technologies)
Gwendolyn Sontheim Meyer (Cargill)
Steven Spielberg (Hollywood director)
Thomas Steyer (Farallon Capital)
Pat Stryker (Stryker Corp.)

The following 36 billionaires made between $50,000 and $999,999 in donations to groups supporting Harris through August, according to Forbes’ analysis of FEC data:
David Blitzer (Blackstone)
David Bonderman (TPG)
Edythe Broad (Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation)
Tory Burch (Tory Burch)
Rick Caruso (Los Angeles real estate)
James Chambers (Cox Enterprises)
Robert Clark (Clayco)
Barry Diller (IAC)
Dagmar Dolby (Dolby Laboratories)
Charles Ergen (DISH)
John Fish (Suffolk Construction)
Gordon Getty (Getty Oil)
James Goodnight (SAS)
Jonathan Gray (Blackstone)
Thomas Hagen (Erie Indemnity)
Reed Hastings (Netflix)
Elizabeth Johnson (Fidelity Investments)
Michael Krasny (Computer Discount Warehouse)
Chris Larsen (Ripple)
Marc Lasry (Avenue Capital Group)
Theodore Leonsis (Washington Capitals, Mystics and Wizards)
Daniel Och (Och-Ziff Capital Management)
Mark Pincus (Zynga)
Laurene Powell Jobs (Apple, gave about $900,000 to Harris Victory Fund last quarter)
Katharine Rayner (Cox Enterprises)
Stewart Resnick and Lynda Resnick (Wonderful Company)
John Sall (SAS)
Paul Sciarra (Pinterest)
George Soros (Soros Fund Management)
Jonathan Tisch and Laurie Tisch (Loews Corporation)
Todd Wagner (Broadcast. com)
Christy Walton (Walmart)
Elaine Wynn (Wynn Resorts)
Dirk Ziff (Ziff Davis).
The news outlet Bloomberg reported these additional four billionaires have donated to Harris’ election funds or groups supporting Harris’ election:

Melinda French Gates (Microsoft, gave about $900,000 to Harris Victory Fund last quarter)

Joe Gebbia (Airbnb)
Hamilton James (Blackstone)
Margot Perot (Ross Perot widow).

These six billionaires signed a Sept. 6 open letter supporting Harris:
Mark Cuban (“Shark Tank” investor)
José E. Feliciano (Clearlake Capital)
Magic Johnson (NBA star and investor)
Sean Parker (Facebook)
Penny Pritzker (Hyatt hotels)
Hamdi Ulukaya (Chobani).
(Updated Oct. 16):

And these three billionaires donated to a Harris committee during the third quarter, according to FEC filings analyzed by The New York Times:
Tim Draper (Bitcoin)
J. B. Pritzker (Illinois governor)
Tyler Perry (Filmmaker).
And there's music stars Bruce Springsteen, who backed Harris Oct. 3, and Taylor Swift, who endorsed Harris Sept. 10.

(Updated Oct. 28): Bloomberg donated another $50 million to the same non-profit organization backing Harris, the Times reported Monday. Bloomberg was already the most prolific individual donor to Harris groups this cycle, and his total financial commitment toward Democratic causes now reportedly approaches nearly $100 million.

Also, Duolingo founder Luis von Ahn endorsed Harris, declaring the Democratic candidate is “the better option for the US economy.”

Gee, do any of these oligarchs influence Democrat politicians?

And don't forget the massive support both parties get from AIPAC and Israel.

[OlderAndWiser]

This is the world turned upside down. When I was a child, the Democrat Party promoted itself as the party of working people, the poor and the middle class. Now, the Democrat Party is so woke that it is completely out of touch with us "commoners" and they are blind to their own hypocrisy.

[OlderAndWiser]

Thanks for MHO!

[NoDecision]

I asked the same question recently and got crucified for asking it. I am beginning to think this is their life passion - to cuss and discuss politics. 😣 And that only their opinions have any merit.

[sage2021]

I think that these people haven't spent their time widely for the short term they've been on earth.🌎

[goaded]

"an admitted socialist"? "admitted"? Nice framing.

Then there's the unsourced and almost certainly misleading statistics.

For example: "75% of hedgefund managers who make political donations, donate to Democrats" - OK, and what percentage donate to Republicans? Trump always donated to both parties. Where did that figure come from? Why do they donate to Democrats? Could it be because the economy does better under Democratic leadership and the country goes into recession under Republicans?

(They all seem to come from one woman making the claims on TV, probably somewhere like Fox News, where the truth is optional.)

[Friendlybro79]

@goaded most rich people and corporations will donate on both sides to hedge their bets. They can bribe every side legally minus the few like Bernie and AOC (there are more progressive democrats too) and as far as I know Josh Hawley on the right refuses corporate donations too. I don't know if Gaetz counts anymore but he didn't either oddly enough.

