Category: The state of our democracy

OUR DEMOCRACY’S CHALLENGES ARE SERIOUS AND LONGSTANDING Part 2

Our democracy’s challenges are serious and longstanding. I presented an overview of the challenges, some history, and then focused on the selection of the president via the undemocratic Electoral College, including how to fix it, in a previous post. This post focuses on Congress. The Senate is a long way from the one person, one vote representation on which democracy is typically built. The extreme gerrymandering of some U.S. House districts (and of some state legislative seats) means that democracy is subverted there too. Finally, the Supreme Court has allowed elections to be held with gerrymandered districts.

(Note: If you find my posts too long to read on occasion, please just skim the bolded portions. Thanks for reading my blog! Special Note: The new, more user-friendly website for my blog is here.)

Like the process of selecting the president via the Electoral College, the process for electing members of Congress is also flawed and undemocratic. The Senate, while established in the Constitution at two seats per state, is blatantly unconstitutional under the “one person, one vote” standard established by the Supreme Court in the 1960s based on the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause. Although Senators are elected now rather than appointed by state legislatures (due to the 17th amendment to the Constitution in 1913), Senate representation is clearly undemocratic based on a state-to-state comparison. [1] For example, a California Senator represents the state’s 39 million people, over 67 times the 581,000 people a Wyoming Senator represents.

All Representatives in the U.S. House do represent similar numbers of people, but in some states the districts are so gerrymandered that they do not reflect the population of the state politically or racially. In part because of partisan gerrymandering, very few House elections are competitive. In 2022, only 30 out of the 435 House seats had a margin of victory of less than four-percentage points (i.e., 52% to 48% or closer). [2]

Gerrymandering, which is the manipulation of the boundaries of an electoral district to predetermine the outcome based on party, race, incumbency, or other factors, has been happening for a long time. Gerrymandering has become more blatant and effective in the 21st century because computers and mapping software now allow more sophisticated mapping using more detailed data.

In the redrawing of U.S. House districts after the 2010 Census, independent analyses find that Republicans engaged in extreme partisan gerrymandering in seven states. Partisan gerrymandering is accomplished by packing as many supporters of the opposition party as possible into as few districts as possible. The opponents will win these seats overwhelmingly. Meanwhile, supporters of the favored party are spread more evenly across the other districts, so this party will comfortably win as many seats as possible. Partisan gerrymandering has also dramatically affected thousands of seats in state legislatures.

The best estimates are that, through gerrymandering, Republicans captured between 15 and 20 more seats in the House (out of 435) than would have been expected otherwise. After the 2022 elections, the Republicans controlled the House by a margin of just five votes (which has now shrunk to one vote due to resignations and a removal). For example, in South Carolina and Wisconsin the Republicans’ percentage of each state’s House seats is about 26-percentage points higher than the percentage of their vote in statewide races. (In SC: Republicans got roughly 60% of the vote in the Governor’s and Senator’s races but, due to gerrymandering, won 6 out of 7 House seats, 86%. In WI: Republicans got roughly 49% of the vote in the Governor’s and Senator’s races but, due to gerrymandering, won 6 out of 8 House seats, 75%.)

Extreme partisan gerrymandering means that officials get elected by a small handful of their constituents – those who vote for them in the primary election (where turnout is typically very low). Given that the party that will win the general election is in most cases pre-determined by gerrymandering or a district’s natural political characteristic, the winning candidate is selected by the small number of voters who are motivated enough to turn out and vote in the primary election. These are typically the party’s most committed and partisan voters. The result is that elected officials are in effect picking their voters, rather than most voters having any real choice about who their elected representative will be. (See this previous post for more details on gerrymandering and its undermining of democracy.)

The Supreme Court, prior to the 2022 elections, blocked the implementation of changes to House districts in at least seven states despite lower courts’ rulings that the districts were unconstitutionally gerrymandered. After the election, it confirmed that the districts were unconstitutional. This probably delivered at least seven seats to Republicans that otherwise would have gone to Democrats. (See this previous post for more detail on the Supreme Court’s rulings and their effects on the election.) The shift of five seats from Republicans to Democrats would have changed the control of the House, which would have made a dramatic difference in policy making in the House and for the country. It’s hard to believe that the Supreme Court’s actions and timing were anything but blatantly political.

Racial and partisan gerrymandering are closely linked because a large percentage of Blacks typically vote for Democrats. Racial gerrymandering is still very much present in the south. For example, in Alabama, there are seven congressional districts. Twenty-seven percent of the population is Black (and four percent is in other non-white categories), but by packing as many Black voters into one district as possible and splitting up the other Black voters among the other districts, there is only one Black-majority district in the state. The courts have ordered the creation of another Black-majority district but Alabama officials have been resistant. From a partisan perspective, Alabama Republicans got 67% of the vote in the Governor’s and U.S. Senator’s race but, because of gerrymandering, won 86% of the House seats (6 of 7), a 19-percentage point difference.

Similarly, in Louisiana, there are six congressional districts. A third of the population is Black, but, again, by packing as many Black voters into one district as possible and splitting up the other Black voters among the other districts, there is only one Black-majority district in the state. From a partisan perspective, Louisiana Republicans got 62% of the vote in the U.S. Senator’s race but, because of gerrymandering, have 83% of the House seats (5 of 6), a 21-percentage point difference.

My next post will present ways to reduce partisan and racial gerrymandering, which would make our elections for the U.S. House (and state legislatures) more democratic, i.e., more representative of a state’s and district’s population.

[1]      Dayen, D., 1/29/24, “America is not a democracy,” The American Prospect (https://prospect.org/politics/2024-01-29-america-is-not-democracy/)

[2]      Leaverton, C., 1/20/23, “Three takeaways on redistricting and competition in the 2022 midterms,” Brennan Center for Justice (https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/three-takeaways-redistricting-and-competition-2022-midterms)

SHORT TAKES ON IMPORTANT STORIES #7

Here are short takes on three important stories that have gotten little attention in the mainstream media. Each provides a quick summary of the story, a hint as to why it’s important, and a link to more information. They range from encouraging responsibility in the media to a major victory for workers to the corruption of our economy and politics by a billionaire.

STORY #1: I urge you to sign the Media and Democracy Project’s open letter to news organizations demanding that they cover the upcoming elections in a substantive and meaningful way while making the threats to democracy clear and actively exposing and discrediting disinformation. The Media and Democracy Project describes itself as a non-partisan, grassroots, civic organization engaging in actions in support of more informative, diverse, independent, and pro-democracy media operating in the public interest. It is urging news organizations to follow a detailed set of guidelines summarized by these three principles: [1]

  1. Cover elections like they matter more than sports scores (stop the “horse race” analysis).
  2. Make the threats to democracy clear.
  3. Protect Americans from disinformation.

STORY #2: In a stunning victory for workers, 73% of Volkswagen workers at a Chattanooga TN plant voted to join the United Auto Workers union (2,628 to 985). This is the first major successful union vote in the South and the first at a foreign-owned auto plant in the U.S. (However, every other VW plant in the world is unionized indicating how far behind the U.S. is in supporting workers and the middle class.) Not only had plant management opposed the union, but six southern state governors had issued a joint statement attacking unionization as a threat to liberty and freedom.

This is major step in the rebirth of the labor movement, which had been languishing since 1980. Public approval of labor unions is close to 70%, the highest level in 50 years. The last couple of years have seen a resurgence of union organizing and successful bargaining efforts, including by Hollywood writers, UPS employees, health care workers, university employees, and auto workers, among others.

In the 1950s, one out of every three private sector workers belonged to a union. Today, it’s only one out of every 16 workers. This decline in union membership has caused a decline in the bargaining power of workers, the reduction of wages and benefits, and the decline of the middle class. Corporate America’s war on unions and on workers included changes in government policies that supported unionization, global trade agreements that pitted American workers against foreign labor, and financial deregulation that allowed corporate takeovers, private equity’s vulture capitalism, and abuse of bankruptcy laws to undermine workers and their benefits, particularly retirement benefits. [2]

STORY #3: The ability of billionaires to corrupt our political and economic systems was in evidence as former president Trump reversed himself on whether TikTok should be banned in the U.S. after a recent meeting with Jeff Yass, a billionaire who owns 15% of TikTok’s Chinese parent company, Byte Dance. Yass’s investment company is also the biggest institutional investor in the shell company that merged with Trump’s Truth Social online media company. This merger provided Trump with a windfall profit at a time when he apparently badly needs cash. [3]

As-of March 2024, Yass is also this election cycle’s biggest donor to non-candidate, Republican-affiliated Political Action Committees, having given over $46 million. [4] Yass is also a big donor to right-wing groups in Israel that have supported Netanyahu’s efforts to weaken Israel’s democracy and Palestinian’s rights.

[1]      Hubbell, R., 4/15/24, “Biden’s steady hand, part II,” Today’s Edition Newsletter (https://roberthubbell.substack.com/p/bidens-steady-hand-part-ii)

[2]      Reich, R., 4/22/24, “The stunning rebirth of the American labor movement,” Robert Reich’s daily blog (https://robertreich.substack.com/p/the-rebirth-of-the-american-labor)

[3]      Kuttner, R., 3/27/24, “The corrupt trifecta of Yass, Trump, and Netanyahu,” The American Prospect blog (https://prospect.org/blogs-and-newsletters/tap/2024-03-27-corrupt-trifecta-yass-trump-netanyahu/)

[4]      Open Secrets, retrieved 3/28/24, “2024 top donors to outside spending groups, “ (https://www.opensecrets.org/outside-spending/top_donors/2024)

OUR DEMOCRACY’S CHALLENGES ARE SERIOUS AND LONGSTANDING Part 1

Our democracy is in real trouble – and always has been. The current crisis of ensuring a peaceful transition of power based on election results is very serious. However, there are other serious problems with our elections including voter suppression, gerrymandering, huge sums of money from wealthy interests, and the Electoral College. This post provides an historical overview and then focuses on the Electoral College and how to fix it.

(Note: If you find my posts too long to read on occasion, please just skim the bolded portions. Thanks for reading my blog! Special Note: The new, more user-friendly website for my blog is here.)

Our democracy is in real trouble – and always has been. The current crisis is ensuring a peaceful transition of power based on election results and it’s an immediate, very real, and very serious threat. The possibility of electing an authoritarian, dictatorial government in the next presidential election, one that would ignore the will of the voters in policy making and in future elections, is significant.

However, the problems with our elections go much deeper than simply honoring the will of the voters. Other serious problems include voter suppression (using many strategies), gerrymandered districts, huge sums of money in campaigns from wealthy individuals and corporations, and the Electoral College, which allows someone to win the presidency with far less than a majority of the votes.

Before delving into these issues and solutions for them, a little history and perspective are valuable. Our Founding Fathers had limited confidence in true democracy, despite their truly radical statement that all men are created equal. Even putting aside their limited vision that included only white men and no women, they put serious limits on a government supposedly operating based on the consent of the governed, which is reflected in multiple elements of the government they created. [1]

For example, U.S. Senators were appointed not elected (until a Constitutional Amendment in 1913), the Electoral College not the voters select the President, the Constitution is very difficult to amend, and the checks and balances of the three branches of government have a built in a bias toward the status quo and make major policy changes difficult. Furthermore, elections are winner take all; proportional representation (to ensure that minority voices are included in government) is not included.

In part this was because the Founding Fathers were designing a government for a small, agrarian country and could not envision the demands on government of today’s complex, fast changing society and world. They created a government where major policy changes are difficult unless there is a strong, broad consensus – and it’s painfully obvious how difficult that is to achieve these days.

The national government today is unstable because it often does not respond expeditiously to the will of the voters. This is typical of political systems where a strong president is elected separately from the legislative branch and where the legislative branch has two equally powerful chambers. This structure and the status quo bias of the government’s checks and balances make responsiveness to voters difficult. Voters quickly get frustrated with the inability of the officials they have just elected to respond to their wishes and therefore tend to vote for the other party in the next election.

In the national elections since 2006, party control of at least one chamber of Congress or the presidency has changed hands in every election except in 2012 (when President Obama was re-elected, Democrats maintained control of the Senate, and Republican maintained control of the House). Since 1980, there’s been a politically divided federal government over 70% of the time. In other words, the presidency and both chambers of Congress have been held by the same party less than 30% of the time. Therefore, it’s been rare that either party has been able to definitively advance its policy agenda.

Winner-take-all elections (as opposed to proportional representation in multi-candidate districts) are a major reason the U.S. has two party politics and a fluctuation of control back and forth. Other parties have little chance of electing any of their candidates and, therefore, are seen as spoilers, not serious options, in elections.

When democratic governments have been setup around the world, including in U.S.-led efforts after World War II and the war in Iraq, the U.S. model has not typically been used. Of the 78 relatively stable democracies in the world, only four use the U.S. model of a strong, head-of-government president and a legislature that are elected in separate voting in winner-take-all elections (U.S., Ghana, Liberia, and Sierra Leone).

The more frequent model for democracies is a parliamentary system. In a parliamentary system the head of the government, usually the prime minister, is the leader of the party or coalition that controls the parliament (i.e., the legislative body). (There is typically only one legislative chamber and if there is a second one, it typically has very limited power.) The president is typically a largely ceremonial figurehead (i.e., a head of state rather than a head of government). If the governing party or coalition in parliament cannot pass its policy agenda, an election is usually quickly held to elect a parliament that can advance its policy agenda.

The Electoral College system of selecting the U.S. President is particularly undemocratic and unstable. A state-based, winner-take-all model prevails in awarding Electoral College votes to the presidential candidates. (Only two states, Maine and Nebraska, split their electors between the presidential candidates.) What this means is that the presidential election is decided in a small number of “swing” states (typically four to maybe 12) by the tiny share of the overall electorate in those states who are the “swing” voters (about 400,000 voters or ¼ of one percent of the total votes cast of roughly 160 million). Moreover, because each state’s electoral votes are the sum of its number of U.S. Representative and Senators, the Electoral College votes are far from the democratic one person one vote standard. Most dramatically, each California Elector represents more than 700,000 people while each Wyoming Elector represents fewer than 200,000 people.

The easiest way to fix the Electoral College problem is to get states with a majority of the Electoral College votes to pass a National Popular Vote (NPV) law. This law simply states that the state’s electoral college votes will go to the presidential candidate with the most popular votes nationally. However, the law won’t go into effect in any state until enough states have passed it to make up a majority of the Electoral College votes (i.e., 270 votes). So far, it has been enacted in 17 states and Washington, D.C., which adds up to 209 electoral college votes. (D.C. has 3 votes even though it has no votes in Congress.) So, only 61 more votes from as few as five more states are needed for NPV to go into effect. In eight states with 80 electoral college votes, it has passed either one or both chambers of the state legislature. You can see the status of NPV in your state here.

If your state is one that hasn’t passed NPV, particularly if it’s one of the states where at least one chamber of the legislature has passed it, please contact your state legislators and urge them to pass it. There’s a nice one-page description of NPV and its status that you may find of interest or want to share with your state legislators here.

There will be more on the challenges facing our democracy and ways to strengthen it in future posts.

[1]      Dayen, D., 1/29/24, “America is not a democracy,” The American Prospect (https://prospect.org/politics/2024-01-29-america-is-not-democracy/)

AUTHORITARIANISM WILL COME TO THE U.S. IF TRUMP IS ELECTED

There’s a detailed, written plan for the Trump administration, if he’s elected in 2024, to turn our democracy into an authoritarian dictatorship. Project 2025 is a detailed presidential transition plan that identifies policies and personnel to accomplish this transformation. It was developed by a Heritage Foundation-led coalition with a $22 million budget.

(Note: If you find my posts too long to read on occasion, please just skim the bolded portions. Thanks for reading my blog! Special Note: The new, more user-friendly website for my blog is here.)

It becomes clearer by the day that the plan for the next Trump presidency is for an authoritarian dictatorship. This is not just Trump making crazy off-the-cuff statements; it’s a written plan that right-wing organizations and people are advancing every day.

Project 2025 is a detailed presidential transition plan that identifies policies and personnel to transform our democracy into an authoritarian Trump presidency in 2025. It was developed by a Heritage Foundation-led coalition of over 65 right-wing organizations with a $22 million budget. The Heritage Foundation, founded in 1973, a formerly conservative and now revolutionary think tank, has played a leading role in shaping Republican policies since 1980. It’s part of the well-funded network of right-wing groups that have transformed the Republican Party and the Supreme Court. [1]

Project 2025 lays out specific plans to transform the presidency, the executive branch of government, and all our democratic institutions into an authoritarian, strongman-led government. (See this previous post for more details.) If Trump is elected, its authors and supporters will aggressively implement the plan. As Kevin Roberts, president of the Heritage Foundation said, “[T]he Trump administration [in 2016], with the best of intentions, simply got a slow start. And Heritage and our allies in Project 2025 believe that must never be repeated.” [2]

I used to regard the Heritage Foundation as a very conservative but thoughtful contributor to policy debates. This is no longer true. The dramatic change came when Kevin Roberts was appointed its president in 2021. It abruptly changed; for example, it shifted from supporting Ukraine against Russia’s invasion to supporting Russia. Some staff members resigned because of this and other changes. It’s now fully embracing authoritarianism, ending our democracy, and “institutionalizing Trumpism.”

You probably know that Hungarian authoritarian Prime Minister Victor Orban recently visited former president Trump at Mar-a-Lago. And you probably know that Orban upended Hungarian democracy, replacing it with authoritarianism, including gutting civil service and filling government positions with his loyalists, taking over businesses to benefit friends and family, and attacking the rights of immigrants, women, and LGBTQ+ people.

What you may not have heard is that Orban also visited Washington, D.C. Despite being Hungary’s Prime Minister, he did not meet with any government officials. Instead, he met privately with right-wing luminaries and politicians at the headquarters of the Heritage Foundation. Its president, Kevin Roberts, is a big fan of Orban’s and the Heritage Foundation has established a formal partnership with the Hungarian Danube Institute, which is basically a government-funded front for Orban’s propaganda. The Danube Institute has given grants to right-wing entities in the U.S. It’s not known if the Heritage Foundation is one of those entities, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if it was.

There’s an in-depth article on the Project 2025 plan for a Trump presidency in The American Prospect magazine. [3] For example, the Justice Department would be used to prosecute Trump’s political and civilian adversaries. The Insurrection Act would be invoked so the military could be used to crush any protests. The plan includes a long list of enemies and how to target them, including everyone from federal civil servants to business and environmental regulators to union leaders to safety net beneficiaries.

Project 2025 includes a key strategy for quickly implementing the plan: immediately install loyal Deputy Directors (who don’t require Senate confirmation) across the federal bureaucracy and fire all the senior managers who require Senate confirmation. Under federal law, the deputies then become acting heads of the agencies.

Project 2025 states that the Department of Defense (DOD) “has emphasized leftist politics over military readiness” and that the DOD needs to “eliminate Marxist indoctrination.” It encourages rigorous review of all senior officers, i.e., generals and admirals, to ensure they “prioritize the core roles and responsibilities of the military over social engineering and non-defense matters.” This sounds like the implementation of an ideological purity test for military leaders.

Project 2025 would increase economic inequality by favoring the wealthy and large corporations. It calls for cutting taxes on unearned income, i.e., capital gains and dividend income. It calls for lowering the corporate tax rate (which has already been reduced by the 2017 Trump / Republican tax cut bill), privatizing every government function possible, and deregulating every industry. It would incentivize corporations to limit employee benefits by capping the amount that could be treated as an expense to $12,000. It would end congressional approval of arms sales to foreign countries. It would basically eliminate scientists and scientific studies from any role in policy making except for studies of “the risks and complications of abortion.” It would put Christian nationalism at the center of all policy-making and government activities.

Project 2025 would gut current environmental and climate change policies. It would repeal the tax credits for clean-energy companies and ensure climate change deniers are appointed to all relevant agencies and bodies, including the EPA’s Science Advisory Board. It would support the fossil fuel industry while cutting funding for improvements to the electric grid that are necessary for using renewable energy sources. [4]

Even if Trump himself is incompetent and mercurial, Project 2025 would put in place bureaucrats and procedures in all executive branch agencies that would be focused on and effective at implementing the authoritarian government it envisions. The complete Project 2025 plan itself is here, but at close to 1,000 pages it’s a lot to wade through.

[1]      Swan, J., Savage, C., & Haberman, M., 7/17/23, “Trump and allies forged plans to increase presidential power in 2025,” The New York Times

[2]      Richardson, H. C., 3/17/24, “Letters from an American blog,” (https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/march-17-2024)

[3]      Meyerson, H., 11/27/23, “The blueprint,” The American Prospect (https://prospect.org/politics/2023-11-27-far-right-blueprint-america/)

[4]      Noor, D., 7/27/23, “ ‘Project 2025’: plan to dismantle US climate policy for the next Republican president,” The Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jul/27/project-2025-dismantle-us-climate-policy-next-republican-president)

CORPORATIONS ARE GIVING BIG MONEY TO ELECTION DENIERS

America’s biggest corporations are  giving tens of millions of dollars to the 147 members of Congress who voted to deny the 2020 election results. They are making campaign donations to these election deniers, also known as the Sedition Caucus, both directly and indirectly through political action committees (PACs) and business groups. Despite concerns expressed by some corporate leaders about political and business or economic upheaval if Trump were to be re-elected, if one follows the money, it’s clear that these corporations and their leaders care more about their profits and political influence than they care about democracy.

(Note: If you find my posts too long to read on occasion, please just skim the bolded portions. Thanks for reading my blog! Special Note: The new, more user-friendly website for my blog is here.)

The billions of dollars flooding candidates’ campaigns for the 2024 elections are not just corrupting policy making and the enforcement of our laws (see this previous post for more detail), they are also undermining our democracy.

In January, senior executives of America’s biggest corporations and other wealthy individuals attended the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where the theme for the year was “Rebuilding Trust.” However, their hypocrisy was hard to miss. Some of them expressed fear of what a Trump re-election might mean in terms of political unrest and potential risks for businesses. However, they are providing substantial campaign funding for Trump and his acolytes in the Republican Party.

Since the January 6, 2021, Capitol Hill insurrection, 228 of the 300 largest American corporations that have political action committees (PACs) have given over $26 million to the 147 members of Congress who voted to deny the 2020 election results. In the immediate aftermath of the insurrection, numerous corporations announced to great fanfare that they would stop making political contributions to members of Congress who were election deniers. However, many of them have quietly resumed making donations to the election deniers, also known as members of the Sedition Caucus.

For example, Boeing suspended contributions but resumed making them four months later and has since given over $650,000 to 85 election deniers. The list of corporations suspending but then resuming contributions to election deniers includes Amazon, FedEx, Home Depot, Johnson & Johnson, McDonald’s, UPS, Verizon, Walmart, and Wells Fargo. In addition to contributing directly to the election deniers, they are also contributing to Republican Party PACs that support the election deniers. Furthermore, the known contributions are only the ones the corporations’ PACs are making openly and directly; many of them are also contributing to election deniers through vehicles that obscure donors’ identities such as business groups (like the Chamber of Commerce and industry-based associations), super PACs, and dark money groups that do not have to disclose their donors. [1]

If you’d like more detail, check out ProPublica’s database of contributions by Fortune 500 corporations to election deniers. It includes how much they’ve given, what percentage of their total giving it represents, who they’ve given to, and how long they kept their promise not to contribute to election deniers.

If business groups, like the Chamber of Commerce, are added into the calculations, these groups and corporate PACs have given over $108 million to election deniers since the January 6 insurrection. Over 1,400 such entities have given over $91 million directly to election deniers and another $17 million to PACs affiliated with them. The top ten contributors to the election deniers in 2023 are: [2]

  • American Bankers Assoc. $430,500
  • National Assoc. of Realtors $370,000
  • Nat’l Rural Electric Coop Assoc. $272,000
  • UPS $269,500
  • Boeing $257,500
  • Nat’l Multifamily Housing Council $255,000
  • Honeywell $251,000
  • AT&T $248,000
  • Lockheed Martin $239,500
  • Nat’l Auto Dealers Assoc. $236,000

The election deniers who received the largest amounts from these business entities in the first three quarters of 2023 are:

  • Jason Smith (R-MO)       $2,007,185      Chair of the Ways & Means Comm.
                                                                        (which oversees the budget & all fiscal matters)
  • Kevin McCarthy (R-CA)  $1,740,000      Former House Speaker
  • Steve Scalise (R-LA)        $1,549,300      House Majority Leader (2nd in command to the Speaker)

The efforts by wealthy individuals and corporations to skew our policies, laws (and enforcement of them), economy, and society to their benefit are nowhere more obvious than in their huge contributions to political candidates. Apparently, they don’t even have qualms about donating to those who voted to block the democratic transfer of power. Needless to say, major reforms of our campaign finance laws are needed, along with the reversal of the 2010 Citizens United U.S. Supreme Court decision (and related ones). Those decisions equated the spending of money in political campaigns with the right to free speech and have given corporations free speech rights like those granted to human beings.

We must reform campaign financing, which is currently dominated by individuals and corporations with great wealth and, therefore, great power. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis tackled those issues roughly a century ago. As a lawyer, often doing pro bono work in the public’s interests, he successfully took on Boston’s street car and light monopolies and got lower rates and better service. He challenged the power of big railroads, life insurance companies, and banks, as well as their wealthy owners.

Brandeis was a fervent supporter of democracy, saying “The end for which we must strive is the attainment of rule by the people.” He believed that democracy had to include economic freedom, not just political and religious freedom. He supported policies and actions that promoted the general welfare and opposed monopolistic power and special privileges or power for the wealthy.

Brandeis summed it all up by saying, “We must make our choice. We may have democracy, or we may have wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can’t have both.” How true these words ring today, almost 100 years later. [3]

[1]      Reich, R., 1/18/24, “Davos duplicity,” Robert Reich’s Daily Blog (https://robertreich.substack.com/p/corporate-enablers-of-dictatorship)

[2]      Massoglia, A., 1/11/24, “Corporate PACs and industry trade groups steered over $108 million to election objectors since Jan. 6,” Open Secrets (https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2024/01/corporate-pacs-and-industry-trade-groups-steered-over-108-million-to-election-objectors-since-jan-6/)

[3]      Dilliard, I., editor, 1941, “Mr. Justice Brandeis: Great American,” with quotes from Lonergan, R., 10/14/41, “A steadfast friend of labor,” Labor (pages 42 – 43) (https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015009170443&seq=9)

MONEY CONTINUES TO CORRUPT OUR ELECTIONS

It’s likely that over $10 billion will be spent on political campaigns in the 2023 – 2024 election cycle. The bulk of this money comes from wealthy individuals and corporations. This skews our public policies and the enforcement of our laws to favor their special interests because they do expect to get something in return for their investments. Most Republicans and even some Democrats oppose efforts to limit campaign contributions.

(Note: If you find my posts too long to read on occasion, please just skim the bolded portions. Thanks for reading my blog! Special Note: The new, more user-friendly website for my blog is here.)

As we enter the 2024 presidential election year, money is once again, of course, flooding into candidates’ campaigns. It’s no surprise that, with all the money wealthy individuals and corporations are putting into campaigns, public policies and the enforcement of our laws are skewed to their special interests. A key cause of the growing flood of money is the 2010 Citizens United U.S. Supreme Court decision (and related ones) that have equated the spending of money in political campaigns with the right to free speech and have given corporations free speech rights like those granted to human beings by our Bill of Rights.

Although the presidential election year has just begun, huge amounts of money have already flowed into presidential candidates’ campaign coffers. Including each candidate’s campaign committee as well as any super political action committee(s) (PACs) or other “outside” group(s) dedicated to supporting the candidate, the major candidates have already raised the following sums: [1]

  • Biden $147.5 million
  • Trump $139.5 million
  • Haley $105.4 million
  • Kennedy $  0 million

There typically is at least one super PAC or outside group supporting any serious presidential candidate. These groups can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money and some of them work hard to obscure who their donors are (e.g., through “dark money” groups). Legally, PACs and outside groups are supposed to operate independently of the candidate’s committee, but this is true only in theory. They’re often run by former staffers, friends, or even family members. They sometimes share office space or consultants with the candidate’s campaign. Increasingly, these supposedly independent entities are taking on some of the duties traditionally handled by the candidate’s campaign, such as organizing town hall meetings or doing voter outreach. This is happening because currently there’s effectively no enforcement of the requirement for independence as the Federal Election Commission has largely been emasculated by political gridlock.

The political parties are, of course, also raising money. The Democrats and Republicans each have three major committees, a national one, a Senate one, and a House one. The combined fundraising totals for the three committees are: [2]

  • Democrats $315.5 million
  • Republicans $262.8 million

Campaign fundraising will, of course, increase during this election year. It’s likely that each side will spend over $1 billion on the presidential race alone. This is a staggering amount of money and the wealthy individual and corporate donors do expect to get something in return for their investments. Therefore, their money skews the policy topics and alternatives that are on the table for consideration, as well as which ones are enacted and how laws are enforced (or not).

For all federal elections (not just the presidential race), outside spending is greater than it’s ever been. Super PACs and other outside groups have already spent almost $318 million on the presidential and congressional races. This is over six times what had been spent at this point in the last presidential election cycle in 2020. An advertising analyst is predicting that over $10 billion will be spent on political advertising in the 2023 – 2024 election cycle. [3]

Most Republicans and, unfortunately, even some Democrats oppose efforts to limit campaign contributions. Elected officials have successfully used the current system to get elected and the large contributions of wealthy individuals and corporations are typically what got them into office and will keep them there, whether they’re Democrats or Republicans.

Recently, in Virginia, Democrats who control the General Assembly quietly killed a bill that would have limited campaign contributions. Virginia is one of five states with virtually no limits on campaign contributions. Although three-quarters of voters in Virginia – including strong majorities of Democrats (82%) and Republicans (67%) – support contribution limits, bills to do so make no progress in the legislature.

The recent legislation that was killed would have limited individuals’ contributions to Senate and statewide candidates to $20,000 and to $10,000 for House candidates. Typical contribution limits for individuals in other states are between $2,000 and $4,000, and are $3,300 at the federal level. Even these amounts are much more than the average voter can or will contribute. So, the proposed Virginia limits were quite high, but still weren’t acceptable to Democratic legislators there. Overall, campaign contributions for legislative candidates in Virginia have grown from $39 million in 1989 to $191 million in 2023 (after adjusting for inflation). Dominion Energy, the state’s largest publicly-regulated electric utility, was the largest contributor in the 2023 election cycle, giving $11.5 million to candidates and party committees, including almost $700,000 to the Democratic House Speaker. This money is buying access if not outright influence. [4]

Massive campaign spending corrupts our democracy. Many elected officials are beholden to wealthy donors, individuals and corporations. The effects on our government and its policy making are both blatant and subtle, but we certainly do NOT have a democratic government that’s truly of the people, by the people, and for the people.

[1]      Open Secrets, retrieved 2/18/24, “2024 Presidential Race,” (https://www.opensecrets.org/2024-presidential-race)

[2]      Bryner, S., & Glavin, B., 2/1/24, “Three takeaways from 2024 presidential candidate filings,” Open Secrets (https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2024/02/three-takeaways-from-2024-presidential-candidate-campaign-finance-filings)

[3]      Massoglia, A., & Cloutier, J., 1/16/24, “Outside spending on 2024 elections tops $138 million,” Open Secrets (https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2024/01/outside-spending-on-2024-elections-tops-318-million/)

[4]      Cloutier, J., 2/16/24, “Virginia state lawmakers quietly killed a bill to limit campaign donations,” Open Secrets (https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2024/02/virginia-legislature-killed-a-bill-to-limit-campaign-donations)

SHORT TAKES ON IMPORTANT STORIES #2

Here are short takes on four important stories that have gotten little attention in the mainstream media. Each provides a quick summary of the story, a hint as to why it’s important, and a link to more information.

STORY #1: As the political divide in the U.S. widens, it’s been particularly evident in state level policies. States now vary widely in their health care coverage for low-income households under Medicaid and other public health programs. There’s also great variation in the generosity of other public benefits and safety net programs. Minimum wage and gun safety laws vary greatly as do rates of unionization. These and many other state policies affect the well-being and ultimately the longevity of a state’s residents.

Examining life expectancy provides a valuable perspective on the effects of policies on the residents of states and countries. Globally, life expectancy has been increasing in high-income countries for decades. While the U.S.’s life expectancy was increasing, when compared to these other countries it began to fall behind in the 1990s and by 2006 it ranked last. After 2014, life expectancy in the U.S. actually began to decline. By 2021, life expectancy in the U.S. was 76.4 years, compared to 80 to 83 years in European countries and 84.5 years in Japan. Even in China it was 78.2 years.  [1]

The trend in life expectancy varies considerably among U.S. states. Several recent studies provide convincing evidence that the divergence of state-level policies between Democratic and Republican dominated states has contributed significantly to the changes in life expectancy, especially for low-income people. The differences are highlighted by comparing Connecticut and Oklahoma where the policy ideology has shifted the most over the last 60 years. In CT, policies have trended toward Democratic, progressive, or liberal policies and in OK toward Republican or conservative policies. In both states, life expectancy was 71.1 years in 1959. By 2017, life expectancy in CT had increased to 80.7 years, while in OK it had increased to only 75.8 years. [2]

STORY #2: Not content to control just state policies (and harm residents statewide), Republican-controlled states are more and more frequently blocking local governments from enacting policies that benefit their local residents (but that state-level lawmakers don’t like). This trend began in 2016 when North Carolina’s Republican state officials nullified Charlotte’s ordinance protecting LGBTQ rights. Also in 2016, the Republican Alabama state legislature and governor banned local minimum wage laws after Birmingham had enacted one. (Note: Alabama is one of five states (all in the south) that has never enacted a state minimum wage law.) Mississippi’s Republican state lawmakers stripped Jackson of its criminal courts, having the state take over. Nashville’s civilian police review board was prohibited by Tennessee’s Republican state officials.

Texas, which had previously banned municipalities from enacting tenant protections and regulating fracking within their boundaries, for example, has now passed a blanket prohibition on any local law that does more than state law in a wide range of policy arenas, including agriculture, finance, insurance, labor, natural resources, and property rights, as well as in business, commerce, and employment law. Among many other things, this state law negated laws in Austin and Dallas that required water breaks for construction workers, despite scorching hot summer days. Florida is now trying to outdo even Texas’s blanket preemption of local government policy making. [3]

According to the Local Solutions Support Center (which helps municipalities fight state preemption laws), these preemption laws began as special interest legislation pushed by businesses for economic reasons but have now expanded to social issues and the culture war. Over 700 preemption bills have been filed in state legislatures in 2023 and, by October, 90 had been passed, even though they are typically unpopular with the public. They are, however, popular with wealthy business owners who provide campaign money to Republicans. Thirty-one of the largest 35 cities in the U.S. are run by Democrats and most of them have large minority populations, including Black majorities in some southern cities. Pre-emption by Republican state lawmakers prevents Democrats and, in some cases, Blacks from governing in their own communities.

STORY #3: A classic case of pre-emption by state and federal lawmakers has been protecting gun manufacturers and dealers from liability for gun crimes involving violence and deaths using illegally sold guns. In the late 1990s, dozens of cities filed lawsuits against gun manufacturers and dealers. Only one, brought by Gary, Indiana, has survived lawmakers’ protections and legal challenges. Last fall, the judge for the case ordered the gun manufacturers and retailers who are defendants to turn over internal records relevant to the case. It is widely believed that these documents would reveal damaging evidence about the gunmakers’ and sellers’ knowledge of illegal gun sales. Republicans, who hold large majorities in the Indiana state legislature and the governorship, are pushing legislation that would ban cities from suing gun manufacturers or dealers; reserving that power to the state. Not coincidentally, the legislation is retroactive to August 27, 1999, three days before the Gary lawsuit was filed. [4]

STORY #4: With the end of the pandemic’s ban on dropping children and adults from Medicaid health insurance, millions of children are losing health care coverage. States are now allowed to review the current eligibility of children covered by their Medicaid programs. At least 2 million children have already lost coverage and federal researchers estimate that more than 5 million children will eventually lose the health insurance they’ve been getting through Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Under the pandemic’s emergency rules, Medicaid enrollment grew and researchers estimate that by 2022 more than half of the children in the U.S. were covered by Medicaid or CHIP. Overall, over 90 million people, more than one-fourth of the population, were enrolled in these health insurance programs. Over 15 million people have now lost their Medicaid coverage based on these eligibility reviews. Because Medicaid and CHIP are joint federal-state programs, the states have significant power to decide who they will cover and who they won’t and what happens to people who lose their coverage. [5] In Massachusetts, for example, 400,000 people have lost their Medicaid coverage, but the state is actively working to help them obtain other health insurance. Over 50,000 of them have signed up for subsidized health insurance under the state’s Health Connector program. [6]

[1]      OECD, 2024, “Life expectancy at birth,” (https://data.oecd.org/healthstat/life-expectancy-at-birth.htm)

[2]      Starr, P., 12/8/23, “The life-or-death cost of conservative power,” The American Prospect (https://prospect.org/health/2023-12-08-life-death-cost-conservative-power/)

[3]      Meyerson, H., 2/6/24, “Pre-preemption,” The American Prospect (https://prospect.org/politics/2024-02-06-pre-preemption/)

[4]      Cook, T., & Coleman, V., 1/30/24, “Indiana lawmakers trying to kill historic suit seeking gun industry accountability,” ProPublica and IndyStar (https://www.propublica.org/article/indiana-guns-gary-lawsuit-gunmakers-hb1235)

[5]      Weiland, N., 11/10/23, “2 million kids lost health coverage,” The Boston Globe  from the New York Times

[6]      Borkhetaria, B., 1/29/24, “MassHealth takes steps to preserve coverage for eligible members,” CommonWealth Beacon (https://commonwealthbeacon.org/the-download/the-download-masshealth-takes-steps-to-preserve-coverage-for-eligible-members/)

BANKRUPTCY LAWS: HOW THE RICH STAY RICH AND THE REST OF US SUFFER

In the latest example of the use of bankruptcy laws by the rich to stay rich while others suffer, Rudy Giuliani just filed for bankruptcy after our justice system ordered him to pay Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss $148 million for defaming them. His public defamation of them led other Trump supporters to harass and threaten them and their family members, forcing them out of their homes and to live in fear of being assaulted.

(Note: If you find my posts too long to read on occasion, please just skim the bolded portions. They present the key points I’m making. Thanks for reading my blog!)

By filing for bankruptcy, Giuliani protects himself from having to pay Freeman and Moss for now. It may well be years before they get any money from him under the court’s order and it’s likely they’ll get far less than $148 million.

As you probably know, Trump companies filed for bankruptcy on multiple occasions, which allowed him to keep his wealth while others, including small business contractors and employees, got nothing or much less than his companies owed them.

Meanwhile, over the last forty years, Congress has passed laws making it harder for average people to declare bankruptcy and get relief from debts, while they’ve made it easier for large corporations, including Wall Street financial firms and banks, to do so. [1]

For example, homeowners can’t be relieved of mortgage loans on their primary residence by declaring bankruptcy. This protects banks and financial institutions while hurting homeowners. During the 2008 financial crash, 5 million homeowners lost their homes because they couldn’t get protection from bankruptcy laws. Meanwhile, Congress and other federal agencies provided hundreds of billions of dollars to large banks and financial institutions to keep them from going bankrupt.

People with student loans also can’t be relieved of them by declaring bankruptcy. Student loans are now 10% of all debt in the U.S., more than credit card and auto loan debt. (Only mortgages are a higher portion of debt.) The law allows student loan lenders take money directly from debtors’ paychecks, including Social Security checks if people collecting Social Security still have outstanding student loans! The only way to escape student debt is to prove that repayment would impose “undue hardship,” a more difficult standard to meet than is required of gamblers trying to escape their gambling debts!

