At a 'Fight Oligarchy' event in Tucson, Arizona on Saturday, Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX) spoke about the influence of corporate lobbying in American politics.
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NewsTranscript
00:00I'm Congressman Greg Casad from the great state of Texas.
00:13I'm proud to chair the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
00:23And Adelita Grijalva, I know your dad is watching us from the sky, cheering you on, rooting
00:29us on in this fight.
00:32It is his spirit, that never give up spirit, that we need so badly right now.
00:43Because I know so many of you are asking, what do I do next?
00:48How can I find hope in this dark time?
00:51Tucson, to me, the answer is clear.
00:54The only answer to growing autocracy is firing up the engines of our grassroots democracy.
01:05The only answer to oligarchy is organizing.
01:09The only answer to puppet politicians is the power of working people.
01:19I want you to remember this.
01:21Donald Trump wants you to feel powerless.
01:24The billionaire class wants you to feel powerless.
01:29They want you to feel powerless because they are afraid of the power on this field.
01:34They're afraid of the lines of people wrapping around this high school.
01:47It's time to take on the rich.
01:49It's time to take on the ultra-powerful.
01:52Your power is what they're afraid of.
01:54Your power that is organizing unions right now in this country like we haven't seen in
01:58a hundred years.
02:03Your power that can break that unholy alliance between corporate greed and corrupt government.
02:11Your power that is scaring Republican office holders right now from holding any town halls.
02:21That might be the biggest news that we've missed in the last few days, is that House
02:25Speaker Mike Johnson told all the Republican members of Congress, don't hold any town halls.
02:33Don't meet with your constituents.
02:39We got a little town hall here today, don't we Tucson?
02:45These fraud politicians are so scared that they will be exposed by Americans of all backgrounds
02:51and beliefs as the fraudsters that they are.
02:54That's exactly what we intend to do.
02:56We are not going to let them get away with this.
03:19We are not.
03:20If these puppet politicians want to represent billionaires instead of the people, then they
03:25should lose their jobs in the people's house.
03:34So they may not want to have the town hall, but we're having it here.
03:37Let's talk about what they don't want to talk about, starting with Elon Musk's Department
03:41of Government Efficiency.
03:48You can understand the whole Doge scam with just two numbers.
03:53First number, $8 million a day.
03:56Elon Musk gets in government contracts $8 million a day for himself.
04:05The second number is $65 a day.
04:09$65 a day is how much a senior who's worked their entire life gets to survive on Social
04:15Security.
04:16$8 million a day, $65 a day.
04:21If they were looking for efficiency, wouldn't they look into Musk's billions of dollars,
04:26or the billions of dollars big pharma milks from the taxpayers, or the billions of dollars
04:30that big tech screws us out of?
04:32They don't want to look into that because those corporations fund their campaigns.
04:38That's not right.
04:39It's not right.
04:41They want to come after programs for working people.
04:45They get their $8 million a day while they try to cut food stamps for the working class.
04:52While Elon Musk makes his $8 million a day in government contracts, he's coming after
04:56your grandma's $65 a day.
05:00While Musk gets his $8 million a day, he's trying to shut down the Department of Education.
05:05Trying to shut down the Department of Labor.
05:09Musk wants you to work more hours to make him more rich.
05:12Musk wants you to pay more taxes to make him more rich.
05:15Tucson, I've had enough of this.
05:17It's time to say, fire Elon Musk.
05:24Fire who?
05:25Elon Musk.
05:26Fire who?
05:27Elon Musk.
05:28Don't fire public school teachers.
05:30Fire who?
05:31Elon Musk.
05:32Don't fire nurses.
05:33Fire who?
05:34Elon Musk.
05:35Don't fire our veterans.
05:37Fire who?
05:38Elon Musk.
05:39Fire who?
05:40Elon Musk.
05:41Well, it's time to talk about how we're going to do it, Tucson.
05:46You see, there's this debate happening in Washington, D.C. right now about how we should
05:51respond to the oligarchy.
05:53There are those, a general strike would be pretty good, I heard that at our town hall.
05:59There are those who say that politicians of conscience should just roll over and play
06:05dead.
06:06That's their words.
06:09And then there's those that say we should stand and fight.
06:14Anybody here think we should roll over and play dead?
