On Thursday morning, the Wall Street Journal runs an op-ed by one of the best-known mega-donors, Charles Koch, who with his brother backs Americans for Prosperity, which spent $122 million leading up to the 2012 campaign and has already spent more than $30 million in the past six months attacking Obamacare and Democratic senators up for reelection this fall. In the op-ed, Koch explains his heavy spending by warning of the “collectivists” threatening to take over the country. “The fundamental concepts of dignity, respect, equality before the law and personal freedom are under attack by the nation’s own government,” he writes.
* * * * * * * * * *
 |
* * * * * * * * * *
America appears to be transforming itself from a democracy to a plutocracy. Plutocracy, the dictionary
defines as, "a class or group ruling, or exercising power or influence, by virtue of its wealth." The most
recent ruling of the Supreme Court in expanding Citizens United with its newest decision in
McCutcheon makes it possible for those with mega bucks to influence elections and national and state
policy-making in ways the founding father would have never anticipated or thought possible. And these decisions are based on supporting Constitutional guarantees of free speech. Use of money in contributing to a campaign has somehow come to equal speech just like the corporation now has come to have the same legal rights as a person. (Dartmouth, Citizens).
The Atlantic continues that:
"As the Court confidently declared, "We now conclude that independent expenditures, including those made by corporations, do not give rise to corruption or the appearance of corruption." And for skeptics who thought otherwise, the Court provided this additional assurance: "The appearance of influence or access, furthermore, will not cause the electorate to lose faith in our democracy." Oh dear. and I thought I was naive.
Most citizens are not surprised to learn that millionaires spend huge amounts of money to help candidates get elected because the donors expect a quid pro quo, something in return, to be rewarded by the winners in some way--a job, an appointment, favorable legislation, or elimination of regulations that limit exploitation of people or the environment, protection against immigrants or people whose views oppose or support certain "religiously based" ethical positions (abortion, capital punishment, welfare, Medicaid, Affordable Care Act, early education,) etc., etc).
The following article from the The Atlantic hits on attitudes and circumstances in America that I deplore. Maybe it's because I'm an old guy and feel increasingly helpless as to do anything about the situation. I am not encouraged when I look around me for solutions among the' best and the brightest' in the next generations who ought to have the time and energy to pursue the remediation of these abuses. Many of them seem to me to be focused on other irrelevant (lightweight) or purely selfish pursuits: texting, or "gaming" or hacking one system or another, clubbing, job-jumping, or trying "to do deals" that will help them to become part of (as movers and shakers) the very system that needs fixing.
I am coming to believe that Chris Hedges is more than a little right when he says that the American democratic and economic system--as it is--will not and cannot self-correct, and that real change will come about only when the abuses become so egregious that a full scale revolution will be the only answer. As the realities of their circumstances continue to pound on the 99%, Hedges' revolution may not be too far in the future.
BREAKDOWNAPRIL 3, 2014
This Is What Life in a Plutocracy Looks Like
Here are six snapshots from this week in America:
1. On Sunday, billionaire casino magnate Sheldon Adelson concludes the weekend summit at the Venetian in Las Vegas where four Republican presidential prospects for 2016 came to make their implicit pitch for financial support from the man who spentnearly $150 million during the 2012 campaign.
2. On Monday, a Senate subcommittee releases a report on the tax avoidance used by Caterpillar, the giant Peoria, Ill.-based heavy equipment manufacturer, which cut its tax bill by $2.4 billion over the past 13 years by allotting $8 billion in revenues from its parts division to a subsidiary in Switzerland, where only 65 of the division’s 8,500 employees work. In an email exchange about whether this was appropriate, a managing director at PricewaterhouseCoopers, which was paid $55 million to concoct this arrangement, said: “What the heck, we’ll all be retired when this audit comes up on audit…Baby boomers have their fun, and leave it to the kids to pay for it.”
3. On Tuesday, House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan releases the latest version of the famous Ryan budget. To make up for tax reductions for the wealthy, the budget calls for very deep cuts in spending on Medicaid, food stamps and discretionary spending, which includes research and development, transportation and infrastructure. Amtrak would lose its $1 billion in already-meager annual subsidies and have to rely entirely on fare-box revenue.
4. On Wednesday, the Supreme Court releases a 5-4 ruling in McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission, eliminating caps on how much total money ultra-rich donors can give to candidates, parties and PACs in a given election cycle. Where donors had previously been limited to giving $123,200 to candidates and parties in a given cycle, they can now give as much as $3.6 million. Chief Justice John Roberts writes: “Spending large sums of money in connection with elections, but not in connection with an effort to control the exercise of an officeholder’s official duties, does not give rise to quid pro quo corruption.” Celebrating the ruling, House Speaker John Boehnersays, “I’m all for freedom, congratulations.”
5. On Thursday morning, the Wall Street Journal runs an op-ed by one of the best-known mega-donors, Charles Koch, who with his brother backs Americans for Prosperity, which spent $122 million leading up to the 2012 campaign and has already spent more than $30 million in the past six months attacking Obamacare and Democratic senators up for reelection this fall. In the op-ed, Koch explains his heavy spending by warning of the “collectivists” threatening to take over the country. “The fundamental concepts of dignity, respect, equality before the law and personal freedom are under attack by the nation’s own government,” he writes.
6. Later on Thursday morning, between 9 and 10 a.m., part of the overhead electric line that powers the Acela train comes down onto the tracks near Bowie, Maryland, between Washington, D.C. and Baltimore. Virtually all train traffic between Baltimore and Washington shuts down for hours as undermanned crews struggle to repair the line, thereby severely hampering traffic in the Washington to Boston Northeast corridor that carries 750,000 passengers on 2,000 trains per day and also spelling panic for the Thursday afternoon rail commuters heading north out of Washington.
A southbound commuter train from Baltimore to Washington on Thursday morning that was caught just behind the downed lines and a stalled Acela takes four hours and 20 minutes to make the 40 mile journey, one that normally takes an hour. German tourists on the train sit bewildered about what could possibly be happening. Passengers have the consolation of listening to several proudly Republican lawyer/lobbyists on board loudly voicing their opinions on the delay. One declares it is the fault of President Obama, who is “in way over his head.” Another declares that the lack of credible information from the conductor is “just like Benghazi.”
One passenger is left thinking that this country could use some more spending on infrastructure, transportation and the general commonweal. Yes, that risks being “collectivist” and would be opposed by a casino magnate with vast holdings in Macau and would leave less for top-bracket tax cuts in the Ryan budget. But heck, it would also mean some more business for Caterpillar, which might even be prevailed upon to keep some of its income stateside, thus helping pay for said investment in the future of the greatest nation on earth.
Jen Sorensen by Jen Sorensen