Furthermore, filing for bankruptcy costs money. Typically, it costs at least $50 to file for bankruptcy in court and potentially hundreds of dollars for other fees. The cost of a lawyer can, of course, be substantial, and because attorney’s fees, like many other debts, are wiped out in a bankruptcy, most bankruptcy lawyers require cash up-front. This all means that many people who would benefit from filing for bankruptcy can’t afford to do so.

Bankruptcy laws are a perfect example of the fact that there’s no such thing as a “free market.” The market, i.e., the operation of our economy, is determined by the laws that are enacted by legislatures, Governors, and Presidents, as well as how they are implemented by the courts.

The laws that determine how the economy and markets function reveal whose interests our policy makers are protecting and making the priority. The current bankruptcy laws make it clear that wealthy individuals and businesses are the priority for our policy makers; they are being protected while the rest of us suffer.

Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and others have introduced the Consumer Bankruptcy Reform Act in Congress (S.4980). It would simplify and streamline the personal bankruptcy process as well as reduce filing fees. It would help individuals and families facing a financial crisis, who are disproportionately women and people of color, get back on their feet. It would allow student loans to be forgiven in bankruptcy and it would help those in bankruptcy avoid eviction, keep their homes and cars, and discharge local government fines. The law would protect people in the bankruptcy process by prohibiting and punishing illegal behavior by debt collectors and others. It would also close loopholes that let the wealthy exploit the bankruptcy system. The bottom line is that the bill would improve fairness and equity in our financial system, while strengthening a key piece of the social safety net. [2]

I urge you to contact your U.S. Representative and Senators to ask them to support the Consumer Bankruptcy Reform Act (S.4980). You can find contact information for your US Representative at  http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/ and for your US Senators at http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm.

[1]      Reich, R., 12/28/23, “Why can only the rich and powerful go bankrupt?” (https://robertreich.substack.com/p/who-gets-to-use-bankruptcy)

[2]      Warren, Senator E., 9/28/22, “Senator Warren and Representative Nadler reintroduce the Consumer Bankruptcy Reform Act,” (https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/senator-warren-and-representative-nadler-reintroduce-the-consumer-bankruptcy-reform-act)

GIVING THANKS FOR PRESIDENT BIDEN

We should all be giving thanks for President Biden. He and his administration have taken historic steps to protect America’s democracy politically and economically. He is leading the charge to restore fairness and competitiveness in the U.S. economy. He is finding creative ways to support local governments in states where right-wing Republican Governors and legislatures are blocking progressive local policies. Biden has nominated, and the Democrats in the Senate have confirmed, over 150 very diverse judges. He is tackling economic inequality by enforcing our tax laws so the rich pay what they owe.

(Note: If you find my posts too long to read on occasion, please just skim the bolded portions. They present the key points I’m making. Thanks for reading my blog! Special Note: The new, more user-friendly website for my blog presents the Latest Posts chronologically here: https://www.policyforthepeople.org/blog. Please click on the Subscribe Today button to continue receiving notification of my posts.)

I hope you are finding many things to give thanks for this Thanksgiving, despite the troubled state of the world and our democracy. We should all be giving thanks for the accomplishments of President Biden and his administration.

President Biden and his administration have taken historic steps, with remarkable success, in the fight to protect America’s democracy politically and economically, including standing up for workers and consumers. His administration has resurrected the idea that government can promote economic growth by regulating businesses, investing in ordinary Americans, and protecting workers and consumers. This was the American social contract that was in place from 1933 to 1980. Since 1980, Republicans have torn up that social contract and instead deregulated business, including ignoring antitrust laws that had blocked the growth of huge, monopolistic companies. The result has been that trillions of dollars have been taken from lower- and middle-class workers and consumers and given to the richest 1% of Americans. [1]

President Biden has been leading the charge to restore fairness and competitiveness in the U.S. economy. The economy is displaying remarkably strong growth and a dramatic increase in jobs (13.2 million) (both are stronger than under President Trump). With Biden’s support, workers have made dramatic gains. For example, the United Auto Workers have reached an agreement with the auto makers that includes a 25% wage increase over the next 4.5 years, along with cost-of-living adjustments that will bring the increases up to an estimated 33%. [2]

In 2021, Biden signed an Executive Order requiring agencies throughout the executive branch to promote competition in the economy. His administration is reinvigorating the enforcement of antitrust laws that had been mostly ignored for the past 40 years. It has focused on opposing large monopolistic corporations’ proposed mergers and acquisitions that would make them even larger and more powerful. The filing of antitrust litigation or the threat to do so has stopped the merger of big publishers Simon & Schuster and Penguin Random House, the anti-competitive partnership of Jet Blue and American Airlines, as well as several proposed mergers in the health care, energy, and technology sectors of the economy. Antitrust investigations of Apple, Ticketmaster, and Visa are underway. In 2023, the value of completed mergers is down 40% from the average of the past five years largely because of the administration’s focus on enforcement of antitrust laws. [3]

Biden and his administration have also focused broadly on reducing anti-worker and anti-consumer business practices. It is working to reduce junk fees, eliminate non-compete clauses in most employment contracts, and end mandatory arbitration clauses in many consumer contracts. His administration has broken up the hearing aid cartel making hearing aids cheaper and more readily accessible. It has issued new regulations on broadband service providers and railroad corporations. It has revived the prohibition on directors serving simultaneously on the boards of competitors, which can lead to anti-competitive behavior in the market place and insider trading in the stock market. It won an $85 million settlement from agricultural giant Cargill and others for collusion to suppress workers’ wages.

The Biden administration is finding creative ways to support local governments in states where right-wing Republican Governors and legislatures are blocking progressive local policies. For example, in 2011, Wisconsin Republicans blocked local governments from requiring employers to offer paid sick leave, as Milwaukee had done. Fifteen states have passed similar laws including Texas, which has also blocked local governments from expanding voting options, taking some Covid response measures, and regulating local oil and gas drilling. In Florida, the state is controlling what local schools can teach and what books they can have. In Georgia, the state criminalized the provision of food and water to people waiting to vote at local polling places. And the list goes on and on. [4]

Perhaps the most dramatic step Biden has taken to support local governments is making federal funding available directly to them instead of having it flow through state governments, as has traditionally been the case. For example, the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act sent $130 billion directly to municipalities along with $220 billion to state governments. The 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law includes $196 billion for surface transportation grants that municipalities can apply for directly. The 2022 Inflation Reduction Act includes a novel mechanism that allows municipalities to take advantage of tax credits for renewable energy projects.

Biden has nominated, and the Democrats in the Senate have confirmed, over 150 judges who may well be called on to protect our democracy (particularly around the 2024 elections) and our rights in the face of the right-wing and authoritarian onslaught from Republicans and former President Trump. In addition to the quality of these judges (in stark contrast to some who were nominated and approved under Trump and President George W. Bush), they are much more diverse than those nominated and confirmed under those Republican Presidents. Of Biden’s first 150 judges, 100 are women and 98 are people of color. [5]

President Biden is tackling economic inequality by enforcing our tax laws so the rich pay what they owe. The 2022 Inflation Reduction Act provided new funding for the IRS to enhance enforcement. In just a few months, it has recovered $38 million in delinquent taxes from 175 high-income taxpayers. It is estimated that for each dollar the IRS spends auditing the top 1% of taxpayers it will recover $3.18; from the top 0.1%, it will recover $6.29 for each $1 spent. A study in 2021 estimated that the 1% of people with the highest incomes failed to report more than 20% of their earnings to the IRS. [6]

These are just some examples of the many steps President Biden and his administration have taken to promote fairness and competition in our economy, as well as to re-establish our democracy’s promise of equal opportunity for all. These actions are guided by his principles and values for our economy, our society, and our democracy. A subsequent post will put his actions in this larger context.

[1]      Richardson, H. C., 10/30/23, “Letters from an American blog,” https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/october-30-2023

[2]      Richardson, H. C., 10/26/23, “Letters from an American blog,” (https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/october-26-2023)

[3]      Norris, W., 10/29/23, “Winning the anti-monopoly game,” Washington Monthly (https://washingtonmonthly.com/2023/10/29/winning-the-anti-monopoly-game/)

[4]      Norris, W., 4/4/23, “How Biden is using federal power to liberate localities,” Washington Monthly (https://washingtonmonthly.com/2023/04/04/how-biden-is-using-federal-power-to-liberate-localities/)

[5]      Puzzanghera, J., 11/19/23, “For Biden, a full court press to fill US bench,” The Boston Globe

[6]      Richardson, H. C., 10/30/23, “Letters from an American blog,” (https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/october-30-2023)

THANK GOODNESS JOE BIDEN IS PRESIDENT!

President Biden is providing outstanding leadership in a series of very challenging situations. President Biden’s speech to the nation on 10/19 will impress and move you. The mainstream media focus on drama, conflict, and negativity. Calm, steady, effective leadership doesn’t get the coverage it deserves. Below are three examples of non-mainstream media that have done a much better job of telling the story of Biden’s leadership than the mainstream media. Stop and think for a minute what would be happening if Donald Trump were President.

(Note: If you find my posts too long to read on occasion, please just skim the bolded portions. They present the key points I’m making. Thanks for reading my blog! Special Note: The new, more user-friendly website for my blog presents the Latest Posts chronologically here: https://www.policyforthepeople.org/blog. The new home page, where posts are presented by topics, is here: https://www.policyforthepeople.org. Please click on the Subscribe Today button to continue receiving notification of my posts. I plan to retire this site at some point.)

In turbulent situations, it’s invaluable to have an experienced, thoughtful, steady, and rational leader. President Biden is providing outstanding leadership in a series of very challenging situations:

  1. The Covid pandemic and its aftermath, including serious damage to the economy;
  2. Putin’s attack on Ukraine;
  3. The dysfunction of the Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives and, in particular, their threat to default on the U.S. debt; and
  4. Hamas’s attack on Israel and all the volatility it could unleash in the Middle East.

I don’t think any other President in my lifetime has faced such a set of serious challenges. Stop and think for a minute what would be happening if Donald Trump had been re-elected in 2020.

The mainstream media is now driven by on-line clicks, and therefore focuses on drama, conflict, and negativity. Calm, steady, effective leadership doesn’t generate as many clicks, so it doesn’t get the coverage it deserves.

Non-mainstream media have done a much better job of telling the story of President Biden’s leadership. For example, Robert Reich (who served as President Clinton’s Secretary of Labor and in a number of other federal government jobs before that), in his blog on 10/19/23, titled The last adult in the room, describes President Biden as “shrewd, careful, and calibrated” in the face of major challenges, despite the child-like behavior of many other supposed leaders. Reich highlights Biden’s significant actions and successes on the home and global stages from the Middle East to dealing with Congress to delivering benefits for the American workforce.

Robert Hubbell, in his blog on 10/20/23, titled We cannot give up on peace, reviews President Biden’s speech to the nation on the evening of 10/19. I encourage you to listen to Biden’s 15-minute speech. You will be impressed and moved by it. (It begins 2 hours and 5 minutes into the YouTube recording of the news broadcast.) Hubbell calls it a truly great speech in which Biden forcefully and convincingly addresses the complicated situations in the Middle East, Ukraine, and here in America. He links all of them back to the need to defend democracy from the threats of dictators, terrorists, and hate. Biden is thoughtful, compassionate, and comprehensive; he does not shrink from taking on difficult topics including racism, Islamophobia, and antisemitism.

In the speech, Biden underscores the importance of the United States of America and its leadership on the global stage. He calls America the “essential” and “indispensable nation,” noting that America “is a beacon to the world” … “the idea of America, the promise of America.” He states that we must “reject all forms of hate. It’s what great nations do.”

Heather Cox Richardson, in her blog, Letters from an American on 10/18/23, reviews Biden’s visit to Israel and the speeches he gave there, where he adroitly walked the tight rope of condemning terrorism, supporting Israel, stating that the vast majority of Palestinians are not Hamas terrorists, and negotiating humanitarian aid to the Palestinians in Gaza. He called unequivocally for the protection of civilians on all sides and adherence to the rules of war. He stated that democracies must live by the rule of law, not the rules of terrorism. Richardson takes note of “Biden’s steady hand, experience, and courage” in visiting Israel and taking on the tricky issues the Hamas-Israel conflict presents.

We are lucky, and should be thankful, that President Biden is bringing such capable leadership to our country and the world at this very challenging time both globally and domestically.

HOW POLICY AFFECTS FREEDOM

There are two philosophical types of freedom: “positive freedom” and “negative freedom,” also referred to as “freedom to” and “freedom from,” respectively. Government policies and programs have a big impact on the freedom we experience. “Freedom to” better aligns with democracy and equal opportunity. However, for 40 years, “freedom from” has dominated U.S. politics and policy making. President Biden and Democrats in Congress are working to change that and promote “freedom to.”

(Note: If you find my posts too long to read on occasion, please just skim the bolded portions. They present the key points I’m making. Thanks for reading my blog! Special Note: The new, more user-friendly website for my blog presents the Latest Posts chronologically here: https://www.policyforthepeople.org/blog. The new home page, where posts are presented by topics, is here: https://www.policyforthepeople.org. Please click on the Subscribe Today button to continue receiving notification of my posts. I plan to retire this site at some point.)

My previous post began an exploration of what freedom means in a democratic society. It provided an overview of the two philosophical types of freedom: “positive freedom” and “negative freedom.” Negative freedom is often referred to as “freedom from” and positive freedom as “freedom to.” “Freedom from” means freedom from constraints of external forces, while “freedom to” means the opportunity to make choices, take advantage of possibilities, pursue happiness, and be safe and secure. “Freedom to” is facilitated by governments’ policies and programs that protect rights, promote equal opportunity, provide a safety net, and invest in public infrastructure, including investments in knowledge and innovation through research. (Note: The terms “freedom” and “liberty” are generally used interchangeably by political and social philosophers.)

Beginning in the 1970s and continuing to today, the “freedom from” philosophy has been ascendant in American policy and politics. As a result, there has been a push to reduce the role of government in our society. Efforts to reduce the size of government have been part of this, including through policies that cut taxes so government has less revenue to fund its activities and programs. Cuts in the safety net of economic supports and assistance have followed, including everything from the minimum wage and overtime pay to unemployment benefits to housing and food assistance. As a result, the economic security and “freedom to” of many middle and low-income people has been undermined.

The push for freedom from government constraints has been applied not only to individuals, but also to businesses. This has led to deregulation of business, which has predominantly benefited large, wealthy corporations and their executives and investors (as has the tax cutting noted above). One piece of this deregulation had been the suspension of enforcement of anti-trust laws. As a result, huge companies have been formed and now almost every sector of the American economy is dominated by a few large companies. These companies have monopolistic power over markets resulting in reduced consumer choice, fewer employment options, and often lower quality in goods and services. They also have the power to manipulate prices, squash market place competition, and exert significant influence over our economic and political systems.

Reduced government regulation of the private sector has resulted in a loss of “freedom to” in many ways. Private companies have reduced the economic security of workers, which reduces their freedom to pursue opportunities and happiness. For example, employers have been allowed to make cuts in employer-provided health and retirement benefits. Companies have also imposed external constraints on workers and consumers. For example, many employers require workers to sign non-compete clauses prohibiting them from going to work for a competitor – a significant loss of job opportunities. Consumers are required to sign mandatory arbitration agreements in many contracts for products or services, which ban consumers from suing companies, including through class action lawsuits. This is just one item in the lengthy contracts consumers are required to sign for many services, particularly in the software and Internet markets.

Reduced regulation of companies as employers, and therefore of the labor market, has led to a dramatic decline in union membership. This has reduced workers’ ability to bargain collectively for economic security through job stability and good pay and benefits. As a result, “freedom to” has been dramatically reduced for many workers. In addition, the exploitation of labor has gone so far as to lead to a push to repeal child labor laws. These protect children from working in unsafe and unhealthy environments and from working long and late hours, which inhibit their ability to learn in school and therefore gain knowledge and skills that will provide them opportunities (i.e., “freedom to”) in the future. [1] [2]

On top of policies that have allowed these huge companies to be formed, U.S. policies have allowed financial speculation, manipulation, and exploitation through private equity firms and vulture capitalism. This, coupled with reduced taxes, has led to extremely wealthy businesspeople and investors who have outsized influence in public (or what should be public) functions and decision making. These very wealthy businesspeople, usually men, have great power not just in the economic system, but also in politics and information dissemination through ownership of social media and of many media outlets (e.g., Fox TV, many other TV and radio stations, and many local and national newspapers). They even can have dramatic effects on international populations and events. The Gates Foundation exerts tremendous influence over education in the U.S. and global health initiatives. Elon Musk, through his ownership of the Starlink satellite Internet service, often controls communication in disaster or war zones. US policies have allowed him to launch over 4,500 satellites (over 50% of all active satellites) and to maintain control over their use. At least twice, he has cut off Ukraine’s use of Starlink communications when they were critical to their efforts to fight Russia. [3]

Basic economics describes capitalism as a system that advances “freedom to” for consumers and workers – freedom to make rational decisions and choices among good alternatives. Free market capitalism is supposed to provide perfect competition among multiple providers of goods and services, while consumers and workers have the full information they need to make good choices that are in their best interests.

However, this is not the economy we have, because without government regulation (i.e., with “freedom from”) the private sector has shown itself to be greedy and manipulative, even rapacious. Perhaps the greatest obstacle to economic freedom today is businesses’ monopolistic power over consumers, workers, and even government policies. We need to restore competition to promote innovation, protect workers, keep prices down, provide good choices, and preserve democracy. In other words, competition is needed to provide “freedom to.” Recent estimates have put the cost of the lack of competition at as much as $5,000 a year for a typical U.S. household.

To address the 40-year trajectory of declining economic competition and “freedom to,” President Biden has established a White House Competition Council. It is directing government-wide efforts to promote competition in the private sector. For example, the Federal Trade Commission is reinvigorating enforcement of antitrust laws As Biden recently stated, “Fair competition is why capitalism has been the world’s greatest force for prosperity and growth. … But what we’ve seen over the past few decades is less competition and more concentration that holds our economy back.” [4]

[1]      Stancil, K., 7/19/23, “GOP assault on child labor laws under fresh scrutiny after 16-year-old dies at poultry plant,” Common Dreams (https://www.commondreams.org/news/mississippi-poultry-plant-teen-dies)

[2]      The Conversation, 6/26/23, “States are weakening their child labor restrictions nearly 8 decades after the US government took kids out of the workforce,” (https://theconversation.com/states-are-weakening-their-child-labor-restrictions-nearly-8-decades-after-the-us-government-took-kids-out-of-the-workforce-205175)

[3]      Richardson, H.C., 9/9/23, “Letters from an American blog,” https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/september-9-2023

[4]      Richardson, H.C., 9/26/23, “Letters from an American blog,” (https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/september-26-2023)

CRISIS AND HOPE FOR AMERICAN DEMOCRACY Part 4

George Packer’s book, Last best hope: America in crisis and renewal, offers an analysis of American democracy’s current crisis. He points out that our democracy has gone through similar crises in the past. He identifies key elements of a functioning democracy and four cultural narratives, moral identities, or “tribes” that have emerged in the U.S. They have fractured American politics and society. This post, the last in a 4-part series, discusses his specific recommendations on how we put America back together again.

(Note: If you find my posts too long to read on occasion, please just skim the bolded portions. They present the key points I’m making. Thanks for reading my blog! Special Note: The new, more user-friendly website for my blog presents the Latest Posts chronologically here: https://www.policyforthepeople.org/blog. The new home page, where posts are presented by topics, is here: https://www.policyforthepeople.org. Please click on the Subscribe Today button to continue receiving notification of my posts. I plan to retire this site at some point.)

In Packer’s analysis, America fractured in the 1970s. From two relatively stable cultural narratives or moral identities aligned with the Democratic and Republican parties, four rival narratives emerged. Previous posts summarized the narratives of the Free America and Smart America “tribes” here and of the Real America and Just America “tribes” here.

All four “tribes” emerged due to America’s failure to maintain a middle-class-focused democracy and an economy that lived up to its founding principle of equal opportunity for all. Although this ideal has never been reached and has often been violated, without a commitment to work toward it, American democracy cannot function.

American democracy has had near-death experiences before; perhaps, most relevant is the Civil War. Americans have used the same tools of citizenship to recover democracy that we have today: journalism, government, and activism. (See this previous post for an overview of this history and the overall path to recovery.)

We will require a period of detoxification according to Packer’s analysis. It will also be essential to show the American people that government can make, and is making, their lives better. The economy must be governed so that everyone has a chance, not just to survive, but to participate in society with dignity and with a real chance to enjoy life, liberty, and happiness.

Packer states that the first needed step is to repair the safety net for workers and families by building on FDR’s New Deal of the 1930s, including policies such as universal health care and child care, paid family and medical leave, a living wage, solid unemployment insurance, and stronger workplace safety protections. He advocates for improved education for poor and middle-class children, including by moving funding responsibility away from local communities with more state and federal support for local public schools

Second, workers and citizens in the middle and lower-income brackets need to have more economic and political power. A key strategy is to make it easier for workers to organize and form unions, including instituting collective bargaining across whole sectors of the economy, not just with individual employers (e.g., for fast food workers and hospitality workers in hotels). In addition to direct benefits for workers and their families, unions build shared experience, responsibility, and empowerment among diverse groups of workers. Packer also suggests worker representation on corporate boards as is done in Europe.

Third, a new type of activism is needed that builds cohesion and solves real problems. It goes beyond just protesting and embraces working together. The local level, including local government, presents promising opportunities for this. This new activism is emerging and empowers Americans, makes their voices heard, and allows them to act as self-governing citizens.

Fourth, American democracy needs a revitalization that ensures that every citizen’s voice is heard. This means encouraging voter participation and stopping the erection of barriers to voting. Racial and partisan gerrymandering need to be ended. Campaign financing needs to be reformed, including through the use of public funds to make small contributions more impactful.

Packer advocates for significant government investments in key economic sectors, such as clean energy, manufacturing, education, and caregiving to create jobs, stimulate innovation, and raise pay and benefits for workers. A fairer tax system is also necessary to put the brakes on growing inequality. This would require taxing wealth, including an increase in taxes on large estates.

Packer writes that the greatest obstacle to economic freedom today is businesses’ monopolistic power over consumers, workers, and government. He also cites the need for reform of the media which are under financial, technological, and political pressures. The result is an information (and disinformation) stream that is faster, simpler, louder, more partisan, and more divisive. The demise of small news outlets (in large part due to our winner take all economic system) has led to the nationalization of news and politics, polarization of “facts,” and partisanship in everything that is reported. Objectivity is routinely questioned and struggled with in today’s journalism. Fear of hyper-partisan responses and social media firestorms has bred a self-censorship in the media that is more dangerous and less visible than government censorship. All of this leads to less thoughtful journalism and readership. And all of this is exacerbated by the rise of the big tech monopolies in social media.

I encourage you to engage in constructive activism in whatever way works for you. Working on local issues and/or in local government is a great way to work productively with others to address concrete issues that affect people’s everyday lives. Writing letters to the editor of local news outlets is an important way to share information and opinions.

In addition to voting, being informed about and engaging in campaigns for elected offices is, of course, essential to a functioning democracy. Engagement can involve volunteering for campaign work locally or remotely (e.g., through writing postcards to encourage voter registration and turnout). Making contributions to candidates you support of whatever amount you’re comfortable with is also an important way to participate.

I encourage you to contact your elected officials and, if possible, establish a personal relationship with them (and/or members of their staff). This ensures that your voice is heard – even when you don’t get the result you would like. Volunteering for or contributing to candidates’ campaigns helps in getting their attention and building a relationship with them.

Democracy is NOT a spectator sport. If all of us are engaged and act as responsible citizens, in whatever ways we can, large or small, we can revitalize our democracy and its work toward its founding and exemplary principle of equal opportunity for all. This probably won’t happen as quickly or easily as we’d like, and it will happen with fits and starts, but we can make it happen if we all pitch in.

CRISIS AND HOPE FOR AMERICAN DEMOCRACY Part 3

George Packer’s book, Last best hope: America in crisis and renewal, offers an analysis of how American democracy got to its current crisis and how it will, hopefully, renew itself and survive. He points out that American democracy has gone through similar crises in the past. He identifies key elements of a functioning democracy and four cultural narratives, moral identities, or “tribes” that have emerged in the U.S. They have fractured American politics and society. This post, number 3 in a 4-part series, summarizes the decline of democracy in America and outlines the path to recovering it.

(Note: If you find my posts too long to read on occasion, please just skim the bolded portions. They present the key points I’m making. Special Note: The new, more user-friendly website for my blog presents the Latest Posts chronologically here: https://www.policyforthepeople.org/blog. The new home page, where posts are presented by topics, is here: https://www.policyforthepeople.org. Please click on the Subscribe Today button to continue receiving notification of my posts. I plan to retire the old site at some point. Thank you for reading my blog!)

In Packer’s analysis, America fractured in the 1970s. From two relatively stable cultural narratives or moral identities aligned with the Democratic and Republican parties, four rival narratives emerged. Packer names and describes these four new “tribes.” Previous posts summarized the narratives of the Free America and Smart America tribes here and of the Real America and Just America tribes here.

All four tribes emerged due to America’s failure to maintain a middle-class-focused democracy and an economy that lived up to its founding principle of equal opportunity for all. Forty years of increasing economic inequality and declining social mobility have turned America into a stratified society where wealth and status are now strongly linked to heredity.

The vision of a democracy based on equality for all has been badly damaged, although it is still clung to as central to American identity. Disillusionment has grown as progress toward the ideal of equality seems to have stalled or reversed. Although this ideal has never been reached and has often been violated, without a commitment to work toward it, American democracy cannot function.

Each of the four tribes is a response to real problems and espouses values that are essential for American democracy. They shape each other, as alliances among and membership of them are in constant flux. However, their tendency is to divide us, which tends to push each tribe to its extremes.

Elections in America force a choice between two alternatives. In 2020 and 2016, the choice fractured the country and forced a strained and temporary alignment of Smart and Just America on the Democratic side and Free and Real America on the Republican side. As the national sense of a common purpose shattered, our ability to engage in self-governing democracy suffered. Individualists, even if they were all equal, feel little obligation to those outside their small, inner circles and grow indifferent to, and even distrustful of, the common good. The pursuit of happiness becomes an individual endeavor and is increasingly defined as accumulating wealth.

The vehemence of the political divide, the desire of those with political and economic power to retain it, the leaning of the American system of government in favor of the minority party (e.g., the apportionment and operation of the U.S. Senate), and the powerful role that wealth plays in our politics and economy have led the Republican Party to embrace the retention of power by undemocratic means.

American democracy has had near-death experiences before: the Gilded Age of the late 1800s, the Great Depression of the 1930s, the 1960s, and, perhaps most relevant, the Civil War. Packer states that “These years we’re living through feel like the 1850s.” (page 167)

The desire for equality, despite its link to individualism and the pursuit of wealth, is a core piece of American identity. So are the love of democracy and innovation, as well as suspicion of authority, intellect, and elitism. The way forward must embrace all of these and revive the progress toward equality for all where each person is free and able to pursue their individual dreams while having a voice in shaping our shared destiny. Packer notes that historically, Americans have used the same tools of citizenship to recover democracy that we have today: journalism, government, and activism.

As examples of people who have used these tools in the past, Packard writes about Horace Greeley, Frances Perkins, and Bayard Rustin. Greeley was “an extraordinary man who never stopped identifying with ordinary people; a journalist whose vocation was to be a citizen.” (page 172) Perkins, FDR’s Secretary of Labor and the first woman in a presidential cabinet, was “able to move between the worlds of the elites and the masses in a way that seems unthinkable today.” (page 178) She was driven by a “patriotism based on the love of the men and women who were fellow citizens.” (page 175) Packer notes that in the 1930s to be woke was apparently patriotic.

Rustin started his fight against injustice and racism well before the 1960s. In 1949, Rustin was arrested for sitting in a white seat on a bus, long before the Freedom Riders of the early 1960s. He was instrumental in organizing the 1963 March on Washington and was on the Lincoln Memorial next to Martin Luther King as King gave his “I Have a Dream” speech. Rustin was committed to justice for all, not just black Americans.

Packer summarizes the current situation this way: “Inequality destroys the sense of shared citizenship, and with it self-government.” (page 187) Democracy is not a spectator sport and, by being complacent, Americans have demonstrated how fragile it is. To rebuild America and our democracy we will “have to create the conditions of equality and [re]acquire the art of self-government.” (page 190) Packer quotes from Walter Lippman’s 1914 progressive vision in his book Drift and Mastery: “You can’t expect civic virtue from a disenfranchised class … The first item in the program of self-government is to drag the whole population well above the misery line.” (page 191)

My next post will complete my review of Packer’s book. It will discuss his specific recommendations on how we put America back together again.

CRISIS AND HOPE FOR AMERICAN DEMOCRACY Part 2

George Packer’s book, Last best hope: America in crisis and renewal, offers an analysis of how American democracy got to its current crisis and how it will, hopefully, renew itself and survive. He points out that American democracy has gone through similar crises in the past. He identifies key elements of a functioning democracy and four cultural narratives, moral identities, or “tribes” that have emerged in the U.S. They have fractured American politics and society.

(Note: If you find my posts too long to read on occasion, please just skim the bolded portions. They present the key points I’m making. Special Note: The new, more user-friendly website for my blog presents the Latest Posts chronologically here: https://www.policyforthepeople.org/blog. The new home page, where posts are presented by topics, is here: https://www.policyforthepeople.org. Please click on the Subscribe Today button to continue receiving notification of my posts. I plan to retire the old site at some point. Thank you for reading my blog!)

In Packer’s analysis, America fractured in the 1970s from two relatively stable cultural narratives or moral identities aligned with the Democratic and Republican parties into four rival narratives. Democrats traditionally stood for workers, social solidarity, and ensuring fairness for all. Republicans stood for business, individual enterprise, and getting ahead. In the late 1960s, both parties were undemocratic, corrupt, and often bigoted. Some of the organized constituencies that had traditionally been aligned with each party began to question their affiliation. The post-World War II, middle-class-focused, bipartisan America was being transformed.

Packer names and describes four new, rival cultural narratives, moral identities, or “tribes” that emerged from this transformation. My previous post briefly summarized the Free America and Smart America tribes. This post provides a summary of the other two: Real America and Just America.

Real America: The members of the Real America tribe typically live in small towns and are hardworking, patriotic, generally Christian, predominantly white, members of the working class. They are suspicious of both a shiftless underclass and a parasitic upper class. They blame multinational corporations and big government for their declining socioeconomic status. Internationally, they are isolationists.

Real Americans typically support the Republican Party, which has cultivated their loyalty with its culture war politics of racist, xenophobic, anti-abortion, and anti-LGBTQ positions. They turn a blind eye to the Republicans’ support of big business and the wealthy, despite its undermining of their economic security. As their economic security and opportunities have declined, they have rightly felt that neither party was listening to them and that they had no voice and no way of participating meaningfully in American democracy.

Therefore, despair and anger have grown in Real America. Donald Trump’s rhetoric gave voice to their despair and anger. They turned a blind eye to his (and the Republican Party’s) support for big business and the wealthy (again). His apparent empathy with their feelings and raw emotions about blacks, immigrants, cultural changes, and their decline in social status were all they needed to hear to become ardent supporters. His identity politics was classic demagoguery, connecting with their sense of grievance and unfairness, their fear of the “other” (e.g., blacks, immigrants, non-heterosexuals, and non-evangelical Christians), and their desire for power to push back against their perceived enemies, including economic and political elites.

Just America: Members of the Just America tribe tend to be young (born in the late 1990s or after) and to have a jaundiced view of the progress of America towards its aspirational principle of equal opportunity for all. They are skeptical of capitalism and democracy, as well as of business and political elites. They see an accumulation of failures by these elites including on civil rights, criminal justice, economic inequality, and climate change.

Many of them entered the workforce with crushing college debt only to find employment opportunities limited by the Great Recession, a skewed economy, and then the pandemic. With the election of Donald Trump, police killings of unarmed blacks, rampant gun violence, active undermining of democracy by Republicans, unaddressed climate change, and re-emergent racism and anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric and policies, Just Americans see little of value in America’s historical path and traditions.

They espouse a new, more differentiated identity politics, a politics focused on identity groups and not individuals. They expand identity politics from a focus on just race, ethnicity, religion, and gender, to a more differentiated version based on sexuality (i.e., LGBTQ+), on differentiated types of disabilities, and on the intersections among the old identity categories as well as the new ones.

Events that have paralleled the rise of Just America include the multiple and continuing killings of often unarmed blacks, particularly young males, by white police officers and others. These are now often caught on video by cellphone cameras, such as that of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri in the summer of 2014 and of George Floyd in Minnesota in 2020.

The publication of The 1619 Project: A new origin story in the summer of 2019, with its re-examination of the history of slavery, furthered Just Americans’ call for action to address the persistent effects of slavery and racial discrimination. Their perception is that America has a persistent, caste-like, racial hierarchy. But Just Americans aren’t only focused on race, they also support economic justice, addressing gender issues, justice for the LGBTQ+ community, and tackling climate change and environmental concerns.

New language based on Just America’s principles has become pervasive in our society, including, for example, systemic racism, white privilege, marginalized communities, toxic masculinity, intersectionality, nonbinary, and BIPOC (black, indigenous, and people of color). Just America has changed the way Americans think, talk, and act, but has not yet significantly changed most people’s lived experiences.

Just American’s strong commitment to social justice has, at times, made them hostile to open debate and compromise.

My next post will discuss the interactions among Packer’s four American tribes and his analysis of where we go from here, including how we put America back together and back on track.

CRISIS AND HOPE FOR AMERICAN DEMOCRACY Part 1

George Packer’s book, Last best hope: America in crisis and renewal, offers an analysis of how American democracy got to its current crisis and how it will, hopefully, renew itself and survive. He points out that American democracy has gone through similar crises in the past. He identifies key elements of a functioning democracy and four cultural narratives, moral identities, or “tribes” that have emerged in the U.S. They have fractured American politics and society.

(Vacation Note: Sorry for not posting the last two weeks. I was on vacation with grandkids in LA and friends from Salt Lake City.)

(Note: If you find my posts too long to read on occasion, please just skim the bolded portions. They present the key points I’m making. Special Note: The new, more user-friendly website for my blog presents the Latest Posts chronologically here: https://www.policyforthepeople.org/blog. The new home page, where posts are presented by topics, is here: https://www.policyforthepeople.org. Please click on the Subscribe Today button to continue receiving notification of my posts. I plan to retire the old site at some point. Thank you for reading my blog!)

George Packer’s book, Last best hope: America in crisis and renewal, offers an analysis of how American democracy got to its current crisis and how it will, hopefully, renew itself and survive. He points out that American democracy has gone through similar crises in the past and has successfully renewed itself and resumed its journey toward the visionary principles expressed in the Declaration of Independence.

He posits that a functioning democracy requires three elements:

  1. The people view each other as fellow citizens of goodwill,
  2. The people believe that their government hears and responds to them, and
  3. The people believe that their government leaders will abide by democratic rules, including that votes will be accurately cast, counted, and respected.

Right now, the American people – or at least some of them – are questioning each of these. Destructive tribalism has shattered these foundations of democracy and the shared reality that is essential for self-government. The high and growing levels of inequality that our current economic system produces makes national solidarity impossible – especially in a country founded on the principle of equal opportunity. Concentrated economic and political power in the hands of a small number of wealthy capitalists and their political allies has denied many Americans control of their lives and futures, and has taken away their economic security.

In Packer’s analysis, America fractured in the 1970s from two relatively stable cultural narratives or moral identities aligned with the Democratic and Republican parties into four rival narratives. Democrats stood for workers, social solidarity, and ensuring fairness for all. Republicans stood for business, individual enterprise, and getting ahead. In the late 1960s, both parties were undemocratic, corrupt, and often bigoted. Some of the organized constituencies that had traditionally been aligned with each party began to question their affiliation. The post-World War II, middle-class-focused, bipartisan America was being transformed.

Packer names and describes four new, rival cultural narratives, moral identities, or “tribes” that emerged from this transformation. Here’s a brief summary of two of them. (The other two and more on Packer’s analysis will be presented in subsequent posts.)

Free America: Driven by consumer capitalism and libertarian ideas, members of the Free America tribe are focused on individual freedom unconstrained by government, society, or other people. They are skeptical of democracy and view the role of government as simply to secure individual rights. They embrace the mythical self-made man, pioneer, and cowboy. Their individualism and resultant self-isolation tend to breed distrust. They support deregulation without foreseeing the resultant emergence of concentrated wealth and economic power in the hands of a small number of huge corporations and wealthy capitalists. They are strongly nationalistic, believing in American exceptionalism, ideals, and military might. They tend to be radical rather than conservative. They break down institutions and oppose rules and traditions. The quality of the leadership of this tribe has steadily deteriorated from Ronald Reagan to Newt Gingrich to Donald Trump. Ultimately, the Free America that this tribe’s members advocate for has, for many of them, eroded their economic security, their ability to enjoy their freedom, and their identity as solid members of the middle class.

Smart America: Smart America is an embodiment of the new knowledge economy. Its members believe in expertise and credentials (e.g., college degrees). They embrace capitalism and meritocracy. They support government and private programs to ensure equal opportunity, such as affirmative action, diversity hiring, and perhaps reparations to promote racial justice. They support economic and educational justice too. They are, however, individualists. The American society they have built, based on education and merit, has created a new, often hereditary, professional, white collar social class. Politically, they align with and have shaped the new Democratic Party, with Bill and Hillary Clinton as quintessential members and leaders. They and this new Democratic Party have moved away from supporting unions and blue-collar workers. Instead, they support free trade, deregulation, and the resultant concentration of economic power in huge, international corporations. The winners in Smart America are on Wall Street and in Silicon Valley. Its families strive feverishly to get their children into elite universities. The country’s education system (from kindergarten through higher education), envisioned as the vehicle for equal opportunity, has now become the enforcer of ostensibly merit-based inequality. As the professionals of Smart America have succeeded, blue collar workers have seen their economic security and opportunities diminish. The loyalty of Smart Americans is to their families and less so to America. Their identity is less American and more that of global citizen.

My next post will summarize Packer’s other two rival cultural narratives, moral identities, or “tribes”: Real America and Just America. A subsequent post will discuss the interactions among the four American tribes and Packer’s analysis of where we go from here, including how we put America back together and back on track.

IT’S OFFICIAL: TRUMP AND ALLIES WANT AUTHORITARIAN GOVERNMENT

Donald Trump and his allies want to abandon democracy and create an authoritarian government in the U.S. This is now the official and explicit plan of the right-wing of the Republican Party. Their “Project 2025” is the culmination of efforts by right-wing, wealthy elitists to control the government’s administrative capacity and its regulation of the private sector. Its plan would give wealthy individuals and corporations unfettered control of the American economy, government, and society. To achieve these goals, they are willing to give the President dictatorial powers.

(Note: If you find my posts too long to read on occasion, please just skim the bolded portions. Special Note: The new, more user-friendly website for my blog presents the Latest Posts chronologically here. The new home page, where posts are presented by topics, is here. Please click on the Subscribe Today button to continue receiving notification of my posts. I plan to retire the old site at some point. Thank you for reading my blog!)

