Here’s a question: why is it that everyone measures political power in dollars? The press happily reports the size of each campaign’s war chest as if they weren’t humiliating themselves. The DNC uses money as a test, their proof of viability. It’s shorthand for influence. Isn’t our political yardstick supposed to be calibrated in votes, or at least how much they interest people? Aren’t politicians supposed to be motivated to keep their constituents fat and happy? And yet, here we are, lining up our candidates by wealth. Their money matters as much as all the rest. Combined.
Maybe it’s a media thing. It’s a lot less work to measure a bank balance than the practicality or usefulness of a candidate’s ideas. (I guess?) I know that all the political blowhards treat money as a two-faced conundrum: either using campaign balances as the end-all/be-all of a politician, or decrying money as so impossibly dull they won’t even bring it up. The media report breathlessly about the donors, the amounts, and how much each big donation will corrupt the pol who rakes it in. (And yes, of course money corrupts politicians.) The press wails and laments, but you don’t see ‘fixing that problem’ rise up the hit charts very far, do you? You have to admit, it’s a nice piece of work when some combination of media, politicians, the rich, and the powerful manage to make cold, hard cash so mind-numbing dull (campaign finance reform’) we never rise past despair in response. I mean, we’re talking money!
The Republican Party has been crippling American politics for decades and decades. I’ve been watching them following that plan for my entire, adult life. Since I’m pretty old, we’re talking ‘generations.’ They do the same things, over and over. Eliminate low-cost political forums that might give the less well-to-do a forum. Reduce common-sense limitations so that campaigns increase in cost every year. Throttle any legitimate sources of money, so politicians have to depend on wealthy benefactors. Voila! Politicians have to grovel in front of their patrons to survive.
So whose interests do you think our politicians will represent?
It’s a plan, not an accident. The Republican party guided the system in that direction, year after year. Personally, I think it’s deliberate, but you don’t have to assume any grand conspiracies. It could merely be a bunch of individual Republicans choosing to boost the influence of their own powerful benefactors. Rinse and repeat.
It’s not like rich people are going to object. If you’ve got politicians sniveling for your approval, you’re perfectly happy with your influence. It’s why Republicans push tax cuts for the wealthy as their primary policy. After getting their benefactors cash, Republicans also work for subtler goals. Rig the agencies that can make their patrons money (PTO, NIH). Capture any agencies that might threaten to put anything ahead of profits (EPA, Interior, HHS, and all the regulatory bodies). Hamstring the most inconvenient scientific parts (USDA, NOAA, NASA). Above all, gut the IRS. Call it all ‘deregulation’ and stonewall. Tilt the playing field for the powerful. It’s been happening for decades. By the time President George W. Bush crushed the civil service, we could see it, and yet we barely sighed.
What next for the rich? More of the same. You knew that. Push their newly purchased politicians to open the money spigots wider. Clamp down all that non-rich, unprivileged stuff government should provide. We’ve been seeing the results, year after year, from legislation up to Supreme Court justices. Citizens United has to be their shining triumph, decided entirely by sharply political appointees. The Republican party set up each new layer of their plan carefully, purposely, and at significant cost.
It’s worked shockingly well. Every ‘modern’ politician spends most of their time begging for more money. Every single week has a financial goal: earn this much or slip closer to death. If this Senator or that Representative doesn’t suck down enough donations, they won’t survive the next election cycle. It’s an easy prediction. Money is decisive unless a politician is plainly unfit, and even then, you need a horrifically bad candidate to overcome the power of money. Think “Roy Moore” levels of ‘bad.’ (Who only barely lost his last election, and he’s running again.) It’s not that money is the only thing you need to win, but cash has more weight than, say, policies. Or, obviously, morals.
Today’s Republican Party is just peachy with that. They’re happy with White Supremacists and racists suppressing voters whenever they can. Fuck the party of Lincoln. They applaud Citizens United. Money is speech, they insist while pretending they aren’t merely the money party. They exalt their debasement as a virtue
Republican only work for the rich. Pretend otherwise if you like. Explain why Republicans hate Medicare, Medicaid, social security, and welfare. Explain opposition to unemployment benefits during the last crash. Tell me why they find consumer protections so nasty? Republicans gut legislation that protects the poor, they undercut workers, disparage science, let the rich buy their way out of anything, and ensure that everyone else is their helpless prey.
I think they’re proud of what they’ve done, but even for the Republicans who aren’t, it doesn’t matter. The system has been captured by Republican machinations. If you don’t follow the money, you’re gone.
The only good part is that, with their runaway success, the Republican Party destroyed themselves. Don’t cry for the bastards. They did it intentionally, with knowledge and understanding of the small price they’d gotten for their souls. It wasn’t an accident or a mistake. It was a choice they made. And it worked.
And there’s another reason not to cry. All those apparatchiks who made money destroying the stuff we depend on? No, they won’t see justice in the end. They’ll retire with wealth and protection for themselves and their children, fat and happy. None of the people who caused our problems will pay any price for it. I wish I could pretend otherwise.
Money matters more than almost any other issue. I know the media tries to distract us with new, shiny issues. Focus. Our politicians only take those stupid, damaging actions because of the money. It underlies everything we hate. It’s the force that keeps us powerless. It’s the root cause for almost everything bad today.
The rest of us don’t have to slide into Perdition with the Republican party. We can say, ‘no.’ Just vote. Republicans hate people who vote, so vote in every election. Vote even if it’s hard, or complicated, or annoying, or on a work day. If it helps, imagine the sour-looking Republican operatives who used all that cash trying to discourage you.
