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Borah Tells How Our Wealth Is Divided Senator William E. Borah may 2, 1931 Today, 3 percent of the American people own 75 percent of its wealth. Let us be a little more liberal. Let us say that 4 percent own 80 percent of its wealth. I would not take it from them, but I do think there ought to be a political party in this country—if not a political party, then political voices—which shall worry more about the 96 percent than they worry about the 4 percent. —Senator William E. Borah represented the state of Idaho from 1906 to 1940. The Progressive Platform January 5, 1935 1. Public ownership of natural resources and those activities with a public interest— light, heat, power, and transportation. 2. The elimination of war proWts; government monopoly on the manufacture and sale of munitions; a plebiscite on wars which would send American soldiers to foreign soil. 3. High inheritance and income taxes to be levied on the beneWciaries of monopoly. 4. The development of a strong farmers’ cooperative movement and also consumers’ cooperatives. 5. The development of a strong trade union movement. 6. A government-owned central banking system to break the grip of the money trust by carrying out, among other things, the congressional power “to coin money and regulate the value thereof.” 7. Adequate old age pensions and unemployment insurance. 8. Adequate poor and unemployment relief and the restoration of purchasing power in the hands of the great masses of the people. 34 p a r t 2 combating corporate power ...

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