Whether you call it a kleptocracy, an oligarchy, or outright fascism, our country is in serious trouble—trouble that has been brewing for decades. Ronnie Dugger called it back in 1995:
The big corporations and the centimillionaires and billionaires have taken daily control of our work, our pay, our housing, our health, our pension funds, our bank and saving deposits, our public lands, our airwaves, our elections and our very government. It's as if American democracy has been bombed.
Ronnie’s charge against corporate rule led to the creation of the Alliance for Democracy. Next year marks 30 years of our work “to create true democracy, to end corporate domination of politics, economics, and media, and to build a just and sustainable society for nature and all people.” We’ve organized at every level of government and across diverse issues, from campaign finance to anti-militarism, public banking to food sovereignty, and protection of water to the rights of nature.
While we are celebrating this year’s work, we must build our resistance to the looming threat of fascism in the coming year.
We are grateful for your activist and member support. Now we hope you’ll step up again. Renew your Alliance membership or make an extra donation and keep us organizing, educating, and resisting!
The Portland OR Alliance chapter has organized locally against military spending and, most recently, against the real threat of attack on Venezuela. They have held regular standouts to draw attention to the human cost of the war budget—$900 million just passed by the House. Chapter president and Alliance co-chair David Delk has connected with other organizations, speaking on the military industrial complex’s threat to democracy and the need for voters to demand Congress members cut war spending and support anti-war legislation.
In 2026, the Portland chapter will kick off a new campaign: a CEO Tax for Oregon. A CEO tax is a surcharge on a corporation’s state taxes determined by the gap between CEO pay and median worker pay. The higher the pay gap, the higher the tax. According to the AFL-CIO Executive Payroll Watch, the average S&P 500 executive made an eye-popping 285 times more than their median worker. The city of Portland already has a CEO tax, and the Alliance will take that model to the state. With Trump’s federal program cuts, the extra revenue is definitely needed. But more importantly, the CEO Tax discourages huge pay gaps between executives and the workers who really make a company profitable, especially if an ever-growing number of cities, counties and states enact similar surcharges. See this fact sheet and join the movement!
In Massachusetts, activists are taking on Wall Street by campaigning to create a state public bank. Under Alliance sponsorship and leadership, the campaign has bills in the House and Senate to create the Massachusetts Public Bank. This would be the first public bank to be created since the Bank of North Dakota was formed more than a century ago. The campaign’s steering committee includes Alliance council member Ruth Caplan and national programs coordinator Barbara Clancy, as well as experts on banking, law, and community development. In the coming year, the campaign will focus on coalition-building to advance the bill from the grassroots to the State House.
In Fort Bragg, CA, the Alliance-sponsored GrassRoots Institute features a decentralized and democratic organizing structure, where working groups tackle issues from democracy-building to habitat restoration. This year, the Institute’s Noyo Headlands Working Group won a California state grant for community education focusing on the former Georgia Pacific Mill Site, an industrial site abandoned 23 years ago. Thanks to local organizing the site is now being cleaned up. Another working group has hosted democracy workshops and a Democracy Potluck, attended by more than 100 residents. Their next step is to develop a local political agenda for the common good in coalition with other area groups.
On air, “Corporations and Democracy” will continue to bring progressive voices to the airwaves and the internet. This year’s guests included Greg Palast on voter suppression, Jon Bauman on Trump administration attacks on Social Security and Medicare, author/activist Norman Solomon on the state of the nation, and more. The 2026 lineup will be just as dynamic. Get notified of upcoming shows by subscribing to our email list or by following us on Facebook and Bluesky (@endcorprule).
And we have new issues planned for Justice Rising. The first will be an online series of articles on fascism versus democracy: what we can learn from history, how to protect institutions and federal agencies under attack, and ways to build local resistance. Then look for a series on our food system focusing on industrial farming and food versus regenerative agriculture, biodiversity and healthy soil, and distribution focused on health and equity rather than corporate profit.
Even under the threat of fascism, we are determined to keep pushing back on corporate rule. But we need your support! You can donate through this site, or mail your donation to Alliance for Democracy, 21 Main Street Suite 4, Hudson MA 01749.
Keep us standing out, speaking out, and reaching out. Keep our email alerts coming to your inbox, Justice Rising to your mailbox, and “Corporations and Democracy” online and on the air. Your generous end of year donation means more grassroots defiance in 2026!
