There Actually is an Independent US Senator

There is a US Senator who isn't a member of either of the two major parties... Bernie Sanders from Vermont. He's the 1%--of the Senate who is not a Democrat or Republican. Here's what he has to say to the other 99%:

“The Wall Street leaders whose recklessness and illegal behavior caused this terrible recession are now lecturing the American people on the need for courage to deal with the nation’s finances and deficit crisis. Before telling us why we should cut Social Security, Medicare and other vitally important programs, these CEOs might want to take a hard look at their responsibility for causing the deficit and this terrible recession.”

“Our Wall Street friends might also want to show some courage of their own by suggesting that the wealthiest people in this country, like them, start paying their fair share of taxes. They might work to end the outrageous corporate loopholes, tax havens and outsourcing provisions that their lobbyists have littered throughout the tax code - contributing greatly to our deficit.”

(source)

If the outcome of the state ballot questions for Montana (very red state, voted in an anti-corporate initiative with 75% support) and Colorado (blue state, voted in an anti-corporate initiative with 74% support) are any indication, Sanders' opinion would ring true with over 70% support amongst the voting population.

1. Colorado Corporate Contributions Amendment Results
2. Montana Corporate Contributions Initiative Results 

There were also MANY local non-binding ballot questions regarding overturning Citizens United. About 75 to 80% in favor of overturning. The time is right to support candidates free from corporate ties and to support pro-people initiatives on local, state, and federal ballots.

Have any of the other 99 US Senators will dared speak this way about their masters? Probably... Will any of them do something about it? If they want to keep getting elected, they'd better.

Will it really do any good? Well, it can't hurt. But it will probably not help as much as it should. Because enough people in positions of power are corrupt...

More inequality facts

A Guide to Statistics on Historical Trends in Income Inequality

If you don't vote, you don't get an opinion.

To those who would make the argument that if someone doesn't vote, they don't get to complain about politics. Ok, if that's true... When a person does vote, you can't cut them off in the middle of their argument and go on to the next talking point. You actually have to listen. Is the other person repeating the talking points that are opposed to the ones you have heard and internalized, from either side of the pro-establishment corporate media? Or is this person talking to you saying something different altogether? Perhaps responding with your memorized talking points aimed at disarming their memorized talking points is not the best come-back... And more importantly, you will refuse to let the media that is owned and operated by the same banks and corporations that own and operate our government and our political system steer you towards the candidates that they themselves have preselected by blocking other perfectly legitimate candidates from the debates. We cannot continue to allow our country to be run like this any longer...

You keep voting for the people who are doing this...

We keep electing Democrats and Republicans, despite the fact that this is what they are doing... 

Still looking for data that goes up through 2012. The growth rate of this inequality is exponential. The income of the top .01% is now growing faster than the rest of us at the rate of hundreds of percentage points.

Found this from 2010: