ROBERT REICH: I just checked the polls, and I'm coming to you with a personal request

 

I just read that Wall Street executives are planning to spend a whopping $80 million in Georgia to elect Republicans Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue and keep Mitch McConnell in power.¹

According to new campaign finance documents, Steven Schwarzman, a Wall Street CEO and close Trump confidant, just forked over $15 million to a McConnell-aligned Super PAC, and billionaire hedge fund manager Kenneth Griffin also wired $10 million—all to be spent in Georgia.²

Let's be clear about why Wall Street titans are dumping so much money into the Georgia races: It's because they're terrified. They know that, just last month, we flipped Georgia blue and that we're on the brink of doing so again—and they know that this time, we'll also rip the Senate gavel away from their favorite lapdog: Mitch McConnell.

The races are down to the wire. For Democrats to win, grassroots groups on the ground as well as national powerhouses like MoveOn are doing everything they can to energize the Democratic base and win over independent voters. Right now, MoveOn is

• flooding Georgia's airwaves with television and radio ads to drum up support and enthusiasm for Democrats Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff,
• blanketing Atlanta with billboards that get the truth out to voters about Loeffler and Perdue's corrupt records and ties to shady Wall Street deals, and
• engaging 55,000 MoveOn members in an ambitious and innovative get-out-the-vote campaign.

As the runoff elections in Georgia show, Wall Street and other Big Money interests continue to corrupt American politics—creating a vicious cycle that funnels more wealth and power to those at the top and erodes our democracy.

Here's how that vicious cycle works: Republicans cut taxes and slash regulations for their wealthy campaign donors. Megadonors and corporations funnel some of that money back into our political system to keep their lackeys in power. Those Republican politicians then propose another round of tax cuts, subsidies, or bailouts to secure even more donations.

Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

We must put an end to this corruption, and that starts by winning in Georgia. While Kelly Loeffler—herself a former Wall Street CEO—and David Perdue—a shady corporate executive—are bankrolled by Big Money, Democrats Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff have pledged to reject every cent of corporate PAC money. Which means that it's going to be up to grassroots activists like you to propel Warnock and Ossoff to victory.

I just checked the polls, and both runoff races are neck and neck.³ In races this close, every ad, every billboard, and every dollar could make all the difference and open the door to the passage of real reform in a Democratically controlled Senate. So I'm coming to you with a personal request.

Thanks for all you do.

–Robert Reich

Sources:

1. "Wall Street donates millions to back Republicans in Georgia Senate race," The Guardian, December 15, 2020
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2. Ibid.

3. "Latest Polls," FiveThirtyEight, accessed December 21, 2020
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