Donald Trump and his allies want to create an authoritarian government in the U.S. Although Trump has rhetorically and through some actions given indications of this in the past, what is new and shocking is that it is now the official and explicit plan of the right-wing of the Republican Party. This has the support (at least tacitly) of the Republican establishment. What has happened is that “businessmen who hated regulation joined with racists who hated federal protection of civil rights and traditionalists who opposed women’s rights” to advocate for upending our democratic government and returning the country to the pre-Franklin Roosevelt, pre-New Deal days of the 1920s. [1]

Their plan would abandon democracy, eliminate the checks and balances of the three branches of government, and create a presidency with dictatorial powers. It would increase presidential authority over every part of the executive branch of government, particularly over employees or agencies that currently have some measure of independence from political control from the White House.

Created by Project 2025, this presidential transition plan is identifying policies and personnel for a transition to a Trump (or other Republican) presidency in 2025. The scale and revolutionary nature of the plan are unprecedented. Project 2025 is being run by a Heritage Foundation-led coalition of over 65 right-wing organizations with a $22 million budget. The Heritage Foundation, founded in 1973, a formerly conservative and now revolutionary think tank, has played a leading role in shaping Republican policies and funneling personnel to Republican administrations since the Reagan Administration. It is part of the well-funded network of right-wing, radical, revolutionary groups that have transformed the Republican Party and the Supreme Court. [2] They now want to transform the presidency and all our democratic practices and institutions.

Project 2025’s plan is echoed by information on the Trump campaign website that was primarily written by Trump advisors Vince Haley and Ross Worthington, [3] with input from others, including Trump’s virulent, anti-immigrant advisor, Stephen Miller. The plan has been publicly promoted by Russell Vought, Trump’s head of the Office of Management and Budget, and by John McEntee, head of Trump’s Presidential Personnel Office. McEntee, as part of President Trump’s effort to control the government bureaucracy, was working to install Trump loyalists throughout the Executive Branch, even over the objections of Trump’s Cabinet Secretaries. The culmination of these efforts was clear in the leadup to the January 6, 2021, insurrection when Trump tried to get these loyalists to assert control at the DOJ, DOD, and other government agencies. [4]

Project 2025’s plan would:

  • Bring independent agencies under direct presidential control such as the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Internal Revenue Services (IRS), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Federal Trade Commission (which is the business regulation and antitrust agency), the Postal Regulatory Commission, and probably the Federal Reserve;
  • Allow the President to refuse to spend (“impound”) funds appropriated by Congress that were for programs or policies he didn’t like and, in general, to emasculate the legislative branch of government and any checks and balances it might exercise over the President;
  • Strip Civil Service protections from tens of thousands of career federal government employees, including at the intelligence agencies, the State Department, and the Department of Defense (DOD), so that they would be political appointees serving at the pleasure of the President and acting at his behest regardless of national security or the best interests of the country; and
  • Eliminate administrative procedures requiring public hearings and public comment periods for changes in regulations, as well as requirements for information sharing such as open meeting laws.

Project 2025 is the culmination of efforts by right-wing, wealthy elitists to have unfettered control of the American economy, government, and society via a President and Republican Party that they control with their money. To achieve these goals, they are willing to abandon democracy and create an authoritarian presidency with dictatorial powers. [5]

Many of the elements of the plan would be challenged in court if they are implemented. Many of these cases would eventually get to the Supreme Court. Although historically (in 1935 and 1988) the Court has upheld the independence of executive branch agencies and personnel from presidential political meddling, the current Court has already begun to erode those precedents. The Supreme Court’s recent track record would certainly seem to indicate that it would allow much of the concentration of power in the presidency that is being proposed by Project 2025’s plan.

If implemented, Project 2025 would likely end equality before the law, protection of civil rights, investments in programs that allow working people to prosper, and policies that build an economy that reduces economic inequalities. It would allow the President, for example, to:

  • Have the IRS target political opponents for tax audits and enforcement, while ignoring tax fraud or evasion by political supporters;
  • Have the DOJ prosecute political opponents, including on trumped up charges (no pun intended), while ignoring crimes by political supporters;
  • Target business regulations and antitrust actions at companies of political opponents, while letting those of political supporters operate uninhibitedly;
  • Order the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates before an election;
  • Target federal spending to states and municipalities led by political supporters while penalizing those of political opponents; and
  • Harm national security by directing loyalists in intelligence, diplomacy, and defense activities to act on his whims (e.g., friendships with Putin and Kim Jong Un) rather than on expertise and the country’s best interests.

[1]      Richardson, H. C., 7/17/23, “Letters from an American blog,” (https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/july-17-2023)

[2]      Swan, J., Savage, C., & Haberman, M., 7/17/23, “Trump and allies forged plans to increase presidential power in 2025,” The New York Times

[3]      Vince Haley and Ross Worthington were Trump Advisors for Policy, Strategy and Speechwriting and developed Trump’s policies for undermining ethics standards among other things. Both had previously worked for former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich for many years.

[4]      Cooper, R., 7/18/23, “Donald Trump is plotting to make himself dictator,” The American Prospect (https://prospect.org/politics/2023-07-18-donald-trump-plotting-make-himself-dictator/)

[5]      Cooper, R., 7/18/23, see above

THE UNCONSTRAINED RADICAL REACTIONARY SUPREME COURT

The six radical reactionary Supreme Court justices have clearly demonstrated that they believe there are no constraints on their decision making. To them, the end justifies the means. Through their invented “major questions” doctrine, they have crowned themselves the rulers over all government policies. Through their rulings, they are returning our society to one where some people are better and have more rights than others. Through their acceptance of contrived cases without true plaintiffs (see this previous post for details), they rule over what is acceptable or not in our society.

(Note: If you find my posts too long to read on occasion, please just skim the bolded portions. They present the key points I’m making. Special Note: The new, more user-friendly website for my blog presents the Latest Posts chronologically here: https://www.policyforthepeople.org/blog. The new home page, where posts are presented by topics, is here: https://www.policyforthepeople.org. Please click on the Subscribe Today button to continue receiving notification of my posts. I plan to retire the old site at some point. Thank you for reading my blog!)

Recent decisions by the Supreme Court clearly show that its radical reactionary six-justice majority (Roberts, Alito, Barrett, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Thomas) recognizes no constraints on its decision making. They are making up law, precedents, procedures, and conclusions that fit their white supremacist, evangelical Christian, plutocratic ideology. This is not hyperbole or political bias speaking, it is fact. What worries me the most is their decision-making process, not the substance of their decisions, as horrific as that is. Their perversion of the law, their disregard for facts, their rejection of procedural standards and precedents, and their contorted “logic” clearly have no constraints.

Heather Cox Richardson, an historian, in her June 30th post on her Letters from an American daily blog, writes that in the student loan forgiveness case, Biden v. Nebraska, the six radical reactionary justices based their decision that loan forgiveness was unconstitutional on their “major questions” doctrine. She notes that they invented this new doctrine in 2022 in the West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) case. In that case, they stripped the EPA of the authority to regulate some kinds of air pollution based on their assertion that Congress cannot delegate “major questions” to executive branch agencies.

This “major questions” doctrine has no basis in law or the Constitution. The Court itself determines whether an issue is a “major question.” Therefore, the Court has basically taken over the legislative branch’s power and authority to delegate implementation of policy to the executive branch. By deeming an issue a “major question,” the Court can and is blocking any policy it doesn’t like, whether it’s regulation of air pollution or forgiving student loans. As Justice Kagan wrote in her dissent to the Biden v. Nebraska decision, “the Court, by deciding this case, exercises authority it does not have. It violates the Constitution.”

Robert Hubbell, a retired lawyer, in his Today’s Edition Newsletter on July 5, 2023, “The walls of liberty,” writes that the “major questions” doctrine is a “judge-made doctrine [that] arrogates to the Court the right to overturn any decision by a federal agency with which the reactionary majority disagrees. The pseudo-rationale for the doctrine is that if Congress intends to delegate discretion to federal agencies on “major questions,” it should use a level of specificity that is to the liking of the Supreme Court. … The doctrine was invented from whole cloth to justify judicial activism in service of an anti-government agenda.”

Richardson also writes that recent Supreme Court decisions, particularly the decision in 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis on the ability of a business to refuse to serve LGBTQ people, “continue to push the United States back to the era before the New Deal” and, indeed, back to the mid-1800s’ and the Civil War’s issues of slavery and Black citizenship and voting. The issues of discrimination and segregation from the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s are also rekindled by this decision.

She writes that the 303 Creative decision means that the federal government cannot prevent discrimination against LGBTQ people by individuals and their businesses based on the proprietor’s religious beliefs and, moreover, the Court won’t let the states do so either. Richardson writes that this takes the country back to the 1800s when it was acceptable to exclude people from voting based on literacy tests, poll taxes, a criminal conviction, etc. White men were protected from these requirements because they were allowed to vote if their grandfathers had been eligible to vote, so the effect, of course, was to discriminate against Black men.

Richardson writes in her July 3rd post, “as in the 1850s, we are now, once again, facing a rebellion against our founding principle, as a few people seek to reshape America into a nation in which certain people are better than others.” That founding principle of the United States, which is what made it exceptional, was that all people are created equal – although they really only meant all white men – but that was revolutionary at the time.

As Justice Sotomayor wrote in her dissent on the 303 Creative case, for “the first time in history” the Court has given “a business open to the public a constitutional right to refuse to serve members of a protected class.” This is reminiscent, of course, of the Woolworth lunch counter’s exclusion of Blacks, which was a seminal moment in the 1960s Civil Rights Movement. Segregation was and is defended as based on deeply held religious beliefs just as is the discrimination against LGBTQ people allowed by the 303 Creative case decision.

The six radical reactionary Supreme Court justices have clearly demonstrated that they are unconstrained by precedents of any kind. They are not in any way conservative. Democracy, the separation of powers, the rule of law, and the Constitution apparently mean nothing to them. To them the end justifies the means. Their decisions are truly radical.

They are reactionary in that they are reversing the trajectory of U.S. history which has continually extended rights and equality to broader groups of people, e.g., Black men, women, and LGBTQ individuals. This trajectory has moved the United States toward its founding principle that all people are created equal. For the first time in the country’s history, the Supreme Court and its six reactionary justices are taking away people’s rights and equality, rather than expanding them. To these six justices, discrimination and inequality are not issues that the government should do anything about.

They apparently will let nothing stand in their way of creating a society based on evangelical Christian religious tenets, where wealthy white men control the government and society.

P.S. There are two new scandals involving Justice Thomas. First, in 2019, an aide to Justice Thomas received cash, apparently for Thomas’s Christmas Party, from at least seven lawyers who have had cases before Thomas and the Supreme Court. The names of seven lawyers are known although the amounts of money are not. [1] Second, shortly after Thomas’s confirmation to the Supreme Court in 1991, he was accepted into the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, a group made up primarily of extraordinarily wealthy, conservative, male, businessmen. Thomas is an honorary Board Member of the non-profit organization with a roughly $20 million annual budget, $300 million in assets, and a 21-person staff. He provides it unusual access to the Supreme Court’s actual courtroom, where he hosts its annual awards ceremony. Leaders of the organization are major donors to conservative causes with broad interests in Supreme Court decisions, even if they are not actual parties in specific cases. Thomas has received personal hospitality and other undisclosed benefits from some of them. [2]

[1]      Stancil, K., 7/12/23, “‘Corruption’: Thomas aide accepted money from lawyers who have had cases before the Supreme Court,” Common Dreams (https://www.commondreams.org/news/clarence-thomas-aid-venmo)

[2]      Johnson, J., 7/10/23, “‘Clarence Thomas needs to resign’: Report shines more light on Justice’s gifts from the rich,” Common Dreams (https://www.commondreams.org/news/clarence-thomas-gifts)

THE DESTRUCTION OF THE SUPREME COURT AS A REVERED INSTITUTION OF AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

The takeaways from this post are that:

  • The U.S. Supreme Court’s status as a revered institution of American democracy has been destroyed by the actions of the six radical, reactionary, right-wing justices.
  • There are strong reasons to question the impartiality of three of these justices, Thomas, Gorsuch, and Chief Justice Roberts, on cases that have come before the Court but where they have not recused themselves.
  • Chief Justice Roberts has done nothing to respond to ethical issues or to address the overarching issue of the lack of ethical standards for the Supreme Court.
  • Justice Abe Fortas resigned in 1969 due to an ethical issue far less serious than those in which Justices Roberts, Thomas, and Gorsuch have been involved.

(Note: If you find my posts too much to read on occasion, please just read the bolded portions. They present the key points I’m making.)

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The U.S. Supreme Court’s status as a revered institution of American democracy has been destroyed by the actions of the six radical, reactionary, right-wing justices. This is not hyperbole but a statement of fact. They are right-wing, politically-driven, radical, and reactionary individuals engaged in an unprecedented undermining of the legitimacy and credibility of the Supreme Court. They have shown time and again that they have no respect for the Supreme Court as an institution or for its processes and precedents. Another way to put this is that they have no respect for the rule of law. They are not conservative, originalists, contextualists, or any of the other things they and their supporters like to call them. Calling them radical reactionaries is appropriate and accurate as this previous post and the three prior posts it has links to explain.

The most recent scandal, of course, is Justice Thomas’s unethical (to say the least, corrupt would probably be more accurate) relationship with the right-wing, politically active, businessman Harlan Crow. Thomas has claimed – and much of the media has echoed – that there isn’t any ethical issue or reason to question Thomas’s impartiality because Crow hasn’t had business before the Supreme Court. That’s only true in the narrowest of meanings in that Crow hasn’t personally had a case before the Court. Some detail on Justice Thomas’s extensive interactions with and financial benefits from Crow, as well as the conflicts of interest that have been present, will be covered in my next post.

This is not Justice Thomas’s first serious ethical violation to come to light. In 2011, he amended 20 years of annual financial disclosure forms to include the sources of his wife’s income, including right-wing political organizations that had been involved in cases before the Court. [1] Thomas didn’t recuse himself from those Court cases nor from cases involving efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election even though his wife was involved in those efforts.

The media recently reported that Justice Gorsuch, another of the radical reactionaries, sold a piece of property nine days after being confirmed to the Supreme Court. He shared ownership of the home and land, which sold for $1.825 million, and received between $250,000 and $500,000 from the sale. He did report the transaction, but surprisingly did not disclose the buyer, who was the CEO of the law firm Greenberg Traurig that has been involved in at least 22 Supreme Court cases since then. Gorsuch’s failure to disclose the buyer is surprising both because it’s clearly required and because he did report the names of those who gave him a fishing rod, a painting, and a pair of cowboy boots. [2]

A scandal hiding behind the Thomas and Gorsuch scandals, that in some ways is even more serious, is that Chief Justice Roberts has done nothing to respond to these scandals or to address the overarching issue of the lack of ethical standards for the Court. He has stonewalled requests from Congress to provide information and to establish binding ethical standards for the Court. He has failed to take any public action or to make any public statements to address the scandals. His previous apparent concern for maintaining the legitimacy of the Court appears to have lapsed or to have been overwhelmed by his inability to control the three extreme justices appointed by President Trump. His lack of leadership will presumably go down in history as being a major contributor to the destruction of the Supreme Court’s credibility, legitimacy, and revered status. (See this previous post for more detail on Chief Justice Roberts failure to address ethical problems at the Supreme Court and in the federal judiciary more broadly.)

By the way, Chief Justice Roberts has his own ethical problem in that his wife is a legal personnel recruiter for law firms that appear before the Court. It was recently revealed that between 2007 and 2014 (Roberts has been on the Court since 2005) she received over $10 million in commissions with at least hundreds of thousands of dollars of that coming from firms appearing regularly before the Court. [3]

Judicial rules that apply to the Supreme Court require justices to recuse themselves “in any proceeding in which [their] impartiality might be questioned.” Clearly Thomas, Roberts, and Gorsuch have failed to abide by this rule.

Although there aren’t rules that require resignation and the only standard in the Constitution for justices is that they exhibit “good behaviour,” there is a precedent for resigning based on an ethics issue. In 1969, Justice Abe Fortas resigned because he had accepted $20,000 for advising the family foundation of Louis Wolfson, a financier who subsequently went to prison for stock fraud. Fortas insisted that there was no wrongdoing – and there was no evidence of anything corrupt – but that he was resigning to protect the reputation of the Court and to spare the Court from controversy. Fortas had terminated his relationship with the foundation in June 1966, less than a year after it had begun, when he decided he didn’t have time to work for the foundation given the workload at the Court. He had returned the $20,000 in December 1966 after Wolfson was indicted in September and October 1966. The relationship with the foundation and the original payment were disclosed in May 1969 and Fortas resigned 11 days later. [4] (Note: $20,000 in 1966 would be around $185,000 today, adjusted for inflation.)

Clearly, Fortas resigned for an ethical issue far, far less serious than the ethical issues Justice Thomas is involved in, and also less serious than the ethical issues in which Justices Roberts and Gorsuch are involved. Nonetheless, there were bipartisan calls for Fortas’s resignation and talk of possible impeachment from members of Congress, despite the fact that his resignation allowed President Nixon to tilt the balance of the Court in a more conservative direction. If Thomas doesn’t resign, impeachment would be appropriate, however the political partisanship in Congress means this won’t happen.

[1]      Kaplan, J., Elliott, J., & Mierjeski, A., 4/7/23, “Clarence Thomas defends undisclosed “family trips” with GOP megadonor. Here are the facts.” ProPublica (https://www.propublica.org/article/clarence-thomas-response-trips-legal-experts-harlan-crow)

[2]      Wilkins, B., 4/25/23, “‘So blatant’: Gorsuch failed to disclose he sold home to CEO of major law firm,” Common Dreams (https://www.commondreams.org/news/neil-gorsuch-colorado-home)

[3]      Schwartz, M, 4/28/23, “Jane Roberts, who is married to the Chief Justice John Roberts, made $10.3 million in commissions from elite law firms, whistleblower documents show,” Business Insider (https://www.businessinsider.com/jane-roberts-chief-justice-wife-10-million-commissions-2023-4)

[4]      MacKenzie, J. P., 4/17/23, “The Supreme Court justice who resigned in disgrace over his finances,” The Washington Post

FIGHTING BACK AGAINST MONOPOLISTIC CORPORATIONS AND RECLAIMING DEMOCRACY

The key takeaways from this post are:

  • The Biden administration is taking strong actions to rein in monopolistic corporations and reinvigorate competition in our economy.
  • Some members of Congress are pushing to revitalize antitrust enforcement.
  • Results are already evident and will benefit workers, consumers, the public, and democracy.

(Note: If you find my posts too much to read on occasion, please just read the bolded portions. They present the key points I’m making.)

Corporations and other business interests spend billions of dollars each year on election campaigns and lobbying. (See this previous post for details of their spending.) This spending is an investment in influencing public policies and the enforcement of them that provides benefits that are much, much greater than what the business interests spend. (See this previous post for more details on the benefits they get.)

The good news is that the Biden Administration and some members of Congress are working to turn the tide on monopolistic corporate power. In 2022, Congress passed the first significant update to antitrust laws in 50 years. It includes a new merger fee that will be used to fund the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) and the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) antitrust enforcement efforts, as well as to support states’ attorneys general in enforcing antitrust laws at the state level. [1]

Senator Warren (D-MA) is introducing the Prohibiting Anticompetitive Mergers Act in Congress, which would set clearer rules for what makes a merger illegal and create a streamlined process for breaking up monopolistic corporations. There are also three bills with bipartisan support that would rein in some of the monopolistic practices of the Big Tech companies, Amazon, Apple, Google, and Facebook. Bills to further update antitrust laws, make meat processing more competitive, and increase competition in defense contracting are also being introduced in Congress.

On July 9, 2021, President Biden signed a sweeping Executive Order. It included 72 separate actions all focused on reinvigorating competition in the U.S. economy and pushing back against monopolistic corporate behavior. He described it as being “about capitalism working for people” and noted that “Capitalism without competition isn’t capitalism; it’s exploitation.” [2]

Seventeen federal agencies were specifically named in the Executive Order and even ones that weren’t responded with explanations of what they would do to foster competition in the economy. Key Biden appointees leading the revitalization of competition are Lina Kahn, chair of the Federal Trade Commission and Jonathan Kanter, head of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division. A new White House competition council was created, led by the National Economic Council, to monitor implementation of the executive order, including complementary legislative and administrative efforts.

Results are already evident. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has promulgated new definitions of unfair or deceptive acts and practices. And it’s taking action based on them. It has proposed a ban on non-compete clauses in employment contracts, which depress wages and limit workers’ career advancement. At least one-third of U.S. companies require non-compete clauses, including for fast food workers, dog groomers, and custodians. The FTC has also filed a lawsuit to force Meta (parent of Facebook) to spin off Instagram and WhatsApp. It has sued Meta over its acquisition of the virtual reality company, Within. Last February, Lockheed Martin dropped its proposed merger with Aerojet in the face of an FTC lawsuit. The FTC is working to restore consumers’ right to repair equipment they have purchased, from cell phones to farm tractors. There’s also new scrutiny of bank mergers, pricing practices in the pharmaceutical industry, anti-competitive practices by the giant railroad corporations, price fixing in ocean shipping, abusive use of patents to restrict markets and jack up prices, and junk fees in banking, credit cards, airlines and elsewhere.

For example, according to research by the Center for Responsible Lending, TD Bank charges U.S. customers more than $100 a day for overdrafts by levying a $35 fee three times in a day. These are junk fees that bear no relationship to actual costs; they are opportunistic price gouging. In Canada, where these practices are regulated, TD and other banks may charge overdraft fees only once a day of no more than five Canadian dollars (about $3.50 in USD). This is one reason TD Bank’s proposed merger with Memphis-based First Horizon Bank, a $13.4 billion deal, should be blocked. [3]

The Department of Justice (DOJ) and FTC are rewriting merger guidelines to strengthen antitrust enforcement. The DOJ has already begun a number of antitrust enforcement actions. One would require Google to separate its online advertising business from its search engine business. The DOJ has successfully blocked the merger of publishing houses Simon & Schuster and Penguin Random House. It has filed suit against three giant poultry processors who are alleged to have colluded to deny workers $85 million in pay and benefits.

The DOJ is also investigating the Live Nation – Ticketmaster merger. This is an all-too-frequent example of a merger that was allowed with conditions, but where the merged entity has not complied with the conditions. Live Nation and Ticketmaster promised that after their merger they would not block events from taking place at venues that did business with their competitors. It now appears that Live Nation – Ticketmaster have done just that. In many cases in the past, there has been no enforcement when merger conditions were violated. Hopefully, this is changing. Furthermore, Senator Warren (D-MA) argues that a merger that requires conditions simply shouldn’t be approved. If it’s illegal, then it’s illegal and authorities should just say, “No.” The government shouldn’t be put in the position of having to spend time and money monitoring compliance with merger conditions and then having to go through a typically long and costly process to enforce them when violations occur. [4]

Several federal agencies, not just the FTC and DOJ, have the power to block anticompetitive mergers in their areas of jurisdiction. The Department of Transportation can stop anticompetitive mergers and practices by airlines and other transportation corporations and banking regulators can do so for banks. The Department of Agriculture can regulate mergers and practices of food processors and can protect farmers and ranchers from exploitation by monopolistic agribusinesses. The Treasury Department’s Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau is investigating monopolistic consolidation among beer makers and also the distributors of alcoholic beverages.

In 2017, Congress passed bipartisan legislation allowing the purchase of hearing aids without a prescription. The requirement for a prescription had allowed a small cartel to control the market and jack up prices by thousands of dollars. As a result, less than one-fifth of the Americans who would have benefitted from a hearing aid got one. The Trump administration failed to implement the law. Biden’s executive order gave the Food and Drug Administration 120 days to implement it. People are now able to buy hearing aids for thousands of dollars less than before.

It’s past time to take on corporate power in America and return power to workers, consumers, and the public, i.e., to rebuild democracy. The Biden administration has made a good start at doing so. Partially as a result of its efforts, merger and acquisition activity in the last half of 2022 slowed sharply. (See this post for more on ways to take on corporate power and rebuild democracy.)

Competition is essential to the vitality of our economy – and of our democracy. A shift seems to be taking place in government and public consciousness about what it means to be a democracy, both politically and economically. Taking back our democracy requires regulating capitalism so it serves multiple stakeholders and the public good, not just wealthy shareholders and executives.

I urge you to contact President Biden and thank him for his efforts to reinvigorate competition in our economy and democracy in our society. You can email President Biden at http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/submit-questions-and-comments or you can call the White House comment line at 202-456-1111 or the switchboard at 202-456-1414.

I also urge you to contact your U.S. Representative and Senators to ask them to support efforts to strengthen antitrust laws and rein in monopolistic behavior by big tech, meat processors, defense contractors, and others. You can find contact information for your US Representative at  http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/ and for your US Senators at http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm.

[1]      Warren, Senator E., 2/15/23, “Keynote speech at the Renewing the Democratic Republic Conference,” Open Markets Institute (https://www.warren.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/FINAL%20-%20Senator%20Warren%20Speech%20Antitrust%20Open%20Markets%202023.pdf)

[2]      Dayen, D., 1/25/23, “A pitched battle on corporate power,” The American Prospect (https://prospect.org/economy/2023-01-25-pitched-battle-corporate-power/)

[3]      Kuttner, R., 3/3/23, “Excessive bank overdraft charges demand regulation,” The American Prospect blog (https://prospect.org/blogs-and-newsletters/tap/2023-03-03-bank-overdraft-charges-regulation/)

[4]      Warren, Senator E., 2/15/23, see above

WHAT CORPORATIONS GET FOR THEIR CAMPAIGN AND LOBBYING SPENDING

Corporations and other business interests spend billions of dollars each year on election campaigns and lobbying. (See this previous post for details.) This spending is an investment in influencing public policies and the way they are (or are not) enforced. It provides benefits that are much, much greater than what the businesses spend.

(Note: If you find my posts too much to read on occasion, please just read the bolded portions. They present the key points I’m making.)

Here are some examples of what they get in return for their lobbying and campaign spending:

  • Deregulation so they can maximize profits with little regard for the safety of workers and the public or the fair treatment of customers and employees.
  • Lack of enforcement of antitrust laws, so they can become as big and as powerful as possible, while swallowing up or squashing competition.
  • Low tax rates and tax loopholes that allow them to minimize the taxes they pay.
  • Regulations, such as patent laws, that stymie competition.
  • Government bailouts when they’re in trouble.
  • Financial laws and regulations that facilitate acquisitions and mergers, including the vulture capitalism of hedge funds and private equity, such as bankruptcy laws (see this post for more detail) that allow rewarding executives and shareholders while ripping off every other stakeholder.

The safety risks of deregulation are apparent in the derailment of the Norfolk Southern train in Ohio on February 3, 2023, and the toxic nightmare that’s been the result. In 2017, after the railroad industry put over $6 million into Republican campaigns and millions more into lobbying, the Trump Administration repealed a regulation enacted by the Obama Administration that required better braking systems on rail cars carrying hazardous materials. Norfolk Southern and other railroads lobbied for its repeal because they claimed the regulation would be costly and wouldn’t increase safety that much. The railroad industry also lobbied to limit the regulation by defining the “high-hazard flammable trains” (HHFTs) that it would cover to include only trains carrying oil and not ones with industrial chemicals. The train that recently derailed in Ohio was NOT classified as a HHFT! [1] (See this previous post for more details on the railroad industry’s deregulation, consolidation, monopolistic behavior, working conditions, and soaring profits.)

In the aftermath of the train derailment, President Biden pointed out that deregulation has compromised Americans’ safety. He stated that “Rail companies have spent millions of dollars to oppose common-sense safety regulations. And it’s worked. This is more than a train derailment or a toxic waste spill – it’s years of opposition to safety measures coming home to roost.” [2]

Despite their rhetoric about the free market, big corporations do not want to compete for customers or for workers. Because of forty years of failure to enforce antitrust laws, monopolistic corporations dominate the U.S. economy from airlines to food processing to oil and gas to beer, banks, and health care. (See this post for more details.) For example, since 2006, banking regulators have processed 3,500 bank merger applications and haven’t stopped a single one.

To avoid competing for customers, huge monopolistic corporations eliminate competitors via the extreme capitalism they have gotten the government to allow, which includes wiping out small businesses. The dominant corporations buy small business competitors and swallow them, or drive them out of business with their market place power. For example, in the last decade, nearly 20,000 small businesses have been eliminated from the military goods and services market by the five huge defense contractors. Amazon did this in the book selling market and now does this in other markets as well.

Among other things, huge corporations that dominate an industry have monopolistic pricing power. Therefore, during the pandemic, these dominant corporations have been able to engage in price gouging to increase their profits. The best estimates are that between 40% and 53% of the inflation consumers have experienced over the last year is due to corporate price gouging. (See this post for more details.)

Huge, dominant corporations have dramatic negative effects on the economy if they get into trouble, therefore they’re too big to let fail. So, they get government bailouts when they’re in danger. The big banks and financial corporations got trillions of dollars in bailouts in the aftermath of the 2008 financial catastrophe they created. More recently, the airlines – the four huge airlines that are left after consolidation in this industry – got $25 billion in a government bailout during the pandemic. Nonetheless, they laid off thousands of workers, are now raising fares and fees at an exorbitant rate, schedule flights they know they don’t have the workers to fly, and are squeezing workers and customers to increase profits. [3]

Big businesses don’t want to compete for workers, so they have imposed non-compete clauses on many employees in many industries, including the fast-food industry. These non-compete clauses are in employment contracts employees are required to sign and prevent an employee from going to work for a competitor. This means lower wages for workers and less turnover, both of which boost corporate profits. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has proposed banning non-compete clauses and big businesses are apoplectic about having to compete for workers. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, big businesses’ powerful trade association and political megaphone, along with 99 other industry associations, have written a letter to the FTC to complain.

In terms of taxes, the effective tax rate for large, profitable corporations (i.e., what they actually pay) has fallen from 16% in 2014 to 9% in 2018. Furthermore, the portion of large, profitable corporations paying no corporate income tax has increased to 34%. This has occurred in part because of the 2017 Republican tax law that cut the maximum, theoretical corporate tax rate from 35% to 21% and added even more loopholes to a tax code already riddled with them. Corporate taxes are now less than 11% of government revenue; in the 1950s, they were over 30% of revenue. [4]

The ever-increasing wealth of large corporations and rich individuals gives them plenty of money to spend on election campaigns and lobbying. This enhances their political power and allows them to tilt the playing field further and further in their favor, from lax antitrust enforcement to favorable tax and bankruptcy laws to weak regulations to employer-leaning labor laws. This lets them disempower workers (see this post for more details) and destroy communities. It leads to rising prices for housing, food, and medical care; to lower pay and worse working conditions; to the degradation of the quality of the information we get from mass media; and to further concentration of wealth and power.

All of this undermines democracy. It’s past time to take on American corporatocracy and reinvigorate democracy. My next post will discuss current and potential future strategies for fighting back against monopolistic corporations.

[1]      Cox Richardson, H., 2/15/23, “Letters from an American blog,” (https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/february-15-2023)

[2]      Cox Richardson, H., 2/22/23, “Letters from an American blog,” (https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/february-22-2023)

[3]      Warren, Senator E., 2/15/23, “Keynote speech at the Renewing the Democratic Republic Conference,” Open Markets Institute (https://www.warren.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/FINAL%20-%20Senator%20Warren%20Speech%20Antitrust%20Open%20Markets%202023.pdf)

[4]      U.S. Government Accountability Office, 12/14/22, “Corporate income tax: Effective rates before and after 2017 law change,” (https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-23-105384)

HOW TO REFORM CAMPAIGN FINANCING TODAY TO PROMOTE DEMOCRACY

Here are the three takeaways from this post:

  • Our current system of election financing gives wealthy special interests outsized influence.
  • Using public funds to magnify small donations to campaigns can change this.
  • New York State is implementing an innovative campaign financing system for the 2024 elections that significantly magnifies small donations and could dramatically reduce the influence of wealthy special interests.

(Note: If you find my posts too much to read on occasion, please just read the bolded portions. They present the key points I’m making.)

Current campaign financing systems in the U.S. allow a handful of wealthy special interests to dominate election funding and, therefore, gain undue influence in policy making. The 2010 Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling ended decades of campaign finance laws that maintained a reasonable semblance of democracy. Now, wealthy individuals and corporations, often using Political Action Committees (PACs) and dark money non-profits (501(c)(4) organizations that don’t have to disclose their donors), have become the dominant funders of campaigns.

In the 2022 election cycle, $16.7 billion was spent on national and state elections. The biggest donors (organizations and individuals donating $1,000 or more) have been consistently increasing their share of election spending since the 2010 Citizens United ruling, which (along with other court rulings) allows unlimited spending by wealthy special interests.

The most effective immediate solution, given the Supreme Court’s rulings, is using public funds to magnify small donations. New York City has had such a campaign financing system in place since 1988. It offers a six-to-one match for donations up to $175 by city residents. Therefore, an ordinary resident’s donation of $50 or $100 now has the clout of a much larger contribution – $350 or $700, respectively. As a result, more people are donating, because their small contributions are more impactful and their voices are amplified. This has also led to higher voter turnout. [1] (For more details see this previous post.)

New York State will implement a new, innovate system using public funds to magnify small campaign donations in its 2024 elections for statewide and legislative offices. In its 2022 elections, the 200 biggest individual campaign donors gave $15.9 million, outweighing the 206,000 donors of $250 or less who gave a total of $13.5 million. In addition, millions of dollars were spent by big donors through PACs and dark money organizations, further amplifying their influence.

Candidates in 2024 will have the option of participating in the new campaign financing system. Those running for statewide office who opt-in will receive $6 of public funds for every $1 of small donations (up to $250) from New York residents. Candidates for the legislature who opt-in will receive public funds magnifying small donations from residents in their districts on a sliding scale ranging from $12 for every dollar from donors of $50 or less to $8 for every dollar from donors of $150 to $250. To qualify to receive public funds, a candidate must raise a threshold number of small donations from their constituents and those in lower income districts will require fewer donations to qualify. There is a cap on how much public money a qualified candidate can receive and they must abide by limits on the size of contributions. Fundraising and spending must be publicly reported and will be subject to strict oversight and enforcement. [2]

Modeling of the effects of this new campaign finance law based on the 2022 elections for the NY legislature shows that it has the potential to flip the predominant source of campaign money upside down so more money is coming from small-donor constituents than from wealthy special interests. In New York’s 2022 elections, 11% of campaign donations to candidates for the legislature came from small donors ($250 or less) and 69% came from big donors ($1,000 or more from an individual or organization). If all candidates participate in the new campaign financing system and donations came from the exact same set of donors, 53% of campaign money would come from small donors (up from 11%) and 39% would be from big donors (down from 69%), flipping the source of the majority of campaign funds.

Moreover, a significant increase in the number of small donors is likely and would dramatically increase their impact. New York City’s public financing system produced a significant increase in campaign donors and it now has a rate of donor participation that is about twice that of the rest of the state. If, with the new financing system, the statewide donor rate matched that of NYC, small donors would provide 67% of campaign funding (up from 11%) versus 28% from big donors (down from 69%). This would be a watershed change with the financial weight of small donors being six times what it was in 2022.

For New York’s statewide races (i.e., governor, lt. governor, attorney general, and comptroller), a similar effect would be expected. In 2022, small donors provided just 6% of these candidates’ funds and big donors contributed 90%. With all candidates participating in the new system and the same contributors, small donors would provide 27% of the funds, 4 ½ times what it was. If the number of small donors doubled, their share would increase to 41%, almost seven times what it was. The governor’s race and its high dollar amounts skews this result.  If only the other three offices are considered, the small donor share of funding with a doubling of their numbers would be 73% of candidates’ funds compared to just 27% for big donors.

Election systems with significant public funding have been operating in Arizona, Connecticut, and Maine for a number of years. Roughly a dozen other states and some municipalities also have some public funding for elections.  Bills have been offered in Congress that would create a campaign financing system for congressional elections that is similar to New York City’s.

In New York City, the system of public funds magnifying small donations has changed candidates’ attitudes and approaches to the voting public and to the solicitation of donations. It has muted the importance of large contributors, motivated more citizens to run for office, and made races more competitive. Candidates spend less time fundraising and can, therefore, be more engaged with and responsive to their constituents.

Using public funds to magnify small donations has multiple benefits: [3]

  • Reduces the importance of big donors, thereby reducing the influence of wealthy special interests.
  • Amplifies the voices of average voters and their small donations, and can be used to amplify only those donations coming from constituents, i.e., residents of the area the candidate would represent.
  • Encourages more citizens to make campaign donations and to vote.
  • Incentivizes candidates to seek broad support from many voters in their jurisdiction, as opposed to focusing on support from a few wealthy backers, including out-of-district interests.
  • Enables more people, and more diverse people, to competitively run for election.
  • Supports candidates in being competitive without big donors and even when an opponent has big donors.
  • Allows candidates to spend less time fundraising and more time interacting with voters and talking about issues.

I encourage you to support the use of public funds to magnify small donations to candidates’ campaigns. It will make our elections more democratic. I also encourage you to make contributions of whatever size to candidates who are running to represent you, and to get to know them and your elected officials at the local, state, and federal levels. This is what makes democracy work!

[1]      Migally, A., & Liss, S., 2010, “Small donor matching funds: The NYC election experience,” The Brennan Center for Justice (http://www.brennancenter.org/publication/small-donor-matching-funds-nyc-election-experience)

[2]      Vandewalker, I., Glavin, B., & Malbin, M., 1/30/23, “Analysis shows amplification of small donors under new NY State public financing program,” The Brennan Center for Justice (https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/analysis-shows-amplification-small-donors-under-new-ny-state-public

[3]      Brennan Center for Justice, retrieved 2/1/23, “Public campaign financing: Why it matters,” (https://www.brennancenter.org/issues/reform-money-politics/public-campaign-financing)

GIVING THANKS FOR FREE, READER-SUPPORTED MEDIA

I give thanks for news and information sources that are not-for-profit, reader-supported, and free, given that the mainstream media are large, for-profit corporations. Unconstrained by a corporate, for-profit mindset and dependence on advertisers for revenue that both skew “news” toward infotainment to attract attention and capitalistic viewpoints to please corporate bosses and advertisers, reader-supported media provide valuable information and perspectives that go unreported by the mainstream media.

(Note: If you find my posts too much to read on occasion, feel free to read just read the bolded portions. They present the key points I’m making.)

The mainstream media are NOT liberal on economic issues, despite the decades of assertions by the right-wing that they are. They may be liberal on social issues such as abortion rights, LGBTQ+ issues, and gun violence reduction, but they are NOT liberal on economic issues such as business and Wall St. regulation, taxes, workers’ rights, economic inequality, and enforcement of antitrust laws.

My favorite progressive (or liberal if you like), print (hardcopy and online), non-profit, free, reader-supported publications with a focus on news and public policy are presented below. I’m sure there are others but these are more than sufficient to keep me busy and informed with in-depth, accurate information, thoughtful perspectives, and expert policy analysis. You can sign-up for daily or weekly emails from them that highlight their current content.

Take even a quick look at any of these sources of news, information, and analysis and I believe you’ll quickly agree with me that the mainstream media are NOT liberal or progressive!

Common Dreams: Founded in 1997, it lists its mission as: “To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good.” Its website further states: “We are optimists. We believe real change is possible. But only if enough well-informed, well-intentioned – and just plain fed up and fired-up – people demand it. We believe that together we can attain our common dreams.” It only publishes online and delivers daily or weekly emails with summaries of and links to its relatively short articles covering current news.

The Hightower Lowdown: This entertaining, irreverent, progressive populist newsletter is written by Jim Hightower. Hightower worked in Congress, was twice elected Texas Agriculture Commissioner (1983 – 1991), and “has long chronicled the ongoing democratic struggles by America’s ordinary people against rule by its plutocratic elites.” The Lowdown is available in print, online, and on the airwaves.

