Summer Lee Warns Local Candidates Are 'Crushed By Millions And Millions Of Dollars' From Super PACs

2 days ago

At a press briefing on Wednesday, Rep. Summer Lee (D-PA) spoke about her bill to ban Super PACs from federal elections.

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Transcript

00:00Thank you all so much. Good afternoon. It's a beautiful day. Spring is here as

00:06summer. Hopefully I'll bring us a little farther as we get into the better

00:10weather. But thank you all so much. I've summerly Congresswoman for

00:13representing Pennsylvania's 12th congressional district, Pittsburgh,

00:16Western Pennsylvania. Um, one of, uh, I would say a district that has known,

00:23um, the ills of super packs way too much before we get into that. I do

00:27want to thank, uh, Congress or excuse me, Congressman kind of for his

00:30partnership on this bill for the advocacy of the folks who are gathered

00:34here with us today, including free speech for the people. So many other

00:37voices that are here, the speakers who are going to contribute to this really

00:41crucial conversation. This is an initiative that is there to my heart.

00:47So we're not going to mince any words today. I think that if you are paying

00:51attention that was going on in our country, then you realize that our

00:53democracy is in a free fall. One could argue that our democracy is failing in

01:01a sense that if you can see the fissures in your democracy, then we

01:04are in big trouble. Our government is run by billionaires. The White House,

01:09Congress and the Supreme Court answer to corporations and the ultra wealthy

01:13more than they answer to the American people. 15 years ago on this day, the D.

01:18C. Circuit ruled in favor of speech now effectively putting our democracy up

01:23for sale. The decision created what we know as a super packs. Um, it has put

01:29our campaign finance in our system straight into the hands of billionaires

01:34like Elon Musk and Jeffrey. Yes, and a few others. And right now we're seeing

01:41historic levels of spending in each election cycle as we proceed. Last year

01:47we saw some of the most expensive primaries in our nation's history,

01:54not even general elections primaries right to keep folks out of Congress who

02:00are representatives of their communities. Everyday people, your

02:04neighbors, your family, your local leaders who care about their

02:07communities. They can't run for Congress or for office because they're

02:11being crushed by millions and millions of dollars. So one of the first lessons

02:15we learn in our civic system is one person, one vote. But the reality is

02:20right now is that your vote is being obstructed by corporations and

02:23billionaires. They're pushing out the voices that you want to be

02:27representing you, and they're replacing them with their own voice, making it

02:31seem like their will, their agenda, their priorities are yours. When

02:39let me be here. Billionaires do not have a constitutional right to own your

02:42government. When billionaires and dark money groups target your district,

02:46they're obscuring their agenda and denying you the priorities that you

02:50want. That doesn't just look like attack ads work against working class

02:54or progressive candidates. It looks like guns in our schools because

02:58Congress is too afraid to go up against the N. R. A. It looks like

03:02prescription drug costs that are life threatening because your Senate is

03:07afraid to go up against big pharma and lose his or her election campaign. It

03:11looks like black and brown people being unable to pick their

03:15representatives because groups like a pack and others decided that their

03:19interests are more important than your communities. It looks like folks like

03:23Jeffrey. Yes, spending millions and millions and millions in Pennsylvania

03:27to influence the outcomes of elections, including my own M. P. A. 12. This

03:32money isn't fair, and it isn't without motive. Take a look at our Supreme

03:37Court justices, right? Those who have been flown out on private jets and put

03:42up in luxury yachts, and then they rule in favor of whatever these

03:45billionaires want them to do. Look at our White House hosting Tesla

03:50commercials because Elon Musk planned to donate $100 million to Trump's

03:55super pack. These things are all connected, and everything is

03:59contingent on us getting money out of politics. That's why I'm introducing

04:03the Abolish Super Packs Act today to start putting on putting it in to

04:08super packs in our federal elections. This bill would place a $5,000 limit

04:12per calendar year on contributions to super packs, effectively abolishing

04:17them right now. Billionaires and corporations and other wealthy

04:20interests are making unlimited contributions to these super packs to

04:24support or oppose specific candidates are causes. This turns into multi

04:29million dollar campaigns against candidates, usually progressive or

04:33working class to ensure that their interests are protected or codified

04:38into law. An average person for perspective, an average person donates

04:42less than $100 to a political campaign. When folks are juggling the cost of

04:47eggs, of gas, of housing, of transportation, that $100 is a major

04:53commitment into our political system, and it's a commitment that should be

04:57honored. But it can't be if that $100 is offset by a billion given a

05:03billionaire giving 100 million. So if you believe that your kid deserves to

05:07have clean air and clean water, I want you to know that getting money out of

05:10politics should be one of the most important things that we prioritize

05:12right now. If you care about getting guns out of our school so your kids do

05:17not have to consistently go through the trauma of active shooter drills, then

05:21getting money out of politics should be one of the most important things to you

05:24right now. If you care about housing affordability and big developers buying

05:28mayors and local electeds, you gotta get money out of politics. And if you care

05:34about democracy and nothing else, if you care about the checks and balances of

05:39our system, if you care about our government existing for another 250

05:44years, then we must get money out of politics. Money in politics is a

05:48democracy reform issue. It's a civil rights issue. It's an environmental

05:51justice issue. It's a safety issue. All of these things wrapped into one and we

05:56need to ban these super packs because power should always be vested in the

06:00people and the people deserve that power, not the billionaires, not the

06:04corporate interest. We, the people. So we must strategize, we must mobilize and

06:09we must make it harder for billionaires to buy our politics, to buy our

06:13government. And we must pass the Abolish Super Packs Act and take that first

06:18step towards restoring our democracy for of and by the people. Um, and I

06:23thank you so much for being with us today.

06:30Thank you so much, Congresswoman summerly for your incredible leadership

06:34on this issue. I'm now honored

Summer Lee Warns Local Candidates Are 'Crushed By Millions And Millions Of Dollars' From Super PACs

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