1. United States
2. Mich.
3. Letter

I am writing to urge you to support the Defund the Oligarchs, Fund the People Resolution introduced by Rep. Rashida Tlaib, along with Reps. Pramila Jayapal, Delia Ramirez, and Summer Lee. This resolution addresses the fundamental crisis facing working families in our country: an economy rigged to benefit billionaires while ordinary people struggle to afford groceries, housing, and healthcare. The numbers tell a stark story. Sixty percent of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. CEOs now make 281 times more than their average workers. The combined wealth of 900 US billionaires exceeds that of 67 million households in the poorest 50% of the population. This extreme concentration of wealth is not just an economic problem but a threat to our democracy itself. The recently signed One Big Beautiful Bill Act represents the largest cuts to healthcare and food assistance in US history, designed to provide trillions in tax breaks to wealthy donors and corporations. Meanwhile, pay-to-play schemes allow oligarchs to leverage political contributions into hundreds of billions in taxpayer-funded federal subsidies, tax breaks, regulatory rollbacks, and government contracts, particularly in the fossil fuel, tech, and cryptocurrency industries. The resolution offers a clear alternative path forward. It calls for breaking up monopolies, reforming campaign finance laws, requiring billionaires to pay their fair share of taxes, dramatically expanding union membership, and reinvesting public money in programs that raise living standards like housing, healthcare, and education. It demands that corrupt corporations not be rewarded with lucrative publicly funded contracts when they fail to compete fairly or break federal laws. As Joseph Geevarghese of Our Revolution stated, every dollar plundered by billionaires through tax breaks and political favoritism is taken away from healthcare, housing, education, and jobs. I urge you to cosponsor this resolution and champion policies that serve working people over billionaires.