The American Prospect: In my opinion, this magazine and website deliver the best and most comprehensive progressive policy content. Its stated mission is “to tell stories about the ideas, politics, and power that shape our world.” It is “devoted to promoting informed discussion on public policy from a progressive perspective.” It identifies “policy alternatives and the politics necessary to create [and enact] good legislation.”

The Nation: It publishes progressive, independent journalism that “encourages debate, foments change, and lifts up the voices of those fighting for justice.” Founded by abolitionists in 1865, it believes that provocative, independent journalism can bring about a more democratic and equitable world. It provides thoughtful and investigative reporting that “speaks truth to power to build a more just society.” It’s available both online and in print.

Mother Jones: Founded in 1976, it’s “America’s longest-established investigative news organization.” Its mission is to deliver “reporting that inspires change and combats ‘alternative facts.’” It provides in-depth stories on a wide range of subjects including politics, criminal and racial justice, education, climate change, and food and agriculture. Its fellowship program is one of the premier training grounds for investigative journalists. It is available in print, online, and via videos and podcasts.

ProPublica: It was founded in 2007 with the beliefs that investigative journalism and informing the public about complex issues are crucial for our democracy. Its mission is “to expose abuses of power and betrayals of the public trust by government, business, and other institutions, using the moral force of investigative journalism to spur reform through the sustained spotlighting of wrongdoing.” With more than 100 journalists, it covers topics including government, politics, business, criminal justice, the environment, education, health care, immigration, and technology with in-depth, detailed articles.

If you prefer video content to print, I recommend Inequality Media. Its vision is “a United States where active participation by informed citizens restores the balance of power in our democracy and creates an economy where gains are widely shared.” Its mission is “to inform and engage the public about inequality and the imbalance of power” in U.S. society. Founded in 2015, its short videos are “entertaining and easy to understand [with] graphics, photos, and animations.”  It focuses on current news and explains it in a way that ties it to the larger story of needed social change to create a more equitable economy and a more stable democracy.

I urge you to read and, if you can, support financially one or more of these organizations. In the current hyper-capitalistic, plutocratic economic and political environment in the U.S., we need these sources of non-profit, reader-supported journalism to support a well-informed citizenry, democratic governance, and the relatively level economic playing field democracy requires. Today’s mainstream media are simply not performing these responsibilities of the media in a democracy. As Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis stated, “we can have democracy in this country or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of the few, but we can’t have both.”

WELL-KNOWN COMPANIES ARE SUPPORTING ELECTION DENIERS

My last four posts have been about the record spending by wealthy individuals and corporations in the 2022 elections, its corruption of democracy, and what we can do about it. (See previous posts here and here for some details about the spending and here and here for what we can do about it.) This post focuses on corporations that are giving money to the 147 Republicans in Congress who voted against certifying the 2020 presidential election. In particular, it focuses on those corporations that announced a suspension of contributions to those 147 members of Congress after the January 6, 2021, storming of the Capitol, but have now resumed supporting them.

(Note: If you find my posts too much to read on occasion, please just read the bolded portions. They present the key points I’m making.)

For an overall perspective on the huge amounts of money being spent on the election, Open Secrets now projects that spending on the 2022 federal and state elections will set a record and will exceed $16.7 billion. Spending on federal races is projected to be $8.9 billion and has already surpassed the 2018 record for a mid-term election of $7.1 billion (adjusted for inflation). Federal election spending in non-presidential years has increased from almost $5 billion in 2014 to over $7 billion in 2018 (up 48%) and to a projected nearly $9 billion in 2022 (up 25%). (Prior year figures are adjusted for inflation.) [1]

Spending on state elections, including ballot questions, is projected to be $7.8 billion, which would exceed the 2018 record of $6.6 billion. State election spending has increased from $4.6 billion in 2014 to roughly $7.0 billion in 2018 (up 52%) and to a projected $7.8 billion in 2022 (up 11%). (Prior year figures are adjusted for inflation.)

At least 228 of the Fortune 500 largest American companies have made contributions totaling over $13 million to Republicans that voted against accepting the 2020 presidential election results. (Millions of dollars in companies’ contributions to Republican Party committees are NOT included in this figure. Much of the spending of these committees is going to the 147 election-denying members of Congress.)

In the immediate aftermath of the Jan. 6 insurrection, many of these companies condemned the attack and the violence, and stopped making political contributions to the 147 members of Congress who voted against the peaceful transfer of power. This was good public relations for them. Furthermore, these big companies depend on the stability of the country, its political system, and its economy to successfully operate.

However, at least 228 of these companies have now quietly gone back to giving money to the 147 election results deniers. Note that they resumed giving to these members of Congress before their next election. Therefore, there was NO meaningful impact from their short-lived suspensions of contributions on the re-election fundraising of the election deniers. [2]

Home Depot suspended political contributions after Jan. 6 but a year later resumed making them. It has now made 100 contributions totaling $475,000 to 65 of the 147 election deniers. This makes it the biggest corporate donor for direct contributions to election deniers and represents 12% of Home Depot’s direct donations to candidates. [3]

Boeing stated in Jan. 2021 that it “strongly condemns the violence, lawlessness and destruction” of the Jan. 6 insurrection. It promised to ensure that the politicians it supported would “uphold our country’s most fundamental principles.” However, since then, it has supported 74 of the 147 election deniers with 314 contributions totaling at least $390,000 (which is 14% of its giving).

Other companies that announced a suspension of political giving after Jan. 6 but have now given to election deniers include AT&T ($389,900 in 127 contributions), United Parcel Service ($385,500 in 155 contributions), Lockheed Martin ($366,000 to 90 deniers), Raytheon ($309,000 to 66 deniers), and Northrop Grumman ($175,000 to 26 deniers).

General Dynamics has donated over $324,000 to 67 election deniers despite the fact that a recent investor report stated: “Our employee PAC will not support members of Congress who provoke or incite violence or similar unlawful conduct.” However, it seems clear that denying the validity of the 2020 presidential election has indeed incited a range of violence and unlawful conduct.

After Jan. 6, Amazon announced in a strongly worded statement that it would stop contributing to members of Congress who voted not to certify the election results because their actions represented an “unacceptable attempt to undermine a legitimate democratic process.” Nonetheless, in September 2022, its PAC gave $17,500 to nine of the election deniers. [4]

General Electric (GE) issued a particularly strong statement after Jan. 6 stating its “commitment to democracy” and suspending donations to the 147 election deniers. Nonetheless, GE has now made contributions totaling $12,500 to eleven deniers, saying it is considering “individual exceptions [to its suspension of donations] on a case-by-case basis.” Not coincidentally, all eleven of them sit on congressional committees of importance to GE: defense and energy spending, transportation and infrastructure spending, and taxation. By the way, to give you a sense of the amounts companies are donating to election deniers, this $12,500 dollar amount ranks GE as tied for 145th on the ProPublica list of companies donating to election deniers.

I urge you to boycott or reduce your business with these companies and the others in the ProPublica list. I also urge you to contact them (e.g., their Chief Executive Officer or their corporate communications office) to let them know you disapprove of their support for election deniers and the undermining of democracy that it fosters.

[1]      Giorno, T., & Quist, P., 11/3/22, “Total cost of 2022 state and federal elections projected to exceed $16.7 billion,” Open Secrets (https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2022/11/total-cost-of-2022-state-and-federal-elections-projected-to-exceed-16-7-billion/)

[2]      MacGillis, A., & Hernandez, S., 11/1/22, “What Fortune 500 companies said after Jan. 6 vs. what they did,” ProPublica (https://www.propublica.org/article/companies-funding-election-deniers-after-january-6)

[3]      Hernandez, S., & Lash, N., 11/4/22, “Fortune 500 companies have given millions to election deniers since Jan. 6,” ProPublica (https://projects.propublica.org/fortune-500-company-election-deniers-jan-6/)

[4]      Legum, J., 10/26/22, “Amazon puts January 6 in the rearview mirror: ‘It’s been more than 21 months’,” Popular Information (https://popular.info/p/amazon-puts-january-6-in-the-rearview)

REINING IN GREAT WEALTH WOULD REDUCE POLITICAL CORRUPTION

Wealthy individuals and corporations are buying and corrupting our candidates for public office and our political system like never before. An increasing proportion of the record amounts of campaign spending is coming from a small number of wealthy donors. This is damaging our democracy in multiple ways. (See previous posts here and here for some details.) Changes in our campaign finance system will help, such as increasing disclosure and limiting contribution amounts in exchange for matching public funds. (See this previous post for more details.)

(Note: If you find my posts too long or too dense to read on occasion, please just read the bolded portions. They present the key points I’m making and the most important information I’m sharing.)

However, as Louis Brandeis once said (prior to becoming a Supreme Court justice), “we can have democracy in this country or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of the few, but we can’t have both.” The current accumulation of huge wealth and hence political power in the hands of a few has indeed proved to be antithetical to democracy.

Economic inequality has grown because progressivity in the American tax system has largely disappeared. This is the result of two trends:

  • Income tax rates at the federal and state levels have become less progressive, and
  • More and more government revenues are coming from regressive taxes such as state and local sales taxes, taxes on gambling, and property taxes, as well as the federal payroll tax for Medicare and Social Security.

A progressive tax or tax system is based on the taxpayer’s ability to pay. It imposes lower taxes as a percentage of income on low-income earners than on those with higher incomes, i.e., the percentage of income paid as taxes progresses from lower to higher as income increases. A regressive tax or tax system does the reverse; those with lower incomes pay a higher percentage of their incomes in taxes.

Progressive taxes are viewed as fairer because low-income households need their income to pay for necessities, such as housing, food, clothing, utilities, and transportation. Higher income households have enough income to afford luxuries; they have more discretionary income, i.e., income they can spend at their discretion rather than having to use it to pay for necessities of life. Another way of thinking about this is that an extra dollar of income is much more valuable to a low-income household than to a high-income household. Therefore, it is fair to take a higher portion of that extra dollar of income from a high-income household in taxes.

Most of the taxes we pay have a flat tax rate, such as sales taxes and taxes on alcohol and tobacco. The effect of these taxes is regressive because low-income households spend a greater portion of their incomes on purchases that are subject to these taxes. Another example of a regressive tax is the revenue governments get from gambling. Low-income households spend a greater portion of their incomes on gambling, such as lottery tickets, and, therefore, this is a regressive revenue source for government and effectively a quite regressive tax.

The only significant progressive tax in the U.S. today is the income tax. The federal income tax has become much less progressive over the last 40 years and the portion of revenue that governments at all levels get from progressive taxes has declined significantly. As a result, our overall tax system has become much less progressive over the last 40 years and, at the state and local levels, generally quite regressive.

To have a progressive income tax, multiple brackets (i.e., income ranges) with higher tax rates for higher income brackets are necessary. The federal income tax has had as many as 50 brackets and until 1986 had always had at least 15. The highest tax rate was 94%, which, in 1944, was the marginal rate on income over $200,000 (equivalent to $2.5 million today). By the way, this tax rate was in place during one of the longest periods of economic growth in U.S. history.

The top tax rate was at least 70% until 1981; today it is 37%. President Reagan and other Republicans led the effort in the 1980s that reduced the top income tax rate from 70% to 28%. They also led the reduction of the number of tax brackets from 16 to two. Needless to say, the progressivity of the U.S. tax system plummeted and the path to great economic inequality was created. Today, there are seven tax brackets and a top rate of 37%. [1] So, some progressivity has been reintroduced but it’s still much, much less than it was prior to the 1980s. (The issue of taxes on capital gains, both realized and unrealized, is also important but a topic unto itself.)

The loss of progressivity has also occurred in state and local tax systems. Washington State has the country’s most regressive overall state tax system; state and local taxes consume 17.8% of family incomes for the 20% of families with the lowest incomes and only 3% of incomes for the 1% with the highest incomes. In Massachusetts, the richest 1% pay 6.5% of income in state and local taxes while the bottom 80% pay between 9% and 10% of income in state and local taxes.

Several proposals have been put forward to change the current regressivity of the U.S. tax system and to begin to change the high and growing level of economic inequality in the U.S., in terms of both income and wealth:

  • Taxing wealth (in addition to income) is important because of the huge wealth that some individuals have accumulated over the last 40 years and because the wealthy are able to avoid income taxes by minimizing their incomes and living off their wealth. (See this previous post for more on the rationale for a wealth tax.) Two of the proposals for taxing wealth are:
    • The Ultra-Millionaire Tax, proposed by Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), would put a 2% tax on wealth between $50 million and $1 billion and a 4% tax on wealth over $1 billion. The wealth of 99.9% of American households is below $50 million, so they would pay no wealth tax under this proposal. [2]
    • The OLIGARCH Act: The Oppose Limitless Inequality Growth and Restore Civil Harmony (OLIGARCH) Act, proposed by the group Patriotic Millionaires, would tax wealth in four brackets defined in relation to the median wealth of an American household, which is about $122,000. It would put a 2% tax on wealth between 1,000 and 10,000 times median wealth, or wealth of about $122 million to $1.2 billion. The tax rate would go up in 2% steps and top out at 8% on wealth over roughly $122 billion (one million times median wealth). (Note: There are two Americans with wealth of over $122 billion.) [3]
  • For the federal income tax, the End the Bracket Racket Act, also put forth by Patriotic Millionaires, would add five new brackets with one establishing a 50% tax rate on income between $1 and $5 million and progressing to a 90% tax rate on income over $100 million. It would also incentivize states to raise revenue through income taxes by providing a federal tax credit for state and local income taxes (while eliminating the deduction for property, sales, and excise taxes). [4]

I encourage to you contact President Biden and your Representative and Senators in Congress. Ask them to support the establishment of a wealth tax as well as changes to the income tax to increase progressivity. These steps would begin to reduce economic inequality and, ultimately, the ability of the wealthy to corrupt our elections and democracy. You can email President Biden at http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/submit-questions-and-comments or you can call the White House comment line at 202-456-1111 or the switchboard at 202-456-1414. You can find contact information for your U.S. Representative at  http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/ and for your U.S. Senators at http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm.

[1]      Patriotic Millionaires, retrieved 10/22/22, “End the Bracket Racket (EBR) Act,” (https://patrioticmillionaires.org/wp-content/uploads/End-the-Bracket-Racket-Act-1.pdf)

[2]      Senator E. Warren, retrieved 10/22/22, “Ultra-Millionaire Tax,” (https://elizabethwarren.com/plans/ultra-millionaire-tax)

[3]      Patriotic Millionaires, retrieved 10/22/22, “Oppose Limitless Inequality Growth and Restore Civil Harmony (OLIGARCH) Act,” (https://patrioticmillionaires.org/wp-content/uploads/Oligarch-Act-Memo.pdf)

[4]      Patriotic Millionaires, retrieved 10/22/22, see above

STOPPING WEALTH FROM CORRUPTING OUR POLITICAL SYSTEM

Wealthy individuals and corporations are buying and corrupting our candidates for public office and our political system. Congressional races, state ballot questions, and possible 2024 presidential candidates are all raising record amounts of money. Furthermore, an increasing proportion of this money is coming from a small number of very wealthy donors. This is damaging our democracy in multiple ways. (See previous posts here and here for some details.)

(Note: If you find my posts too long or too dense to read on occasion, please just read the bolded portions. They present the key points I’m making and the most important information I’m sharing.)

We need to rein in the corrupting effects of huge amounts of money being spent on election campaigns by a relatively small number of very wealthy individuals and corporations. A few dozen billionaires will spend over $100 million on the 2022 elections after spending $1.2 billion on the 2020 elections, which included a presidential election. Ultimately, we need a constitutional amendment to overturn the Supreme Court’s decisions (e.g., Citizens United) that equate spending with speech and give freedom of speech rights to corporations and other organizations. But that’s a long-term strategy.

Initial steps to address this problem include:

  1. Enhancing disclosure of spending in campaigns: full disclosure of who the money is coming from, including both individuals and organizations, disclosed in a timely fashion so voters know who is trying to influence their votes,
  2. Enacting partial public financing of campaigns that will reduce dependence on wealthy donors and provide a way within current law to limit the size of contributions,
  3. Reducing the accumulation of huge wealth and hence political power in the hands of a very few people, which is antithetical to democracy, by reforming our tax system, including the implementation of a wealth tax, and
  4. Reducing corporate influence in our politics and policy making by enforcing anti-trust laws (see this post for more information) because huge corporations with huge wealth and political power are antithetical to democracy. We also need to better regulate lobbying and the revolving door of personnel between corporate and government jobs. These steps are topics for other posts.

Two bills were passed by the U.S. House that would address election system issues (items 1 and 2 above), the DISCLOSE Act and the For the People Act. Both have been blocked by Republicans and the filibuster in the Senate. (In addition, the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which would restore and revitalize the Voting Rights Act (VRA) of 1965 and stop racial discrimination in our elections, passed the House but was also blocked in the Senate.)

In response, The Freedom to Vote Act (S.2747), a compromise bill, was developed and introduced in the Senate. It includes most of the key provisions of the For the People Act and the DISCLOSE Act. Unfortunately, Republicans in the Senate have blocked it as well.

The Freedom to Vote Act includes provisions that would: [1]

  • Reform the campaign finance system by a) requiring enhanced disclosure (e.g., all major donors) by any entity spending more than $10,000, b) ensuring super PACs are truly independent of candidates, and c) strengthening campaign finance enforcement,
  • Create a publicly-funded system for matching small donations to U.S. House campaigns that states and candidates can opt into, which would match small donations with $6 for every $1 contributed in exchange for limiting the size of donations, thereby eliminating the need for candidates to rely on big money donors and their corrupting influence,
  • Enhance protections for election officials, ballots, and other election records and procedures,
  • Expand opportunities to vote through mail-in voting, early voting, and making election day a holiday,
  • Reduce voter suppression by a) creating a national standard for voter IDs that allow a wide range of options, b) restoring formerly incarcerated citizens’ federal voting rights, c) requiring waiting lines to be less than 30 minutes, and d) cracking down on intimidating and deceptive election-related practices,
  • Modernize voter registration with same-day, online, and automatic registration, as well as protection against unjustifiable purges of voters from the voting rolls, and
  • Ban partisan gerrymandering and establish clear, neutral standards for redistricting.

I encourage to you contact President Biden and your Representative and Senators in Congress. Ask them to support the Freedom to Vote Act (S.2747) to ensure fair, democratic elections. You can email President Biden at http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/submit-questions-and-comments or you can call the White House comment line at 202-456-1111 or the switchboard at 202-456-1414. You can find contact information for your U.S. Representative at  http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/ and for your U.S. Senators at http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm.

My next post will identify some reforms to our tax system that are needed to begin to reduce the accumulation of great wealth and hence political power in the hands of a very few people, which is antithetical to democracy.

[1]      Brennan Center for Justice, retrieved 10/15/22, “The Freedom to Vote Act,” (https://www.brennancenter.org/freedom-vote-act)

WEALTH IS CORRUPTING OUR POLITICAL SYSTEM LIKE NEVER BEFORE

Wealthy individuals and corporations are buying and corrupting our candidates for public office and our policy making processes like never before. Congressional races, state ballot questions, and possible 2024 presidential candidates are all raising record amounts of money. (See this previous post for some details.) This is bad for democracy.

(Note: If you find my posts too long or too dense to read on occasion, please just read the bolded portions. They present the key points I’m making and the most important information I’m sharing.)

Most of this record amount of money is spent on advertising and much of that is negative advertising, i.e., attacking, undermining, discrediting, and demeaning the opposing candidate, even lying about them. One effect of all the negative ads is that they tend to depress turnout (e.g., why bother to vote for the better of the flawed candidates) and to undermine faith in our elected officials and the government. This undermines democracy and citizens’ belief in democracy.

Of particular concern, is that a big chunk of the huge amount of money being spent on our elections is coming from a relatively few individuals and corporations. A few dozen billionaires will spend over $100 million on the 2022 elections. They and the corporations they are connected with want policies that will reduce their taxes and provide other benefits to them. The 2017 tax cut bill was very directly the result of these big donors telling Trump and Republicans in Congress that they wanted a big tax cut or their donations to 2018 campaigns would be significantly curtailed. This quid pro quo is corrupt; it’s a kickback scheme.

Twenty-seven billionaires have given $89 million to the two Republican congressional super PACs, nearly 50% or half of the money they’ve raised for the 2022 elections. A few have given $20 million or more. Nineteen billionaires have given $26 million to the two parallel Democratic PACs, which is 17% of the money they have raised. For both parties, the bulk of the money came from people in the finance and investment business. These billionaires are also engaged in other political spending. For example, Peter Thiel, the billionaire co-founder of PayPal, who is openly anti-democracy and anti-government, has spent $15 million helping J. D. Vance win the Republican Senate primary in Ohio and $13.5 million helping Blake Masters win his Arizona Senate primary. [1] [2]

Back in the 2020 elections, billionaires collectively spent $1.2 billion, which was roughly one-tenth of all spending, despite being only 0.01% of all donors contributing over $200 (i.e., 1 out of every 10,000 donors). In 2020, the billionaires spent 40 times what they spent in 2010, due to the Supreme Court’s Citizens United and other decisions that now allow unlimited spending in our supposedly democratic elections. The political spending and influence of the billionaires has been growing election after election.

Large amounts of corporate money are also flowing into political campaigns, often through intermediary groups that make it hard to trace the connection between specific donors and specific recipients. Therefore, it is hard to hold the corporations accountable for the policies of the candidates they’re supporting. For example, eight corporations, who publicly committed to covering travel expenses for employees who needed to travel to obtain reproductive care, nonetheless have, since 2018, given almost $8 million to three Republican groups that have helped elected Governors, Attorneys General, and legislators who have worked to restrict abortion rights. The corporations are: Pfizer ($3 million), Comcast ($2.2 million), Microsoft, Citigroup, Uber, and Bank of America (between $800,000 and $400,000), and lesser amounts from Lyft and Yelp. [3]

Fifteen corporations, who publicly committed to covering travel expenses for employees who needed to travel to obtain reproductive care, nonetheless have political action committees that have given $2 million to members of Congress who voted against the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would have protected access to reproductive care. The top givers (between $501,000 and $113,000) are PricewaterhouseCoopers, Google, Microsoft, Wells Fargo, Johnson & Johnson, JPMorgan Chase, and Meta (Facebook’s parent corporation).

Frequently, these large donors, individuals and corporations, make significant efforts to avoid being identified and linked to the candidates they’re supporting. For example, the Conservative Americans Political Action Committee (PAC) filed its statement of organization with the Federal Election Commission on July 11. Then, between July 19th and 24th, it spent $2.4 million in Republican U.S. House primary races in Missouri, Tennessee, and Arizona. Because of its late registration, it’s not required to disclose its donors until August 20, weeks after the voting in the primary elections it was working to influence. [4] Therefore, voters didn’t know who was trying to influence their votes.

An insidious strategy that is seeing increased use is the spending of large sums of money by Political Action Committees (PACs) and other political groups aligned with one party in the other party’s primaries. Democratic-aligned groups have spent nearly $44 million in Republican primaries for congressional seats and governorships. They are promoting more radical candidates that Democrats think will be easier to beat in the final election. Some of the downsides of this strategy are that it doesn’t always work, that it diverts funds from Democratic candidates, and that it promotes divisive, fringe positions. [5] Similarly, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and its super PAC, heavily funded by Republican donors and the endorser of over 100 Republican candidates who are 2020 election deniers, is spending roughly $20 million in Democratic primaries. It is opposing progressive Democratic candidates and supporting more conservative alternatives.

The amount of outside money in primaries, particularly across party lines, is very unusual if not unprecedented. Given the low voter turnout in primaries for congressional seats, a few million dollars can have a significant effect on the outcome. [6]

In conclusion, the large amount of money being spent on campaigns in supposedly democratic elections is corrupting. When candidates receive large sums of money, it changes who they meet with, who they listen to, and how they weigh competing interests when making decisions on how to vote on legislation once they’re in office. It changes which issues get addressed and what legislation gets written. It means politicians have strong incentives to act in support of their wealthy donors rather than in support of the average Americans who are, nominally, their constituents. This is corruption – money given to candidates’ campaigns changes their behavior when they’re in office.

For example, Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) refused, along with Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) and all the Republicans in the Senate, to increase taxes on wealthy individuals and corporations as part of the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act, despite strong support for this among the public. [7] The obvious explanation for these Senators’ refusal is that they were being responsive to their wealthy donors rather than to the constituents who voted for them. (More detail on Sinema’s unusually blatant apparent quid pro quo corruption is here.)

Among other things, this means that economic inequality is likely to continue to increase in the U.S. It also means that wealthy campaign donors will have even more money to invest in future campaigns – and it is an investment, because favorable tax and other laws put far more money in their pockets than they spend on their campaign contributions, as the Senator Sinema examples makes clear. This is, in effect, a corrupt kickback scheme.

Furthermore, the exorbitant cost of a congressional campaign changes who runs for these seats. Given that in a contested race you need a minimum of $10 million to run a US Senate campaign or $2 million for a House race, who can afford to run is extremely skewed – it’s not your average citizen! This gives incumbents a huge advantage, as it often means that no one runs against them. As a result, Members of Congress are currently older than they’ve ever been with 23% of members over 70, up from 16% in 2012 and 8% in 2002. [8]

My next post will describe steps to rein in the harmful effects of current campaign spending.

[1]      Stancil, K., 7/18/22, “Just 27 billionaires have spent $90 million to buy GOP Congress: Report,” Common Dreams (https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/07/18/just-27-billionaires-have-spent-90-million-buy-gop-congress-report)

[2]      Rice, W., Tashman, Z., & Clemente, F., July 2022, “Billionaires buying elections,” Americans for Tax Fairness (https://americansfortaxfairness.org/issue/report-billionaires-buying-elections/)

[3]      Datta, S., 8/2/22, “Corporate donations to GOP political groups boosted candidates behind anti-abortion rights laws in states,” Open Secrets (https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2022/08/corporate-donations-to-gop-political-groups-boosted-candidates-behind-anti-abortion-rights-laws-in-the-states/)

[4]      Giorno, T., 8/3/22, “ ‘Pop-up super PAC spent over $2.4 million in weeks leading up to three states’ GOP congressional primaries,” Open Secrets (https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2022/08/pop-up-super-pac-spent-over-2-4-million-in-three-states-gop-congressional-primaries-in-three-weeks/)

[5]      McCarty, D., 7/15/22, “Democrats spend millions on Republican primaries,” Open Secrets (https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2022/07/democrats-spend-millions-on-republican-primaries/)

[6]      Sammon, A., 7/14/22, “AIPAC has taken over the Democratic primary process,” The American Prospect (https://prospect.org/politics/aipac-has-taken-over-the-democratic-primary-process/)

[7]      Dusseault, D., & Lord, B., 7/19/22, “Joe Manchin just proved why we need the OLIGARCH Act,” Common Dreams and the Patriotic Millionaires Blog (https://www.commondreams.org/views/2022/07/19/joe-manchin-just-proved-why-we-need-oligarch-act)

[8]      Giorno, T., 9/15/22, “Gen Z candidate Karoline Leavitt outraised ‘establishment’ candidate in lead-up to her win in New Hampshire’s GOP House primary,” Open Secrets (https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2022/09/gen-z-candidate-karoline-leavitt-outraised-establishment-candidate-in-lead-up-to-her-win-in-new-hampshires-gop-senate-primary/)

WEALTH IS BUYING OUR POLITICAL SYSTEM LIKE NEVER BEFORE

Wealthy individuals and corporations are buying our political system like never before. Congressional races, state ballot questions, and possible 2024 presidential candidates are all raising record amounts of money. This is anti-democratic in more ways than one. It undermines the core principle of one person, one vote, by giving some people a much louder voice than others – effectively giving them more than one vote. It means that politicians have strong incentives to vote and act in support of their wealthy donors rather than in support of the average Americans who are, nominally, their constituents.

(Note: If you find my posts too long or too dense to read on occasion, please just read the bolded portions. They present the key points I’m making and the most important information I’m sharing.)

What follows are some examples of the money in our political system and its effects, which are endemic throughout our elections and policy making. There simply isn’t time or space to begin to cover all of it.

As-of early August, candidates running for the 35 U.S. Senate seats that are up for election have collectively raised almost $1 billion. Twenty-seven of those races have raised over $10 million; the other eight have no serious competition. The races in Pennsylvania and Georgia have each already raised close to $90 million, with three months to go. The Florida, Arizona, and Ohio races are approaching $80 million. Wealth is very directly trying to buy Senate seats in the races where the candidates have spent $138 million of their own money. [1]

In the races for the U.S. House, the most expensive race so far is in Louisiana where $37 million has been raised, followed by a seat in New York at $36 million. California has six races that are in the top ten with amounts raised so far at between $33 million and $20 million. [2] In a race for the U.S. House in the small state of New Hampshire (population 1.4 million), three candidates had raised $6.5 million as-of the September primary.

Although the next presidential election is two years away and no one has officially declared their candidacy, since January 2021, 20 politicians who’ve expressed some interest in running have already raised almost $600 million. Leading the pack is Governor DeSantis, Republican of Florida, who has raised a record-setting $174 million. Next is Governor Pritzker, Democrat of Illinois, who has raised $133 million with $132 million coming from his own pocket (he’s a billionaire). Trump is next with $131 million and after that there’s a huge drop off to Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) with $35 million. [3]

Note that until a candidate officially declares they are running for president and sets up an official campaign committee, there are no limits on how much they can receive and they do not have to report their spending. Federal law requires candidates to register a campaign committee and file financial reports when raising or spending more than $5,000 for a presidential campaign. Clearly, the spirit of the law, if not the letter of the law, is being flouted here, as it has been for years by candidates of all stripes.

In addition to the very troubling amounts of money that are being raised and spent, there are other concerning trends as well. Increasing amounts of money are being spent by supposedly independent outside groups and also by dark money groups that don’t have to disclose their donors. Although the public, i.e., voters, may not know where the money is coming from, you can be sure the candidates know – and therefore know to whom they are beholden. In addition, in many of the high-profile congressional races, an increasing amount of the money is coming from out-of-state.

Ballot questions are also seeing large and record-setting spending. In California, committees supporting and opposing two ballot questions on sports betting have raised $244 million. This has eclipsed the record from 2020 when the ballot question deeming gig-economy drivers to be independent contractors saw its sponsors, Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, and other ride-share and delivery companies, spend $205 million to get it approved. [4] In Massachusetts (less than 1/5 the population of CA), committees supporting and opposing a ballot question that would add a 4% tax on income over $1 million have raised $30 million.

All of this is bad for democracy. My next post will highlight additional characteristics and effects of all this political spending. It will also identify steps that can be taken to tackle these problems.

[1]      Datta, S., 8/4/22, “Senate races attract nearly $1 billion ahead of 2022 midterms,” Open Secrets (https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2022/08/senate-races-attract-nearly-1-billion-ahead-of-2022-midterms/)

[2]      Open Secrets, retrieved 10/7/22, “Most expensive races,” (https://www.opensecrets.org/elections-overview/most-expensive-races)

[3]      Siemons, J., 9/15/22, “Possible presidential contenders raise over $591 million while waiting to declare candidacy,” Open Secrets (https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2022/09/possible-presidential-contenders-raise-over-591-million-while-waiting-to-declare-candidacy/)

[4]      Giorno, T., 9/12/22, “Sports betting ballot measures set new $243.8 million record in California,” Open Secrets (https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2022/09/sports-betting-ballot-measures-set-new-243-8-million-record-in-california/)

POLITICAL INFLUENCE BUYING SURE SMELLS LIKE CORRUPTION

Corporations want to have political power and influence on issues that directly affect their interests. They make political contributions and engage in political spending to ensure they have access and a sympathetic ear with elected officials. They view these expenditures as investments from which they expect a return and often get a very high return. Their campaign contributions and political spending are used to grease the wheels of access and influence for their lobbying.

A blatant example of this occurred recently with Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) and her demands for modifications in the Inflation Reduction Act in exchange for her critically important vote. Her vote was the crucial 50th vote for the bill and in exchange she demanded that two provisions that would have increased taxes on the wealthy operators of private equity investment funds and hedge funds be taken out of the bill, although they are broadly popular with other Senators as well as with the public. This will allow these few thousand, very wealthy individuals to pay a lower income tax rate than a typical worker. [1]

First, Senator Sinema demanded that the carried interest loophole remain unchanged. It lets hedge fund and private equity managers claim their income is capital gain taxed at around 20% instead of earned income taxed at around 37%. This saves them about $1.4 billion a year. Not only the public, but even many of the people who benefit from this special interest tax break, recognize that it so egregiously unfair that it should be ended.

Second, she demanded that private equity-owned firms be exempt from the new 15% minimum tax on companies with over $1 billion in annual profits. This change in the tax laws would ensure the large, profitable companies cannot use loopholes to avoid paying any income tax as many of them have done in the past. (See previous posts here and here for more on the long history of large, profitable corporations paying little or no income tax.) This exemption is estimated to save the private equity industry about $3.5 billion per year.

Senator Sinema has received more than half a million dollars in campaign contributions from private equity and hedge fund managers in the current two-year election cycle. This represents about 10% of her fundraising from individual donors. Since she was elected in 2017, she has received more than $2.2 million from the securities and investment industry. [2]

The roughly $5 billion per year tax benefit the private equity and hedge fund managers will receive with the elimination of these two tax changes represents an over 10,000 to 1 return on their investment! If this doesn’t scream corruption, I don’t know what does. As the Patriotic Millionaires group wrote, “It’s clear that [Senator Sinema] doesn’t work for her constituents, she works for private equity and hedge fund billionaire supporters.”

On a different front, the Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) network of non-profit health insurance companies receives substantial tax benefits that are the result of significant expenditures on campaign contributions and lobbying. From 2018 to 2021, 12 of 32 BCBS companies didn’t pay any net federal taxes and have, in fact, collectively received more than $6.6 billion in tax refunds. This reflects a long history of working with people in Congress to craft complex tax rules that give the BCBS companies special treatment.

Most recently, the 2017 tax cut law passed by Republicans in Congress and the Trump administration repealed the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT). The AMT was created to ensure that high-income taxpayers, businesses and individuals, could not use loopholes in the income tax system to owe little or no tax, which many had done and could do without the AMT. An AMT was first created in 1969, was significantly modified in 1982, experienced changes in other years, and then was repealed in 2017.

Many of the BCBS companies paid the Alternative Minimum Tax because the special treatment they had gotten into the tax system reduced their traditional income taxes to little or nothing. In particular, in 1986, the BCBS companies succeed in lobbying Congress to create them a special tax break that reduced their taxes by about $400 million per year. It has been described as “an artificial deduction that no one else gets.” [3]

Therefore, the BCBS companies lobbied hard and successfully to get the AMT repealed in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Not only did this reduce their taxes for future years, it also allowed them to use tax credits they had accumulated in the past to receive substantial one-time tax benefits, reflected in the billions of dollars of tax refunds BCBS companies have received in the last four years.

(NOTE: If you’re surprised that the non-profit BCBS companies pay income taxes to begin with, they were historically considered tax-exempt non-profit charities. However, in 1982 their exemption was removed because they, and other health care non-profits, were operating much like traditional corporate businesses; they were for all intents and purposes commercial enterprises rather than charitable ones.)

The BCBS companies, over the last eight years, have invested an average of over $4 million a year in campaign contributions and over $23 million a year in lobbying. [4] Over the last four years, just the tax refunds they have received reflect a 60 to 1 return on investment, before even factoring in the reduced taxes paid by the BCBS companies.

The health care industry as a whole in the 2020 two-year election cycle spent $690 million on campaign contributions and $1.2 billion on lobbying. As a result, the internationally unique, private, capitalistic U.S. health care system had over $189 billion in profits in 2021 (pharmaceuticals: over $100 billion; hospitals: over $70 billion; and health insurers: $19 billion). Meanwhile, over 500,000 families experienced medical cost-driven bankruptcy in 2021. A recent National Academy of Sciences report estimated that a public, single-payer, universal health care system, similar to what exists in every other developed country, would save, every year, 212,000 lives and $438 billion. [5] [6]

[1]      Bowden, A., 8/5/22, “Sinema’s defense of carried interest is indefensible,” Patriotic Millionaires blog (https://patrioticmillionaires.org/2022/08/05/sinemas-defense-of-carried-interest-is-indefensible-2/)

[2]      Stancil, K., 8/8/22, “Sinema received over $500K from private equity before shielding industry from tax hikes,” Common Dreams (https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/08/08/sinema-received-over-500k-private-equity-shielding-industry-tax-hikes)

[3]      Herman, B., 6/20/22, “Blue Cross Blue Shield system reaps billions in tax refunds,” The Boston Globe

[4]      OpenSecrets, retrieved 9/2/22, “Blue Cross / Blue Shield summary,” (https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/blue-cross-blue-shield/summary?id=D000000109)

[5]      Hartmann, T., 6/15/22, “How many billions in profit is it worth to kill 212,000 Americans a year?” Common Dreams (https://www.commondreams.org/views/2022/06/15/how-many-billions-profit-it-worth-kill-212000-americans-year)

[6]      Galvani, A.P., et al., 4/22/22, “Universal healthcare as pandemic preparedness: The lives and costs that could have been saved during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (https://www.pnas.org/doi/epdf/10.1073/pnas.2200536119)

CORPORATE SUPPORT FOR SEDITION CAUCUS DESPITE ANTI-DEMOCRACY ACTION

Corporations value having political power and influence to the point that they seem to care little about politicians’ ethics or actions on issues other than those that directly affect their corporate interests. Furthermore, they don’t seem to recognize that customers and employees care about the ethics and political activity of the corporations they do business with or work for.

Immediately after the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, 248 corporations and corporate business organizations voiced support for democracy, condemned the insurrection, and suspended contributions to the 147 members of Congress who voted to overturn the 2020 election by rejecting the Electoral College results. These 139 Republican U.S. Representatives and 8 Republican U.S. Senators have been labeled the “Sedition Caucus” because they voted against the peaceful, democratic transition to a new, duly-elected President.

However, over 100 corporations and industry groups out of the 248 that suspended contributions to the Sedition Caucus have resumed supporting them. (See this previous post for more details.) Corporate business organizations and the political action committees of Fortune 500 companies have donated $21.5 million to them in the 19 months after January 6th. [1]

Furthermore, the hearings of the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol and the alarming details it has presented of a serious coup attempt, have not slowed the corporate contributions to the Sedition Caucus. In June 2022, its members received over $800,000 from corporate interests. [2] These corporations claim to support democracy but apparently value political influence more than they value democracy.

Members of the Sedition Caucus, aided by corporate support, have raised huge amounts of money for their campaigns. For example, in the first nine months of 2021: [3]

  • Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) raised over $14 million,
  • Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) raised over $9 million,
  • Steve Scalise (R-LA) raised $7.4 million,
  • Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) raised over $6 million,
  • Jim Jordan (R-OH) raised over $5 million, and
  • Matt Gaetz (R-FL) raised over $3.5 million.

Many corporations try to avoid a direct link to Sedition Caucus members by letting industry groups they belong to and support financially make these political contributions. For example, top contributors to Sedition Caucus members have been the political action committees (PACs) of the American Bankers Association, the National Beer Wholesalers Association, and the National Auto Dealers Association.

Corporations whose own PACs have been big contributors to Sedition Caucus members include Home Depot, Verizon, Boeing, Charter Communications, Eli Lilly, Cigna, Northwestern Mutual, Pfizer, State Farm Insurance, Chevron, AutoZone, and Procter & Gamble.

