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Sisters and brothers –

The bad news. The good news.

The bad news is that this country today faces more serious crises than at any time in our modern history. The good news is that progressives are making extraordinary and unprecedented political gains from one end of the country to the other.

Let’s start with the bad news. Never before in American history have so few people held so much wealth and so much power. Never before have we had a ruling class that has been so greedy and irresponsible.

Today, the top 1% owns more wealth than the bottom 93% and one man, Elon Musk, owns more wealth than the bottom half of American households. With increased concentration of ownership, Wall Street and the Oligarchs exert enormous influence over our economy. Further, the Oligarchs own more and more of the media, both traditional and social media, heavily influencing what people see, hear and read.

Further, as a result of our corrupt campaign finance system and the growth of billionaire funded super-PACs, wealthy campaign donors are able to buy elections and determine the legislative agenda in Congress.

Elon Musk, the wealthiest and most powerful person on earth, spent $270 million to elect Donald Trump. And what a president he gave us. Trump is an authoritarian who does not believe in the constitution or the rule of law. He is a kleptocrat who, since he has been president, has enriched himself and his family by over $2 billion dollars. He is a narcissist who, if he had his way, would name half the buildings in the country after himself. And, tragically, he started a war against Iran which has led to the deaths of thousands of innocent men, women and children, has destabilized an already unstable region and has caused significant economic pain in the United States and all over the world.

Meanwhile, while the very rich become much richer, 60% of our people live paycheck to paycheck struggling to afford the basic necessities. We have the highest rate of childhood poverty of any major country and one out of three senior citizens are struggling economically.

Today in America, health care costs are soaring and we remain the only major country on earth not to guarantee healthcare to all people as a human right.

Today in America, and throughout the world, we are facing the existential threat of climate change. As you know, in the last 6 weeks there have been record-breaking heat waves in Europe and the United States, increased drought throughout our country and enormously destructive forest fires in Canada and our West Coast.

Today in America, Big Tech Oligarchs are spending hundreds of billions to push AI and robotics throughout our society. These technologies are the most transformational in the history of humanity and will have enormous impact on jobs, privacy rights, our democracy and the mental health of our kids.

And, by the way, we have major crises in education, childcare, housing and transportation.

That’s the bad news, and it’s pretty bad.

Now for the good news.

People increasingly understand what’s going on around them. They’re not happy. They are fighting back.

Trump’s poll numbers are in rapid decline as many of his supporters now see him as the Oligarch and fraud that he is.

From California to New York the American people are demanding change, real change. They are giving up on status quo politics and policies. That is why Progressives and democratic socialists have been defeating Establishment candidates from New York to California and a lot of places in between. We have won mayors’ races in New York City, Seattle and Washington, DC. We have won congressional elections and Democratic primaries in Arizona, Ohio, Pennsylvania, California, Montana, Colorado, New Jersey and New York.

In other words, we are rapidly advancing the political revolution that we have been fighting for over the last decade.

And tomorrow, as part of that political revolution, there is an enormously important Democratic primary in Michigan where three great progressive candidates have a real shot to win. Despite being heavily outspent by billionaire-funded super-PACs in the Senate primary, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed has run an incredible grassroots campaign and has had the lead in recent polling over an establishment Democrat. Two strong progressive candidates for Congress, Donavan McKinney and Will Lawrence, have also run great campaigns and may very well win.

Next week, in Minnesota, progressive Peggy Flanagan will be on the ballot in the Senate Democratic primary. She has also been heavily outspent by the billionaires. But, according to recent polls, she is in a good position to win.

Let me be very clear. In all of these election victories our movement has played a crucial role. We have been on the road doing large rallies in state after state. We’ve made financial contributions to campaigns that desperately needed the money. We’ve knocked on doors and made phone calls. We’ve used our social media effectively.

So. Thank you to everyone.

WE ARE MAKING REAL PROGRESS.

Let’s go forward together.

In Solidarity,

Bernie

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After the Trump administration accused the state of fast-tracking solar farms on prime farmland, New York leaders fired back last week, saying that renewables ​“empower our farmers to keep their land in use and in their family, while avoiding the threat of permanent conversion or abandonment.” That’s because farmers can lease a plot to solar developers and return it to agricultural use at the end of the array’s life, as the state officials explained in their 11-page letter.

A Spokane man seen near the starting point of a major wildfire was arrested Monday night for investigation of first-degree arson.

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I’ve written before about how US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has ties to an ascendant Christian nationalist movement. Specifically, he attends a church in the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches (CREC), a denomination founded by Idaho pastor Doug Wilson, who has said that women’s suffrage was “a mistake” and suggested that homosexuality should be considered a crime. Hegseth invited Wilson to preach at the Pentagon earlier this year, where he exhorted the troops to renew their focus on Christ.