Making The Congress Less Oriented Towards Banksters-- Bernie Has Some Suggestions

Saturday evening Bernie tweeted a pretty basic concept: "Our economy works for Wall Street because it’s rigged by Wall Street. As long as Washington's bought, our economy won't work for the people." And by "Washington" being bought, he means corrupt politicians on the Wall Street gravy train. Leaving aside his opponent's massive $45,555,929 career-long indebtedness to the Finance Sector, more than any other politician who's ever been in Congress other than Obama, the dozen current members of the House who have taken the most in bribes--redefined as "contributions"-- from Wall Street this cycle are all unscrupulous members who are willing to do anything for bankster bucks:

• Paul Ryan (R-WI)- $1,981,809
• Kevin McCarthy (R-CA)- $1,584,650
• Patrick Murphy (New Dem-FL)- $1,413,950
• Jeb Hensarling (R-TX)- $921,415
• Patrick McHenry (R-NC)- $902,150
• Joe Heck (R-NV)- $889,972
• Ed Royce (R-CA)- $883,850
• Bob Dold (R-IL)- $817,194
• Steve Stivers (R-OH)- $815,970
• Chris Van Hollen (D-MD)- $710,078
• Steve Scalise (R-LA)- $708,358
• Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO)- $693,684

If you count "ex"-Republican Patrick Murphy, who still votes with the GOP on most core issues, as a Democrat, the list of the dozen most corrupt bankster-bots includes 10 ethics-free Republicans and 2 ethics-free Democrats. All the House members on the list have already earned Wall Street's gratitude with services delivered and all are thought by the banksters to be worth investing in for future returns. Three of the most corrupt-- Murphy, Heck and Van Hollen are being furiously pushed by Wall Street for promotion into the Senate.

But sending out a warning tweet about politicians corrupted by Wall Street dollars isn't all Bernie was up to over the weekend. He sent his supporters an e-mail which revealed his commitment to a strategy for continuing the political revolution: after contesting the primary in DC tomorrow-- and making a point about statehood for the district-- he will be taking "our issues to the Democratic Convention in Philadelphia next month." He has already given a significant financial leg up in fundraising to 4 House candidates in upcoming primaries-- Lucy Flores (NV... also tomorrow), Zephyr Teachout (NY), Eric Kingson (NY), Pramila Jayapal (WA), Paul Clements (MI) and Tim Canova (FL)-- and he emphasized why this is so important. These are all Blue America-endorsed candidates you can find my tapping on the "Bernie Congress" thermometer on the right.

But no matter what happens, the truth is that no president, not Bernie Sanders, not Hillary Clinton, not the greatest president you can possibly imagine can address the enormous problems facing the working families of our country by him or herself. That is the truth, and that is why we need a grassroots political movement in this country: a political revolution.

And that political revolution must work to elect candidates up and down the ballot, including members of Congress who are willing to stand up to corporate America and Wall Street. That’s why I am endorsing two progressives who have done that work throughout their careers: Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur and Congressman Rick Nolan.

...Congressman Rick Nolan (Minnesota) represents one of the most competitive congressional districts in the country. Normally when that happens, the elected official moves to the “right” to protect their seat. Not Rick. His election is a great opportunity to prove one can serve as a progressive and still win a difficult race.

Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (Ohio) is a leading voice to adopt fair trade policies which not only raise wages in this country, but lift living standards throughout the world. She has been fighting for a fair trade policy from the day she came to Congress.

I know that if you stand with them, as we have stood together throughout this campaign, we are almost certainly going to transform the Democratic Party, and we are going to transform this country.

From the very beginning, our campaign has been about building a movement which brings working people and young people together to create a government that represents all of us, and not just a handful of wealthy campaign contributors.

Supporting Rick Nolan and Marcy Kaptur is an important extension of that work.

THe likelihood of Bernie being elected president is fading. The likelihood of changing the complexion of Congress-- from one filled with corrupt conservatives to one with more dedicated progressive reformers-- is still within our grasp. Bernie voters haven't always been diligent in supporting down-ballot candidates who stand for his platform. Electing men and women like Pramila Jayapal, Zephyr Teachout, Eric Kingson, Tim Canova-- and the others on this list-- is the crucial next step we can still take to make America Trump-proof. In his note, Bernie asked for $100 contributions for the Berniecrat candidates. If that's steep for you, keep in mind that Tim Canova has built a war-chest of nearly two million dollars with small contributions averaging less than $20. There is no such thing as a contribution too small for a grassroots candidate. If $10 is what you can afford, that is $10 that will be meaningful, appreciated and not wasted on high-priced DC consultants.