I encourage you to let these corporations know, as a customer, employee, or citizen, that their support for members of the Sedition Caucus does not sit well with you. Boycott them if that makes sense for you and, if possible, let them know you’re doing so.

[1]      Johnson, J., 7/26/22, “Corporate interests have given $21.5 million to GOP ‘Sedition Caucus’ since Jan. 6 attack,” Common Dreams (https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/07/26/corporate-interests-have-given-215-million-gop-sedition-caucus-jan-6-attack)

[2]      Accountable.US, 7/25/22, “June 2022: Fortune 500 companies and corporate trade groups contributed at least $819,980 to the Sedition Caucus,” (https://accountable.us/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/2022-07-21-June-Sedition-Caucus-Report.pdf)

[3]      Holzberg, M, 1/4/22, “Election objectors are among the GOP’s highest fundraisers ahead of Jan. 6 anniversary,” Open Secrets (https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2022/01/election-objectors-among-gops-highest-fundraisers-ahead-of-jan-6-anniversary)

FIXING THE RADICAL, REACTIONARY SUPREME COURT

The Supreme Court’s rulings over the last year have clearly shown that the six radical, reactionary justices [1] (Roberts, Alito, Barrett, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Thomas) are not guided by any coherent legal or judicial reasoning. Their decisions are driven by the outcomes they desire based on their ideological and political beliefs. They will ignore precedents, facts, and history that don’t align with the outcomes they want to achieve.

(Note: If you find my posts too long or too dense to read on occasion, please just read the bolded portions. They present the key points I’m making and the most important information I’m sharing.)

These six justices’ rulings disregard the rule of law; they are making up their own rules, principles, and rationales as they see fit on a case-by-case basis. They are not consistently applying the law so current and future results are predictable. They are also not enforcing the law equally on all persons and institutions. [2] (See this previous post for more detail.)

It appears that the six reactionary justices intend to return us to pre-1930 America – a patriarchal (and even misogynistic), racist, xenophobic, and conservative Christian society. It is a plutocracy (i.e., where wealthy elites rule), not a democracy. In it businesses and the private sector are dominant and government does little to regulate them – at least for businesses run by executives who are in favor with those in elected or judicial offices. [3]

There are multiple ways to move the Supreme Court back toward upholding the rule of law and our democracy. None of them are quick and easy. They all rely on either increasing the number of Democratic Senators (to a solid majority that would limit or overcome the filibuster’s requirement for 60 votes) or on at least some Republican Senators breaking with their party’s current radical, reactionary agenda.

First, it’s important to note that many of the Court’s radical, reactionary rulings could effectively be overturned by passing legislation. Voting rights, same-sex marriage and other LGBTQ+ rights, interracial marriage, and access to contraception are all examples of issues where the passage of legislation could be very effective. Others, such as limiting access to guns, clarifying separation of church and state, and limiting money in political campaigns, would require constitutional amendments. As noted above, achieving these changes would require an increase in the Democratic majority in Congress or changed behavior from Republicans.

In terms of fixing the Supreme Court itself, the most straightforward and potentially near-term approach would be to increase the size of the Court. The size of the Court has been changed by Congress seven times in the past (it’s had between five and ten justices), so this is not unprecedented. In addition, Republicans and Senate leader Mitch McConnell in 2016 informally reduced the size of the Court to from nine to eight for roughly a year by refusing to consider President Obama’s nominee for a vacancy.

A prominent proposal is to add four justices to the Court. This stems from the fact the Republicans, led by Senator Mitch McConnell, denied President Obama an appointment and also rammed through confirmation of a justice days before the 2020 election that President Trump lost. The votes of these two justices would be offset by two other justices and two additional justices would be added to reflect the appointments Presidents Obama and Biden should have gotten to make. (Note that these two appointments by Trump, and the one other he made, are the only three Supreme Court justices ever appointed by a president who lost the popular vote and who were confirmed by Senators who represented less than half the country’s population (44.7% in 2016 and 48.0% in 2018). This is possible because every state, regardless of population, gets two Senators.)

The Judiciary Act of 2021 has been introduced in Congress to add four seats to the Supreme Court “to restore balance, integrity, and independence to the extremist Court that has been hijacked, politicized, and delegitimized by Republicans.” [4] It has 60 co-sponsors.

Other proposals for increasing the number of justices have been put forward including one where there would be 15 justices: five Republicans, five Democrats, and five others chosen by the ten partisan justices. This would mean that the balance of power would be held by the five justices acceptable to both parties’ justices, which would presumably have a moderating and stabilizing effect. [5]

Another reform proposal would have the nine Supreme Court justices selected randomly from the roughly 170 federal appeals court judges. They would serve for a defined period that might be as short as two weeks, and then another random group of nine Supreme Court justices would be chosen.

Term limits are a way to reduce gamesmanship by Congress and improve the likelihood of adherence to the rule of law. With an 18-year term limit and staggered terms, a justice would be appointed every two years and two justices would be appointed in every presidential term.

There are a variety of other ways to improve the likelihood of adherence to the rule of law and to reduce the volatility of the effects of Supreme Court rulings. One would be to require a super-majority vote (say 7 to 2) to overturn precedents that have been in place for more than a certain number of years or that have been affirmed by a certain number of other rulings by the Supreme Court and other courts. Or a super majority vote could be required to overturn recently passed laws (e.g., the Voting Rights Act) or executive branch regulations.

Congress could also give itself the power to expedite laws overturning or rejecting Supreme Court rulings, as they have done for executive branch regulations through the Congressional Review Act. Congress could also limit the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court so it can’t overrule certain laws or regulations.

I encourage to you contact President Biden and your Representative and Senators in Congress. Tell them you support action to restrain the radical, reactionary justices on the Supreme Court and to overturn their rulings. Ask them to support the Judiciary Act of 2021, which would increase the size of the Supreme Court by four justices to correct the Court’s imbalance due to the two appointments stolen by Senate Republicans.

You can email President Biden at http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/submit-questions-and-comments or you can call the White House comment line at 202-456-1111 or the switchboard at 202-456-1414.

You can find contact information for your U.S. Representative at  http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/ and for your U.S. Senators at http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm.

[1]      See this previous post for an explanation of the appropriateness of calling these six justices radical and reactionary.

[2]      Millhiser, I., 7/9/22, “The post-legal Supreme Court,” Vox (https://www.vox.com/23180634/supreme-court-rule-of-law-abortion-voting-rights-guns-epa)

[3]      Cox Richardson, H., 4/6/22, “Letters from an American blog,” (https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/april-6-2022)

[4]      Senator Elizabeth Warren, 12/15/21, “Judiciary Act of 2021”,   (https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/in-op-ed-senator-warren-calls-for-supreme-court-expansion-to-protect-democracy-and-restore-independent-judiciary)

[5]      Millhiser, I., 7/2/22, “10 ways to fix a broken Supreme Court,” Vox (https://www.vox.com/23186373/supreme-court-packing-roe-wade-voting-rights-jurisdiction-stripping)

SIX SUPREME COURT JUSTICES IGNORE THE RULE OF LAW

The Supreme Court’s rulings over the last year have clearly shown that the six radical, reactionary justices [1] (Roberts, Alito, Barrett, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Thomas) have no coherent legal or judicial reasoning that is guiding them. They have also shown that they will ignore facts and history that don’t align with the outcomes they want to achieve. Their decisions are driven by the outcomes they desire based on their ideological and political beliefs.

(Note: If you find my posts too long or too dense to read on occasion, please just read the bolded portions. They present the key points I’m making and the most important information I’m sharing.)

My last three posts have covered the radical, reactionary justices’ inconsistent use of three important principles or rationales that supposedly underlie and justify their rulings:

  • Belief in a weak federal government and strong state governments (discussed in this previous post),
  • Belief in “originalism” or “textualism,” i.e., that the language and meaning of the Constitution and its amendments as and when written should be adhered to (see this previous post), and
  • Belief in the legality of laws and rights supporting practices “deeply rooted in the nation’s history and tradition” (see this previous post).

The six radical, reactionary justices’ rulings disregard the rule of law; they are making up their own rules, principles, and rationales as they see fit on a case-by-case basis. The rule of law requires that laws, as well as the rules and regulations that implement them, must be: [2]

  • Publicly promulgated and known,
  • Equally enforced on all persons and institutions, as well as in all similar situations, and
  • Consistently applied so results are predictable and not arbitrary.

Examples of their radical rulings include the overturning of multiple major, long-term precedents without presenting a clear, compelling principle or rationale that makes it clear the ruling is not arbitrary and will lead to predictability in future rulings by the Supreme Court and other federal and state courts. Their rulings on abortion, gun ownership, separation of church and state, and the power of executive branch agencies all overturned long-term precedents without presenting a clear, compelling principle or rationale. Therefore, these rulings appear to be arbitrary, likely to lead to unpredictable rulings in the future, and to reflect unequal enforcement of laws.

The six radical, reactionary justices’ frequent use of the so-called “shadow docket” is another example of how these justices are undermining the rule of law. In these cases, rulings are issued on an emergency basis without the presentation of arguments or a written decision presenting the rationale for the ruling. Rarely used in the past, the shadow docket is now a key part of the court’s decision-making process. Without any presentation of reasoning behind these rulings, given that many of them are clearly not in line with past precedents, they certainly appear to be legally arbitrary. Furthermore, the future implications of such rulings are unclear, therefore undermining predictability. (See this previous post for more details on the use of the “shadow docket”.)

Perhaps the most egregious of the many shadow docket rulings is the one in Whole Woman’s Health v. Jackson, the case over the Texas anti-abortion law that allowed private citizens to sue a provider alleged to have performed an abortion (as well as any person or entity that aided or abetted an abortion). They would receive a $10,000 bounty from the provider, person, or entity sued if they win. Any number of citizens can bring such a suit, so a provider could be hit with tens, hundreds, or even thousands of these lawsuits. Simply defending against them would bankrupt almost any provider, as would losing the lawsuits and having to pay $10,000 for each one.

The Texas law would have effectively banned abortion in the state when, at the time, the right to an abortion was a well-established constitutional right under the Roe v. Wade decision. Therefore, the law was blatantly unconstitutional. Nonetheless, five of the Supreme Court’s six radical justices refused to block the immediate implementation of the law. One of the six, Chief Justice Roberts strongly disagreed with the decision and wrote in his dissenting opinion that the ruling made a mockery of the Constitution by allowing state governments to override constitutional rights.

Many legal scholars believe that the Whole Woman’s Health v. Jackson case is one of the worst decisions in Supreme Court history and will be taught to future law school students as one of a handful of examples of how judges should never behave, [3] given its dramatic consequences and its lack of compelling reasoning. This undermines the rule of law by creating substantial unpredictability and arbitrariness, in part because it allows each state to negate constitutional rights that every American should be able to rely on. [4]

One way of looking at all this is to conclude that the six radical, reactionary justices have said that we know better what is the right thing to do than doctors, scientists, regulatory experts in executive branch agencies, and all the court decisions at all levels that have gone before us. Moreover, they appear to believe that they understand and can interpret history better than historians, even though professional historians have serious debates about how to understand historical events and their effects.

Extrapolating from the Supreme Court rulings of the past year, current rights that seem possible, if not likely, to be overturned by the six radical, reactionary justices include the rights to contraception, same sex marriage, equal treatment for LGBTQ+ individuals, and marriage across racial lines. (Note that the ruling establishing the right to interracial marriage was in 1967, i.e., quite recent, and, therefore, ripe to be overturned. Note also that Justice Thomas is in an interracial marriage. It will be interesting to see how this one plays out.) Also at risk under this Supreme Court are business regulations and protections for workers and consumers.

It appears that the six reactionary justices intend to return the country to rule by white men, as it was when the Constitution was written. In addition, they seem to be making conservative, Christian beliefs the policies and laws of the country (which was explicitly opposed by the writers of the Constitution and the First Amendment). The patriarchal (and even misogynistic), racist, xenophobic, and conservative Christian society they appear to envision is what former President Trump’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) slogan has put into a sound bite for many Americans.

There are two other key elements of their vision that were not as evident in these recent rulings. First, they appear to envision a society that is a plutocracy (i.e., where wealthy elites rule), not a democracy. Second, related to this, they appear to envision a society where businesses and the private sector are dominant and government does little to regulate them – at least for businesses run by executives who are in favor with those in elected or judicial offices. [5]

This is a prescription for a return to pre-1930 America. It’s a “father knows best” autocracy or oligarchy where favored business leaders have free rein (or should that be reign) and where government is a racist theocracy. The MAGA Republicans are working to infuse this worldview into governments at all levels and into all branches of government. The radical actions of the Supreme Court, Trump, some governors, and some state legislatures, as well as the paralysis in Congress, are all indicative of their success.

My next post will identify some steps to take to fight back and reclaim the rule of law.

[1]      See this previous post for an explanation of the appropriateness of calling these six justices radical and reactionary.

[2]      Millhiser, I., 7/9/22, “The post-legal Supreme Court,” Vox (https://www.vox.com/23180634/supreme-court-rule-of-law-abortion-voting-rights-guns-epa)

[3]      Other examples of horrible Supreme Court rulings include the pro-slavery decision Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857), the pro-segregation decision Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), and the Japanese-American internment decision Korematsu v. United States (1944).

[4]      Millhiser, I., 7/9/22, see above

[5]      Cox Richardson, H., 4/6/22, “Letters from an American blog,” (https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/april-6-2022)

STOP SUPPORTING FOX TV WITH MONEY FROM YOUR CABLE BILL

National Fox “News” TV [1] is a major contributor (if not THE major contributor) to the disinformation, divisiveness, hate, and lack of civility that are undermining our society and democracy. It also drives the nationwide hyper-partisanship and the gridlock in Congress. Since its debut in 1996, Fox TV’s primetime viewership has grown to 2.5 million, with evangelical Christians as its most reliable audience. Its penetration and impact have been facilitated by its claim to be news and, moreover, to be fair and balanced. It has grown increasingly radical and extreme over time, including noticeably more so since 2019. Its core themes have been:

  • Stoking racism and the belief that anti-white bias is a serious problem (most recently and notably in its constant, withering, distorted attack on critical race theory),
  • Fanning the flames of “culture wars” against same sex marriage, LGBTQ+ rights, abortion, etc. as a fight against evil with white evangelical Christians as a key target, and
  • Promoting the belief that “liberals” are literally trying to destroy the country.

As national Fox TV consciously strives to generate outrage based on white resentment and supposed threats to Christianity, Trump and his acolytes in the Republican party have provided a reinforcing feedback loop that amplifies and exacerbates the disinformation, divisiveness, hate, and lack of civility. There is no mechanism for slowing this runaway train. [2]

Although social media play a critical role in amplifying disinformation and fostering divisiveness and other negative outcomes, much of the misinformation originates with national Fox TV. The content of other extremist channels like One American News Network (OANN) and Newsmax raise similar concerns but their audiences are minimal when compared to Fox TV’s audience. (See the Defenders of Democracy Against Disinformation website and this page about Fox TV in particular for more information.)

A significant portion of Fox’s revenue comes from the fees it receives from cable TV providers like Verizon and RCN, which transmit Fox programming to more than 100 million consumers every day.

Therefore, if you are paying Verizon or RCN (or any other provider that includes Fox TV) for your TV service, you are providing revenue to Fox, possibly as much as $2 per month. I do not want to provide one cent to Fox, but when I contacted Verizon multiple times to say I didn’t want to pay for the Fox channel, I was told that Fox can only be removed from my cable package if ALL news channels are removed. Verizon includes Fox in its News Bundle and it is inseparable from the other News channels. RCN customers have had a similar experience. This is unacceptable, in part because Fox isn’t news – it’s disinformation and propaganda. Therefore, it shouldn’t be in the News bundle to begin with.

I’m contacting senior executives at Verizon (see contact information and a sample letter below) to ask that Fox be removed from the News Bundle so that I don’t have to pay for Fox’s propaganda. I do want access to credible news on my TV but I don’t want to give money to Fox. Two of the four executives I’m targeting have email contact forms on the Internet. The other two (as far as I can tell) are only available by regular mail. I’ve also included contact information below for the CEO of RCN for those of you who are RCN subscribers. If you have another cable TV provider, please do an Internet search to find contact information for senior executives.

I encourage you to join me in contacting executives at your cable TV provider to ask that Fox be dropped from your service so we don’t have to give it money as part of our cable bills. I’ve drafted a letter to Hans Vestberg, the Verizon Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (see below). Please feel free to modify it as you see fit – particularly, of course, if you have a different cable TV provider but have the same Fox problem. Please send it by regular mail to him and to the Corporate Social Responsibility officer listed below at the address provided. Please email it to the other two executives using the webpage links for them presented below.

If you would like to call Verizon’s corporate headquarters, the number is 212-395-1000.

Senior executives at Verizon
Hans Vestberg, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Rose Stuckey Kirk, Corporate Social Responsibility Officer
Jim Gerace, External Communications and Media Relations, email form: https://www.verizon.com/about/our-company/leader/contact/916685
Manon Brouillette, Verizon Consumer Group, email form: https://www.verizon.com/about/our-company/leader/contact/922789

Chief Executive Officer at RCN
John Holanda, Chief Executive Officer
RCN
PO Box 11816
Newark, NJ
07101-8116

Sample letter to Verizon CEO

April 24, 2022

Mr. Hans Vestberg, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Verizon
1095 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY
10036

Dear Mr. Vestberg,

We have been Verizon customers for many years. We are very unhappy that we have to pay money each month through our Verizon bill to Fox TV. We have called and asked multiple times to have Fox removed from our cable TV package but have been told that it’s part of the News Bundle and cannot be removed unless all news channels are removed.

Fox TV is NOT news. Much of its content is inaccurate information and could more properly be described as propaganda. It fuels divisiveness and hate. We do NOT want our money supporting an organization that undermines our democracy and civility in our society.

If a resolution to this issue cannot be provided by Verizon, we will consider changing or eliminating our cable TV service, along with our Internet and landline services that are currently bundled with our cable TV service.

Please let us know what you are doing to stop forcing your customers who want good, informational news channels from paying money to Fox TV. If we don’t hear from you, we will assume nothing is being done and will pursue alternatives to our Verizon FIOS service.

Thank you for your time and attention to this important matter.

<Note: I’d recommend signing your letter by including your name(s), address, phone number, and an email address to indicate that you are serious and want an answer.>

[1]      I put News in quotes because Fox TV delivers more disinformation than news. Hereafter, I will refer to it as Fox TV and drop “News” because I don’t want to imply that it provides news. I also use “national” before Fox TV to make clear that my focus is on the national programming and not the programming of local Fox affiliates.

[2]      Drum, K., Sept.-Oct. 2021, “The real source of America’s rising rage,” Mother Jones   (https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2021/07/american-anger-polarization-fox-news/)

WHICH CORPORATIONS SUPPORT SEDITIOUS REPUBLICANS AND WHICH SUPPORT DEMOCRACY

Note: If you find my posts too long or too dense to read on occasion, please just read the bolded portions. They present the key points I’m making and the most important information I’m sharing.

A year after January 6, 2021, when, even after the insurrectionists’ attack on the Capitol, 147 Republicans objected (with no factual basis) to certifying the Electoral College vote that made Joe Biden President, it’s important to identify the corporations that are supporting the 147 objectors who opposed the peaceful, democratic transfer of power to the new, overwhelmingly elected President.

Remember that in reaction to the insurrection and the votes of those 147 Republicans against a peaceful transfer of power based on the will of the voters, hundreds of corporations stated they were suspending political contributions to the objectors, or in some cases all political contributions. Many pledged never to support the objectors in the future.

Corporate support of politicians and political committees is done through corporations’ political action committees (PACs). Popular Information has been monitoring corporate PACs through their reporting to the Federal Election Commission (FEC). It has published its findings in a corporate accountability index that lists 183 corporations and whether or not they have kept their pledges not to support the objectors.

GOOD NEWS: So far, 79 major corporations have kept their pledges and not donated directly to any of the 147 objectors or to committees that support them, typically the fundraising committees of the Republican National Committee. These include Airbnb, Allstate, Amazon, American Express, CBS, Clorox, Coca-Cola, eBay, Facebook, General Mills, Hallmark, Hilton, Kraft Heinz, Lyft, Marriott, Mastercard, McDonalds, Microsoft, Nike, Sony, Target, Walgreens, Walt Disney, and Zillow. (See the full list at the corporate accountability index.)

Charles Schwab, one of the country’s biggest brokerage firms, went even further. Immediately after the insurrection, it announced the dissolution of its PAC and said it would no longer make donations to politicians. The PAC’s remaining funds were donated to The Boys & Girls Club of America and historically Black colleges and universities. Hewlett Packard also shut down its PAC soon after January 6. Hallmark Cards actually requested that two objectors, Senators Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Roger Marshall (R-KS), return its PAC’s donations. [1]

Overall, Popular Information found that corporate PAC donations to objectors was down roughly 60% in 2021 as compared to 2019 (the comparable year from the previous election cycle). Of the 183 major corporations it contacted, seven explicitly pledged not to support objectors in 2022: Airbnb, BASF, Eversource Energy, Lyft, Microsoft, Dow, and American Express. [2]

BAD NEWS: To-date, 103 corporations have either given directly to objectors or to committees that support them, despite pledges not to donate to objectors, to suspend all PAC donations, or to re-evaluate their donation criteria.

  • Four corporations have broken their pledges and given directly to objectors and to committees supporting them: PriceWaterhouseCoopers: $184,000; Eli Lilly: $72,500; Cigna: $60,000; and Pacific Gas & Electric: $44,500.
  • Fifty-two corporations pledged to suspend all PAC contributions but then gave directly to objectors and often to committees supporting them as well, including Boeing: $375,500; Lockheed Martin: $323,000; GM: $158,500; as well as Aflac, American Airlines, Jet Blue, Kroger, Molson Coors, Stanley Black and Decker, T-Mobile, and UPS. (See the full list at the corporate accountability index.)
  • Seventeen corporations pledged to re-evaluate their donation criteria but then donated directly to objectors and sometimes to committees supporting them as well, including: Toyota; $95,500; Chevron: $71,000; Ford: $59,000; as well as Delta, Exxon Mobil, and FedEx. (See the full list at the corporate accountability index.) Toyota, after substantial public attention and pushback, announced in June, 2021, that it would change course and stop contributing to objectors. A clear indication that public pressure can be effective. (See more about how to do this at the end of this post.)
  • Thirty corporations have violated the spirt of their pledge by giving indirectly to objectors through committees that support them, despite pledging not to donate to objectors, to suspend all PAC donations, or to re-evaluate their donation criteria. These include: NextEra: $105,000; Dell: $60,000; Walmart: $60,000; Cozen O’Connor: $55,000; AT&T: $35,000; and $30,000 each from Comcast / NBC, Genentech, General Electric, Google, Intel, and Verizon. (See the full list at the corporate accountability index.)

The organization Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has also been monitoring corporate and industry trade groups’ donations to the objectors. [3]

GOOD NEWS: One hundred thirty-four (134) out of 248 corporations and industry groups that said they were suspending donations to the objectors have not contributed to them to-date.

BAD NEWS: Over the last year, despite promises made to hold the objectors accountable, 717 corporations and industry groups have given over $18 million to objectors and the Republican National Committee’s fundraising committees that support them.

The four largest corporate donors to objectors and committees supporting them are: Koch Industries ($308,000), American Crystal Sugar ($285,000), General Dynamics ($234,000), and Valero Energy ($208,000). These corporations never pledged to stop or alter political donations despite the Jan. 6 insurrection and the unfounded objections to the Electoral College vote.

The five top donors among industry trade groups are: Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers ($432,000), National Association of Realtors ($303,000), Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America ($270,000), National Electrical Contractors Association ($222,000), and the Credit Union National Association ($217,500).

GOOD NEWS: Activism by consumers, voters, and stakeholders in general (i.e., us) can have an effect of corporations. For example, as noted above, Toyota stopped its financial support of objectors after public attention and push back from consumers. I encourage you to take action however you see fit. Here are some ideas for steps you can take:

  • Patronize businesses that support democracy (i.e., they are not donating to the objectors).
  • Boycott businesses that are donating to the objectors.
  • Send letters, emails, or social media postings to corporations to thank them for doing the right thing or highlighting their bad behavior and asking them to change it. Address your communication to the CEO and/or the shareholder or customer relations office. This is particularly effective if you are a shareholder, customer, employee, retiree, or other stakeholder in the company, which you should note in your communication.
  • Submit a letter to the editor of a local media outlet (hardcopy or on-line), post to social media, and/or spread the word to your family and friends.

Every action makes a difference and together, many small actions add up to something bigger than the apparent sum of those actions. We all need to do our part to save our democracy from the forces that are undermining it. Corporate America must stand up for our democracy and stop supporting those who are undermining it. In the 2020 election cycle, five of the objectors received over 60% of their campaign donations from corporate PACs. [4] This has to stop and it’s our job to make it happen, as we did with Toyota.

[1]      Li, A., & Shah, A., 1/3/22, “The corporate insurrectionists: How companies have broken promises and funded seditionists,” CREW (https://www.citizensforethics.org/reports-investigations/crew-reports/the-corporate-insurrection-how-companies-have-broken-promises-and-funded-seditionists/)

[2]      Legum, J., Crosby, R., & Zekeria, T., 1/4/22, “Seven major corporations pledge not to support GOP objectors in 2022,” Popular Information (https://popular.info/p/seven-major-corporations-pledge-not)

[3]      Li, A., & Shah, A., 1/3/22, see above

[4]      Evers-Hillstrom, K., 1/8/21, “Exploring the top donors to GOP Electoral College objectors,” OpenSecrets (https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2021/01/objectors-to-electoralcollege-donors)

LET’S JUST SAY IT: THE REPUBLICAN PARTY DOES NOT BELIEVE IN DEMOCRACY OR THE CONSTITUTION

Note: If you find my posts too long or too dense to read on occasion, please just read the bolded portions. They present the key points I’m making and the most important information I’m sharing.

It’s long past time to stop the charade that the Republican Party has any commitment to making democracy work. Or that it supports the Constitution. Or that it is patriotic. There are people who identify as Republicans who are at odds with these statements (Rep. Liz Cheney jumps to mind), but they are few and far between and are not the ones who are setting the official Republican Party agenda or messaging.

The Republican Party supports freedom of speech only when it’s speech it likes. Threats, violent speech (and acts), and name calling are fine when they serve its purposes and when they are aligned with its goals. However, speech by others, including peaceful protests, should be severely limited and if those peaceful protesters are injured or killed by a vehicle, the vehicle driver, not the protesters, should be protected by laws. [1]

According to the Republican Party and its judges, freedom of religion is paramount when it is Christianity practiced by white people, but others don’t deserve this freedom, despite its inclusion in the Constitution. For example, Muslims are, by definition, terrorists and should be monitored and restricted.

Democracy and the electoral processes laid out in the Constitution are valid, according to Republicans, only if Republicans win elections. Otherwise, the results of voting are fraudulent and should be disregarded and overturned by any means necessary, including violence.

No American, let alone member of Congress, is a patriot if they are willing to aid and abet an undemocratic and unconstitutional overturning of election results, or if they are unwilling to denounce and reject such efforts. Yet the great majority of Republicans are doing or have done these things, particularly in relation to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. [2]

No American can claim to be a patriot if they are working to make it harder for citizens who might disagree with them to vote. However, Republicans in many states and in Congress are doing just this.

No member of Congress can claim to support democracy or the Constitution if, based on partisanship, they simply refuse to work meaningfully to pass important legislation. Such a blatant undermining of the functioning of a democratic government is unpatriotic at best and treasonous at worst.

Yet most Republicans in Congress have no interest in actually governing and, instead, are doing everything they can to keep the Democrats from governing, i.e., from actually doing things that the people of the country support doing and that a democratic government should do. For example, Senate Republicans are blocking confirmations of nominees for dozens of ambassadorships, at least a dozen high-ranking jobs at the Treasury Department, and roughly 200 other executive branch positions. This is nothing other than an effort to keep the Biden Administration and our democracy from functioning effectively; this presents a clear and present danger to America’s national security. [3] Again, it is unpatriotic at best and treasonous at worst.

The Republican Party is claiming that modest policies that support working men and women, as well as their families, are unaffordable and are socialism that would destroy democracy. First of all, it is hypocritical to say it is unaffordable because the expenditures of the Build Back Better bill (at which it levels these charges) is somewhere between one-fifth and two-fifths (20% – 40%) of the Defense Department budget that it supports. The Build Back Better bill would spend an amount equal to roughly 1% (one-hundredth) of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product. This wouldn’t put the U.S. anywhere close to the government spending of European countries, let alone that of Scandinavian countries and their social democracies. And by the way, all of those countries, despite a greater degree of socialism than in the U.S., are democracies! So, second of all, socialism and democracy are NOT incompatible; they co-exist in all the other wealthy countries and to some degree in the U.S. in Social Security, Medicare, and the Veterans Administration, for example.

The Republican Party does not want to play by the rules established by our Constitution or our democratic traditions because if it did it would lose elections and power. It is out to win at all costs as it struggles to retain its power and that of its wealthy and generally white backers. It has given up on democracy because success for democracy means failure for it. [4]

Sadly, the current Republican Party’s rhetoric about supporting democracy, the Constitution, and patriotism is a sham. It is the language and lies of autocrats who are desperate to hang on to power and are willing to say and do anything to do so. Actions speak louder than words and the Republican Party’s actions, and the hypocrisy and lies it engages in to try to justify them, make its true beliefs and character crystal clear.

[1]      American Civil Liberties Union, retrieved from the Internet 1/7/22, “Anti-protest bills around the country,” (https://www.aclu.org/issues/free-speech/rights-protesters/anti-protest-bills-around-country)

[2]      Lehigh, S., 1/7/22, “What real America patriotism means,” The Boston Globe

[3]      Boston Globe Editorial Board, 10/22/21, “US ambassadors, State Department officials held hostage,” The Boston Globe

[4]      Blow, C. M., 6/20/21, “Stop hoping the G.O.P. will play ball,” The New York Times

SOCIALISM IS THE ANSWER FOR SAVING DEMOCRACY FROM CAPITALISM

Note: If you find my posts too long or too dense to read on occasion, please just read the bolded portions. They present the key points I’m making and the most important information I’m sharing.

Bob Kuttner has written a powerful and poignant article raising the question of whether capitalism is compatible with democracy – or at least a version of democracy that lives up to the American ideals of equal opportunity and government of, by, and for the people. [1] The New Deal of the late 1930s and 1940s created a form of government-regulated capitalism that for 40 years (until 1980) produced a thriving working and middle class, as well as an economy where income and wealth inequality were stabilized, if not narrowed. However, in the last 40 years, the U.S. economy has evolved into a new form of hyper-capitalism (some call it vulture capitalism) that has destroyed the ability of many workers to thrive. (See my previous post for more detail.)

This post presents Kuttner’s thoughts on where we need to go from here to restore our democracy and create more equitable economic and political systems. It’s a bit long, so just read the bolded parts if it’s too much, but do read Kuttner’s conclusions at the end.

Kuttner writes that we need to reverse the deregulation and privatization of important public services and public goods. Health insurance is one example:

  • Deregulation allowed the transformation of health insurance from non-profit Blue Cross Blue Shield programs into for-profit insurance corporations. This is a key reason the U.S. health care system is the most expensive in the world with some of the worst outcomes.
  • Private insurers have been allowed to provide Medicare coverage. This has resulted in increased costs and a bewildering array of choices that often confuse and manipulate seniors. This privatization of Medicare ultimately makes health care more complex, confusing, and costly for seniors, thereby undermining confidence in Medicare and our government.

The overall result of this deregulation and privatization is that health insurance plans are so complex that it takes hundreds of pages to explain their benefits and limitations; no consumer fully understands what they are getting or can shop intelligently among plans.

Other examples of harmful deregulation and privatization include:

  • Drug companies that are allowed to charged exorbitant, unregulated prices in the U.S. that are almost always much higher than in Canada and other countries.
  • Deregulation of the airlines that allows fares and fees to fluctuate widely. It is also the reason it costs so much more to fly to closer but less frequent destinations than for longer trips to bigger cities.
  • Privatization of housing subsidies has resulted in the grafting of some incremental public objectives onto a capitalistic, for-profit system run by landlords, developers, and financiers. The results have been both totally inadequate and dramatically inefficient.

Weak regulation has allowed private sector capitalists to aggressively promote products that have caused serious harm to public health, often while lying about their ill effects. Examples include cigarettes and other tobacco products, oxycontin (the prescription, addictive opioid), and fossil fuels and other products that have polluted our air and water. The promotion of fossil fuels, of course, has far-reaching effects that go well beyond public health.

In summary, the privatization and deregulation promoted by capitalists are not improvements or solutions to problems, they are problems. They have provided windfall profits to private investors as evidenced by unprecedented and growing economic inequality. Meanwhile consumers pay added costs and get degraded services, while the values and principles our democracy was founded on are debased. Successful privatization requires strong, effective public oversight to ensure that public goals and values are met, but this rarely happens. Important public goods, such as water and sewer systems, roads and bridges, parking on public property, etc. should not be privatized – as they have been – without strong regulation and reasonable provisions for terminating the privatization contract if goals are not achieved.

Attempts to remedy or ameliorate the problems of capitalism with incremental reforms or weak regulations (some have even argued for self-regulation by private companies) are not only ineffective, they also make service systems, government programs, and even markets for consumer goods convoluted, complex, confusing, and unfair. They create enormous, expensive, administrative bureaucracies that attempt to implement regulations or remedies. The resulting complexities benefit the capitalists and not workers or consumers. Perhaps the classic example of complexity that benefits wealthy individuals and corporations is our tax code. The exemptions, deductions, special provisions, and other loopholes benefit the capitalists to such an extent that average workers and middle-class households are paying a much higher portion of their incomes in taxes than the wealthy.

Delivery of services by the public sector, i.e., government, is not only fairer and more compassionate than delivery by the private sector, it is also more efficient, effective, and streamlined. The profit motive adds costs (i.e., profits, advertising, and administrative overhead) and incentivizes cost-cutting through denying services and cutting corners on quality. The private sector has no incentive to treat customers equitably; its only goal is to maximize profits.

Kuttner notes that “the history of the past century proves again and again, when market forces [i.e., capitalism] overwhelm the security and livelihood of working people, they are far more likely to turn to ultra-nationalism and fascism” than to collective action through democratic advocacy or labor unions. (page 11) This is particularly likely if there are demagogic “leaders” or “information” sources pushing them in that direction. The result typically is a rise in racism and xenophobia, as well as plutocratic control of the economy and policy making by wealthy individuals and corporations through the politicians they buy with campaign spending or otherwise.

Kuttner writes that “The signal disgrace of our era is the ease with which the corporate center-right has gone along with Trump and the Republican efforts to destroy what remains of democracy.” (page 14) He also notes that since 1980 “much of the Democratic Party has been so compromised and bedded down with Wall Street that displaced middle- and working-class people are skeptical that Democrats and liberal remedies can make much of a difference in their lives.” (page 13)

To ameliorate the economic hardship and insecurity of working Americans, Kuttner recommends providing public supports for workers and families, while resisting and reversing privatization and deregulation. Public supports should include paid family leave, cash support for families with children, subsidies for child care, easier access to good health insurance, regulation of drug prices, and free tuition at community colleges – all parts of the original Build Back Better bill proposed by President Biden and most Democrats in Congress.

Republicans will try to brand these programs as socialism and they do have a socialistic flavor when compared to our current, very individualistic, hyper-capitalism. However, they are immensely popular with the U.S. public and exist in all other wealthy countries. Moreover, socialism doesn’t elicit the negative reaction that it used to; 70% of millennials (i.e., people born between 1980 and 1995 who are 26 to 40 years old now) have a positive view of socialism. While Republicans will try to conflate socialism with communism, keep in mind that in communism the government owns all property and businesses. Not even the most aggressive policy proposals of Senator Sanders (a socialist) take any step in that direction. Also keep in mind that the branding of public policies as socialism was used by white supremacists in the post-Civil War years as their rationale for keeping Blacks from voting. Therefore, calling Democrats’ proposals socialism has racist undertones. (See this previous post for more detail.)

To reverse the scourge that the current version of hyper-capitalism has clearly become, we need to assert strong public control of our economy. Strong oversight and regulation of employers to protect workers and of companies to protect consumers are essential.

Promotion of the public good as the primary goal of government will drive workplaces and the economy to be fairer and more efficient, and to treat people with decency and respect. Think about how different our health care system would be if the public good was foremost instead of maximizing profits. Think about how different our financial system would be if we had public banks (as North Dakota does) and basic banking functions through the post office (as we once did). Think about having public broadband Internet service, which Chattanooga and Europe have, that is cheaper and higher speed than what most of us get in the U.S. Think about patent-free drugs that aren’t controlled and priced by monopolies. Think about the original Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) of the early 1970s that were cooperatively owned and run. Think about Medicare for all, especially without the distortions of the private insurers who’ve been allowed to offer complicating alternatives to Medicare. Think about savings and loan banks and health and other insurance companies that were non-profit, mutually-owned (by customers), and prevalent up until the 1970s. Think about publicly-owned, high-quality, mixed-income housing that is a major part of the housing market in Vienna, Austria.

Kuttner concludes that “Saving democracy, the planet, and decent lives for regular people requires moving beyond capitalism. To be an effective liberal today, you need to be a socialist.” (page 2) He states, “I’ve come around to this view gradually, not because my values have changed but because reality has changed.” (page 4)

He notes that our history has shown that the social democracy [2] of the New Deal did not stand up to the test of time. It deteriorated into a capitalistic welfare system with a supposed safety net that was politically vulnerable and, therefore, eroded over time. This produced today’s grossly inequitable U.S. economy where many workers and their families simply cannot survive on the compensation they are given.

Therefore, he concludes that the U.S. must move to democratic socialism [3] where there is substantial public or social control or ownership of important functions in our society that serve the public and the public good. This is necessary to dethrone capitalism as the dominant system of our society. Otherwise, as we’ve experienced, capitalism in a democracy will evolve into hyper-capitalism that serves wealthy individuals and corporations but leaves everyone else behind.

[1]      Kuttner, R., 12/1/21, “Capitalism vs. liberty,” The American Prospect (https://prospect.org/politics/capitalism-vs-liberty/)

[2]      Social democracy is a system of government that attempts to assert values to similar socialism, but within a capitalist framework. The people have a say in government, but the capitalistic, money-based, competitive economy means that a public safety net is needed to help people whose low-paying jobs do not support subsistence.

[3]      Democratic socialism is defined as having a socialist economy in which the means of production are socially and collectively owned or controlled, alongside a liberal democratic political system of government.

IS CAPITALISM COMPATIBLE WITH DEMOCRACY?

Note: If you find my posts too long or too dense to read on occasion, please just read the bolded portions. They present the key points I’m making and the most important information I’m sharing.

Bob Kuttner has written a powerful and poignant article raising the question of whether capitalism is compatible with democracy – or at least a version of democracy that lives up to the American ideals of equal opportunity and government of, by, and for the people. [1]

In the post-Depression and post-World War II era, the New Deal created a fundamental shift in ideology and power in American society and in our economy from laissez-faire capitalism to regulated and managed New Deal capitalism. It was based on a strong social contract that gave substantial power to government to regulate private companies and manage the economy. It gave substantial power to workers through collective bargaining over pay, benefits, and working conditions via their unions.

The results were a thriving working and middle class, where the rising tide of the economy did indeed lift all boats. Income and wealth inequality were stabilized, if not narrowed.

