About 24% of the national income of USA flows into the hands of the top one percent of American households. The growing inequality of income since the eighties is well documented. They reflect the stark reality of the structure of the US economic and political landscape – the growing concentration of power in the hands of an elite coterie and the widening chasm that separates this elite from the rest of the American people. Absurd or outrageous as these developments might be, they are not inexplicable. Even more outrageous, is the unfolding farce of a potential budget crisis (which was definitely not eased by the tax breaks to the rich!) being cynically deployed to launch an aggressive assault not just on the earnings and benefits enjoyed by state employees (including teachers) but also on the hard worn rights of collectively bargaining across the country. At some point, money may not be enough to stop demography.An observer of US politics would be struck by the absurdity of the US Congress scuttling a proposal to let the Bush tax breaks expire for households with incomes over $250,000, as part of the deal for letting unemployment insurance be extended, at a time when most American people are still struggling with the disastrous impact of the most profound economic crisis since the Great Depression. Though the economy and political rules have been hopelessly bent in favor of the rich, it remains to be seen whether an electorate increasingly alienated from the economic elite will be swayed by the panoply of plutocrat puppets posing as public-interested candidates this presidential cycle. Under the strange rationale of “free speech,” the rich can now spend as much as they want on electioneering to pursue their interests. The influence of the upper class on this election cycle has been abetted by the recent Citizens United Supreme Court decision which removed the already meager restraints on bribery. Obviously, more evidence is needed before supporting such a novel view. That wealthy people socialize with each other and see themselves as having the same political interests and act in concert with one another. It is almost like there is something called “class” in American society. They are business partners, in-laws and, on occasion, even poker buddies. Sometimes, across party lines, they are patrons of the same symphonies, art museums or at-risk youth programs. Many are neighbors, living near one another in neighborhoods like Bel Air and Brentwood in Los Angeles River Oaks, a Houston community popular with energy executives or Indian Creek Village, a private island near Miami that has a private security force and just 35 homes lining an 18-hole golf course. Most of the families are clustered around just nine cities. They are also stratified by location and activities: They donate to both parties with a greater emphasis on Republicans as of late. The 158 families the Times analyzed acquired their wealth on Wall Street and through the energy industry. The profile of those trying to buy the 2016 election is not surprising. The 1% are running the show, or at least funding it. How much longer can America’s plutocracy be denied?Ī recent report by The New York Times reveals that 158 of the richest families are now providing a “financial check on demographic forces” that are moving the country in a more progressive direction by contributing nearly half of all early money contributed for the 2016 presidential election cycle.Īccording to the Times, the 158 families contributed $250,000 or more through the June 30 filing deadline.įurthermore, if those 158 families are combined with an additional 200 families that gave more than $100,000, then over half of all campaign donations in the 2016 presidential campaign cycle have so far come from less than 400 families.
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