[Friendlybro79]

If you notice Bernie has always said get money out of politics and even thing he is left of center for a Democrat, he has to contend with his own moderate party, the one that usually takes the mainstage in elections, that are all about donor money. The left has to rid themselves of this or we will really struggle to win in 2028. Politicians need to be beholden to the people not their handful of rich donors. It's unfortunately happening on the left too. On the right they just don't hide musk, bezos and Zuckerberg, they show America who's really in charge, but we still vote for them lol

[goaded]

@Friendlybro79 I found a list of the biggest Hedge Fund donors, only four or five of the top 20 didn't give any money to Republicans. One of the others somehow managed to take money from the Democrats!

I'm frustrated by the lack of sourcing, too.

[goaded]

Uh: "95% of the top 3 consultant management firms"? How does that work, then?

[Jersey2]

Bernie, the so called Socialist, is worth millions and has 3 homes… 3 homes that need heating, cooling, huge amount of materials and replacement , arterials like a roof, yards that need fertilizer, concrete, lots of wood to make etc.

One way politicians get millions is to write a crappy book and then their rich friend buys a trainload of copy’s and just gives them away, perhaps with a funding request.

I hear AOC is wealthy now. How did that happen? Corruption?

Democrats now have a 29% favorable rating so these two are tromping around to save the mid-term elections and position themselves for 2028 Presidential election. Many of their audience travel with them from place to place I hear.

Oligarchy is this year’s slogan like BLM, Occupy Wall Street etc. They come up with a slogan for the dim witted each election to riot and protest to. Yawn.

[CalmUntilAbused]

So... I've recently gone down the ShoeOnHead rabbit hole and I can't help but sympathize with Bernie Sanders and AOC, even if I do not agree with them economically. It looks like they are at least genuine in their words and actions compared to basically all the other Demo (n) crats. Maybe they should set up a whole new party? Socialism is still legalized theft, but at least it is not the even more harmful woke agenda.

Oh, and about the oligarchy... Well, having familiarized myself with Aristotle's take on the varieties of constitution in his Politics, I would very much prefer an aristocracy to its rotten form, an oligarchy. Only thing is... I do not think that's what Bernie Sanders and AOC have in mind when calling for the people to fight the oligarchy. I mean... Democracy is just another rotten system according to Aristotle, and they are quite literally Democrats! If they went for a politeia instead, kind of like MAGA does, it would be a whole different matter.

[Friendlybro79]

Can you source the stuff under

Journalist Battya Ungar-Sargon points out...

I tried looking them up to be fair but can't locate these articles that I hope this journalist sourced the data.

Billionaires and super pacs give money to both Democrats and Republicans. It's an issue on both sides and why money in politics is against us avg people.

AOC and Bernie do not take money from such sources. They are the progressive wing within the democratic party that isn't about pushing actual socialism and communism and every other ism the right tries to add to their list of ways to demonize progressives.

[goaded]

"Can you source the stuff..." I doubt it.

[AviatorTom]

@goaded She was interviewed on Fox News.

[Friendlybro79]

@AviatorTom I'll search for it. I didn't see it yesterday but I could have missed it. I searched every one of those bullet points and could not find a source to say how the information was gathered. That's what I'm really looking for. I like to not read more into how this was determined. This is where I find something interesting and learn something new, or it's just not accurate. I can't determine either right now n

[jshm2]

Going to punch three billionaires on the mouth tomorrow... is what most will declare.

But it is pretty obvious that the billionaire class now thinks itself the "kings of the world". Meaning they will expect everyone under them to follow them blindly.

Democracy created these monsters, and we've got to fight back against the billionaire wannabee kings, and their evil political protectors.

[Sachem]

I wish them luck but in all honesty, the Democrats have so little to go on about tRump. After all, they had plenty of time to imprison him like they did with the others but refused to do so. Had they put tRump in jail he would not have run for office and the Democrats would have won.

So why sit back so stupidly when you had every opportunity to arrest him?

I cannot honestly say why.

All this is useless. Utterly useless.

[goaded]

It's not too hard to avoid trial for a few years if you've got a never ending supply of donor money and your case is being heard by a judge you appointed and is willing to exceed their authority, not just once, but three times, on your behalf. Not to mention a SCOTUS who will slow walk decisions and overturn the obvious meaning of the constitution to slow cases down.

[Sachem]

@goaded
But his fellow cons were imprisoned. They could have done the same with him but were too scared. Cowardice is why they lost in November. And we pay the price for it today.

[goaded]

Cowardice is why Trump wasn't convicted in his impeachment.

[Sachem]

@goaded

That is true, as well.

[goaded]

You might like: newrepublic.com/.../transcript-trump-text-fiasco-worsens-knives-come-hegseth

[DrPepper12]

I think the corporatist direction that the Democratic Party has taken since Clinton is concerning but of greater concern is the fact that we don't have public campaign finance and that our prostitutes can be brought so cheaply.

AOC accepts No donations so she's clear. I don't know about Bernie.