The era of New Deal capitalism lasted for 40 years until 1980. However, in the last 40 years, Kuttner argues, we’ve not just moved back toward the laissez-faire capitalism of pre-Depression days, but gone beyond it to a new form of hyper-capitalism that some call vulture capitalism. It has destroyed the ability of many workers to thrive by driving down wages, employment security, and benefits (including reducing retirement benefits and paid sick time). It has destroyed the ability of many working parents to provide their children with a safe, secure, and healthy childhood due to unaffordable and inaccessible child care, a lack of paid family and medical leave, unstable work hours, and poverty-level wages.

The life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness promised by the Declaration of Independence are a myth to many workers. They are unable to pursue any meaningful happiness for themselves due to their economic insecurity and low incomes, let alone provide happiness for their families. Any true feelings of liberty are constrained by their lack of the economic resources required to have meaningful freedom in making choices in our capitalist system. And life, literally in some cases, is at risk. Workers are getting injured, disabled, and killed in meat packing plants and other dangerous jobs, even without Covid. Sweatshop working conditions of the 1920s have returned in places like the meat packing industry and Amazon warehouses. When people have health problems or suffer injuries, many of them are bankrupted, and some die, because of our capitalistic health care system.

Deregulation at home and in global trade have produced giant corporations that often have monopolistic power nationally or regionally. These companies have the power as huge employers to strip workers of pay, benefits, and even their jobs, typically by moving jobs overseas (or threatening to do so). Similarly, consumers have limited choices and get reduced value in many important areas from health care to Internet service because of the monopolistic power of providers. These giant, monopolistic companies, particularly in technology-driven markets, have also stripped our economy of many small businesses and entrepreneurs through predatory acquisitions or market place practices that stifle competition.

Deregulation of financial practices has also fed these trends through venture capital, private equity, and hedge fund profiteers that aggressively minimize labor costs, strip companies of assets, and often drive companies into bankruptcy while they pocket huge profits. These vulture capitalists, as they have been called, are at the leading edge of the predatory, hyper-capitalism that Kuttner identifies as taking the laissez-faire capitalism of the early 1900s to a whole, new level of greed and economic inequality.

Kuttner states that rather than the theoretical “invisible hand” of capitalism creating efficient markets that work smoothly and produce high quality goods and services at competitive prices for consumers, the current U.S. version of capitalism creates inefficiency and market failure as its norm. It is efficient only from the perspective of profit and wealth maximization for large, wealthy companies and shareholders, including corporate executives.

Nonetheless, the capitalist market mentality is so deeply embedded in our collective psyche that we have allowed capitalistic values and market norms to overrule other norms and values, such as the importance of the public good, providing access to affordable health care, reducing child poverty, and addressing climate change.

Moreover, the incredible wealth of the giant companies and their shareholders has given them substantial power in our political system. Through their campaign spending, extensive lobbying of public officials, and the movement of senior company employees into and back from policy making positions in government (the revolving door), they have gotten public policies and regulation (or lack thereof) that work to their benefit.

We have seen the result of this political power in recent weeks in the opposition of many members of Congress (i.e., almost every Republican and a handful of Democrats) to the Build Back Better legislation that would support workers and their families in ways that are favored by over two-thirds of the country’s voters – for example, through paid family leave, support for families with children and for child care, and enhanced access and affordability for health care and drugs. Members of Congress have been weakening, undermining, and outright opposing these policies that their constituents overwhelmingly support. Congress is also opposing investments in human capital and in slowing climate change that have broad support among the public.

The Build Back Better opponents in Congress are reflecting the wishes of their wealthy campaign donors, not their constituents. This is emblematic of the power and influence of wealthy capitalists and a direct outgrowth of the hyper-capitalism of the last 40 years.

As a result of this hyper-capitalism in the U.S., many workers have had their economic security, their middle-class lifestyle, and their plans for retirement stripped from them. The frustrations of these workers, their feelings of helplessness and hopelessness, are what has led to the appeal of Senator Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump – both of whom promised to upset the current political system and restore economic security for workers.

In my next post, I will review Kuttner’s thoughts on where we need to go from here to restore our democracy and have fairer, more equitable economic and political systems.

[1]      Kuttner, R., 12/1/21, “Capitalism vs. liberty,” The American Prospect (https://prospect.org/politics/capitalism-vs-liberty/)

CYBERWARFARE: RUSSIA’S ATTACKS ON THE 2018 AND 2020 ELECTIONS AND THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S RESPONSE

Note: If you find my posts too long or too dense to read on occasion, please just read the bolded portions. They present the key points I’m making and the most important information I’m sharing.

This is my seventh post on computer hacking and cyberwarfare and part of my overview of New York Times cybersecurity reporter Nicole Perlroth’s outstanding book, This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends. [1] My first post summarized the book’s information on the scale of computer hacking, cybercrime, and cyberwarfare; the 2017 North Korean ransomware attack; and the 2009 U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) cyberwarfare attack on Iran. My second post covered the leaks from the NSA, electronic surveillance in the U.S., and the use of encryption to protect privacy. My third post described Russia’s cyberattacks on Ukraine. The fourth and fifth posts described China’s cyberattack on Google and Google’s response. The sixth post described Russia’s cyberattack on the 2016 U.S. election.

This post summarizes Russia’s attacks on the 2018 and 2020 U.S. elections and the responses of the Trump and Biden administrations.

Under the Trump Administration, concern for cyberwarfare and cybercrime seemed absent. For example, the Obama Administration had reached an agreement with China to stop its industrial espionage, however this ended when Trump began his very public trade war with China. Similarly, the Iran nuclear agreement worked to keep Iranian hackers at bay. Trump’s voiding of the nuclear deal resulted in levels of Iranian cyberattacks that were unprecedented. Furthermore, as Trump backed off both sanctions and rhetoric against Russia for its hacking and election interference, Russia continued to hack our election systems and infrastructure, as well as to spread division, distrust, and chaos through social and other media. Even Saudi Arabia, with no sanctions from the Trump Administration for its murder of Washington Post journalist Khashoggi, was emboldened to engage in cyber espionage targeting the U.S. Cybercriminals engaged in ransomware attacks on cities, towns, and other infrastructure with regularity – and with little response from the Trump Administration.

By 2018, Trump had eliminated the position of White House cybersecurity coordinator and had made it clear that he never wanted to hear anyone in his administration, including the director of Homeland Security, mention election interference or election security. As the 2018 elections approached, the Russian social media propaganda agency, the Internet Research Agency (IRA), was engaging in sophisticated election disinformation on social media. In the six months before the elections, it spent at least $10 million on its efforts to influence the U.S. elections and to sow division, distrust, and chaos.

Fortunately, in September 2018, Trump had ceded decision-making for offensive cyberattacks to the new director of the NSA, General Paul Nakasone, who also served as the head of the Pentagon’s Cyber Command. John Bolton, in his brief tenure as Trump’s national security advisor, had developed a new cyber strategy that gave the Cyber Command increased flexibility. So, in October, the Cyber Command posted warnings directly to the IRA’s computers threatening indictments and sanctions if Russia continued to meddle in the 2018 elections. Then, on Election Day, the Cyber Command shut down the Russian hackers’ computer servers and kept them offline for several days as votes were tabulated and certified. No one knows what might have happened if the Cyber Command had not done this, but the 2018 election results were processed without any serious glitches.

“By 2020, the U.S. was in the most precarious position it had ever been in the digital realm,” according to Perlroth. [2] More than 1,000 local governments had been hit with ransomware attacks over the previous year. Russian cybercriminals were getting billions of dollars because local governments and their insurers calculated that it was cheaper to pay the ransom than to have to recreate computer systems and data. Cybersecurity experts worried that the ransomware attacks were a smokescreen to probe municipal computers and develop the capability to disrupt voter and election related systems during the 2020 election. Some of these experts also thought the election hacking and interference in 2016 and 2018 might be trial runs for more extensive efforts planned for the 2020 elections. Apart from the elections, in September 2020, over 400 hospitals were the subject of ransomware attacks, coming, of course, at the worst possible time – in the middle of the pandemic.

In Congress, a number of efforts were made to address concerns about election security, including bills requiring paper trails for every ballot and rigorous post-election audits, banning voting machines from being connected to the Internet, and mandating that campaigns report contacts with foreign entities. These were largely uncontroversial security measures that generally had bipartisan support and were deemed critical by election integrity experts. However, Senator Mitch McConnell, the Republican Majority Leader, refused to let any election security bill move forward toward passage. Only after critics took to calling him “Moscow Mitch” did he relent and begrudgingly allow approval of $250 million to help states protect election infrastructure – a tiny amount of money when split among the 50 states (only $5 million each on average), especially given the seriousness of the threats their election systems were facing.

In early 2020, U.S. intelligence officials warned the White House and Congress that Russian hacking and election interference were working hard at promoting Trump’s re-election. Trump was so incensed that this information had been shared with Democrats that he fired his acting director of national intelligence and publicly dismissed the intelligence findings as misinformation. Beginning in August, Trump’s new head of intelligence refused to provide in-person briefings on election interference to Congress. The U.S. intelligence agencies had always been non-partisan, but the Trump administration increasingly manipulated their actions and statements to serve their political interests. Meanwhile, Microsoft revealed that in one two-week period Russian hackers had attempted to access 6,900 personal email accounts of politicians, campaign workers, and consultants of both parties.

During the 2020 election cycle, the Russians didn’t have to create “fake news” to foster distrust, division, and chaos; Americans, including President Trump, were providing plenty of such content on a daily basis. The Russian trolls simply worked to amplify, among other things, the vaccination debate, the lockdown protests, the misinformation about the benefits of mask wearing, and the blaming of the racial justice protests and any violence that occurred on violent, left-wing radicals.

As the 2020 election approached, the Cyber Command, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) in the Department of Homeland Security, the NSA, and the FBI worked diligently to protect election infrastructure in the states and nationally, as well as to actively counterattack. Many of the officials involved figured it was likely that Trump would fire them for their hard work as soon as the election was over, but they persisted in doing their jobs. On Election Day, CISA officials briefed reporters every three hours and, in the end, Election Day came and went with no evidence of fraud, outside efforts to alter vote tallies, or even a ransomware attack.

Perlroth notes that while she would like to credit the work of our cybersecurity agencies for the uneventful Election Day, she feels that the 2020 election went as smoothly as it did, not because the Russians were deterred, but because they (and specifically Russian President Putin) concluded that their work here was done and had been successful. Discord, distrust, and chaos were being created by American actors without the need for Russian interference. If Putin’s goal, in the U.S. elections and otherwise, was to undermine American democracy and American influence in world diplomacy, he had probably succeeded beyond his wildest dreams.

Nonetheless, Russian cyber hacking continues. In 2020, Russia’s premier intelligence agency, SVR was responsible for the cyberattack via the Solar Winds security software, a highly sophisticated attack that affected many government agencies and large companies. It gave the Russians access to tens of thousands of users’ computer systems. (By the way, SVR was also the first hacker to gain access to the Democratic National Committee’s computers in 2016.)

In October 2021, the Russians engaged in another massive campaign to hack into computer networks in the U.S. Microsoft announced that it had notified 600 organizations that they had been targeted by SVR with about 23,000 attempts to illegally access their computer systems in October alone. It noted that the attacks were relatively unsophisticated and were or could have been blocked by basic cybersecurity practices. It also stated that, for comparison, there had been only 20,500 such attempts by all other international governmental actors over the past three years. [3]

This Russian cyberattack occurred only six months after President Biden imposed sanctions on Russian financial and technology companies in April 2021 as punishment for previous cyberattacks. At the time, he noted that the sanctions could have been more severe but that he was trying to de-escalate confrontation between the two superpowers.

My next post will review things that can be done to counter cybercrime and warfare at the individual and governmental levels.

[1]      Perlroth, N. This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends. Bloomsbury Publishing, NY, NY. 2021.

[2]      Perlroth, N. This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends. Bloomsbury Publishing, NY, NY. 2021. page 347

[3]      Sanger, D.E., 10/26/21, “Russia tests US again with broad cybersurveillance,” The Boston Globe from The New York Times

CYBERWARFARE: RUSSIA’S ATTACK ON THE 2016 ELECTION

Note: If you find my posts too long or too dense to read on occasion, please just read the bolded portions. They present the key points I’m making and the most important information I’m sharing.

This is my sixth post on computer hacking and cyberwarfare and part of my overview of New York Times cybersecurity reporter Nicole Perlroth’s outstanding book, This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends. [1] My first post summarized the book’s information on the scale of computer hacking, cybercrime, and cyberwarfare; the 2017 North Korean ransomware attack; and the 2009 U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) cyberwarfare attack on Iran. My second post covered the leaks from the NSA, electronic surveillance in the U.S., and the use of encryption to protect privacy. My third post described Russia’s cyberattacks on Ukraine. The fourth and fifth posts described China’s cyberattack on Google and Google’s response.

This post summarizes Russia’s attack on the 2016 U.S. election which began in June 2014 when Russia sent two agents to the U.S. for a three-week reconnaissance tour to gather intelligence on U.S. politics and elections. Their report became the field guide for Russia’s interference in the 2016 election. Starting in 2014, the Russians tried to hack into voter registration and election systems in all 50 states. They are known to have succeed in accessing Arizona’s and Illinois’s voter databases. In 2015 (and probably before then), the Russians aggressively hacked into computer networks at the State Department, White House, and Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Defense Department, although this was probably unrelated to the election and was just “routine” espionage. Occurring in the midst of the unprecedented and mind-boggling presidential campaign that was ongoing at the time, these cyberattacks got little coverage in the mainstream media.

Russia’s social media propaganda agency, known as the Internet Research Agency (IRA), had as its goal for the U.S. election in 2016 to “spread distrust toward the candidates and the political system in general. … [to create] division, distrust, and mayhem.” [2] In September 2014, the IRA created a Facebook group, Heart of Texas, focused on right-wing Texans that generated 5.5 million likes within a year. It also created another Facebook group, United Muslims of America. Then, among other things, it used these two Facebook groups to promote rallies and counter-rallies at the Islamic Center in Houston that led to real-world confrontations. The IRA used the stolen identities of Americans to make their work more credible, but nonetheless its cyber manipulators were surprised at how gullible and susceptible the Americans were to their Facebook disinformation.

Based on its success in Texas, the IRA began replicating this approach across the country, focusing on purple states. Its staffing grew to more than 80 people who were directed to “Use any opportunity to criticize Hillary and the rest (except Sanders and Trump – we support them)” according to leaked memos. [3] The IRA:

  • Communicated with Trump campaign volunteers.
  • Bought Facebook ads promoting Trump and attacking Clinton.
  • Promoted race-baiting and xenophobic messages.
  • Worked to suppress minority voter turnout and to encourage voting for third party candidates instead of for Clinton.
  • Paid an unwitting Florida Trump supporter to put a cage on a flatbed truck and paid an actress to dress up as Clinton and sit in the cage as Trump rally goers chanted “Lock her up!” Based on this success, they promoted similar rallies in other states.
  • Reached 126 million Facebook users and generated 288 million Twitter actions, which are staggering numbers given that 139 million people voted in the 2016 election.

In June 2016, it was discovered that two other Russian groups had hacked into the Democratic National Committee’s computer network months earlier, extracting and releasing embarrassing emails, among other things.

The Obama Administration, facing multi-faceted and snowballing Russian interference in the election, finally decided in the fall of 2016 that a strong bipartisan statement (so it wouldn’t appear political) was necessary. Top Homeland Security and FBI officials were sent to brief Congress. But the response from the Republicans was completely partisan. Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell refused to warn Americans about Russia’s efforts to influence and undermine the 2016 elections. He refused to sign any bipartisan statement, argued (falsely) that the intelligence on the cyberattacks was wrong, and claimed (falsely) that this was all just Democratic partisan politics.

After the election, the Obama Administration imposed significant sanctions on the Russians, but they were too little and too late. Although there’s some argument over the ultimate impact of the Russian’s efforts, Perlroth concludes that the Russian actions may well have tipped the election to Trump. Black voter turnout declined sharply in 2016 for the first time in 20 years, which was a constituency and an outcome that the Russians had aggressively targeted. Black voter turnout fell from 66.6% in 2012 to 59.6% in 2016, its lowest level since 2000. This represented a decline of 765,000 votes when less than 80,000 votes in three key states determined the outcome of the election. Furthermore, Trump’s margin in each of these three key states – Wisconsin (22,800 votes, a 0.8% margin), Pennsylvania (44,300 votes, a 0.7% margin), and Michigan (10,700 votes, a 0.2% margin) – was less in each state than the vote for the Green Party candidate. This voting for third party candidates instead of Clinton was another outcome that the Russians had aggressively targeted. Given the closeness of the election, a relatively small change in either (let alone both) of Black voter turnout or the number of votes for the Green Party instead of for Clinton would have changed the outcome of the election – and both of these were factors that the Russians specifically worked to influence.

Subsequent posts will outline the Perlroth book’s reporting on:

  • Russia’s continuing cyberattacks on the 2018 and 2020 U.S. elections and the Trump administration’s response, and
  • What can be done to counter cybercrime and warfare at the individual and governmental levels.

[1]      Perlroth, N. This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends. Bloomsbury Publishing, NY, NY. 2021.

[2]      Perlroth, N., see above, page 310

[3]      Perlroth, N., see above, page 311

HOW TO REIN IN FACEBOOK’S THREATS TO OUR CHILDREN, OUR DEMOCRACY, AND ALL OF US

Note: If you find my posts too long or too dense to read on occasion, please just read the bolded portions. They present the key points I’m making and the most important information I’m sharing.

Facebook IS a serious threat to our children, our democracy, and all of us, as my previous post documented. Facebook is finally getting the attention and scrutiny it deserves, with a former insider turned whistleblower being the catalyst. Without government regulation Facebook and other social media sites will facilitate a race to the bottom driven by our basest proclivities and instincts. This will occur because there is greater profit in spurring anger, encouraging extremism and violence, promoting false information, and triggering emotional responses than there is in creating a safe place for people to have healthy relationships and to engage in civil discourse based on facts. [1] Facebook has consistently chosen profits over the health and safety of children, the sharing of factual information, and the public good, so it isn’t going to fix itself. Meaningful action by Congress will take time, so regulatory action by the executive branch is needed now. [2]

Here are possible actions that could be taken to address the problems with Facebook and its harmful behaviors: [3]

  • Require Facebook to publicly share its internal data and algorithms. This transparency would allow independent experts to analyze how its algorithms prioritize and promote content so we would know what messages they are amplifying and if they have toxic effects and bias. This would also allow monitoring of Facebook’s use of consumer data and its adherence to privacy standards. These data are also necessary to be able to design effective regulation. [4] They are also important for monitoring and ameliorating toxic effects on children and for the protection of children’s privacy – areas where Facebook does not have a good track record.
  • Break up Facebook through use of antitrust laws, forcing it to spin off Instagram, WhatsApp, and perhaps other business units, while prohibiting it from making acquisitions of other companies. (See rationale for this below.)
  • Institute a fairness or balance standard requiring Facebook to show users content with opposing views. (Prior to deregulation in the 1980s, there was a “fairness doctrine” that applied such standards to TV and radio stations.)
  • Investigate Facebook for withholding or distorting significant financial information provided to investors.
  • Require Facebook to substantially expand its efforts and meet standards for success in blocking harmful and inaccurate content (i.e., engage in effective content moderation).
  • Strengthen or pass laws regulating Facebook’s pushing of inappropriate content and inappropriate marketing on children, e.g., strengthen the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and pass the KIDS Act.
  • Make Facebook and other social media sites liable for promoting, and perhaps even for allowing users to post, hateful, threatening, violence-promoting, and other harmful content.
  • Create and invest in public Internet sites that provide news and human interaction opportunities as an alternative to Facebook. These public sites would not have profit-driven motives and, therefore, would adhere to consumer and ethical standards, as well as a commitment to serving the public good.

Regulating Facebook and other social media will not be easy and multiple iterations of regulatory steps and efforts will be needed as regulators learn what works and adjust to changes by Facebook and other social media. Given Facebook’s tremendous financial resources, its fight against efforts to control and regulate it will go on in the courts, in regulatory agencies, and in Congress for years.

Breaking up Facebook (and other huge corporations) is necessary to:

  • Reduce monopolistic power and allow the power of the marketplace and competition to rein in harmful practices on privacy, misinformation, manipulation of users, etc.
  • Reduce the almost limitless financial resources of huge corporations, which are used to overwhelm (or buy) our policymaking, regulatory, and judicial processes.
  • Reduce the massive aggregation of consumer data that allows the manipulation of users, including children.

I encourage you to pay at least some attention to the unfolding expose of how Facebook (and social media generally) works and what its effects are, because it has a significant impact on each of us and our families, as well as broad impacts on our society and democracy.

Government regulation of social media is needed to protect children, our democracy, and all of us. Facebook and its CEO Mark Zuckerberg have been skillful at ducking accountability. This must end. For example, Facebook knows of the harm it does to children and how to mitigate it, but it has chosen not to take action because it prioritizes profits over the safety of children (and everything else). Moreover, internal documents disclosed by the whistleblower reveal that in 2020 Facebook studied better ways to market products to preteens, even though it supposedly bars anyone under 13 from having an account. [5]

I encourage you to sign up for the Facebook boycott on November 10 here. Staying off of Facebook and Instagram for a day or two is probably the best way to send the message that we’re not happy with their behavior.

I also urge you to let your U.S. Representative and Senators, along with President Biden, know that you support strong regulation of Facebook (and other social media) to reduce the harm it is doing to us, our children, our society, and our democracy.

You can find contact information for your U.S. Representative at  http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/ and for your U.S. Senators at http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm.

You can email President Biden via http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/submit-questions-and-comments or you can call the White House comment line at 202-456-1111 or the switchboard at 202-456-1414.

[1]      Hubbell, R., 10/6/21, “Today’s edition: Progress, at last” (https://roberthubbell.substack.com/p/todays-edition-progress-at-last)

[2]      Verma, P., 10/8/21, “What’s next for Facebook,” The Boston Globe

[3]      Bernoff, J., 10/7/21, “Facebook must be stopped,” The Boston Globe

[4]      Ghaffary, S., 10/5/21, “Facebook’s whistleblower tells Congress how to regulate tech,” Vox (https://www.vox.com/recode/22711551/facebook-whistleblower-congress-hearing-regulation-mark-zuckerberg-frances-haugen-senator-blumenthal)

[5]      Boston Globe Editorial Board, 10/12/21, “If Facebook won’t protect kids, Congress should force the company’s hand,” The Boston Globe

FACEBOOK IS AN EXISTENTIAL THREAT TO ALL OF US, OUR CHILDREN, AND OUR DEMOCRACY

Note: If you find my posts too long or too dense to read on occasion, please just read the bolded portions. They present the key points I’m making and the most important information I’m sharing.

This title is NOT an exaggeration: Facebook IS an existential threat to all of us, our children, and our democracy. I’ve been meaning to write a series of blog posts about Facebook and social media in general – and the harm they are doing – for almost a year. I recommend that you watch the award-winning documentary, “The Social Dilemma” (which is free on YouTube until October 31st). It’s produced by the Center for Humane Technology and was an eye-opener for me. (The documentary is 1 hour 34 minutes; there’s also a 2 ½ minute trailer.) The Center provides great resources for parents, teachers, and all of us on how to be intelligent users of social media – and how to protect our children from social media’s potential negative influences.

Facebook is finally getting the attention and scrutiny it has warranted for some time, with a former insider turned whistleblower being the catalyst. The whistleblower, Frances Haugen, had been a product manager at the Civic Integrity unit at Facebook. The unit was dissolved after the 2020 election. She subsequently left Facebook and has shared documents and her personal experiences with the Wall Street Journal, which has done a series of articles based on her information that are called The Facebook Files. She appeared on the 60 Minutes TV show on October 3, 2021. A blog post by Whitney Tilson, an investment professional, includes a series of links to segments of Haugen’s interview on 60 Minutes, links to the Wall Street Journal articles (which are behind a paywall unless you have a subscription or can access them through a library), and a letter from Tilson, as an investor, to Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg. [1]

I hope you’ve been following, at least at some level, the recent revelations that have laid bare the incredible influence Facebook has on us, including on what we believe and how we feel. We are both the product that Facebook is selling and the customers who are being influenced by the most sophisticated and manipulative marketing strategies and capabilities humankind has ever experienced. [2]

I provide here a very high-level overview of the information about Facebook that’s been uncovered and reported lately, while providing links to the detail. I have written previously about the intentional promotion of disinformation by Facebook, but that is just the tip of the iceberg, as current revelations are making starkly clear.

Facebook is single-handedly controlled by Mark Zuckerberg, who owns the majority of the controlling stock of the corporation. It seems clear that his commitment to generating profits (and increasing his wealth of $134 billion) outweighs everything else. Actions (e.g., likes and shares) and time on Facebook are money in his pocket and the recent revelations indicate that every time a decision was made where accuracy or any other social good was pitted against more clicks and money, Zuckerberg went for the money – despite knowing the  downsides. Facebook’s revenue has soared to $119 billion and the corporation’s market value is up to almost $1 trillion.

Facebook has internal studies and statistics that show, for example, that misinformation gets six times more clicks than factual news and that right-leaning sites produce more misinformation than any other sites. Facebook and Zuckerberg have been promoting misinformation and right-wing sites because more clicks mean more money in their pockets.

Facebook also knows how to elicit emotional responses and how its users respond to likes, shares, clicks on emoji buttons, and other actions on its site. It’s happy to use this knowledge to manipulate its users. Its internal research has concluded that its algorithms, which determine what to promote and show to whom, contribute to mental health and emotional problems among teens, particularly girls. However, it has done nothing to ameliorate this harm. [3]

Facebook seems to be immune to any sense of civic obligation to its roughly 3 billion users. It appears to have no qualms about helping undermine elections and democracies, the free and factual media, and accurate information about Covid and vaccination, which has literally deadly consequences. Zuckerberg has allowed terrorist recruitment, human trafficking, abuses by authoritarian governments, and promotion of hate, violence, genocide, and racism on Facebook. Is it any wonder that in the Russians’ efforts to disrupt U.S. elections and sow discord in our society that Facebook was their most frequently employed tool? [4] Facebook’s negative effects are probably even greater in countries other than the U.S., particularly in authoritarian ones, where the effects may be literally deadly for regime opponents.

Although the concerns that have been raised about Facebook are relevant to all of social media, Facebook is the dominant entity. Its algorithms govern the news we receive and what is promoted and prioritized, which shapes our society and affects our well-being and our democracy. Without government regulation Facebook and other social media will facilitate a race to the bottom driven by our basest proclivities and instincts. This will occur because there is greater profit in spurring anger, encouraging extremism, promoting false information, and triggering emotional responses than there is in creating a safe place for civil discourse and human interactions based on facts and healthy relationships. [5]

My next post will present some options for reining in Facebook, as well as social media in general.

[1]      Tilson, W., 10/5/21, “Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen; An open letter to Sheryl Sandberg,” (https://empirefinancialresearch.com/articles/facebook-whistleblower-frances-haugen-an-open-letter-to-sheryl-sandberg-come-work-with-enrique-barcelona-pictures)

[2]      Hubbell, R., 10/7/21, “Today’s edition: Nine months of silence,” (https://roberthubbell.substack.com/p/todays-edition-nine-months-of-silence)

[3]      Bauder, D., and Liedtke, M., 10/4/21, “Facebook fed Capitol riot, former manager alleges,” The Boston Globe from the Associate Press

[4]      Alterman, E., 10/1/21, “Altercation: The Facebook threat to democracy – and us all,” The American Prospect (https://prospect.org/politics/altercation-facebook-threat-to-democracy-and-us-all/)

[5]      Hubbell, R., 10/6/21, “Today’s edition: Progress, at last” (https://roberthubbell.substack.com/p/todays-edition-progress-at-last)

TODAY’S VOTER SUPPRESSION IS HISTORY REPEATING ITSELF

Note: If you find my posts too long or too dense to read on occasion, please just read the bolded portions. They present the key points I’m making and the most important information I’m sharing.

The efforts of states to suppress voting of Blacks (and other targeted groups that tend to vote for Democrats) are an historical repeat of what happened after the Civil War. These and other efforts that assert states’ power to restrict individuals’ rights are confronting the 14th Amendments’ provisions (from 1868) that give the federal government the power to protect individuals’ rights in the face of state efforts to deny them. Historian Heather Cox Richardson’s daily blog puts these current events in the perspective of our history, which is a very valuable insight to have.

The Declaration of Independence, when it stated “that all men are created equal,” meant white men. Nonetheless, this was a radical concept at the time – that no man’s birthright made him better than any other man. The Civil War was fought, in effect, to maintain a system that elevated America’s white men above African Americans, Native Americans, other men of color, and even Irishmen. As in the mid-1800s, we are now facing efforts that reject the principle of the equality of all human beings and seek to recast America as a country where certain people are better than others. These efforts are being led by white men for the most part, and are empowered by a relatively small group of wealthy white men (and a few women). [1]

In 1865, the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution banned slavery in an important step toward equality. However, this did not stop white men in the South from working to establish systems that continued to make African Americans unequal and subservient to whites. These white men worked to deny African Americans the right to vote, to testify in court, and to sit on a jury. The infamous 1857 Dred Scott Supreme Court decision furthered this effort by denying citizenship to African Americans. The contorted opinion for the 7 to 2 decision was poorly reasoned and written by Chief Justice Roger Taney. These steps to institutionalize inequality occurred despite the fact that the 1870 Census would count African Americans as whole persons for the first time. Ironically, this would give the southern states more representation and power in Congress and in the Electoral College. [2]

To counter efforts to keep African Americans subservient, in July 1868, the 14th Amendment was passed, declaring that “All persons born or naturalized in the United States … are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.” It guaranteed all citizens due process and equal protection under the law. To counter white southern men’s and the Dred Scott case’s assertion of states’ rights to write laws that determined who could vote, among other things, the 14th Amendment gave the federal government the power to protect individuals’ rights when state legislatures passed laws that were discriminatory and infringed on those rights.

Nonetheless, two months later in September 1868, the Georgia legislature voted to expel the 33 newly elected African American state legislators. In 1870, with African American voting reduced by the terrorism of the Ku Klux Klan, African Americans were not elected. Similar events took place in other southern states. [3]

In response, the federal Department of Justice was created in 1870 with a primary mission of stopping the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) and its suppression of the rights and voting of African Americans. The KKK was a domestic terrorist group then as it is today.

In February 2021, Black legislators in Georgia opposed proposed voting restrictions noting that they reminded them of the 1870s when Jim Crow laws and lynching were used to deter African Americans from voting. Nonetheless, Georgia legislators passed the voting restrictions. Although the means have changed, they are still presented as supposedly race-blind restrictions. However, the fact that white men (for the most part) are rewriting the rules of our democracy to protect white power is unchanged. Similar actions are taking place in other states, not all of which are in the South.

There are striking similarities between the voting suppression efforts of the late 1800s and what’s happening today. For example, in 1890, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill empowering the federal government to oversee voter registration, voting, and ballot counting in the South. Then, Senate Democrats blocked its passage by staging the first of many southern-led filibusters that killed civil rights legislation.

The civil rights laws and court decisions of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s are based on the 14th Amendment giving the federal government the power to protect individuals’ rights. For example, the Brown vs. Board of Education decision that outlawed public school segregation and separate but supposedly equal treatment of Blacks, and the Loving vs. Virginia decision legalizing inter-racial marriage, were possible because of the 14th Amendment.

Opponents of civil rights laws and decisions revived the post-Civil War states’ rights arguments in the 1960s and 1970s. They began advocating for “originalism” in interpreting the Constitution when making court decisions. “Originalism” asserts that the Constitution should be interpreted as its writers envisioned it at the time they wrote it and that this would mean much stronger state governments and a weaker federal government, including in the establishment and enforcement of individuals’ rights.

In 1987, President Reagan nominated an “originalist,” Robert Bork, to become a Supreme Court Justice. He was rejected on a bipartisan basis. Bork had advocated for a rollback of Supreme Court civil rights decisions and of federal protections of individuals’ rights under the 14th Amendment. As Senator Ted Kennedy pointed out, rolling back such protections would not only raise the specter of re-segregation, but also the reduction of women’s rights to reproductive health services, citizens’ protections from rogue police officers, the teaching of evolution in schools, protection from censorship, and other individual rights.

Nonetheless, today’s Supreme Court is dominated by “originalists” and the individual rights protections of the 14th Amendment for voting, women’s and LGBTQ people’s health services, and the teaching of factual material, for example, are again being challenged by state governments, led mostly by white men.

On July 1, 2021, by a 6 to 3 vote, the Supreme Court decided that the state of Arizona did not violate the 1965 Voting Rights Act or the 14th or 15th Amendments with voting restrictions that disproportionately affect non-white racial or ethnic groups. President Biden stated that this “decision by the Supreme Court undercuts voting rights in this country and makes it all the more crucial to pass the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act to restore and expand voting protections. … Our democracy depends on it.” [4] However, to pass these bills, which have already passed in the House, the Senate will have to either eliminate or limit the use of the filibuster to block them. The Republicans have made it clear that they have no intention of providing any support for these bills.

I urge you to contact your U.S. Senators and ask them to support the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, and to support eliminating or limiting the filibuster as the only way to pass these bills. The protections for voting rights in these bills are critically important to our democracy. You can find contact information for your U.S. Senators at http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm.

Please also contact President Biden and ask him to support eliminating or limiting the filibuster as the only way to pass these bills that he’s said our democracy depends on. You can email President Biden via http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/submit-questions-and-comments or you can call the White House comment line at 202-456-1111 or the switchboard at 202-456-1414.

[1]      Cox Richardson, H., 7/3/21, “Letters from an American blog,” (https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/july-3-2020-bad)

[2]      Cox Richardson, H., 7/9/21, “Letters from an American blog,” (https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/july-9-2021)

[3]      Berman, A., 6/2/21, “Jim Crow killed voting rights for generations. Now the GOP is repeating history,” Mother Jones (https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2021/06/jim-crow-killed-voting-rights-for-generations-now-the-gop-is-repeating-history/)

[4]      Cox Richardson, H., 7/1/21, “Letters from an American blog,” (https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/july-1-2021)

OPPOSITION TO “SOCIALISM” IS A DOG WHISTLE FOR RACISM

Note: If you find my posts too long or too dense to read on occasion, please just read the bolded portions. They present the key points I’m making and the most important information I’m sharing.

As I imagine you’ve heard, Republicans are attacking President Biden’s and Democrats’ policy proposals as “socialism.” I thought, naively, that Republicans were just trying foster opposition based on Cold War fears by conflating socialism with communism and identifying it as the existential threat to American democracy.

Heather Cox Richardson, with her historical perspective, has opened my eyes to the fact that the opposition to “socialism” has deeper roots in our history and is a dog whistle for racism. (If this use of the term dog whistle is new to you, please see this footnote. [1])

First, socialism is formally defined as an economic and political system where workers own the means of production (e.g., factories, farms, and organizations that provide services as well as the raw materials, machines, tools, and physical facilities used in producing goods and services). This is NOT, by any stretch of the truth, what Biden and Democrats are proposing. Socialism recognizes workers as the essential input to the economy and, therefore, posits that they should own the means of production and be the beneficiaries of the fruits of the economy.

Social democracy, on the other hand, is a political and economic system where a democratic government manages and regulates capitalism (i.e., private ownership of the means of production) to ensure social and economic justice. In our democracy, the government’s commitment to social and economic justice for all is stated in our founding documents – that all people are created equal, that all people should be guaranteed life, liberty, and the ability to pursue happiness, and that all people have the rights delineated in the Bill of Rights.

The explicit recognition that equal opportunity and true freedom require economic security was stated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in his proposal for an economic bill of rights [2] and by Senator Bernie Sanders in his statements on what democratic socialism means to him (although technically speaking, he was describing social democracy and not democratic socialism). [3] [4] (See this footnote for a definition of democratic socialism and communism. [5])

Currently, Republicans are using “socialism” as a dog whistle to mean the use of government resources to promote racial equity and justice. Their dog whistle definition of “socialism” is the use of taxes paid by hardworking white men (and women) to benefit lazy people of color who are happy to live on government benefits. Today’s Republicans claim this “socialism” will undermine American democracy and freedom. The dog whistle is that these policies will undermine the “freedom” and privilege of white people.

This use of “socialism” goes back to 1871 when southern Democrats claimed they opposed voting by Blacks, not due to racism, but because Black voters would elect policy makers who would promote “socialism,” i.e., taxing white property owners to pay for roads, schools, and hospitals that would benefit Blacks. [6] They argued that Black voting would lead to “socialism” that would destroy America (namely the America of white supremacy). [7] [8]

After the Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954, which found racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional, the use of government resources to enforce desegregation and civil rights was attacked as “socialism” because the costs of implementing desegregation and civil rights (for “undeserving” Black people) would be paid for by taxes on hardworking white men (and women). In 1958, Republican Senator Barry Goldwater accused his own party’s President Eisenhower of succumbing to “the siren song of socialism” for his use of government resources (troops) to enforce desegregation of Little Rock, Arkansas, High School. The irony was that the Goldwater family had made its money from government funding for dam construction in Arizona. [9]

Republican attacks on government, on a public safety net, and on beneficiaries of public assistance (inaccurately stereotyped as people of color) took on new strength and significance with the election of President Reagan in 1980. Remember Reagan’s attack on the mythical “welfare queen” with her Cadillac and mink coat? The attacks on “socialism” as a dog whistle for racism have only escalated since then.

Today, Republicans are vigorously charging that President Biden and Democrats are working to bring “socialism” to America. They claim that a no-holds-barred fight is necessary to save American from “socialism.” They are even willing to dispense with a commitment to democracy to “save” America. This disregard for democracy dates to at least 1980 when Republican strategist Paul Weyrich stated, “I don’t want everybody to vote …our leverage in the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populace goes down.” That’s why Republicans have been and are actively engaged in voter suppression efforts. (Weyrich was a co-founder of the Heritage Foundation, which today is deeply involved in promoting state voting suppression laws and with the “audit” of voting in Arizona and elsewhere.) In October 2020, Utah Senator Mike Lee tweeted, “Democracy is not the objective … liberty, peace, and prosperity are. … democracy can thwart that.” [10]

Republicans are claiming today, as white southern Democrats did after the Civil War, that keeping “socialism” from coming to America requires keeping Black and other likely Democratic voters from voting; democracy, our Constitution, and our founding principles (which make America exceptional) be damned. The racism of the post-Civil War white Democrats’ attacks on “socialism” was made clear by the brutal Jim Crow laws they implemented to keep Blacks in their place and to prevent them from voting.

The implications of today’s Republicans’ claims of needing to prevent “socialism” in America aren’t completely clear, but civil rights, police reform, and social and economic justice are definitely targets. However, the racism behind their attacks on “socialism” is clear and these attacks should no longer be a dog whistle; every American should hear the racism in their attacks on “socialism” loudly and clearly.

[1]      The term dog whistle here is a political adaptation of the fact that a dog whistle can’t be heard by humans but can be heard by dogs. In politics, it refers to language that will be heard as supporting white privilege and supremacy by those people attuned to such sentiments, but won’t be heard by many other people as being racist and where the politician opposing “socialism” – or using other dog whistles – can deny racist intent.

