Progressive liberal champion Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is angry about the control that money has on American politics, reported Talking Points Memo.
Sanders has been quite vocal about the tragedy of Citizens United and how that decision has titled the odds the favor of corporations and wealthy individuals. He recently criticized the Clinton Foundation for being a money machine in its own right, but Sanders remains focused on the big picture.
“It’s not just about Hillary Clinton or Bill Clinton. It is about a political system today that is dominated by big money,” Sanders said on ABC News. “It’s about the Koch brothers being prepared to spend $900 million in the coming election.”
Although the Clinton Foundation has created some concern among many far-left liberals as being another money network similar to conservative groups, there are the super-wealthy people that do the most harm, said Sanders.
“So do I have concerns about the Clinton Foundation and that money? I do,” he said. “But I am concerned about Sheldon Adelson and his billions. I’m concerned about the Koch brothers and their billions. We’re looking at a system where our democracy is being owned by a handful of billionaires.”
Some reports note that the Clinton Foundation hasn’t been completely transparent about how its money moves. According to The Boston Globe, the Clinton Health Access Initiative, part of the Clinton Foundation, neglected to disclose foreign donor information to the State Department for review. It took a leak to reveal how much money Clinton has received from foreign donors.
The high-profile HSBC leak that revealed many instance of bank malfeasance showed that Clinton received $81 million “from wealthy international donors who were clients of HSBC’s controversial Swiss bank.”
What’s most concerning is that Sanders doesn’t consider the Clinton Foundation to be one of the most elite heavy-hitters of the PAC money network. That title belongs to Adelson and the Kochs. We have a frightening road ahead in 2016.
