(Robert Jonathan, Headline USA) The late U.K. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher once said that “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other peoples’ money.”
The financial status of the Justice Democrats, whose original mission included ousting corporate-compromised incumbents in primaries, might be a case in point.
The activist group that promoted the congressional candidacy of Alexandria Ocasio–Cortez and other Squad members is suffering “a major financial crunch,” according to Politico.
Apparently, grassroots donations, the source of much of its cash, are no longer pouring in.
“Justice Democrats has had to bail itself out in past months, pulling hundreds of thousands of dollars from other affiliated PACs to help keep the lights on,” the Washington Free Beacon reported. “The fundraising dry-up could hurt reelection campaigns for progressive House members.”
Given the shortfall, the far-left political action committee—which supposedly was inspired by socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders’s 2016 presidential run—recently had to lay off nine of 20 employees.
“It’s no secret that Democratic and progressive organizations like us are in a difficult fundraising environment right now,” Justice Democrats executive director Alexandra Rojas told Politico. “We had to make tough decisions to remain one of the most impactful progressive organizations in the country for years to come.”
Cenk Uygur, the blustering host of the “Young Turks” YouTube show, who was one of the Justice Dems’ cofounders, has implied that the elected Justice Democrats sold out to party bosses.
“The people who ran as Justice Democrats all promised to fight the establishment on our behalf,” Uygur told The Hill in a story about how de-energized progressives in general have supposedly become despondent about their clout. “In fact, it was their No. 1 promise. And they chose not to do that.”
Uygur, who left the organization in December 2017, said the Squad’s betrayal had been “devastating” for the overall effort.
“It took all the wind out of our movement,” he said. “…Our movement is shrinking and losing all hope because the people we sent to D.C. chose their personal comfort over their voters.”
Ironically, as political success led them to abandon their roots, the organization that spring-boarded them into their current position finds itself desperate for some of the filthy lucre.
“We have huge champions like Bernie Sanders, AOC, Ilhan Omar, who are able to be successful political fundraisers. But movement-wise, we’re not in a great place right now,” an unnamed U.S. House aide told the Huff Post in a recent profile of the foundering Justice Democrats
AOC, meanwhile, has fallen out of favor with at least some of her far-left constituency for voting—along with virtually every other Democrat on Capitol Hill—to continue sending billions of taxpayer dollars to Ukraine.
Yet, even while its former allies turn their backs, a new threat is emerging for those who remain loyal to the cause.
The Democrat establishment is purportedly putting lot of cash behind trying to win back some of the Squad seats or fending off Squad-affiliated primary challengers “forcing the group to subsist on a leaner budget,” the Huff Post noted.
Apathy on the Left toward Joe Biden as a 2024 candidate—even though he has rubber-stamped much of its agenda—is also the source of the fundraising problem.
“Biden does not engender the same level of rage as Trump, whose erratic actions and inflammatory rhetoric have sparked volunteering and financial contributions from all socioeconomic backgrounds,” progressive sources told The Hill.
In April, the Political donation aggregator ActBlue, which reportedly raked in a billions for Democrat candidates and allied groups in the 2022 election cycle alone, laid off about 20% of its staff.
