Bernie Sanders is going on the offensive against the Wall Street Bankers and various members of the 1% that have viciously opposed his candidacy by releasing an anti-endorsement list.
“We can propose all the ideas and plans we want, but nothing will fundamentally change until we have the guts to take on the most powerful corporate interests in America,” says Sanders in an introduction to the list. “That is why I am proud to announce the modern-day oligarchs who oppose our movement.”
Sanders’ list includes the following:
- Billionaire Haim Saban, who called for the bombing of Iran in 2014 and criticizes any efforts for peace and humanitarian aid. Saban on Bernie Sanders, “We love all 23 candidates. No, minus one. I profoundly dislike Bernie Sanders. He thinks that every billionaire is a crook. He calls us ‘the billionaire class.’ And he attacks us indiscriminately.”
- Kenneth Langone, the co-founder of Home Depot, pays his workers so little many of them have to rely on food stamps, Medicaid and public housing. Langone on Bernie Sanders, “In 2016 I saw Bernie Sanders and the kids around him. I thought: ‘This is the antichrist.'”
- Andy Puzder, former fast food CEO who opposes increasing the minimum wage to more than $9 an hour. Puzder on Bernie Sanders’ plan to raise the minimum wage, “All these proposals, Sanders’ proposals, they are just going to kill the growth.”
- Lowell McAdam, former CEO of Verizon, fought to take away health care benefits from his employees and outsourced thousands of jobs. McAdam on Bernie Sanders’ support of striking Verizon workers: “The senator’s uninformed views of in a word, contemptible.”
- Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, illegally foreclosed on military families and whose bank has a history of bribing foreign officials. Dimon on calls for the wealthy to pay their fair share: “Just because it resonates doesn’t make it right.”
- Bob Iger, CEO of Disney, has fired high-tech US workers in favor of low-wage temp workers abroad and makes 1,400 times as much as the average Disney worker. Iger on Sanders’ call to raise wages at Disney: “How many jobs have you created?”
- Jeffrey Immelt, the former CEO of General Electric, who helped his company outsource thousands of jobs overseas and was accused of accounting fraud. Immelt on Bernie Sanders calling out GE’s greed, “GE operates in the real world. We’re in the business of building real things and generating real growth.”
- Lloyd Blankfein, the former CEO of Goldman Sachs, the company which paid over $5 billion in fines for mortgage fraud and paid no income taxes in 2008 but calls for cuts to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Blankfein on Sanders’ run for president, “It has the potential to be a dangerous movement.”
- Alan Greenspan, former federal reserve chairman, advocated for policies to deregulate Wall Street, calls for abolishing the minimum wage, and wants to cut Social Security. Greenspan on Sanders’ agenda, “Remember the basic problem of inequality is a fact that people are born that way.”
- Third Way, a centrist think tank that uses Wall Street and Big Pharma money to oppose things like reducing drug prices, a $15 minimum wage, Social Security expansion, and tuition-free college. President Jon Cowan on Sanders’ candidacy, “[Bernie Sanders] is an existential threat to the future of the Democratic party.”
- Leon Cooperman, a former partner at Goldman Sachs, who has advised President Trump and recently settled SEC charges for insider trading. Cooperman on Sanders, “Bernie Sanders, in my opinion, doesn’t have a clue.”
- Bernard Marcus, the co-founder of Home Depot, has defended former Trump advisor Steve Bannon and supports war in the Middle East. Marcus on Sanders, “[He] is the enemy of every entrepreneur that’s ever going to be born in the country and has been born in the past.”
- Stanley Druckenmiller, billionaire hedge fund manager who advocates for cuts to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Druckenmiller on a Sanders’ victory, “If Bernie Sanders became president, I think stock prices should be 30% to 40% lower than there are now.”
Read the full descriptions and comments of each of the individuals on Bernie’s list here.
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