BBC News USA is Oligarchy Not a Democracy
BBC World News seems to agree with Bernie Sanders and Reports USA is Oligarch not Democracy according to fairly recent study. Bernie Sanders has been ringing the alarm for quite awhile on the Senate floor for years about this very issue.
The BBC report references the study Testing Theories of American Politics:
Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens
Martin Gilens and Benjamin I. Page
.PDF of the original work
https://scholar.princeton.edu/sites/default/files/mgilens/files/gilens_and_page_2014_-testing_theories_of_american_politics.doc.pdf
Some Recent Quotes by Bernie Sanders:
“In the last presidential election Obama and Romney raised about $1 billion each. The Koch brothers, the second wealthiest family in America, now say they will raise nearly $1 billion for the 2016 elections. When one family can raise as much as an entire party, the system is broken. This is oligarchy, not democracy. We must overturn Citizens United.”
~ Sen. Bernie Sanders
“This is what oligarchy looks like: Today, the top one-tenth of 1 percent owns almost as much wealth as the bottom 90 percent. The top one-hundredth of 1 percent makes more than 40 percent of all campaign contributions. The billionaire class owns the political system and reaps the benefits from it.”
~ Sen. Bernie Sanders
“We are moving rapidly away from our democratic heritage into an oligarchic form of society,” Sanders said. Today, the most serious problem we face is the grotesque and growing level of wealth and income inequality. This a profound moral issue, this is an economic issue and this is a political issue.”
~ Sen. Bernie Sanders
“When you have one family, an extreme right-wing family, that spends more money than either of the two major political parties, my friends you are not looking at democracy, you are looking at oligarchy.” ~ Sen. Bernie Sanders
Original Article as reported by the BBC World News (April 17, 2014):
http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-echochambers-27074746
Green-Eco-EV News Reporting by Ken Green Burridge
Kenneth Burridge test-drives electric Nissan LEAF in Melbourne Australia
EV of the Year Judge, independent green journalist, photographer, author and sustainability activist that has published over 1000 articles. Mr Burridge’s travels have taken him to over 30 countries and 300+ major cities. He is originally from the USA, but has been residing in Australia for the last seven years. Connect to Ken Burridge on: Twitter, facebook, Google+, Linked in or website
