2025 Is the Year to Bust the Billionaires

Media reports of billionaire Elon Musk’s increasingly fraught relationship with Donald Trump’s MAGA movement come amid uproar over whether to grant H-1B skilled worker visas to certain immigrants. By the end of 2024, it had turned into a political melodrama. The situation became so heated that Musk promised to “wage an all-out war on this issue that you will never understand,” but Steve Bannon, a longtime adviser to President Trump, said Musk “infant” and accused him of moving forward. agenda The goal was to “take away American jobs and bring in people who were effectively low-paid indentured servants.” Right-wing influencers have accused Musk of censoring them on his telegraph “Supporters of President-elect Donald Trump are teetering on the brink of civil war over immigration.” When the thug Vivek Ramaswami, Musk’s wealthy sidekick in the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, called American workers mediocre, he said: fox news has joined the fray, reporting that “wealthy businessmen now find themselves at odds with Trump’s most ardent supporters.”

This kind of bad insanity is sure to escalate as conflict between Republicans becomes a major political topic in 2025.

Mr. Trump narrowly won the presidential election by assembling a coalition from all walks of life, from nativist and xenophobic groups to tech giants willing to expand their wealth. exploit workers of all backgrounds. President Trump’s billionaire supporters paid during last year’s election campaign — and Mr. Musk, the world’s richest man, paid for it himself. largest donorspending by Trump supporters amounted to about $250 million. (And that doesn’t even take into account Musk’s influence.) Relentless pro-Trump advocacy He bought the campaign on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, when it started. )

It’s no surprise that Trump sided with Musk when the conflict erupted. President Trump’s position on the visa issue has been uncharacteristically reasonable. Former president downplayed past criticism of the H-1B program said“I’ve always believed in H-1B. I’ve used it many times. It’s a great program.”

In reality, Trump is a believer in Musk. The next president will bow to this billionaire for the same reason Trump bows to other big interest interests. sustained his political efforts;

Although he has played a billionaire on TV, Trump’s checkered financial history is 6 bankruptcies His hotel and casino business often left him in a financially vulnerable position. He has a long history of confronting billionaire oligarchs and was dedicated to serving them during his first term. massive tax cuts.

There is little doubt that President Trump will seek similar action in his second term, further borne out by the late former President Jimmy Carter’s observations nearly a decade ago about the damage that billionaire-led governance causes. It will be done. “It goes against the essence of what made America a great country in a political system that is now just an oligarchy, where unlimited political bribery is the essence of presidential nominations and presidential elections.” explained Mr. Carter was elected in the summer of 2015, just weeks after Mr. Trump launched his first presidential bid.

“And the same is true for state governors, U.S. senators, and members of Congress. So now we have major donors who want, expect, and sometimes benefit from their favor after the election is over.” Witness the complete destruction of our political system in return for …Incumbent Democrats and Republicans see this unlimited money as a greater benefit to themselves than to mere challengers. There is a lot to sell to passionate contributors.”

In President Trump’s first term, carter said The United States had become “more of an oligarchy than a democracy.”

Mr. Carter’s death on Sunday robbed the United States of one of the country’s most prominent critics of plutocracy. But there are others. Bernie Sandersa U.S. senator from Vermont, has argued in recent weeks: We can either fight to create a government and economy that works for everyone, or we can continue rapidly down the path to oligarchy and control of the super-rich. ”

Another harsh critic of America’s oligarchic turn is U.S. Representative Ro Khanna of California, who ended the 118th Congress with a powerful speech on the House floor. in which he warned“There is an unholy alliance between soulless wealth and power that is robbing Americans of their freedom.”

The fact that 150 billionaires spent $1.9 billion to influence the outcome of the 2024 election shows that the influence of the super-rich isn’t just “corrupting the soul of democracy.” It shows that.

“Money has become more important than votes,” the lawmaker said.

Explaining his argument, Khanna explained to his colleagues: “When we think about why politicians sold our jobs overseas, why Wall Street raided manufacturers and hollowed out industry after industry in worship of shareholder interests. , we must look at the influence billionaires have had on our democracy. ”

Mr. Khanna patriotically called for sweeping campaign finance reform, saying, “We didn’t fight a revolution just to be spectators in a game where billionaires put ads on our TVs and cell phones…if that’s the case. Our founders would be rolling over in their graves.” They saw what modern American democracy had become. ”

He was elected to the parliament in 2016. Unusual approval from Carterfrequently amplified Carters message The former president’s later years. Like Mr. Carter and Mr. Sanders, Mr. Khanna knows that the time has come to overthrow the oligarchy and rebuild democracy. At a time when elections and governance are becoming defined by the chaotic power politics of Trump and Musk, the congressman has made an urgent call to “ban and overturn PAC and lobbyist funding.” citizens unitedAnd give power back to the people. ”