Politicians running for President from both political parties are talking about the alienation of voters, stagnant wages and a shrinking middle class. People are becoming increasingly frustrated and angry at a system they no longer feel is responsive to them or that they’re even a part of. And they’re right. The political system is rigged in favor of the rich and powerful. This fact permeates everything and it begins with politicians who are bought and paid for. We can vote, but those we elect aren’t accountable to the people who elect them; they are accountable to those who bought them. If a Congressman or Senator votes against the wishes of a key backer – and there are more than 12,000 registered lobbyists in DC (the unofficial count is closer to 100,000) – they can expect to be primaried and/or lose key funds needed to be competitive for re-election. With the addition of unlimited funds, thanks to SuperPACs via Citizens United, this cancer is killing our democracy. The system is supposed to represent us. It doesn’t. It does represent the rich and powerful. We can disagree about the details of the content of federal campaign finance reform but it’s hard to believe voters would disagree that there’s a pressing need for this change.
A campaign finance system fed by lobbyists and special interests with unlimited funds serves as the basis of our rigged economy – and manifests itself in an ingrained system of corporate welfare. Take Wal-Mart as an example. They pay their employees, according to the Wall Street Journal, an average $8.48 an hour – less than a living wage. We, the taxpayers, pick up part of the difference with food stamps. Employees use them to purchase food – at Wal-Mart. The result is that we are subsidizing the wealthiest family in America. Think about that. Now multiply this by thousands of other companies who pay their employees – the people who helped make their companies so profitable – poverty wages.
There are many other examples of corporate welfare that will set your hair on fire (that’s one way to feel the Bern)! The biggest tax breaks go to the wealthiest corporations. Last year, GE paid NO federal taxes. Boeing, from 2008 to the present, paid a taxable rate of 1.8 percent and actually got back $177.6 million in tax rebates. The Center for Effective Government found that if 7 pharmaceutical firms paid taxes on their offshore profits, we could repair every bridge in America. Here’s another example: Apple dodged $74 billion in taxes over a four year period using off-shore accounts – that’s enough to pay the college tuition of every U.S. student! Koch Industries made $115 billion in revenue last year and paid less that 1 percent in taxes…and to add salt to the wound, received millions back in taxpayer subsidies. Then they announced they would be spending a record amount of almost $900 million in political contributions this election cycle alone. Here’s the revolving door: You can bet all of it will go to candidates who aren’t threatening their status quo at a minimum or better yet, to candidates who want to give them, and others like them, an even bigger chuck of the pie.
This is bribery. It’s illegal in every other part of American life. And it makes every problem we have worse. Why? Because there is always a person, company or corporation that benefits from that problem. Here’s an example. Both political parties talk about the need to reform the criminal justice system – we have more people in prison, per capita, than any other country in the world. Who benefits from this? Well, as the saying goes, “follow the money” and the answer is…Ta Dah… stockholders. Over the past decade, more and more prisons have been privatized; in fact, according to the Huffington Post, nearly half of all immigrant detainees are held in privately run, for-profit, detention centers. The largest, the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) operates 66 facilities with 90,000 beds in 16 states. You – and judges – can purchase stock in the company; it’s listed on the NYSE. But low occupancy is a drag on profits as is the easing of sentencing for non-violent offenders. Not to worry. According to the National Institute of Money in State Politics, CCA contributed a total $1.9 million from 2003 to 2012 in political donations and spent $17.4 million in lobbying in the last 10 years, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Reform the criminal justice system? Not if it means reducing the profit making capacity of the Prison Industrial Complex. This is just one example. For every problem, there are corporations who profit from it and will resist mightily any changes in the status quo.
So what’s the answer? First, voters must make the issue of ending corporate welfare and changing the way we finance elections the number one priority. We are on our way to losing our democracy and becoming an oligarchy – a government by and for the super rich and powerful. The Washington Times, a conservative newspaper, says we’re already there. Second, vote for politicians who make it their priority to change the system. Ask them for their plans. Don’t accept platitudes. Make it clear your vote depends on their answer. Three, study those running for office now. There is only one presidential candidate who is not indebted to a SuperPAC or corporations for funding; in fact he has refused both. All of his funding comes from ‘we the people’ and therefore he’s only answerable to ‘we the people.’ He is the only candidate that has made ending corporate welfare the cornerstone of his campaign. Hint: It’s not the billionaire who is self-funding. His only accountability is to the image in the mirror.
We can fuss around the edges about other important issues like jobs, immigration, the cost of college, gun safety, education, revising the tax code, criminal justice, energy, health care etc, but until we fundamentally change this corrupt system, our democracy, at its very core, is threatened. Vote wisely. We may not have another opportunity like this one…until after the revolution.
Marsha Shearer is a resident of the Village of Belle Aire.