Ben Sasse Believes That Rich People Don’t Have Enough Money
Ben Sasse’s 2014 Senate bid wouldn’t have succeeded without lavish financial support from the billionaire class. The Club For Growth’s decision in early 2014 to throw Shane Osborn under the bus and to endorse Sasse was a major turning point in the 2014 GOP primary contest. (The so-called Club For Growth has been largely funded by the Koch brothers.) Moreover, Sasse has been a regular attendee at Koch brothers gatherings.
As a Senator, Sasse has been a tribune for the super wealthy and an opponent of the middle class. Sasse has voted over forty times to repeal the Affordable Care Act without a replacement plan. If Sasse had gotten his way, 20 million fewer Americans would have health insurance during the most deadly pandemic since 1918. In addition, Sasse voted for the failed $2 trillion Trump/Sasse tax cuts after railing against the deficit during the Obama Administration. Approximately, 80% of the Trump/Sasse tax cuts were grabbed by the top 1%.
Sasse’s fealty to the billionaire class and indifference to everybody else has come into sharp relief since the outbreak of the corona virus. On March 18, Sasse was one of eight Senators who voted against a corona virus aide package. This critical bill increased unemployment insurance and guarantees free diagnostic testing for the corona virus. It also provides up to 10 days of paid sick leave for millions of Americans . (Unfortunately, due to GOP pressure, millions more Americans won’t qualify for paid sick leave.)
Sasse opposed the bill on so-called fiscal responsibility concerns even though he voted to borrow $2 trillion in 2017 for the failed Trump/Sasse tax cuts. Moreover, Sasse took the position that half of the money should be distributed by the governors. If the Medicaid expansion serves as any precedent, Pete Ricketts would probably slow walk the distribution of funds if they went to the poor and the sick.
Sasse followed up that extreme vote by two votes in favor of Mitch McConnell’s so-called stimulus bill. The McConnell bill failed to pass because it allowed corporations who receive taxpayer bailout funds to buy back their stock, increase executive pay and fire their workers. Moreover, the McConnell bill included a $500 billion slush fund which Treasury Secretary Mnuchin could disperse in secret. When Trump was asked about who would be providing oversight of the huge slush fund, the former TV reality star responded: “I’ll be the oversight.”
Sasse is an ardent proponent of the failed strategy of trickle down economics. The 2017 Sasse/Trump tax cuts are the most recent example of the failure of this policy. Sasse wants to double down on this strategy by having most of the stimulus money go to the wealthy and the corporations. Sasse and the GOP should be careful what they wish for. If the McConnell bill had passed, it wouldn’t have staved off the recession. It was simply a recycled version of Hoover’s failed economic policies.
Ben Sasse simply doesn’t represent most Nebraskans. Instead, he has prioritized the out of state billionaires who fund his campaigns. Sasse believes that rich people don’t have enough money and that the poor and middle class have it too easy. In addition to being a tool for the nation’s financial elites, Sasse has been an ineffectual do nothing Senator who is more interested in making money off his books rather than serving his constituents.
Due to his indifference to his constituents, Sasse has drawn no less than seven Democratic opponents. I would recommend that you get behind one of these candidates and help them throw out Ben Sasse. We must regain control of the Senate and end McConnell’s destructive obstruction. Enough! Now let’s get it done!