Dear Friend
Two years ago, I was fed up with endless right-wing attacks on Democratic plans to help the 50 million Americans who can't see a doctor when they're sick, and to make healthcare affordable for everyone else. So I stood on the Floor of the House, and mocked the Republicans for their "healthcare plan":
- Don't get sick.
- If you do get sick, die quickly.
And when the Republicans demanded an apology - an apology for pointing out the obvious - I did apologize: to the 40,000 Americans who die each year because they have no healthcare, and to their loved ones.
In an oversight hearing two years ago, I got the Inspector General of the Federal Reserve to admit that she had no idea what happened to the Fed's then-known $1 trillion in bailout money. That has become the most-watched Congressional video in history, with over five million views. I then teamed up with Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) to do something about it; we passed his 24-year-old bill to audit the Fed. The resulting audit report disclosed an astounding $17 trillion in secret bailouts - more than America's GNP.
With 70% of the homeowners in my district owing more on their mortgages than their homes were worth, and thousands fighting foreclosures, I introduced an innovative mandatory mediation program that cut foreclosures in half. The program was so successful that it was adopted statewide.
I was actually in the courtroom when the Supreme Court handed down the Citizens United decision, giving giant corporations a green light to inundate us with campaign propaganda. I said that night on MSNBC, "if we do nothing, then you can kiss this country goodbye."And I did something -- I introduced eight bills in our "Save Democracy" platform, three of which were included in the DISCLOSE Act passed by the House. And to demonstrate popular support for campaign reform, we collected over 100,000 signatures on our Save Democracy petition, and delivered that petition to the U.S. Supreme Court.
A year ago, when the Republicans were so bent on extending their tax cuts for the rich, I calculated and exposed on the Floor of the House just how much money these tax cuts were worth each year for Rush Limbaugh ($2,689,135), Glenn Beck ($1,512,352), Sean Hannity ($1,006,352), Bill O'Reilly ($914,352), Sarah Palin ($638,352), Newt Gingrich ($247,352) and George W. Bush himself ($187,552).
And when Fox News attacked me, I hit back on national TV, labeling them "Monty Python's Lying Circus." I also pointed out that more people watch the Cartoon Network than Fox News - they both show cartoons all day long, but the ones on the Cartoon Network are funny.
But courage and outspokenness has a price. In the 2010 election, the Koch Brothers spent $2 million to defeat me. Health insurance lobbyists, who were incensed that I had introduced a four-page bill to open Medicare to any American who would pay for it, spent $2 million defeat me. The National Republican Congressional Committee declared me their #1 target in the nation, and they spent $1 million to defeat me. A few weeks before the election, Politico calculated that almost 20% of all of the special interest sewer money in the entire country had been spent against me.
Let's face it: the big corporations, the lobbyists and the special interests aren't going to give my campaign a penny. They know that I'm not going to put the law up for sale to the highest bidder, the way they want. I'm not going to give them a no-bid government contract, a tax break, a bailout or an earmark. So I have to turn to you, and people like you, for support. People who want nothing in return for their contribution but good government - government of the people, by the people and for the people.
Time and time again, I have said the things that you've been thinking, but no one else has been saying. Please join the 100,000 contributors who are the real power behind our People Power campaign.
Courage,
Alan Grayson
Paid for by the Committee to Elect Alan Grayson
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