We are the only major party in VT that is not funded by Anheuser Busch and T-Mobile
Joshua -
The Progressive Party is the only major party in Vermont that refuses all donations from corporations and corporate PAC’s because we believe that politics should be for the people, not the corporate elite. That said, we still have almost $4,000 to raise to meet our goal of $7,500 in donations by the end of the year, so would love it if you help fund our budget with a small donation.
Here is why your support - however much you can give - is so important.
Unfortunately, we are the only major political party in Vermont that does not accept money from corporations, so are totally reliant on our grassroots supporters - you - to fund our movement. This election cycle some of the largest corporations in the world and their PAC’s dumped $138,965.44 into the other two major parties - $104,195 to democrats and $34,770.44 to Republicans.
This does not include all the money they also contributed to Democratic and Republican candidates, local/county party committees, and affiliated PAC’s.
These donations made up over 24% of the total contributions to the Democratic and Republican parties this cycle. Anheuser Bush, Casella Waste Systems, and T-Mobile shamelessly donated to both Democrats and Republicans.
We do not believe that large corporations like AT&T, Comcast, Anheuser Busch, T-Mobile, and Molson Coors should be allowed to purchase influence in Vermont. These types of donations are illegal at the Federal level, and we have introduced legislation to ban them in Vermont as well.
Unfortunately, too many establishment politicians are happy to accept these donations, so they remain legal in Vermont.
In October, when AT&T workers in the southeast had just ended their strike for a fair contract, Vermont Democrats accepted their 4th donation from the company totaling $8,900.
In September, a few months after the Vermont Legislature passed a ban on e-cigarettes, and Gov Scott vetoed, Vermont Republicans accepted their 3rd donation totaling $11,180 from RAI Services Company - a representative of the tobacco industry.
The list goes on and on and on.
But… we know that money can only take you so far, and Vermonters are increasingly fed up with establishment politicians and their political parties who are bought and paid for by the corporations.
We are proud to have led the charge throughout our existence as a Political Party to get corrupt corporate campaign cash out of our political system. We have also consistently supported public campaign financing of elections so that working class people can run for office and compete with those who do accept corporate money.
We are proud to have so many grassroots supporters across Vermont. While we don’t have a gang of multibillion dollar corporations like AT&T, T-Mobile, Anheuser Bush, Molson Coors, and others, we do have you.
In solidarity,
Josh Wronski
Director, Vermont Progressive Party
