Dear -,

Several years ago I visited Wyoming, where I learned about a forest fire that occurred there in 1988. Almost 250 different fires started in Yellowstone and the surrounding National Forests between June and August of that year.

I learned something that has stayed with me, and it's a lesson that I think applies to our world today. I was told there were several fires, all of which would normally have been considered “acceptable burns.” But that particular summer there were simply too many of those otherwise "acceptable" fires happening too close together. And that is what caused such a major conflagration.

I think of that now because if it were only climate change, we could handle the challenge; if it were only inflation, we could handle the challenge; if it were only health care, we could handle the challenge; if it were only housing, we could handle the challenge. And the list goes on. What is causing such frustration and hopelessness in our country today is the rate and frequency of what we might at one time have seen as handleable crises. It’s not just that we have a crisis here or a crisis there. It’s that we seem to be living in a state of permanent crisis, like a rolling emergency that never stops.

So why doesn’t someone fix it?

Ah, I’ll tell you why! No one fixes it because to do so would bring down the house of cards on which our economy is currently built. Short term corporate profits, not humanitarian or democratic ideals, are now the organization principle of our society. And that is the deeper crisis that underlies all the smaller ones. We are not built to handle such crises, because our system causes them.

A first principle of the United States is that it’s the government’s job to broker a balance between individual liberty – including economic liberty – and a concern for the common good. But over the last few decades it’s as though the common good has come to mean nothing.

We need to take a deeper look at the policies that have dominated our economy for the last fifty years. Something is very wrong when a massive transfer of wealth leeches $50 trillion from the bottom 90 percent of Americans to a relative few on the top. That is not just numbers on a graph; it’s a tale of real human hardship in the lives of individuals and families all over this country. 

How do I know? Because I’ve seen it up close. My career has made me privy to daily struggles endured by thousands of wonderful people trying to live good lives yet barely able to hold on.

I’ve known the single mother with two kids, one of whom has special needs but Mom has to work two jobs and she can’t afford health care.

I’ve known the community college students who are living out of their cars and selling their blood plasma to make it all work.

I’ve known young adults – and their aging parents – who know something is wrong when they’ve done everything right but the kids in their twenties and thirties can’t afford a place to live on their own.

Every time I meet them, I’m reminded that there are millions more like them. And the system isn’t doing one damn thing to help.

That is why I'm running for President: to call out that system. As President, I’ll proclaim a profoundly humanitarian vision for our economy and society. We need a moral economy, not an exploitative one. And we need a President who will say so.

I don’t think money comes from corporate chieftains perched on an economic Mt. Olympus dropping jobs like crumbs from their high perch to those below. I believe money comes from the creativity and productivity of the average American who gets an honest shot at actualizing their God-given potential. That is why, as President, every policy I support will be guided by this one principle: what will help people thrive? 

What will make people healthier in body, mind, and spirit? What will support people in furthering themselves? What will help that single mother with the special needs child, the college students living in their car, and the young adults trying to make it in the world? If policies are designed to support the people, then the people will take it from there. 

Donald Trump offers false hope. We will win in November by offering real hope. 

Thank you for your support in continuing the struggle we're engaged in. I sort of hate to call it a struggle but it is one - and your help means everything.

With love and gratitude,

P.S. How we will win in November...

Thanks to everyone saying yes to #ANewBeginning in response to our announcement yesterday. (WATCH below!) 
 
Every dollar counts as we fuel the new birth of freedom we do desperately need. Thank you for your generosity.
 
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