Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) said on CBS’ Face the Nation that six Democrats up for reelection in November might cut a deal with the Republicans on a budget agreement to increase the debt ceiling if the Republicans commit to repealing the ban on corporate money in political campaigns.
Tlaib, who was elected to Congress in 2016, said: “I am concerned that a lot of corporate Democrats have sold out to corporate PACs. They’re running ads against us. They’re buying elections. … They’re going to cut [the budget] deal with the Republican Senate if you don’t get rid of those corporate PACs. If I’m a corporate Democrat, I’m looking for a ticket to change the rules in 2020.”
She criticized Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) for wavering on their opposition to ending the ban. According to Politico, Manchin recently said that he might support the policy change after learning the party might keep Democrats majority in the Senate. “Their people — Joe Manchin’s people — [said] do the right thing, show a majority in the Senate,” Tlaib said. “So he’s going to compromise with them. So I call upon them to let these children out of the cages.”
Tlaib also criticized Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) for accepting $750,000 in campaign contributions from Wall Street in her previous term. “I am here, just like the economy was here, to stop the collusion between the Republicans and Wall Street, and stop the lies,” she said. “I will talk to Heidi Heitkamp about it if it’s true. If she really cared about the American people she wouldn’t accept that kind of money.”
Tlaib and Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) also voiced their support for the agenda for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who is running for president as a Democrat.
She said: “We need to get rid of the wealth. It’s going to trickle down, so it really feels like a pat on the back. What it is is a dirty deal. So a lot of us are coming together in this movement to start asking ourselves where the money comes from and what the corporate agenda is. … We are all so much better than what we’ve seen so far with Goldman Sachs, Allergan, the pharmaceutical companies and the huge bank interests, so it is time for all of us to stand up and say — people of the United States, you have to stop making these kinds of deals. You’ve got to fight for our future.”
Read the full story at CBS.
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