(2004-04-21) -- Democrat presidential hopeful John Forbes Kerry today took aim at "corporate fat cats who try to buy political influence" by raising money for Mr. Kerry’s campaign.

"Wealthy elitists contributed much of the $57 million that my campaign took in over past three months," said Mr. Kerry. "They know that this money will inevitably influence my decisions when I’m president. I’ll be biased toward my wealthy cronies. After all, look what happened to George Bush. How could I escape the same fate?"

Mr. Kerry called on the United Nations to limit campaign contributions from the wealthy.

"When I’m president, I’ll work with Secretary-General Kofi Annan to create an international income tax on the obscenely rich--those who earn more than $125,000 per year," he said. "We need to send a message to these fat cats that they’re no better than the ordinary, middle-class slobs who have nothing left to give to my campaign after they’ve paid their union dues and contributed to public broadcasting."