The Doom Loop of Oligarchy

[JJ Husker]

If you look at campaign contributions, the Democratic and Republican contributors are vastly different.

 

Major corporations with government contracts, the big financial companies, all of the banks, pretty much anyone in the 1% supports the GOP candidate without question. Why? Should be obvious. They get rewarded with deregulation and tax breaks and the like - the 1% get richer. Meanwhile the Democratic contributors include some corporations (Microsoft I think?), a lot of private universities and organizations, law firms, etc.

 

So you tell me which party has the interest of the American public in mind.

 

Neither one.

 

There are plenty in the 1% that support the dems. Don't let the lip service of the parties overshadow what they actually do. If you think the Dems are somehow different or better than the Repubs in this regard, ........well, I don't think you are really that clueless.

[tschu]

Partisan politics suck, but it's the field that we have to play on as it currently stands. One is much worse than the other. Condescension aside.

[zoogs]

I don't think money in politics is necessarily the issue. The fact that it is a problem is probably more of a symptom, with the problems being (as carl suggests in the OP) the scale of the wealth concentration at the top. Not even education can overcome a system that permits that. I'm typically of the opposite opinion, but this makes me think that those who are focusing their efforts at somewhat greater income equality have the right goal in mind.

 

And, both parties have the interests of the public in mind. The democrats probably cater better (and this is not necessarily a good thing). If all popular interests were unstoppably enforced that would simply be tyranny by majority.

[tschu]

It's a loop. Money buys the policies that enable the rich to acquire and keep more money, which buys more power to influence policy, which buys MORE money, and so on. It's been a loop like this for the last 30 years. Money in politics is very much integral to the root of the problem.

[sd'sker]

we really are entering a new guilded age. which is a bummer.

 

i think t.j. said it best: "The end of democracy and the defeat of the American Revolution will occur when government falls into the hands of lending institutions and moneyed incorporations."

[Junior]

If you look at campaign contributions, the Democratic and Republican contributors are vastly different.

 

Major corporations with government contracts, the big financial companies, all of the banks, pretty much anyone in the 1% supports the GOP candidate without question. Why? Should be obvious. They get rewarded with deregulation and tax breaks and the like - the 1% get richer. Meanwhile the Democratic contributors include some corporations (Microsoft I think?), a lot of private universities and organizations, law firms, etc.

 

So you tell me which party has the interest of the American public in mind.

 

Neither one.

 

There are plenty in the 1% that support the dems. Don't let the lip service of the parties overshadow what they actually do. If you think the Dems are somehow different or better than the Repubs in this regard, ........well, I don't think you are really that clueless.

 

Ask yourself who's budget is giving tax cuts to the wealthy while destroying social programs aimed at helping the poor. Which party is acting like health insurance for poor people is the greatest ill this country has ever faced?? I'm not saying the democrats are immune to this issue, but if you don't think they are better than republicans, I don't know what to tell you.

 

I've said this many times, I'm impressed with the Republican party by one thing. They've done a masterful job of convincing working class citizens that their greatest worry should be the tax rate on the wealthy. The democrats haven't done as good of a job at getting their message out in that respect.

[sd'sker]

Ask yourself who's budget is giving tax cuts to the wealthy while destroying social programs aimed at helping the poor. Which party is acting like health insurance for poor people is the greatest ill this country has ever faced?? I'm not saying the democrats are immune to this issue, but if you don't think they are better than republicans, I don't know what to tell you.

but junior, let's be real. it is those very social programs that are keeping them poor.

[tschu]

Ask yourself who's budget is giving tax cuts to the wealthy while destroying social programs aimed at helping the poor. Which party is acting like health insurance for poor people is the greatest ill this country has ever faced?? I'm not saying the democrats are immune to this issue, but if you don't think they are better than republicans, I don't know what to tell you.

but junior, let's be real. it is those very social programs that are keeping them poor.

Hashtag, Fox News. Something something bootstraps!

[zoogs]

It's a loop. Money buys the policies that enable the rich to acquire and keep more money, which buys more power to influence policy, which buys MORE money, and so on. It's been a loop like this for the last 30 years. Money in politics is very much integral to the root of the problem.

 

Money has always been in politics since the days of the Philadelphia Convention, no? Money itself is integral to society and there's really no way around that.