06:17Anybody?
06:18No, no, roll over and play dead people over here, over there?
06:21Well, Bernie Sanders is here to stand and fight.
06:24AOC is here to stand and fight.
06:27I hear some people are ready to stand and fight.
06:30Say it with me.
06:31Stand and fight.
06:32Stand and fight.
06:33Stand and fight.
06:34Stand and fight.
06:35Stand and fight.
06:36When they come for our public schools, we're not going to roll over and play dead.
06:43We're going to stand and fight.
06:45When they come for our health care, we're not going to roll over and play dead.
06:52We're going to stand and fight.
06:54When they come for our veterans, we're not going to roll over and play dead.
06:58We're going to stand and fight.
07:00When they try to pass their tax cuts for billionaires, we're not rolling over and playing dead.
07:05We are going to stand and fight.
07:08That's exactly how we're going to beat them, Arizona.
07:11I'm not telling you it's going to be easy.
07:13But remember what's possible when people come together in this country, organize, demand
07:19more, and stand and fight.
07:21In the 1920s, the robber barons, the Elon Musks of their day, they took over our government,
07:28enriched themselves, and caused the Great Depression.
07:31But people just like you didn't play dead.
07:34They stood, they fought, they organized, they took back our government from the ultra-rich,
07:40created Social Security, created the New Deal, beat fascism across the world.
07:52In the 1960s, the segregationists had a chokehold on our government, but people like you didn't
07:58play dead.
07:59They stood, they fought, they marched, they bled until they passed the Voting Rights Act
08:04and the Civil Rights Act, and created Medicaid, and created Medicare, and created Head Start.
08:12That is what is possible when we organize.
08:16So on our darkest days, I want you to remember, there can be a world that is better after
08:23this.
08:24There has to be a better world after this.
08:28Our biggest enemy is not just Donald Trump, it's not even Elon Musk.
08:33Our biggest enemy is cynicism.
08:36The idea they try to implant into us that a better world isn't possible.
08:40The idea they try to put in our heads that no matter what we do, nothing will ever change.
08:45Because if they convince us of that, if they get us to tune out, then they have all the
08:50power.
08:51They can turn us against one another.
08:54They can get us to even give up.
08:56But that cynicism is a lie, Arizona.
08:59And our job is to expose the truth.
09:04Our job, together, is not only to save Medicaid and Medicare.
09:10Our job is to pass into law giving Medicare to every single person in this country.
09:18So you never again have to check your bank balance before you go to the doctor.
09:27Imagine a world where healthcare is a right.
09:30It'd be very hard for a fraudster politician to come after our Medicare if every single
09:35person had it and they had to come after every single American.
09:41Our job is not just to beg corporate CEOs, oh please lower prices, please stop lowering
09:47wages.
09:48No.
09:49Our job is to permanently get big money out of politics so that those CEOs don't get a
09:55bigger say than all of us.
10:00Our job is to break up the big corporate monopolies that are screwing us every single day.
10:06Bring down housing prices for good.
10:08Bring down grocery prices for good.
10:10Require good living wages for a full day's work.
10:14Put power back in the hands of everyday people from Arizona to Texas, all across America.
10:21That's our job, y'all.
10:30And very importantly, our job is not just to beat the fraudster Republicans at the polls.
10:36Our job is also to make sure the Democratic Party stops thinking small, does big things
10:42for working people, always, no matter what, period, and stop, cut off ties to the billionaire
10:50class and stand with the working class every single day.
10:54Our job is to organize our workplaces around that idea, organize our neighborhoods, knock
11:00on every door, hold town halls, hold politicians accountable, and rebuild our democracy.
11:07That's exactly what we're going to do.
11:13That is how we not only defeat Trump and Musk, but also defeat the hopelessness, the
11:20cynicism that created them.
11:23That is what we are tasked to do here today.
11:28And there is a young congresswoman who has shown the world how we create hope, how we
11:36take on the billionaires, how we take on the bullies.
11:42She's fearless.
11:44She's a true leader of our movement.
11:48She's who we need in this moment.
11:50She's a historical figure right now, right here.
11:55She's our champion for the working class.
11:57She's our champion for democracy.
12:00I'm proud to call up the congresswoman, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.