The big corporations and the centimillionaires and billionaires have taken daily control of our work, our pay, our housing, our health, our pension funds, our bank and saving deposits, our public lands, our airwaves, our elections and our very government. It's as if American democracy has been bombed.
Ronnie’s charge against corporate rule led to the creation of the Alliance for Democracy. Next year marks 30 years of our work “to create true democracy, to end corporate domination of politics, economics, and media, and to build a just and sustainable society for nature and all people.” We’ve organized at every level of government and across diverse issues, from campaign finance to anti-militarism, public banking to food sovereignty, and protection of water to the rights of nature.
While we are celebrating this year’s work, we must build our resistance to the looming threat of fascism in the coming year.
We are grateful for your activist and member support. Now we hope you’ll step up again. Renew your Alliance membership or make an extra donation and keep us organizing, educating, and resisting!
The Portland OR Alliance chapter has organized locally against military spending and, most recently, against the real threat of attack on Venezuela. They have held regular standouts to draw attention to the human cost of the war budget—$900 million just passed by the House. Chapter president and Alliance co-chair David Delk has connected with other organizations, speaking on the military industrial complex’s threat to democracy and the need for voters to demand Congress members cut war spending and support anti-war legislation.
In 2026, the Portland chapter will kick off a new campaign: a CEO Tax for Oregon. A CEO tax is a surcharge on a corporation’s state taxes determined by the gap between CEO pay and median worker pay. The higher the pay gap, the higher the tax. According to the AFL-CIO Executive Payroll Watch, the average S&P 500 executive made an eye-popping 285 times more than their median worker. The city of Portland already has a CEO tax, and the Alliance will take that model to the state. With Trump’s federal program cuts, the extra revenue is definitely needed. But more importantly, the CEO Tax discourages huge pay gaps between executives and the workers who really make a company profitable, especially if an ever-growing number of cities, counties and states enact similar surcharges. See this fact sheet and join the movement!
In Massachusetts, activists are taking on Wall Street by campaigning to create a state public bank. Under Alliance sponsorship and leadership, the campaign has bills in the House and Senate to create the Massachusetts Public Bank. This would be the first public bank to be created since the Bank of North Dakota was formed more than a century ago. The campaign’s steering committee includes Alliance council member Ruth Caplan and national programs coordinator Barbara Clancy, as well as experts on banking, law, and community development. In the coming year, the campaign will focus on coalition-building to advance the bill from the grassroots to the State House.
In Fort Bragg, CA, the Alliance-sponsored GrassRoots Institute features a decentralized and democratic organizing structure, where working groups tackle issues from democracy-building to habitat restoration. This year, the Institute’s Noyo Headlands Working Group won a California state grant for community education focusing on the former Georgia Pacific Mill Site, an industrial site abandoned 23 years ago. Thanks to local organizing the site is now being cleaned up. Another working group has hosted democracy workshops and a Democracy Potluck, attended by more than 100 residents. Their next step is to develop a local political agenda for the common good in coalition with other area groups.
On air, “Corporations and Democracy” will continue to bring progressive voices to the airwaves and the internet. This year’s guests included Greg Palast on voter suppression, Jon Bauman on Trump administration attacks on Social Security and Medicare, author/activist Norman Solomon on the state of the nation, and more. The 2026 lineup will be just as dynamic. Get notified of upcoming shows by subscribing to our email list or by following us on Facebook and Bluesky (@endcorprule).
And we have new issues planned for Justice Rising. The first will be an online series of articles on fascism versus democracy: what we can learn from history, how to protect institutions and federal agencies under attack, and ways to build local resistance. Then look for a series on our food system focusing on industrial farming and food versus regenerative agriculture, biodiversity and healthy soil, and distribution focused on health and equity rather than corporate profit.
Even under the threat of fascism, we are determined to keep pushing back on corporate rule. But we need your support! You can donate through this site, or mail your donation to Alliance for Democracy, 21 Main Street Suite 4, Hudson MA 01749.
Keep us standing out, speaking out, and reaching out. Keep our email alerts coming to your inbox, Justice Rising to your mailbox, and “Corporations and Democracy” online and on the air. Your generous end of year donation means more grassroots defiance in 2026!
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