 

What seems (arguably, I suppose) different now is the scale of the gap and the degree of concentration at the top, as well as the overall population of the country.

[tschu]

It's a loop. Money buys the policies that enable the rich to acquire and keep more money, which buys more power to influence policy, which buys MORE money, and so on. It's been a loop like this for the last 30 years. Money in politics is very much integral to the root of the problem.

 

Money has always been in politics since the days of the Philadelphia Convention, no? Money itself is integral to society and there's really no way around that.

 

What seems (arguably, I suppose) different now is the scale of the gap and the degree of concentration at the top, as well as the overall population of the country.

It is, and it has to be to some extent. But there's a point where it gets out of hand.

 

Other countries have like a 3 or 4 month campaign limit, which helps to keep expenses down. We do not.

 

Here's how costs have skyrocketed in recent years for the presidential elections:

 

 

And if you imagine similar increases across house and senate elections, you can see how the money spent is getting out of hand. At some point, money does less for actual campaign funding and is more meaningful in the purchasing of influence.

[tschu]

And Romney-Obama was 2.1 billion (maybe more, couldn't find a final figure)

[tschu]

Congress also has a nice little set-up with the banking and financial corporations and lobbyists. The typical career arc is that a committee chair or someone directly responsible for creating economic policy will "retire" from their government post and immediately take up a cushy top-level "job" with a large financial firm or bank. Not a coincidence, and certainly not because they're the most qualified. It's a reward.

[zoogs]

Ah. Yeah, I don't think there's nothing that can be done to improve the current situation by modifying rules. It just seems that regardless of anything, as long as that sheer amount of wealth is concentrated as much as it is, there is nothing that will really help this cycle. And we could end up with the worst of both worlds: 1) as-mentioned wealth distribution issue, and 2) a long list of overbearing or ridiculous rules and restrictions that hurt everybody.

 

How does a 3 or 4-month campaign limit even work? Sounds...easy to get around. Especially if you have the resources.

 

Another thing I'm curious about is how the corporate, etc contributions break down in that chart. I wonder if a sizable chunk of the increase isn't just due to the internet age and much, much more effective grassroots fundraising employed in particular by the Obama campaign (e.g, those emails)

[carlfense]

I've said this many times, I'm impressed with the Republican party by one thing. They've done a masterful job of convincing working class citizens that their greatest worry should be the tax rate on the wealthy. The democrats haven't done as good of a job at getting their message out in that respect.

YES.

 

Edit/plug:

A brilliant analysis-and funny to boot-What's the Matter with Kansas? is a vivid portrait of an upside-down world where blue-collar patriots recite the Pledge while they strangle their life chances; where small farmers cast their votes for a Wall Street order that will eventually push them off their land; and where a group of frat boys, lawyers, and CEOs has managed to convince the country that it speaks on behalf of the People. http://www.amazon.com/Whats-Matter-Kansas-Conservatives-America/dp/080507774X

[tschu]

Apologize for the ranting by the way. I've always been great at math, at biology and chemistry and physics. My art instructors wanted me to go into graphic design. My writing instructors wanted me to be a journalist. I was high school valedictorian and an honors student in college. I was blessed with a good education and I've got a decent grasp on the physical world. But one realm that my education failed me on was politics and economics, so I've spent the better part of the last two years trying to educate myself through any means possible. Particularly economics - I love numbers, logistics, abstract concepts, and trying to understand complex systems. Thank god for living in the information age, where anything you could possibly want to educate yourself about. My background was a very rural Nebraskan one, and I'm actually still a registered Republican. But what I've found flew right in the face of what I had assumed was true previously, and has profoundly impacted my worldview.

 

It's not a conspiracy, it's not some gigantic secret new world order thing. It's just simple economics and the simple desire the we humans have which is to try better our situation, no matter how good our situation already is. And that has manifested itself, almost unchecked, through our political system in the past couple of decades through disinformation and fearmongering and this false illusion of "small government" and "trickle-down economics." The truth is far different and far more complicated.

 

I don't think anyone's ideologies are stupid or anything, but many people's views are misguided. Most Republicans want an END, but have been sold the wrong MEANS. And the money in the political system is what is selling those means - means that are producing a far different end from what is wanted and needed for almost all of the American people.