What’s that smell?

That’s the smell of the raw, stinking power of oligarchy — a government controlled by the billionaire class.

Everyday Americans are tired of getting screwed over while the richest of the rich dominate our politics and siphon off the economy’s gains. Millions of people have hit the streets in protest. This is absolutely essential.

But we also need to demonstrate not just against Trump and the oligarchy he serves —  but also for the America we want.

We simply can’t return to the status quo where a majority of the country struggles to get by while billionaires and corporations dominate our economy and democracy. 

Many Republicans, and even some corporate Democrats, are fine with this system. Too many of our elected officials have been eating from the oligarchy’s Big Money buffet to finance their elections and dare not criticize the hands that feed them.

We need to replace those politicians. 

We need to push people-powered Democrats (and even some independents) towards a bold, progressive populism that strengthens democracy and shares the wealth.

Now, it may seem an odd time in our history to suggest such reforms, but this is actually the best time. We need to take on the oligarchy directly by

Busting up big corporations that are price-gouging us to death. 

Getting Big Money out of politics.

Raising the minimum wage while strengthening unions and worker protections on the job.

And we must fairly tax the ultra-rich — like we used to do. This could finance Medicare for all, paid family leave, free childcare, debt-free college, better public schools, and many other programs that the richest nation in the history of the world should be able to provide to its people. 

If we organize, we can achieve these goals, both at the national level and at the state level. 

And these ideas can serve as our basis for evaluating politicians in future elections, to make sure we select true public servants at all levels of government who actually represent us.

One of the unacknowledged advantages of this awful era is that it's revealing the putrid connections between great wealth and great power. The intentions of the oligarchs are fully exposed and more blatant than ever. 

The oligarchs will keep trying to divide and distract us. They don’t want us to focus on how they are picking our pockets. They’ll decry these reforms as “far left” or “radical” or “socialist.” 

But this agenda is neither “right” nor “left” and certainly not “radical.” 

It’s what our nation requires: putting power over our democracy and economy where it belongs — in the hands of the many, not the few.