[2]      President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1/11/44, “The economic bill of rights,” retrieved from the Internet 5/22/21 at https://www.ushistory.org/documents/economic_bill_of_rights.htm

[3]    Senator Bernie Sanders, 11/19/15, “Senator Sanders on Democratic Socialism and Defeating ISIS,” retrieved from the Internet 5/22/21 at https://www.c-span.org/video/?400961-1/senator-bernie-sanders-address-democratic-socialism (Sanders begins speaking at 8 mins., defines socialism at 12 mins., and presents his and FDR’s vision at 30 mins. into this 1 hr. 40 min. video)

[4]    Golshan, T., 6/12/19, “Bernie Sanders defines his vision for democratic socialism in the United States,” Vox (https://www.vox.com/2019/6/12/18663217/bernie-sanders-democratic-socialism-speech-transcript)

[5]     Democratic socialism is socialism where both the economy and society are governed democratically, with decision making by citizens with a focus on economic and social justice. Democratic socialism is not compatible with capitalism, which is based on private ownership of the means of production and, therefore, where the benefits, economic and also social and political power, flow to the owners of capital, i.e., the owners of physical and monetary assets.

Communism is formally defined as an economic and political system where the workers own the means of production and that is dedicated to equality for all, implemented through an authoritarian government. The main difference between communism and socialism is that socialism is compatible with democracy and liberty, while communism requires authoritarianism and denies basic individual liberties.

[6]      Cox Richardson, H., 4/19/21, “Letters from an American blog,” (https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/april-19-2021)

[7]      Cox Richardson, H., 5/14/21, “Letters from an American blog,” (https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/may-14-2021)

[8]      Cox Richardson, H., 1/16/21, “Letters from an American blog,” (https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/january-16-2021

[9]      Cox Richardson, H., 4/19/21, see above

[10]     Cox Richardson, H., 5/14/21, see above

CORPORATE INVOLVEMENT IN POLITICS & VOTER SUPPRESSION

Note: If you find my posts too long or too dense to read on occasion, please just read the bolded portions. They present the key points I’m making and the most important information I’m sharing.

The role of large, wealthy corporations in our political system is coming under scrutiny again, this time in relation to voter suppression laws in states. Advocates for democracy and its basic principle that all citizen should vote are urging corporations and their executives to speak out against states’ voter suppression efforts. Given that these voter suppression efforts target black, brown, and/or low-income citizens, advocates for racial and economic justice are also urging corporate opposition to these efforts.

As-of March 24, 361 bills that would suppress voting have been introduced in state legislatures in 47 states. Five bills have already passed, including, perhaps most notably, in Georgia. In 24 states, 55 bills are actively moving through the legislative process; 29 have passed in one chamber and 26 have seen action in a legislative committee. These bills would restrict absentee and by-mail voting, cut back on early voting, impose strict, onerous voter ID requirements, make registering to vote harder, and / or expand purges of voter rolls. [1]

The rationale for these efforts is, of course, the big lies that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Trump and that there was extensive voter fraud. As I imagine you know, the number of cases of voter fraud is miniscule and totally insignificant in terms of election outcomes. Furthermore, the voting restrictions in these bills do NOT specifically address the kind of rare fraud that does occur.

After the January 6th attack on the capitol, at least 123 corporations and corporate trade associations announced a rethinking of their political spending – a pause in political spending by their corporate political action committees (PACs), a cutoff of donations to the 147 members of Congress who voted against certifying the presidential election results, or a review of their corporate PAC spending.

However, they did not announce a rethinking of their giving to politically active non-profits, including industry trade associations (such as the Chamber of Commerce). Twenty-four of the corporations that announced a rethinking their PAC spending have given more than $100 million to politically active non-profits since 2015. These “dark money” non-profits (so-called because they don’t have to disclose their donors) spent $750 million on the 2020 elections. [2] (Note: Tracking the money flowing to these non-profits is difficult and slow because they don’t have to report donors and only infrequently report any information at all.)

In 2019 alone (the latest data available), many of the corporations announcing a rethinking of their PAC spending gave more to politically active non-profits than their PACs spent in the whole two-year 2020 election cycle. For example, CVS Health spent less than $1 million through its corporate PAC in the 2020 elections but disclosed giving nearly $9.6 million to political non-profits in 2019 alone. From 2015 to 2019, CVS Health gave over $31 million to political non-profits, Intel gave $18 million, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield health insurance $16 million, Dow $16 million, AT&T $9 million, and Microsoft $6 million.

Corporations have also been active political spenders at the state level. An analysis of the legislators supporting 245 state voter suppression bills found, as of March 1, 2021, corporate campaign spending of over $22 million in the 2020 election cycle to benefit state legislators who supported voter suppression. These legislators wrote voter suppression bills, co-sponsored them, or voted for them. Of the 100 largest U.S. corporations, 81 gave money to these state legislators, and of the 500 largest corporations, 225 did so. In addition, corporate trade associations gave $16 million to these state legislators in the 2020 election cycle. Of the 123 corporations or corporate trade associations that announced a rethinking of corporate PAC spending after January 6th, 94 have given money to state legislators who supported voter suppression. Among the top 12 of these corporate spenders are Altria / Philip Morris, AT&T, United Health, Comcast / NBC, Walmart, Pfizer, Koch Industries, State Farm, and Verizon. [3]

By the way, when some corporations and their leaders made statements opposing voter suppression, Senator McConnell (Republican of KY and Senate minority leader) called on them to stay out of politics. This is beyond disingenuous as McConnell and his Republican colleagues have been the beneficiaries of hundreds of millions of dollars of corporate campaign contributions and spending. If the corporate leaders actually heeded McConnell’s call, the Republican Party would be bankrupt.

I urge you to speak out against voter suppression whenever and wherever you get the chance – with state-level elected officials, with national office holders, and with business leaders. Ask them to support efforts to make it simple and easy for every citizen to vote, and to oppose all efforts to make voting harder. Please also speak out in support of full disclosure of all political spending by corporations and others and in opposition to efforts to hide the identities of donors, particularly through the use of  “dark money” non-profits.

If you would like to email the CEOs of companies with a significant presence in Georgia to ask them to speak out against the voter suppression bill just passed in Georgia, here’s a list courtesy of Robert Hubbell’s daily newsletter of 4/5/21. (Sign up for his “Today’s Edition” newsletter here.)

  • The Home Depot               Craig Menear           craig_menear@homedepot.com
  • United Parcel Service         Carol B. Tomé           carol@ups.com
  • Delta Air Lines                    Ed Bastian                bastian@delta.com
  • Arby’s                                 Paul Brown               pbrown@inspirebrands.com
  • The Coca-Cola Company   James Quincey         asktheboard@coca-cola.com
  • Cox Media Group              Daniel York                york@cmg.com
  • Genuine Parts Company    Paul D. Donahue       paul_donahue@genpt.com
  • Georgia Pacific                   Christian Fischer       cfischer@gapac.com
  • Porsche                              Oliver Blume             blume@porsche.de

[1]      Brennan Center for Justice, 4/1/21, “Voting laws roundup: March 2021,” (https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/voting-laws-roundup-march-2021)

[2]      Massoglia, A., 1/15/21, “Corporations rethinking PACs leave the door to ‘dark money’ open,” OpenSecrets.org, Center for Responsive Politics (https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2021/01/corporations-rethinking-corporate-pacs-leave-dark-money-open/)

[3]      Tanglis, M., Lincoln, T., & Claypool, R., 4/5/21, “The corporate sponsors of voter suppression,” Public Citizen (https://www.citizen.org/article/corporate-sponsors-of-voter-suppression-state-lawmakers-50-million/)

PANDEMIC RELIEF, UNITY, AND BIPARTISANSHIP

Note: If you find my posts too long or too dense to read on occasion, please just read the bolded portions. They present the key points I’m making and the most important information I’m sharing.

Passage of the American Rescue Plan (ARP), i.e., the pandemic relief package, is a milestone for unity because it fosters economic recovery and fairness for all Americans. Although it was a great opportunity for bipartisanship, unfortunately it has only been another milestone in the continuing, now decades-long, hyper-partisanship of Republicans.

President Biden had Republicans to the White House to try to obtain bipartisan support. He compromised by cutting unemployment benefits and reducing the number of Americans who qualified for relief payments by 17 million to address Republicans’ and conservative Democrats’ concerns about the costs of the bill and the targeting of benefits to those most in need. Nonetheless, the Republicans did everything they could to delay the bill, including demanding that the whole 628-page bill be read aloud in the Senate. And then, not one single Republican voted for it despite its overwhelming, bipartisan support for it among Americans. Roughly 75% of Americans supported the bill, including about 60% of Republicans.

Many in the media reported inaccurately that the passage of the ARP was also the death of bipartisanship because no Republican voted for it. The truth is that Republicans killed bipartisanship in the 1990s with their impeachment of President Clinton and put another nail in its coffin in 2008 with their pledge to make President Obama fail and to block every one of his legislative initiatives.

The ARP will cut the number of children living in poverty by one half. Child poverty in the U.S. is significantly higher than any other wealthy country and is incredibly harmful to children. Children in poverty in the U.S. are, of course, disproportionately children of color. The ARP will cut the overall number of Americans in poverty by 1/3. By the way, the official poverty line in the U.S. is well below any minimally realistic standard of living in many parts of the country at $26,500 for a family of four, which can be a single parent with three children.

The ARP provides a huge boost to middle-income families, increasing their after-tax incomes by an average of 5.5%, or about $2,750 for a family with a $50,000 income and $5,500 for a family with a $100,000 income.

Perhaps not surprisingly, Republicans’ calls for unity seem to have disappeared in the shadow of their blatantly partisan actions on the ARP. They have made it clear that their primary goal is obstruction of any initiative proposed by President Biden and supported by Democrats, even if it would do tremendous good for the country, its people and small businesses, as the ARP will. The Republicans will even obstruct policies that have broad bipartisan support among the public if somehow they believe that doing so will help them politically, i.e., in retaining their power and elected positions.

Perhaps not surprisingly as well, some Republicans are already trying to take credit for the benefits of the ARP, making it sound like they supported it. For example, Senator Wicker (R-MS) tweeted positively about the bill the same day that it passed, noting that it would help small businesses and restaurants, and giving the false impression that he had voted for it.

Republicans’ obstructionism has extended to President Biden’s nominees for his Cabinet and other positions. The precedent is that every President should be allowed to have whomever he wishes in his Cabinet, regardless of political differences. Unqualified and inappropriate nominees have been smoothly confirmed for President Trump and other Republican Presidents. Nonetheless, Senate Republicans have been dragging their feet and opposing some of Biden’s nominees solely for political reasons. They are even opposing nominees because of their partisan social media activity – a standard that would have disqualified a number of Trump nominees.

Looking ahead a bit, the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act were recently passed by the House and would take strong steps to guarantee the right to vote for all, a key step toward unifying America. (See this previous post for more details.) These bills have the broad, bipartisan support of about 70% of Americans. However, the Republicans plan to block them in the Senate with the filibuster. Meanwhile, Republicans in many state legislatures and Governors’ offices are pushing bills that would suppress voting, particularly of people of color and those with low-incomes. (See this previous post for more details.) The House has also passed the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which will presumably be blocked by a filibuster by Senate Republicans. Clearly, most Republicans in Congress and those in many states across the country have no interest in bipartisanship and no interest in unifying America.

The hypocrisy of Republicans in Congress was just highlighted by their filing of a bill to repeal the estate tax. Over the next ten years, this would give $350 billion to 2,000 very wealthy people (i.e., those with estates of over $11 million for an individual or $22 million for a couple). Yet, the Republicans pushed to stop 17 million middle class Americans from receiving the $1,400 pandemic relief payments to save $24 billion (7% of the estate tax giveaway) and also to reduce weekly unemployment benefits by $100. So, Republicans support a big tax cut for some of the wealthiest people in America but oppose a little help for those in the middle class. This makes it clear that their purported concern about government spending and the deficit is hypocritical. Clearly, their calls for unity are hypocritical as well.

On a personal note, I’m dismayed to be writing so negatively about most Republicans and the Republican Party. I believe in political competition and an honest debate over policies. I grew up in New York State when Nelson Rockefeller, a Republican, was a well-respected Governor for 16 years. Up until the 1980s, I was a proud Independent voter, not registered in either party. My first significant political involvement was in 1980 when I worked hard for John Anderson for President, a Republican running as an independent against Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan.

However, the 1980s made it clear to me that the Republicans had become wedded to an anti-government, anti-worker, anti-civil rights agenda. And their agenda has only gotten more extreme since then. In the 1990s, I became quite disillusioned with the national Democrats who adopted much of the Republican deregulation, pro-big business, pro-Wall Street agenda.

The Republican Party, for the most part, has now adopted an anti-democracy agenda that supports voter suppression, big corporations, and wealthy individuals without reservations. I hope President Biden can change the direction of the country and the Democratic national party while standing up to the radical revolutionaries of the Republican Party.

I urge you to contact the White House and let Biden know that you support his and the Democrats’ efforts to restore our democracy and its commitments to equal opportunity for all, the rule of law, and government of, by, and for ALL the people. You can contact the White House at https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact.

UNITY MEANS VOTING FOR ALL: FEDERAL LEGISLATION

In a democracy built on the premise that all people are created equal and a commitment to one person, one vote, the electoral goal should be a guaranteed right to vote (which does not currently exist) and 100% voter participation. Work toward these goals would be a strong unifying force. Unfortunately, there are many Republicans who are working to restrict voting in ways that give them an electoral advantage. As my previous post documented, the good news is that at least 37 states are considering over 540 bills to expand or ease access to voting. This is almost three times as many such bills as had been introduced a year ago. The bad news is that 33 states are considering 165 bills that would restrict access to voting. This is almost five times as many such bills as were under consideration a year ago. [1]

There’s more good news at the federal level where there are  two important pieces of legislation that will protect and support every citizen’s right to vote: [2]

  • For the People Act (H.R. 1 in the House and S. 1 in the Senate) which addresses many issues related to making it easier to vote; promoting one person, one vote; controlling campaign spending; and enhancing ethical standards for public officials.
  • John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act which focuses on eliminating racial discrimination in states’ electoral systems and addresses election oversight shortcomings that the Supreme Court created when it gutted the Voting Rights Act in 2013.

The For the People Act was passed by the House in 2019 but ignored by Senate Republicans led by Senator McConnell (KY). It has been reintroduced in both the House and the Senate and would:

  • Improve access to voting by:
    • Streamlining voter registration
    • Expanding early voting and taking other steps to reduce waiting times at the polls
    • Expanding and simplifying voting by mail
    • Restoring voting rights to people who have completed their sentence for a felony
  • Promote one person, one vote, as well as voting integrity and security by:
    • Ending gerrymandering of districts
    • Regulating purges of voting rolls to prevent partisan voter suppression
    • Providing $1 billion for upgrading the security of state voting systems, including requiring auditable paper ballots
    • Increasing oversight of voting machine vendors
    • Restructuring the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to strengthen its enforcement of election laws
  • Increase disclosure of campaign spending by:
    • Requiring all organizations engaged in political activity to disclose large donors
    • Requiring disclosure of spending on on-line political ads
    • Eliminating the funneling of campaign spending through multiple entities in order to prevent donor identification
  • Enhance the value of small campaign donations and limit the influence of wealthy donors by:
    • Creating a 6 to 1 match for small donations to candidates who opt into a system that matches small donations with public funds (Note: This is a critically important strategy that is working in New York City and elsewhere to enlarge and diversify the pool of candidates who run, engage and amplify the voices of regular people, and limit the influence of wealthy donors. [3])
    • Raising the funds to match small donations through a surcharge on fines corporations pay for illegal activity and on tax cheating by the wealthy
    • Dramatically lowering the maximum campaign contribution limit for candidates who opt into the matching system
  • Enhance ethics laws governing public officials and strengthen their enforcement by:
    • Requiring Presidents to disclose their tax returns
    • Strengthening conflict of interest and financial divestment standards for public officials
    • Slowing the revolving door between related private and public sector jobs
    • Prohibiting Members of Congress from serving on corporate boards
    • Strengthening the Office of Government Ethics and its enforcement powers
    • Closing loopholes in the regulations governing lobbyists and foreign agents
    • Creating a code of ethics for Supreme Court Justices

The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act is designed to respond to the Supreme Court’s 2013 decision that gutted the Voting Rights Act, fixing what the Court said made the law unconstitutional. The implementation of voting restrictions accelerated sharply immediately after the Supreme Court’s decision, with Republicans using them to target non-white and other voters who tend to vote for Democrats. The bill would also address other issues related to racial discrimination in voting systems. This bill was passed by the House in 2019 but was ignored by Senate Republicans led by Senator McConnell (KY). It has been reintroduced in both the House and the Senate and would:

  • Establish new criteria for determining which states and political subdivisions must obtain preclearance before changing voting procedures. (Preclearance means receiving approval from the Department of Justice before making changes to voting procedures.)
    • The new criteria focus on particular practices that have been problematic in the past because they restricted access to voting, often in a discriminatory way. These practices include onerous vote ID requirements and the changing of district boundaries, voting locations, early and mail-in voting opportunities, and voter registration list maintenance procedures.
    • All jurisdictions (e.g., counties, cities, and towns) would be required to obtain preapproval for implementing more stringent requirements for documentation to vote (such as IDs) than those established by federal law for vote by-mail registration or than those present in state law.
  • Require appropriate notification to the public of changes in voting procedures.
  • Clarify the circumstances under which a court must immediately block changes to voting procedures that have been challenged.
  • Establish standards and procedures for deploying federal election observers when problems with voting access are identified, particularly a serious threat of racial discrimination.

There is strong bipartisan support for the provisions of these bills that move toward guaranteeing the right to vote and making it easy to do so, as well as protecting the integrity of our elections. It is particularly noteworthy that this level of support exists despite all the Republican attacks on many of these aspects of our voting systems, especially voting by mail. For example: [4]

  • 86% support working to prevent foreign interference; 7% are opposed.
  • 84% want enhanced election security; 8% are opposed.
  • 74% support non-partisan determination of electoral districts; 11% are opposed.
  • 68% want 15 days of early voting; 19% are opposed.
  • 60% support same day voter registration; 29% are opposed.
  • 59% support automatic voter registration; 29% are opposed.
  • 58% want to vote by mail; 35% are opposed.

I encourage you to contact your U.S. Representative and Senators and urge them to support efforts to make it easier to vote, to encourage every citizen to vote, to end racial and partisan discrimination in states’ election systems, and to enhance the integrity and security of our elections.

You can find contact information for your US Representative at  http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/ and for your US Senators at http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm.

[1]      Brennan Center for Justice, 2/8/21, “Voting laws roundup 2021,” (https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/voting-laws-roundup-2021-0)

[2]      Perez, M., & Lau, T., 1/28/21, “How to restore and strengthen the Voting Rights Act,” The Brennan Center for Justice (https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/how-to-restore-and-strengthen-voting-rights-act)

[3]      Vandewalker, I., 2/4/21, “How to change incentives for both politicians and donors,” The Brennan Center for Justice (https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/how-change-incentives-both-politicians-and-donors)

[4]      Cox Richardson, H., 2/25/21, “Letters from an American blog,” (https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/february-25-2021)

UNITY MEANS VOTING FOR ALL

In a democracy built on the promise of all people created equal and a commitment to one person, one vote, the electoral goal should be 100% voter turnout. Working toward this goal would be a strong unifying force and would provide a strong unifying message for the country. The states, which run our elections, and their election officials should work to make it easy to vote and to encourage people to register and vote.

Unfortunately, there are many Republicans who are working to restrict voting in ways that give them an electoral advantage. This is anything but unifying. A national law establishing election standards and overseeing states to ensure they live up to our democracy’s voting goals would make sense.

At the federal level, there are  two pieces of legislation (which I will describe in more detail in a future post) that will protect and support every citizen’s right to vote: [1]

  • For the People Act (H.R. 1 in the House and S. 1 in the Senate) which addresses many of the election oversight issues that the Supreme Court eliminated in its 2013 decision gutting the Voting Rights Act
  • John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act which focuses on racial discrimination in voting.

At the state level, the very high voter turnout in 2020, partially propelled by no-excuse mail-in voting and early voting implemented as a response to the coronavirus pandemic, is a great starting point to work toward further increasing voter participation. Indeed, to-date, 37 states are considering 541 bills to expand or ease access to voting. This is almost three times as many such bills as had been introduced in 29 states at this point a year ago. [2]

However, 33 states are considering 165 bills that would restrict access to voting. This is almost five times as many such bills as were under consideration in 15 states a year ago. In general, these restrictive bills have been introduced by Republicans in Republican-dominated legislatures, particularly in states where Donald Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, lost. These efforts are not the way to unify America. [3]

The 541 bills to expand or ease access to voting have been introduced in a wide variety of states, from New York (87 bills) and New Jersey (38 bills) to Texas (67 bills), Mississippi (38 bills) and Missouri (26 bills). These bills primarily focus on:

  • Making it easy to vote by mail. Eleven states will consider bills allowing all voters to vote by mail without requiring a reason or “excuse” for needing an absentee ballot. Twelve states have bills that would give voters the opportunity to correct technical mistakes on their mailed-in ballots. Twelve states have bills that would allow or require drop boxes for returning mail ballots. Nine states might extend the postmark or delivery date deadline for mailed ballots. Fourteen states will consider allowing election officials to start processing mail ballots before election day, which would speed up the counting of votes and the availability of election results.
  • Expanding opportunities for early voting. Eighteen states will consider allowing early voting for the first time, lengthening the early voting period, and/or increasing the number of early voting sites.
  • Making it easier to register to vote. Fifteen states have bills that would allow same-day registration, i.e., registering to vote on the same day that one votes. Fifteen states will consider implementing automatic voter registration, e.g., registering people to vote when they get a driver’s license or have some other interaction with a state agency. Five states will consider adding on-line voter registration.
  • Restoring voting rights to those with criminal convictions. Nineteen states have bills to restore voting rights to or ease voting restrictions on people with a criminal conviction.

The 165 bills that would restrict or complicate access to voting are under consideration in 33 states, with Arizona (19 bills), Pennsylvania (14 bills), Georgia (11 bills), and New Hampshire (10 bills) having the most such bills. The rationale for these requirements is almost always the supposed danger of fraud, which is non-existent for all practical purposes. However, President Trump’s unrelenting but false assertion of voter fraud and a stolen election have fed this narrative. These bills primarily focus on:

  • Making it harder to vote by mail. Nine states will consider eliminating no-excuse voting by mail or tightening the excuse requirement. Seven states have bills to prevent the sending of a mail ballot to a voter unless they specifically request one, while four states might prohibit sending an application for a mail ballot without a request. Six states have bills that would reduce the ability of voters to register permanently for a mail ballot. Some states will consider bills that require witnesses or notarization for mail ballots or requests for mail ballots. Some states will consider restrictions on how mail ballots can be returned, including requiring an ID, prohibiting the use of drop boxes, and even prohibiting returning them by mail. Some states have bills proposing restrictions on the counting of mail ballots based on deadlines for postmark or receipt date, or through requiring signature matching.
  • Imposing stricter voter identification (ID) requirements. Eighteen states will consider imposing new or more stringent voter ID requirements for in-person or mail voting.
  • Making it harder to register to vote. Five states have bills that would eliminate same-day registration and ten more have bills that would cut back on same-day registration. Four states have bills that would require proof of citizenship to register to vote and four states have bills that would eliminate, prohibit, or suspend automatic voter registration.
  • Allowing more aggressive purges of registered voters. Twelve states have bills that would expand the purging of voters from the rolls of registered voters.

So, the good news is that there are more efforts in the states to expand and streamline access to voting than there are efforts to restrict voting. The bad news is that there are significant efforts to restrict voting plus there is much damage to be undone, given that Republicans have been engaged in successful efforts to restrict voting in ways that benefit them politically for at least ten years.

The efforts to and success in restricting voting accelerated after the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act in 2013. Republicans have blocked efforts in Congress to replace parts of the Act that are clearly necessary to prevent states from engaging in targeted voting restrictions, often aimed at non-white voters (who tend to vote for Democrats).

Targeted voter suppression has been a successful strategy for the Republicans. For example, the 2018 Governor’s race in Georgia and the 2016 presidential race were almost certainly stolen by the Republicans due to the success of their voter suppression activities. The 2000 presidential race, Gore versus Bush, was also almost certainly stolen, not by the vote counting debacle, but by the permanent disenfranchisement of hundreds of thousands of people with felony convictions in Florida (who are disproportionately Black and likely to vote for Democrats).

At the state level, I encourage you to contact your state officials – your Governor, State Senator, State Representative, and Secretary of State or whomever runs your state’s elections – and urge them to support efforts to make it easier to vote and to encourage every citizen to vote.

[1]      Perez, M., & Lau, T., 1/28/21, “How to restore and strengthen the Voting Rights Act,” The Brennan Center for Justice (https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/how-to-restore-and-strengthen-voting-rights-act)

[2]      Brennan Center for Justice, 2/8/21, “Voting laws roundup 2021,” (https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/voting-laws-roundup-2021-0)

[3]      Wines, M., 1/31/21, “After record turnout, GOP tries to make it harder to vote,” The Boston Globe from the New York Times

POLICIES FOR UNIFYING AMERICA

Unifying America requires economic security and equal opportunity for all. If one’s choices in life (i.e., one’s liberty and freedom) are constrained by an unfair criminal justice system or unaffordable necessities of life such as food, shelter, health care, and education, the result will be anger, frustration, and divisiveness. The fear and stress of economic insecurity, especially the loss of economic security one thought one had, make people susceptible to demagoguery and manipulation.

Among the public, there is strong bipartisan support for policies that support the well-being of all Americans and of our democracy. Most Americans actually agree on the problems we face and the solutions for them, so long as politicians do not make them partisan issues. This can be seen in the strong support President Biden is getting for his executive actions and his push for a strong pandemic relief bill, which will support the general welfare, i.e., the well-being of all Americans. (See my previous post for more detail on these.) Beyond these immediate steps, there are other policies that are needed to unify Americans by moving toward the aspirations of our democracy for liberty, justice, and equal opportunity for all.

Unity requires fair and even-handed accountability based on the rule of law. Ignoring violations of the law and “moving on” without accountability is unfair and divisive because it means some people are not held to the same standard of accountability as others are. Unity is not achieved by turning a blind eye to sedition, insurrection, and domestic terrorism (see my earlier post on this topic) or to other criminal behavior. If accountability does not make clear what is unacceptable behavior in our society, lawlessness and anarchy will be the result. Pardons of criminal behavior by allies are antithetical to the rule of law and accountability.

Accountability for white collar crimes is an essential part of achieving unity. When employers’ violations of labor laws (e.g., on pay, union organizing, and safe working conditions), when insider trading and financial manipulation on Wall Street, when corporate pollution and unsafe products, when conflicts of interest and self-dealing by government officials, and so forth are not punished, our criminal justice system is unfair and will be viewed, accurately, as biased. Lax enforcement of the law for certain types of crimes or criminals creates disunity, not unity.

Unity in our democracy means allowing and encouraging every citizen to vote and giving each vote equal impact. The suppression of voting, particularly when targeted at certain groups, is antithetical to our democracy’s promise of equality for all. Voting should be easy and convenient in terms of the places and times for voting. Early voting and mail-in voting (including drop boxes for mail-in ballots) should be broadly and easily available. Efforts to restrict voting do not promote unity. Onerous identification requirements for voters are voter suppression; there is absolutely no evidence of any voter fraud, except very occasional, isolated, local incidents that ID requirements typically would not address. Gerrymandering of districts for state and federal offices reduces the impact of some voters’ votes and has no place in our democracy; it fosters divisiveness, not unity. The standard of one person, one vote, means that each vote should have as equal an impact as possible.

Unity requires acknowledgement and healing of the effects of the deep and long-standing racism in our country. Racism and white supremacy are key components of our current disunity and of the heightened focus on the Confederate flag and Confederate statues and symbols.

The failure to hold the leaders of the Confederacy accountable after the Civil War and the “moving on” that let them resume control of state and local governments in the South was devastating to African-Americans.  It resulted in Jim Crow laws and a racist criminal “justice” system that subjugated the supposedly emancipated African-Americans after the Civil War. This failure to demand accountability led directly to the racism in our society today. Racism has been used politically by the Republican Party since Nixon’s Southern Strategy in 1968 and it exploded with Donald Trump and his presidency and takeover of the Republican Party. Our society’s racism has been aided and abetted by many Democrats and non-partisans, as well, over many years.

In the late 1700s, equal opportunity and “all men are created equal” applied only to white men with property. Over the past 230 years, the United States has slowly and fitfully moved toward its aspirational vision of equal opportunity for all people, regardless of race, ethnicity, country of origin, gender and gender identity, religion, and other characteristics. But we still have a long way to go. Our democracy’s vision has been and is undermined by intolerant white men and other white people who fail to realize or accept that it requires extending rights and equality to everyone – liberty, justice, and equal opportunity for ALL. [1]

America needs a Truth and Reconciliation Commission along the lines of what South Africa did to end apartheid and what Canada has done to address its treatment of its native populations. We must acknowledge the harm done and implement restorative justice for both Blacks and Native Americans. We need to act aggressively now to stop current discrimination, while pursuing a serious, in-depth examination of what has transpired and how to achieve justice.

On these issues and many others, unifying America requires that Congress, state legislators, and our political parties work together on policies that are in the public interest and support the well-being of all Americans. Obstructionism must end. It is anti-democratic and divisive. Ideas and policy proposals need to be considered based on whether they are fair and good for the general welfare, not whether they are Democratic or Republican. Decisions need to be made based on whether they move our society toward the aspirational vision of our democracy, not based on some politicizing label someone may try to attach to them or to a proposed solution.

Polling of the public can provide important guidance on what people want, but true leadership by our elected officials is also needed. There’s strong evidence from polling and elsewhere that people want:

  • Health care for all and reduced drug prices;
  • Serious actions to address climate change;
  • Steps to reduce gun violence;
  • Wealthy individuals and corporations to pay their fair share of taxes and other steps to reduce economic inequality;
  • An end to special interest influence on policy making through campaign spending, lobbying, and the revolving door;
  • Actions to increase economic security, including increasing the minimum wage and addressing housing and food insecurity;
  • Improvements to our education systems: affordable higher education; affordable, universal, high quality early education and child care; and equity and quality in K-12 education; and
  • Strong enforcement of antitrust laws to reduce the monopolistic marketplace power of large corporations as well as the undemocratic concentration of economic and political power they hold.

President Biden is taking actions that are unifying America. He is making all Americans feel like the government is doing something good for them, for the good of our country, and not just for special interests and wealthy individuals and corporations. Biden has stated repeatedly that he will work for the good of all Americans whether they voted for him or not, and that he will reach out for sincere bipartisanship. This rhetoric and these actions are essential if we want unity.

People calling for unity are being hypocritical if they aren’t committed to honestly working toward the vision of our democracy and our Constitution for liberty, justice, and equal opportunity for all. Without such a commitment, both in action and in rhetoric, there can be no unity. Our aspirational principles and ideals are what make our democratic republic exceptional. To work toward unity and achieving our democracy’s goals, we and our elected leaders must undertake an honest search for the common good, common ground, and how to best to promote the general welfare via government of, by, and for all the people.

[1]      Baptiste, N., Jan.-Feb. 2021,  “Trump lost. But racism will probably win again,” Mother Jones  (https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/12/trump-lost-but-racism-will-probably-win-again/)

POLICIES FOR UNITY, i.e., FOR LIBERTY, JUSTICE, AND EQUAL OPPORTUNITY FOR ALL

What unites all truly patriotic Americans are the promises of our democracy: liberty, justice, and equal opportunity for all. These aspirational principles and ideals are what make our democratic republic exceptional. (See my previous post for more detail.) To work toward unity and achieving our democracy’s goals, we and our elected leaders must undertake an honest search for the common good, common ground, and how to best promote the general welfare via government of, by, and for all the people.

Unity requires economic security and equal opportunity for all, so one’s choices in life (i.e., one’s liberty and freedom) are not constrained by economic deprivation or unaffordable necessities of life such as food, shelter, health care, and education. Unity means equal opportunity for all, particularly for every child. This is what valuing families or “family values” should mean to all of us.

We can’t have unity when a million people a week are requesting unemployment benefits and millions are struggling to put food on the table and avoid eviction, while 660 billionaires have added $1.1 trillion (an average of $1.7 billion each) to their wealth since March.

Unity requires adherence to facts and a commitment to seeking and promoting truth. Without this, there is no common ground on which to formulate policies and make decisions. Unity requires acknowledging the results of the 2020 election and stating that they were legitimate and fair. The media must stop promoting false equivalencies – of truth with untruth and alternative “facts” (which aren’t facts, of course) – and either ignore or prominently label false narratives and statements as such. A return to the Fairness Doctrine governing broadcast media (TV and radio), which was repealed in 1987, should be considered to require those using the public airwaves (which requires a public license) to present information on issues of public importance and to do so honestly, equitably, and in a balanced manner. Similar regulation of social and cable media should also be explored.

Unity requires a fair and unbiased application of the rule of law. Everyone must be held accountable to the same set of legal standards or a society cannot function; it would be riven with divisiveness and fighting among factions. Violent protesters of all stripes need to face equal justice and those who aided and abetted violent protests must be held accountable under the law as well. There needs to be acknowledgement of racial bias and harm. Then, there needs to be restorative justice if unity is to be achieved.

Unity requires our elected officials to work together in good faith to promote the general welfare. Certainly, there will be differences of opinion, but they must be resolved through good faith negotiations and compromise. Obstructionism is antithetical to unity.

Hypocrisy is also antithetical to unity. Different standards or principles cannot be applied in the same or similar situations. There are too many examples of this in our politics and society today to do justice to them all, but examples include:

  • Condemning violence against police that occurs in demonstrations for racial justice but not when it occurs in an insurrection targeted at stopping the democratic transition of power.
  • Blocking the confirmation of a Supreme Court justice nine months before the end of a Democratic president’s term but confirming a Republican President’s nominee on short notice just three months before the end of his term.
  • Opposing deficit spending when proposed by Democrats to help working Americans but not when proposed by Republicans to cut taxes on wealthy individuals and corporations.

Here are some specific, largely short-term, actions and policies our elected leaders must embrace if they truly wish to strive for unity:

  • President Biden’s appointees must be approved in a timely fashion, with appropriate oversight of course. This applies to Cabinet members, other executive branch positions, and to judges.
  • Financial assistance must be provided to working Americans. Over 1 million workers are still applying for unemployment each week. The economy has not rebounded to the point where emergency assistance is no longer needed; millions of families are facing hunger and homelessness. Additional direct financial assistance is needed, as Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, among many others, has stated. Furthermore, unemployment benefits need to be extended and enhanced and the minimum wage needs to be raised – for those who have jobs and those re-entering the workforce.
  • For workers doing face-to-face work, their safety must be assured. Strong, enforceable and enforced safety standards are a necessity.
  • Financial assistance must be provided to small businesses. Thousands of small businesses have gone out of business and thousands more are on the verge of doing so. Financial supports for large corporations through Federal Reserve and Treasury programs that operate largely out of the public eye have been very generous (trillions of dollars) and very successful. This is evidenced by the fact that the stock markets are at all-time highs, believe it or not, despite the struggles of small businesses and working Americans.
  • Funding is needed for COVID vaccinations. Money is needed for distribution of the vaccines and to help financially strapped states and communities implement vaccination programs. The quicker and more effective the rollout of vaccinations, the greater the number of lives that will be saved and of illnesses that will be prevented. The Federal Reserve and others have also noted the importance of vaccinations to the recovery of the economy.
  • Financial assistance is needed for state and local governments, as they have seen their revenue fall dramatically and their costs increase with the pandemic. Without this assistance, state and local governments have been laying off tens of thousands of workers which hurts the workers, the economy and its recovery, and the delivery of badly needed government services.
  • Criminal justice system reform must be undertaken aggressively. Racism needs to be eliminated from all components of the system. Police need strong national standards and oversight on the use of force and racism. The school (and even preschool) to prison pipeline needs to be ended and more appropriate interventions and discipline instituted. Mental health services need to be made available to children, youth, and adults instead of throwing these problems to the criminal justice system. Prosecution and sentencing need to fair and the use of restorative justice needs to be expanded. Rehabilitation and successful re-entry to society need to be the focus of imprisonment, probation, and parole.

President Biden’s Executive Orders are beginning to address many of these issues. They are promoting unity (despite claims otherwise by some Republicans) because they are implementing policies that most Americans support, but which haven’t made it through Congress due to partisanship. For example, 83% of Americans support a ban on workplace discrimination based on sexual identification, 77% want the government to promote racial equity, 75% support the government requiring masks on federal property, and 68% support the continued suspension of federal student loan repayments. A majority of Americans support rejoining the World Health Organization and the Paris climate accords. [1]

People calling for unity are hypocrites unless they are committed to honestly working toward the vision of our democracy and our Constitution for liberty, justice, and equal opportunity for all or, in other words, for promotion of the general welfare. Without such a commitment, there can be no unity.

My next post will highlight more specific and longer-term policies that will promote unity and our shared vision of liberty, justice, and equal opportunity for all.

[1]      Richardson, H.C., 1/29/21, Letters from an American blog post,” (https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/january-29-2021)

UNIFYING AMERICA

We do need to unify America, both among the public and our policy makers, particularly our partisan Members of Congress. However, there are some people whose minds are like concrete, thoroughly mixed and permanently set – often based on false information – who cannot be convinced to share in a unified vision of America. We will need to ignore them at times and at other times to counter their destructive messages and acts.

What we have that truly unites us all are the promises of our democracy: its principles and ideals of liberty, justice, and equal opportunity for all. As the preamble to Constitution states, the United States of America was formed to create “a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.”

These principles and ideals are what make our democratic republic exceptional – not what was actually established in 1789, not what it looks like today, and not what it has been at any time in between. The aspiration to achieve this vision is what is exceptional and we have struggled to live up to it to this day.

There is great diversity in America – which can and should be one of our strengths – and significant differences of opinion on how to achieve the promises of our democracy. We need to approach these differences rationally and collegially, with an eye on the overarching vision.

To unify America, we need a unity of purpose, driven by our vision for our democracy, and to be delivered by government of, by, and for all the people. Unifying America requires an honest search for the common good, common ground, and how to best to “promote the general welfare”. Loyal opposition is fine but not destructive opposition, not obstructionism, nor radical revolutionaries trying to tear down our democratic institutions and processes.

In today’s economy and society, we need to reconceptualize the commitments to liberty, freedom, and the promotion of the general welfare. President Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) in his State of the Union Address in 1944 argued that the “political rights” guaranteed by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights had “proved inadequate to assure us equality in the pursuit of happiness”. FDR proposed an “economic bill of rights” to guarantee equal opportunity and freedom from want that included the:

  • Right to a job and a fair income that could support a family,
  • Right to a decent home,
  • Right to health care and health,
  • Right to social security in old age, sickness, unemployment, and injury,
  • Right to a good education, and
  • Freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies.

To unify America, we need to work toward liberty and freedom for all built on economic security and equal opportunity so one’s choices (i.e., one’s liberty and freedom) in life are not constrained by poverty, economic deprivation, or unaffordable necessities of life such as food, shelter, health care, and education.

To ensure liberty and freedom for all in our new democratic republic, the Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the Constitution, was adopted in 1791. These rights remain critically important. However, we need to review the implementation of some of them in light of current technology and current politics.

On freedom of speech, we need to figure out how to regulate free speech on social media; to figure out what is the social media equivalent of yelling “FIRE” in the middle of a crowded theater. Recent events have made it clear that unbridled free speech on social media has contributed to violence and terrorism (i.e., speech that puts people in fear or psychological distress). In addition, social media have contributed to the dissemination of harmful misinformation. How to appropriately control speech on social media – allowing robust speech and conversations while limiting harm – is something we need to figure out.

Freedom of speech in our democracy, where all people are promised equality, means giving equal volume to every voice in America. Giving a bullhorn to those with money and a muzzle to those without money is antithetical to our vision for American democracy. Current legal interpretations equate spending money with free speech, including spending by corporations (not just spending by human beings). This needs to be reconsidered if we want to unify America.

