Evolution of a Plutocracy

I’ve blogged about a federal tax code that favors the mega-wealthy both as to effective rates and loopholes that simply allow the wealthy to avoid U.S. taxes altogether. But today, I am logging back into the campaign-spending debacle. The Supreme Court has established a pattern from allowing those with the money to buy political visibility on issues that matter to them during elections – forcing candidates to gravitate towards those positions to access the underlying spending – to giving big donors increasing access to the candidates themselves, effectively making the mega donors the focal point of candidates’ attention… versus the concerns of the vast constituency they are supposed to represent. Citizens United and McCutcheon are the seminal cases, with more expected down the road. The former opened the media to unlimited political media buying, while the latter removed the aggregate cap that had been placed on donors to candidates to federal elections.

The Court even ignored the anti-corrupt entreaties of the Montana Supreme Court –  a small (population-wise), conservative state – claiming that because it is so population sparse, it is too easy for rich donors to saturate such relatively inexpensive media markets and dominate election results. The post-decisions uptick in spending has been staggering, and the individual instances of seemingly sycophantish behavior of groveling candidates has been nothing but shameful.

While both political parties have lapped up these new unrestrained campaign revenue-source, “Donors who have already exceeded the pre-McCutcheon cap have favored Republicans. So far, they have given $33.3 million to GOP candidates and party committees and $15.6 million to Democratic ones.” Washington Post, September 2^nd. And most of these Republican contributions have come from super-wealthy social conservatives with lower taxes and as little regulation as they can foment on their minds.

Who can forget the four GOP politicos – Ohio Governor John Kasich, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, all rumored to be contemplating a run at the Republican nomination for President – who heard there was possible money in Las Vegas this past spring and tripped over themselves to go. “When Sheldon Adelson, the world’s eighth-richest person, according to Forbes, let it be known that he was looking for a Republican candidate to back in the 2016 presidential race, these four men rushed to Las Vegas over the weekend to see if they could arrange a quickie marriage in Sin City between their political ambitions and Adelson’s $39.9 billion fortune.

“Adelson was hosting the Republican Jewish Coalition at his Venetian hotel and gambling complex, and the would-be candidates paraded themselves before the group, hoping to catch the 80-year-old casino mogul’s eye. Everybody knows that, behind closed doors, politicians often sell themselves to the highest bidder; this time, they were doing it in public, as if vending their wares at a live auction…

“In addition to Adelson, two of the world’s other top-10 billionaires, David and Charles Koch (combined net worth: $81 billion) are pouring tens of millions into the 2014 midterm elections in an effort to swing the Senate to Republican control. These and other wealthy people, their political contributions unleashed by the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, are buying the U.S. political system in much the same way Russian oligarchs have acquired theirs. (Super-rich liberals such as Tom Steyer are spending some of their fortunes to help Democrats, but they are pikers by comparison.) Spending by super PACs, a preferred vehicle of billionaires, will surpass spending by all candidates combined this year, predicts Kantar Media, which tracks political advertising.” Washington Post, April 1^st.

The Washington Post (September 2^nd) provides the example of even a relatively small over-the-McCutcheon-cap contributor, Andrew Sabin: “So Sabin, who owns a New York-based precious-metals refining business, was delighted when the Supreme Court did away with the limit in April. Since then, he has been doling out contributions to congressional candidates across the country — in Colorado, Texas, Iowa and ‘even Alaska,’ he said.

“Top Republicans have taken notice: Sen. Ted Cruz (Tex.) and Florida Gov. Rick Scott have paid him personal visits this year, he noted proudly… ‘You have to realize, when you start contributing to all these guys, they give you access to meet them and talk about your issues,’ said Sabin, who has given away more than $177,000. ‘They know that I’m a big supporter.’” Anyone who believes that our courts, our government in general and our representatives fairly represent the majority of their constituents’ best interests would appear to be deeply naïve and profoundly incorrect.

 I’m Peter Dekom, and who exactly are we kidding when we pretend to be thoroughly representative democracy?