[Twalli]

Sanders and AOC aren't part of the extremely rich. AOC couldn't even afford to move to DC until she got her first check from being elected. While Sanders got a lot of money during his campaigns, most were used and he started from a much lower level than any of his opponents. So they're the most qualified politicians to talk. about this.
The guy on the other side considers $1 million a small loan.

[Shiprex]

Sounds like Bernie should have been running instead of Kamala. The same folk at trumps rallies are bringing up the same points at Bernie's. Trouble is, Trump ignored them with platitudes and no substance.

[Manuelwe]

This is a great idea. I support it. This is what Kamala Harris should be doing. It worked with Trump. He knew if people forgot his name he is finish. Like Putin or any dictator.. Is what you do out of pocket makes people know how powerful you are.
Like Trump is destroying America Again

[Bricealan]

@AviatorTom Neither the balding, grandfather, nor the other leftist half wit know what Oligarchy is. It just sound good to their half- wit brain and their followers

[MicroJ]

I didn't know that 35,000 people even knew who Bernie of AOC were?

To be honest the top "2" that liberals complain about, actually vote for them. So, to your point...

[WindAtMyBack]

Those are two of the stupidest people in Congress. Even for Democrats they are at the bottom of the scale. They are both completely clueless.

[exitseven]

Bernie only like the oligarchs that support democrats like Soros. I hope that AOC runs for president in 2028.

[BCRanger10]

AOC doesn't know whatban oligarchy is. In fact, I doubt she can even spell the word.

[NoDecision]

Maybe she thought it said "OldGrouch"?

[chrissykerdock]

obviously they don't care about women getting raped and killed

[Snakeyes7]

I have no idea where these people are getting the idea that we are heading into an oligarchy or autocracy. This just sounds like severe paranoia.

[goaded]

The fact that Trump was flanked by billionaires at his inauguration? The fact that Musk is f*cking up the government? The fact that Trump is taking his cues from Hungary and Russia? The fact that Trump is using the power of the government to extort law firms and whole states?

How much of the $420 million NASA budget cut (420, really?) will be taken from Musk companies, do you think?

[Snakeyes7]

@goaded The democrats literally have George Soros, Michael Bloomberg, Reid Hoffman, Tom Steyer, Bill Gates, Dustin Moskovitz, J. B. Pritzker, Marc Benioff, Laurene Powell Jobs and Mark Cuban. You have no room to talk about billionaires.

He removed defective and useless parts. Maybe that's fucking up the government to you, but the government has done nothing but misuse them so they're better off gone.

Explain the last two questions.

Zero because the money that his companies get are through people willingly giving him money in exchange for his goods and services. NASA gets their funding from what's stolen from thw people.

[goaded]

How many of them were standing next to Biden at his inauguration? Which one who's companies are supported by China was given access to government at the highest levels, to the point of getting a briefing on attack plans against China? Which one of them fired people or shut down whole government departments that were in the process of investigating their companies?

No, the people looking after the nuclear arsenal were not defective or useless, nor were the people watching out for epidemics, or the FAA. In fact a lot of the people he fired were on probation (and so had less protection) had recently been promoted because they were good at their jobs.

Musk companies have received billions in US government funds, and recently tried to defraud the Canadian government for about US$30 million by "selling" 8,653 cars during a single weekend in January.

"according to federal data analyzed by The Independent, Musk's own companies have been promised or awarded nearly $21 billion by the U. S. government since 2008."
www.independent.co.uk/.../...a-taxes-b2703141.html

[Snakeyes7]

@goaded perhaps you have forgotten that we were in the middle of a pandemic freak out. Biden wasn't stuck inside and everyone has spread out. Who stood next to him is irrelevant.

Every one of them might as well have since they all have the ability to lobby to get what they want through congress. If we had our politicians wear their sponsors on their clothes, they'd look like Nascar racers.

I thought USAID was for funding trans operas international drag queen shows and Iranian Sesame street. Was USAID or any other agency investigating Tesla, Space X or PayPal? If so, what for?

Why didn't they answer a simple email then? Based on the jobs you described, that would be the literal easiest thing they would have had to do that week, so I don't think they have an excuse.

I hope they don't get a single penny more and should rely completely on their customers, as all businesses should.

[combative]

I heard AOC wants Democrats to fart harder. Are they handing out cans of refried beans?

[Dargil]

I'm going to order from Amazon. Maybe something from Apple or Microsoft.

[Cubus]

Voters only remember last 3 weeks, so the fact that they are doing it now and not before the election does not matter.

[LiamS95]

They're ungodly lovers as is the majority of dems.

[NathanDavis]

is it going to be AOC 2028?

[Anonymous]

Both pawns of the oligarchy.

[beefcakebradybatson]

Welcome, if somewhat late.

[noohair]

You mean the old man young woman morons tour?

[SmokinAces2000]

Haven’t been keeping up

[jimmy2]

It time for them to go away

[TraderJoe]

Is George Soros included in their fight?

[Pterodon]

Hilarious