Freedom of religion was meant to allow each individual to practice his or her own religion without the government dictating what an individual could believe or practice. Today, legal interpretations have gone beyond this and, for example, given employers the right to deny contraceptives and other health care to women because of the employer’s religious beliefs. Legal interpretations have also given health care provider institutions and individuals, who are licensed by the government, the right to deny both services and information to patients based on the provider’s religious beliefs. If we want to unify America, freedom of religion should not impede an individual’s right to make decisions with full information and with all choices available to her or him. Individual’s choices should not be dictated or constrained by others’ religious beliefs.

Justice for all means that everyone’s treatment in our society and justice system should be equal and fair, and that the rule of law should be applied fairly and equally to everyone. Anyone and everyone who violates the law must be held accountable. If some people are allowed to violate the law with impunity and others are prosecuted and punished, there won’t be unity. A dramatic, historical example is that after the Civil War we failed to hold the leaders of the Confederacy accountable. We allowed them to return to power in state and local governments. The result was Jim Crow laws and the re-subjugation of African Americans. This underscores the importance of holding white supremacists and racists accountable for their domestic terrorism and other violations of the law today, 150 years later.

Justice for all also means that if some people have received unfairly harsh treatment from our laws and criminal justice system, there cannot by unity until those wrongs are acknowledged and corrected, including providing just compensation.

Unifying America means providing equal opportunity to everyone, particularly to every child. This is what valuing families or “family values” should mean to all of us. One test for a just society is what ethicist John Rawls called the veil of ignorance. He defined a fair society as one where, if confronted with a veil of ignorance about our position and role in society, we would be willing to accept anyone’s position and role in the society. As an early childhood advocate, I’ve presented this as thinking that you are the baby that the stork is about to deliver and if you are comfortable being delivered to any parent in the society, then it’s a fair society. But if there are some parents (or for the previous description, some positions and roles in society) that you would not want to be delivered to or put in, then the society is unfair and unjust, as it does not provide equal opportunity for everyone.

If people truly want to unify America, they must be committed to honestly working toward the vision of our democracy and our Constitution for liberty, justice, and equal opportunity for all or, in other words, for promotion of the general welfare. Without this, there can be no unity.

In my next post, I will discuss these topics more specifically in terms of public policies and actions that are needed to unify America.

ACCOUNTABILITY FOR INSURRECTION AND DOMESTIC TERRORISM

Now that we’ve all had a bit of time to get more information and to reflect on the insurrection and domestic terrorism that occurred at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, I wanted to share two information sources that I found valuable in helping me understand that event, as well as to share some reflections on it. I use the terms insurrection and domestic terrorism purposefully because they are accurate terminology for what happened – as are sedition [1] and treason [2]. I believe it’s important to call the events and the behavior what they are. The significance of what occurred is demeaned by simply referring to it as a protest or a violent mob. I believe it is also important to call out the racism, as well as the white and male supremacy, that were central to and at the root of the chain of misinformation, brain washing, and other events that led to what occurred on January 6.

I strongly urge you to listen to Bill Moyers (one of my long-time heroes) on his Moyers on Democracy podcast interviewing Heather Cox Richardson (rapidly becoming one of my heroes) as they discuss the domestic terrorist attack on the Capitol and the current political situation in the U.S.  Richardson’s historical perspective (she’s a history professor at Boston College) is valuable for putting the attack in perspective. The podcast is 40 minutes and is well worth listening to. Or you can read the transcript. https://billmoyers.com/story/podcast-bill-moyers-and-heather-cox-richardson/

I also found Rachel Maddow’s show on January 7 valuable. First, she reviews the events of the 6th with videos and interviews that provide additional information on how violent and threatening the insurrection was and how close Members of Congress came to being personally confronted or captured by the terrorists. Then, she highlights passages from the book On Tyranny and interviews its author (at 21 minutes into the show). She follows this with a video of the arrest in the Capitol Rotunda in 2017 of five non-white ministers, including Raphael Warnock (who was just elected to the U.S. Senate in Georgia), for a peaceful protest of praying and singing (at 36 minutes into the show). This is followed by an interview with Sherrilyn Ifill, President of the Legal Defense Fund of the NAACP. These latter portions of the broadcast are the ones I found most valuable for gaining perspective on the seriousness of the January 6 events and the importance of holding perpetrators and enablers accountable. https://www.nbc.com/the-rachel-maddow-show/video/rachel-maddow-1721/4282029

The information and perspectives from these sources and others have left me even more convinced that everyone who participated in and enabled these acts of sedition, treason, insurrection, and terrorism needs to be held accountable. The people who stormed the Capitol should be arrested and tried. Thank God D.C.’s strict gun laws discouraged them from bringing guns or I bet there would have been more bloodshed.

Those who contributed to building the false story that the election was stolen are complicit and need to be held accountable. Many of those who stormed the Capitol were motivated by their belief that the election had been stolen and there are many more people across the country who hold this dangerous belief as well. Those who are responsible include Republican Members of Congress, the media and especially the social media platforms, lawyers involved in claiming non-existent election fraud, and others who through silence or action gave credence to the false narrative of a stolen election. This includes the wealthy Americans, corporate leaders, and corporations who have supported politicians who promoted the stolen election story with campaign donations and otherwise, including the President and Members of Congress. There are various ways to hold these co-conspirators accountable, but they all should be held accountable in one way or another.

Some people are now referring to the Republican Party as the Insurrection Party, a name it deserves unless it takes active, very public steps to eliminate the Trump cult and its seditious behavior from its leadership and membership. It would also need to repudiate or reform many policies it supports that undermine democracy, including voter suppression and gerrymandering. Its leaders, many of them Members of Congress, must stop putting their personal political ambitions ahead of their oath of office, i.e., their pledge to uphold the Constitution and our democracy.

The goal of my blog is to promote democracy – government of, by, and for the people – through polices that move us toward the principles and ideals of our democracy, such as social and economic justice. I try to avoid taking sides politically. I have strongly criticized Democrats for their very significant role in our growing economic inequality and their failure to address some social justice issues, such as our criminal justice system. However, the dominant attack on democracy and social and economic justice of the last four years has come from President Trump, his administration, and his Republican enablers in Congress. Therefore, I feel I must, at this time, single out the Republican Party for its undemocratic, to say the least, behavior.

Our country and all of us need to seriously tackle the racism and white privilege, as well as the white and male supremacy, that are at the root of the chain of misinformation, brain washing, and other events that led to what occurred on January 6. Racism and white privilege were not only evident in the explicit messages of the terrorists, but also, as has been widely noted, in the difference between the treatment of these largely white “protesters” and the treatment last summer of the diverse protesters, especially the Black protesters, who were calling for racial and social justice. The arresting and handcuffing of non-white ministers peacefully praying and singing in the Rotunda to protest budget cuts (shown on the Rachel Maddow show) stand in stark contrast to what happened in the Rotunda and the Capitol on January 6.

The big picture for our country is that the insurrection was an attempt to overthrow our democracy by stopping the peaceful transition of power based on a legitimate election. If the insurrection had ultimately been successful, it would have resulted in an authoritarian, fascist [3] government, where the rule of law would be ignored, and where control would rest with a small group of wealthy elites, primarily business executives and owners. I do not use these terms lightly; they are accurate labels for the behavior and rhetoric of Trump and his cult. The trend toward plutocracy [4] and oligarchy [5] has been going on for 40 years in the U.S. as income and wealth inequality have skyrocketed due to federal government policies by and for wealthy individuals and corporations.

I will close by repeating the bottom line of my previous post: Please contact your Members of Congress and ask them to immediately begin impeachment proceedings against President Trump for sedition and incitement of domestic terrorism. Please also ask them to contact the Vice President and the Cabinet to encourage them to invoke the 25th Amendment and remove Trump from power.

Furthermore, the Members of Congress who have aided or abetted the efforts to overturn a clearly valid election have violated their oath of office and should be investigated by Congress’s Ethics Committee and censured or expelled from Congress.

There must be accountability and consequences for the President and others who fostered this domestic terrorism, otherwise it will happen again, sooner or later, and may well be worse next time.

You can find contact information for your US Representative at  http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/ and for your US Senators at http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm.

[1]      Sedition: conduct or speech inciting people to rebel against the authority of the state.

[2]      Treason: the crime of betraying one’s country, especially by attempting to overthrow the government.

[3]      Fascist: far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalistic government characterized by dictatorial power and forcible suppression of opposition.

[4]      Plutocracy: government by the wealthy.

[5]      Oligarchy: control of a country by a small group of people.

REMOVING TRUMP AND CO-CONSPIRATORS FROM OFFICE

I urge you to contact your Members of Congress and ask them to immediately begin impeachment proceedings against President Trump for treason and incitement of domestic terrorism to overthrow the U.S. government. Please also ask them to contact the Vice President and the Cabinet to encourage them to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from power.

Trump must be removed NOW by any legal means before he does more harm. He is a clear and present danger to the country, both in terms of domestic matters and because his and his administration’s instability makes our country vulnerable to a foreign military, cyber, or terrorist attack anywhere in the world.

Furthermore, the Members of Congress who have in any way aided or abetted Trump’s efforts to overturn a clearly valid election have violated their oath of office and should be investigated by the Ethics Committee, potentially leading to their expulsion from Congress. This should also apply to any Members of Congress who aided, abetted, or gave encouragement to the domestic terrorist mob that invaded the Capitol.

There must be accountability and consequences for the President and others who fostered this domestic terrorism, otherwise it will happen again, sooner or later, and may well be worse next time.

You can find contact information for your US Representative at  http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/ and for your US Senators at http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm.

BIDEN’S OPPORTUNITY TO IMPROVE ECONOMIC SECURITY WITH PROGRESSIVE POLICIES

Looking ahead to 2021, many challenges face the country and President-elect Biden. Most of them have negatively affected the economic well-being of many Americans,  including the pandemic, the lack of racial justice, and the economic recession. All of them and others (e.g., climate change) can and should be addressed in a way that will improve the economic security of working and middle-class Americans. This would also go a long way toward restoring their faith in government and their belief that government can and is working for their benefit and not just for the benefit of big businesses and the wealthy.

Since the 1990s, the Democratic Party has joined the Republican Party in aligning itself with large corporations and the wealthy elites that run and own them through deregulation, trade deals, and tax policies that work to their benefit. As a result, the middle class has been decimated and blue collar, often unionized, workers have lost their economic security; 90% of Americans have lost ground economically over the last 30 years. Income and wealth inequality have spiraled to levels unseen since the 1920s and the economy of the 1950s and 1960s that lifted all boats has disappeared. [1]

Abandoned by the Democratic Party, which traditionally had stood up for them, white, blue collar workers and their families have been convinced to support demagogues, including Trump, who promote divisive, anti-immigrant, racist, reactionary, and undemocratic policies.

To address mainstream Americans’ loss of economic security, Biden must implement  progressive policies that will enhance their economic well-being. The public strongly supports such policies as poll after poll shows. For example, polls find that: [2]

  • 68% believe our tax system should require the wealthy to pay more,
  • 75% support paying higher income taxes to support health care, education, welfare, and infrastructure, and
  • 92% say they would rather live in a country with a low level of income inequality than one with high inequality.

There also was plenty of evidence of support for progressive policies and candidates in the 2020 election results. (See my previous post on this topic for some details.)

A key factor contributing to economic insecurity and inequality, and one Americans clearly understand, is that large corporations and their executives and lobbyists have undue influence on U.S. policies. By margins of more than two-to-one they don’t want President Biden appointing corporate executives or lobbyists to positions in his administration. Roughly 75% of poll respondents say that an administration official overseeing or regulating an industry they have a connection to is a “big problem” and about 90% say it is at least “a little bit of a problem.” The public knows that the so-called “revolving door” between positions in large corporations and ones in government lead to policies that benefit the corporations and their wealthy executives and investors. Sixty-seven percent of respondents, including 60% of Republicans, say that this revolving door is “corrupt and dangerous.” [3]

In government, personnel is policy. In other words, the personnel in key positions in the Biden administration will strongly influence who benefits from policies and their implementation – the working and middle-class or the upper class and big businesses. Therefore, it is important that Biden select people for his administration who are committed to working for the good of the people and not for the economic elites, many of whom are big campaign donors.

President Biden has two main avenues for creating needed policy changes: executive actions and legislation. These two are complementary and should both be used. Getting progressive legislation passed by Congress will be difficult even if Senate control is nominally with the Democrats (i.e., with a 50-50 split among Senators if Democrats win the two Georgia runoffs). But Senator Warren and others have shown that bipartisan legislation is possible even in the current contentious and polarized environment in Congress. Her successes include making hearing aids more affordable, enhancing consumer protection in various financial transactions, strengthening oversight and regulation of the financial industry, expanding access to affordable housing, and reining in abuses in housing financing. (I will write a post about this in the near future.)

There are also literally hundreds of executive actions that a Biden administration could take that are well within its existing authority. As many as 277 such actions have been enumerated by the writers at the American Prospect magazine and the document produced by the Biden-Sanders unity taskforce at the end of the Democratic primary last summer. They include steps to make our tax system fairer, to strengthen the safety net (including unemployment benefits and housing and food assistance), to expand access to health care and lower drug prices, to increase pay and benefits for employees of federal contractors, and to make it easier for workers to bargain collectively for better pay, benefits, and working conditions. (I will write a post about possible executive actions in the near future.)

I encourage you to contact your U.S. Senators and Representative to express your support for issues you would like to see them address in 2021, including policies such as the examples above that would improve the economic security of mainstream Americans. You can find contact information for your US Representative at  http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/ and for your US Senators at http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm.

You can get information and sign-up for updates from the Biden-Harris transition at https://buildbackbetter.gov/.

[1]      Lemann, N., 10/19/20, “Losing ground: the crisis of the two-party system,” The Nation (https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/let-them-eat-tweets-the-system-never-trump/)

[2]      Hightower, J., Nov. 2020, “Timeless truths for trying times,” The Hightower Lowdown (https://hightowerlowdown.org/article/timeless-truths-for-trying-times/)

[3]      Demand Progress, Dec., 2020, “Americans want a progressive Biden administration,” (https://s3.amazonaws.com/demandprogress/reports/Americans_Want_A_Corporate-Free_Biden_Administration.pdf)

MONEY IN THE 2020 ELECTIONS

Our elections are, sadly, largely about money. The 2020 elections were the most expensive on record by a good margin; roughly $14 billion was spent on federal campaigns. This is over twice as much as the runner up, the 2016 election. The presidential race cost roughly $6.6 billion, a record, up from $2.4 billion in 2016. [1]

The big news is that nine of the ten most expensive U.S. Senate races of all time occurred in 2020. Those nine races cost close to $2.1 billion (so far) with North Carolina ($299 million) and South Carolina ($277 million) leading the way with Kentucky ($180 million) at the bottom of the top ten. Amazingly, these are not states with big populations and expensive advertising markets, which is where the expensive races often occur. The two Georgia Senate races, currently engaged in run-off elections, will almost certainly be in the top ten when the regular and run-off election spending is combined. Of the eight decided 2020 races, Republican incumbents won all of them except the Arizona race where Mark Kelly won the special election against Senator McSally, who had been appointed to replace Senator Kyl. [2]

The candidate who spends the most money typically wins, although this year “only” 72% of Senate candidates who spent the most won, which is a two-decade low. Notably, in very expensive races, incumbents who held onto their seats spent less than their challengers. This reflects the value of incumbency, but may also reflect that there is a saturation point for money, which is largely spent on advertising. At some point, the voters may get overwhelmed by the avalanche of advertising and more spending on more advertising may have diminishing or no benefit. Another unusual characteristic of the 2020 elections was that Democratic congressional candidates out-raised Republicans by $1.2 billion to $691 million. Nonetheless, Democrats lost seats in the House and made only slight gains in the Senate.

The amount of money spent by outside groups (i.e., not by the candidates themselves) set a record. More and more of this outside money is flowing through “dark money” groups that hide the identities of their donors.  Outside spending is theoretically independent of the candidates’ campaigns and therefore lacks any accountability for what is said and done. The top two Senate races for outside spending were North Carolina at $221 million and Iowa at $174 million.

On the other end of the spectrum, small individual donations ($200 or less) to federal candidates set a record at $1.8 billion. As-of mid-October, small donors had already contributed over three times as much as they did through election day in 2016. Their donations represent 27% of contributions to federal candidates (up from 21% in 2016) but still only 13% of total spending. This record giving probably results from the increased ease of contributing using on-line technology and the heightened focus on and polarization of national politics.

Out-of-state contributions to congressional candidates set records, increasing for both Democrats and Republicans in both House and Senate races. Notably, Democrats running for the Senate raised a record 80% of donations from out-of-state; Democratic candidates in Kentucky and South Carolina raised more than 90% of their money from out-of-state.

Campaign contributions by women set a record. Their giving to federal candidates was $1.4 billion or 41% of the total, up from $590 million and 36% in 2016. Their giving represented 45% of Democratic candidates’ fundraising and 33% for Republicans; both of which are records.

In summary, the bad news is that huge contributions are fueling incredible levels of campaign spending. It is important to reflect on who is contributing these huge amounts to candidates and outside groups, why are they doing it, and what they expect in return. People and organizations that give this kind of money don’t just throw their money away, they invest it and are looking for a return on investment. They are looking for policies that benefit them and their companies.

The good news is that contributions from small donors are increasing and can fuel a serious campaign even for our highest elected offices. Increasing participation by women is also good news. Nonetheless, the people who contribute at all to political campaigns are a very small fraction of voters.

A major transformation of our campaign finance system is needed if we want elected officials to be beholden to their constituents and not to wealthy campaign contributors; in other words, if we want democracy instead of plutocracy. Limits are needed on who can contribute (e.g., not corporations) and how much can be contributed – which will require a constitutional amendment given Supreme Court decisions such as Citizens United. In the meantime, increased disclosure of campaign contributions is needed, in part to eliminate “dark money” so voters know who is spending money on a candidate’s campaign.

A campaign finance system that encourages and rewards small contributions to candidates is needed. Such a system would match small contributions with public money. This would allow and encourage a greater diversity of candidates to run for office.  It would also allow limitations on who and how much can be given to anyone who accepts the public funding. The ultimate result would be elected officials who are beholden to voters, not wealthy contributors, and a return to government of, by, and for the people, rather than a plutocracy where the wealthy rule and get favorable treatment from government.

 

[1]      OpenSecrets.org & Followthemoney.org, 11/19/20, “Unprecedented donations poured into 2020 state and federal races,” Center for Responsive Politics (https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2020/11/2020-state-and-federal-races-nimp)

[2]      Miller, E., 12/9/20, “Nine of the 10 most expensive Senate races of all time happened in 2020,” OpenSecrets.org, Center for Responsive Politics (https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2020/12/most-expensive-races-of-all-time-senate2020)

THE MOST EXPENSIVE ELECTION EVER

Our elections are, sadly, largely about money. Therefore, an election season can’t go by without a post about campaign spending.

The 2020 elections will be the most expensive on record by a good margin – over twice as expensive as the runner up, the 2016 election – and the amount of that money spent by outside groups (i.e., not by the candidates themselves) will also set a record. More and more of this outside money is flowing through entities that hide the identities of their donors.

It is projected that over $14 billion (yes, that’s billion) will be spent on the 2020 campaigns. Well over $2.5 billion of that total will be spent by outside groups, where candidates (supposedly) don’t control the spending or the message. This means there’s little or no accountability for the content and that the names of donors are often hidden. The spending by outside groups has skyrocketed since the 2010 Supreme Court decision called Citizens United that allowed these groups to raise and spend unlimited amounts of money, including money from corporations. [1] Spending by these groups is roughly double what it was in 2016. Only 30% of outside spending is being done by groups that fully disclose their donors, which is a record low. [2]

The presidential race is projected to see a record $6.6 billion in spending, up from $2.4 billion in 2016. Democratic presidential candidate Senator Joe Biden is setting fundraising records as he and Democratic Congressional candidates are, uncharacteristically, out-raising Republican candidates. After a slow start, Biden has raised $949 million, setting a monthly fundraising record recently – a stunning $282 million raised in September. $368 million of that total (39%) has come from small donors ($200 or less) with the remaining $581 million coming from big donors. President Trump has raised $594 million. His September amount was down significantly after having consistently raised about $100 million a month in 2020. $268 million of his total (45%) has come from small donors with the remaining $326 million coming from big donors. [3]

Races for the U.S. Senate are setting spending records as well. The North Carolina Senate race has already set the record for the most expensive congressional race ever with $265 million in spending by the candidates and outside groups. The Iowa Senate race is second with $218 million in spending. As-of mid-October, 2020 already has eight of the ten most expensive Senate races ever. [4] As has happened before, the highest profile races are raising high percentages of their funding from out-of-state, with races in Maine, Kentucky, and South Carolina receiving over 90% of their funding from out-of-state. [5]

A new wrinkle in this year’s campaigns has been the $1 billion spent on digital advertising. There are over 80,000 on-line political advertisers, which is four times the number of political committees registered with the Federal Elections Commission. The great bulk of this spending is, of course, going to Facebook and Google. [6]

Although more money than ever is coming from small donors ($200 or less), it still represents less than one-quarter of the money raised. More women are donating more money than ever before as well. Democrats have raised $1.7 billion in small donations and Republicans $1 billion. These small donors account for 22% of the money raised in 2020 compared to 15% in 2016. One and a half million women have donated to candidates for federal offices, accounting for 44% of donors and $2.5 billion by mid-October, up from 37% of donors and $1.3 billion for the whole election period in 2016.  Self-funding of campaigns by billionaires was also up, accounting for over 13% of total spending. Democrats Bloomberg and Steyer were responsible for much of this. [7]

Money skews our elections in many ways. First and foremost, the candidate with the most money usually wins. Second, the great majority of the money is contributed by a very small slice of the population. A big chunk of it is given by a very few, very wealthy donors who contribute huge sums. The top ten donors and their spouses have contributed over $642 million with almost all of it (98%) going to outside groups. This has been skewed toward supporting Republicans, although Democrats aren’t too far behind. Sheldon Adelson (a casino magnate) and his spouse set a new individual record with $183 million in donations, all to outside groups supporting Republicans. Business interests have given almost $4.6 billion through mid-October – 40% of total election contributions, compared to $3.6 billion for the whole 2016 election. Contributions from labor interests, on the other hand, are declining and have been only $175 million so far. [8]

The high cost of running a successful campaign, from President all the way down to state representative, skews our politics because it makes it necessary for almost all candidates to solicit large donations from wealthy individuals. (Senators Sanders and Warren have shown that it is possible to run competitive primary campaigns without the majority of campaign funding coming from wealthy donors, but they are the exceptions.) This skews candidates’ time and attention, both when running for office and when they are in office, toward these wealthy individuals rather than toward the needs and interests of the everyday Americans who are their constituents.

In addition, the high cost of campaigning skews our politics because people who can’t raise these large sums of money don’t even bother to run for office.

If we want democracy, where policies represent the needs and wishes of the majority of the population, if we want the government of, by, and for the people that our American democratic vision promised, we must reduce the amount of money it takes to run a successful campaign and dramatically curtail the influence of wealthy individuals and interests who have large sums of money they can spend on our elections.

In a future post, I will discuss the importance of overturning the Citizens United Supreme Court decision and other possible steps for reforming campaign financing.

[1]      Evers-Hillstrom, K.., 10/19/20, “Outside spending surpasses $2 billion as super PACs hammer Trump,” Center for Responsive Politics, OpenSecrets.org (https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2020/10/super-pacs-hammer-trump)

[2]      OpenSecrets.org, 10/28/20, “2020 election to cost $14 billion, blowing away spending records,” Center for Responsive Politics, OpenSecrets.org (https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2020/10/cost-of-2020-election-14billion-update/)

[3]      Evers-Hillstrom, K.., 10/21/20, “Biden heads into final weeks with record cash advantage,” Center for Responsive Politics, OpenSecrets.org (https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2020/10/biden-crushed-fundraising-september)

[4]      OpenSecrets.org, 10/28/20, see above

[5]      Geng, L., 10/22/20, “From South Carolina to Maine, out-of-state donors give big in Senate races,” Center for Responsive Politics, OpenSecrets.org (https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2020/10/senate-races-outstate-donors)

[6]      OpenSecrets.org, 9/3/20, “OpenSecrets unveils new online ads database,” Center for Responsive Politics, OpenSecrets.org (https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2020/09/opensecrets-unveils-new-online-ads-database/)

[7]      OpenSecrets.org, 10/28/20, see above

[8]      OpenSecrets.org, 10/28/20, see above

OUR FEDERAL COURTS HAVE BEEN PACKED WITH RIGHT-WING JUDGES

Republicans are rushing confirmation of a Supreme Court nominee just before the election, which is emblematic of their packing of the federal courts at all levels with right-wing judges. [1] (See my previous post for more details.) Rushing through the confirmation of Judge Barrett threatens to complete the delegitimization of the Supreme Court – and to some extent the whole federal judiciary – by making it clear that the federal court system is not an  impartial arbiter of the law, but a fully politicized institution.

Over 200 federal judges have been confirmed since Trump took office (including over 100 that were carried over from the Obama administration due to Republican blocking of confirmations) and basically all of them are proponents of the extreme right-wing legal philosophy of the Federalist Society. [2] Right-wing Republicans have used a Federalist Society endorsement as a litmus test for nominees while ignoring input from the American Bar Association, which always used to provide an independent analysis of the qualifications of nominees. [3]

This packing of the federal courts with right-wing jurists, which is the result of McConnell and the Republicans breaking the norms of our democratic processes, will benefit Republicans and their wealthy, corporatist backers for a generation or longer because their right-wing judicial philosophy favors corporations and the wealthy over workers, consumers, and the middle and lower classes.

These right-wing, Federalist Society-endorsed judges typically claim to support “originalism,” a legal philosophy that claims the original intent and meaning of the Constitution, written in 1787, should determine judicial decisions. “Originalists” claim that government cannot constitutionally do anything that is not explicitly provided for in the Constitution. This legal philosophy has been very effective in driving right-wing legal politics, although the appropriateness of applying the meaning of the words of the Constitution to today’s technology strains credulity; its writers couldn’t have dreamed of our current medical and health care capabilities, our transportation and communications systems, our financial instruments and guns, or our huge, multi-national corporations.

An alternative legal interpretation of the Constitution, as a living document that requires interpretation in the context of current times, was prevalent from the late 1930s into the 1980s. In the late 1930s, during the recovery from the Depression, judges interpreted the law and the Constitution to allow American democracy to live up to its principles. Right-wing politicians and legal theorists labeled this “judicial activism” or “legislating from the bench.”

The “originalist” legal philosophy was developed by right-wing scholars in the 1970s and 1980s in reaction to laws and judicial support for economic and civil rights. The New Deal worked to level the economic playing field, to regulate business, to provide voice and a balance of power for workers through unions, and to provide a social safety net. After World War II, these efforts continued with more of a focus on leveling the social playing field and treating all people as equals before law, by ending segregation and discrimination, protecting the rights of prisoners and those accused of breaking the law, and providing access to contraception and abortion. The judicial-established principle of one person, one vote and the Voting Rights Act worked to level the political playing field. Judicial decisions supporting economic and civil rights, many of them made by the Supreme Court under Republican Chief Justices Earl Warren and Warren Burger between 1953 and 1986, were, at the time, largely viewed as non-partisan. They reflected a belief that the Bill of Rights applies to state laws and governments, as well as at the federal level. [4] This dramatically expanded civil rights and overturned the “states’ rights” doctrine that had allowed states to, among other things, engage in discrimination, particularly against Black Americans.

“Originalist” judges have ignored and will continue to ignore precedents and are reversing 80 years of legislation and legal decisions on individual and civil rights, as the hearings on the latest Supreme Court nominees and recent Supreme Court decisions have made clear. While the attention of these hearings has been focused on social and religious issues, from abortion to affirmative action and discrimination to LGBTQ rights, the often-overlooked issues about our economy and capitalism, such as the balance of power between employers and workers, the ability to earn a living wage, and the availability of an economic safety net, are critically important as well.

Under “originalist” legal theory, the federal government has little power and much of what it currently does should be left to state governments. Under “originalism,” the federal government does not have the power to regulate corporations or the wealthy, including restricting their use of their money in our elections, as the spending of money is viewed as exercising free speech. Decisions by the federal judiciary at all levels make it clear that “originalist” theory favors private interests over public interests, corporations and employers over consumers and workers, law enforcement over defendants’ rights, and gun rights over voting rights. Such decisions deprive employees and other vulnerable populations of their civil rights. [5] [6]

Moreover, the “originalist” judges assert that the rights of the Bill of Rights, such as freedom of speech, are rights that belong to corporations as well as to natural human beings. I find it hard to believe that this was the intent of the writers of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. They clearly were focused on the rights of individual human beings. Furthermore, corporations, in anything approaching their current form, were unknown in those times.

Americans for Prosperity and other pro-business groups, many of them backed by billionaire, fossil-fuel businessman Charles Koch (and his deceased brother), have spent tens of millions of dollars on campaigns to pressure Senators to back controversial, right-wing judicial nominations, often using “dark money” (whose donors are hidden from the public).

The weak federal government response to the coronavirus pandemic is emblematic of “originalist” thinking. Some in the Trump administration simply didn’t believe it was the role of the federal government or within the legitimate powers of the federal government to respond, and, therefore, the response should be left to the states and the private sector.

President Trump and the Republicans in the Senate have packed the federal court system from top to bottom with hundreds of right-wing, Federalist Society-endorsed, “originalist” judges who are on the fringe of what was previously considered appropriate for a federal judge. If our Founding Fathers had intended an “originalist” interpretation of the Constitution, I have to believe they would have realized frequent amendments would be required and they would have made it much easier to amend it. I believe that “originalism” is a rationalization for public relations purposes developed by wealthy corporations and individuals as a way to “justify” laws and court decisions that work to their benefit. This is just like their claim of non-existent voter fraud as the public relations rationale for voter suppression tactics.

Our federal court system is currently unbalanced and biased in favor of corporations and the wealthy. Right-wing judges will skew court decisions and harm the well-being of everyday Americans for the next 20 to 30 years unless Democrats are elected and actively work to rebalance the federal courts toward mainstream legal philosophy and historical precedent. This will not be easy given how skewed the system currently is.

Dramatic steps will need to be taken, including expanding the number of judges in the federal court system, possibly including the number of justices on the Supreme Court, given that removing judges is basically impossible. This is the only way to return to laws and government programs that protect and support a fair and just society with civil, political, and economic rights for all, women able to make decisions about their reproductive health, workers able to support their families and have safe working conditions, consumers able to use products and services safely, and a safety net that protects people when they hit hard times.

[1]      Richardson, H. C., 10/11/20, “Letters from an American blog post,” (https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/october-11-2020)

[2]      The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies, most frequently called the Federalist Society, is an organization of conservatives and libertarians that advocates for a textualist and originalist interpretation of the United States Constitution. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federalist_Society)

[3]      Heer, J., 10/14/20, “Barrett’s evasions show why expanding the Court is necessary,” The Nation (https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/barrett-confirmation-court-packing/)

[4]      Richardson, H. C., 10/23/20, “Letters from an American blog post,” (https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/october-23-2020)

[5]      Richardson, H. C., 10/14/20, “Letters from an American blog post,” (https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/october-14-2020)

[6]      Dayen, D., 10/13/20, “Judge Barrett’s record: Siding with businesses over workers,” The American Prospect (https://prospect.org/justice/judge-barretts-record-siding-with-businesses-over-workers/)

THE U.S. IS AT A HISTORICALLY SIGNIFICANT FORK IN THE ROAD

Bob Kuttner has written another one of his eloquent, incredibly insightful and provocative articles. This one analyzes the historically significant fork in the road the U.S. is facing, puts this inflection point in historical and political perspective, and offers his views on where we should go and what it will take to get there. [1] He doesn’t mince words and is not afraid to speak truth to political and economic power. I will summarize the article here, but I encourage you to read the whole article at the link in the footnote as I cannot do it justice. The article is relatively short, under 2,000 words; it’s only two pages in The American Prospect magazine.

(Note: Kuttner is the most knowledgeable, thoughtful, eloquent, and insightful progressive policy analyst I know of. The breadth of his knowledge across policy topics and history leaves me in awe. He is the co-founder and co-editor of The American Prospect magazine, which is my go-to source for progressive policy analysis and proposals. He is a professor at Brandeis University’s Heller School, where I got my Ph.D. in Social Policy with a focus on early childhood policies and programs.)

Kuttner starts the article with this statement: “We will soon know whether America will surmount its worst catastrophe since the Civil War. We have every reason to worry.” He goes on to note that “We Americans grow up learning our history as a chronicle of near disasters that narrowly come out right.” He cites the following examples of other historical inflection points where the U.S. surmounted significant challenges and put itself on a positive path for the future:

  • The Revolutionary War
  • The writing of the Constitution in 1787
  • The Civil War and the ending of slavery
  • The Great Depression
  • World War II

He states that “Now, we are at another inflection point where history could go disastrously wrong. … Things have already occurred that were inconceivable to most Americans.” He cites examples of the inconceivable that include:

  • The undermining of the U.S. Postal Service (at least in part to rig the election),
  • The failure to combat Russian interference in our elections,
  • The President stating he might not abide by the election’s results, and
  • The Attorney General failing to stand up for the rule of law.

Kuttner excoriates Republicans in Congress, governors’ offices, and state legislatures who have violated the fundamental principles of the historical Republican Party and our democracy to benefit their wealthy benefactors and maintain their political power.

He states that “America’s corporate and financial elite, given a corrupt, incompetent dictator who serves their economic interests, will choose the dictator over a democracy that might trim their billions. This is full-on fascism — the alliance of the business class with a tyrant who confuses the masses with appeals to jingoism and racism, while the plutocrats steal working people blind.”

His analysis concludes that “Trump is the logical extreme of a long downward spiral. … Trump merely makes flagrant what was tacit.” He states that in addition to Republican presidents, Presidents Clinton and Obama allowed a continuation of the 40-year slide where “money relentlessly crowded out citizenship, while economic concentration and political concentration [of power] fed on each other.” The concentration of economic power has occurred due to the emergence of huge corporations with monopolistic power in numerous industries due to the lack of enforcement of anti-trust laws. This economic concentration has led to great wealth in the hands of a small number of investors and corporate executives. They have used that wealth to gain great political power, which has led to policies that benefit them and their businesses. This self-reinforcing cycle has been a spiral leading to great inequality in income, wealth, personal well-being, and opportunity.

Kuttner states that reversing this long, downward spiral will be difficult and will require repairing damage to essential institutions in government, society, and the economy. These include facilitating voting rather suppressing it, using anti-trust laws to break up monopolistic corporations, reversing growing economic inequality, and supporting workers through higher wages, job security, and the right to bargain collectively with employers. Public agencies that have been hollowed out need to be rebuilt, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and more.

He notes that there are two serious obstacles to accomplishing this revival even if Democrats win the White House and control of the U.S. Senate. First, the Republicans in Congress and President Trump (but also Republican presidents before him) have packed the federal court system at all levels with right-wing judges. Kuttner states that “Reclaiming democracy will require reclaiming an honest judiciary. … Republicans have been so relentless in their blockage of Obama appointees and their ramming through of far-right judges that the very legitimacy of the judicial system is in question.”  Kuttner makes a case for adding judges and expanding the federal courts at all levels as the only way to achieve balance and avoid judicial blockages of needed policy changes.

The second serious obstacle to revival of the American promise is the immense influence of corporate power brokers and the many corporate-leaning Democrats for whom current economic policies are the conventional wisdom. Kuttner believes that absent massive grassroots pressure the likelihood is that a Biden administration will not seriously challenge economic power and concentration, particularly in the financial and high-tech industries. The concentration of market and political leverage in huge corporations and in their executives and large investors has led to dramatic economic inequality, job insecurity, and hardship for American workers.

Kuttner proposes that the trillions of dollars the Federal Reserve has pumped into large corporations to bail them out in the current financial crisis should instead be focused on rebuilding infrastructure, addressing climate change, and ending racism, including paying reparations.

Kuttner closes by stating that if the U.S. returns to the path laid out by its core principles through the results of the November elections and subsequent actions that “it will be the narrowest of great escapes ever.”

[1]      Kuttner, R., 9/17/20, “The terror of the unforeseen,” The American Prospect (https://prospect.org/politics/the-terror-of-the-unforeseen/)

OUR ELECTIONS ARE RIGGED Part 2

Our elections are indeed rigged – by Republicans and the country’s wealthy capitalists to skew results to their benefit. One of their strategies is to reduce voting by those who are not part of their primary constituency of well-off, white voters. [1] My previous post describes the four main barriers to voting that states have been imposing. Studies show they disproportionately disenfranchise non-white, low-income, student, and/or elderly voters, groups who tend to vote for Democrats:

  • Imposing voter identification requirements
  • Reducing places and times for voting
  • Purging eligible voters from voter registration lists
  • Denying people with a felony conviction the right to vote

There are a variety of strategies that are being used to suppress voter participation in general and participation by likely Democratic voters in particular, in addition to the four above. In some states, Republican gerrymandering of state legislative districts has given Republicans undeserved power to enact barriers to voting. In Wisconsin, for example, in 2018, Democrats won a majority of the statewide vote for the state legislature (52%) but got only 36 of 99 seats in the legislature (36%).

Voter suppression strategies being used in various places across the country include:

  • Impeding voter registration: While some states are making it easier to register to vote, for example through election day registration and automatic voter registration at motor vehicle offices and other state agencies, many Republican-controlled states are making it harder to register. For example, some states have made the process for conducting voter registration drives so onerous that the effect has been to ban them. In Georgia, in 2018, the Secretary of State (who oversees elections and was a white male running against a Black woman for Governor) was charged with blocking the registration of 50,000 voters (80% of whom were non-white) due to minor discrepancies in the spelling or spacing of their names. [2]
  • Failing to update voter registration systems with address changes: Without up-to-date addresses for people who move frequently, e.g., young people, students, and low-income workers, these voters (who tend to vote for Democrats) do not receive ballots or voting information, and hence are less able and likely to vote.
  • Undermining confidence in our elections: Spreading lies about the existence of voter fraud and the validity and honesty of our elections creates skepticism about the importance of voting. Failure to combat foreign efforts to affect the outcome of our elections and to undermine faith in their credibility also damages voters’ enthusiasm for voting. Calling ballots that are counted after election day fraudulent (for example, mailed-in ballots that were postmarked on time) contributes to the false perception that our elections are dishonest. All of these techniques and other related ones undermine voters’ motivation to turnout to vote.
  • Providing misinformation about voting and registering to vote: This is a classic “dirty trick” used to confuse voters and keep them from registering to vote and from voting.
  • Creating barriers to or doubts about mail-in or absentee ballots: The President and some Republican-led states are erecting barriers to mail-in voting because it has been shown to increase voter participation, which does not work to their benefit. In addition, the President, in particular, is trying to sow doubt about the validity and effectiveness of mail-in voting despite its very successful use in many states, including as the sole method of voting in Oregon since 1998. Some states are making it complicated to correctly complete a mail ballot. In Alabama, for example, the signature on an absentee ballot must have two witnesses or a notarization. [3] A complicated process increases the likelihood that ballots can be disqualified due to a technical error in completing them and most states do not have a process for remedying a minor technical error; the ballot is simply not counted. Some states are setting strict deadlines for receipt of mail ballots (e.g., they must be received by election day not just postmarked by election day). In one county in Florida, 1,200 ballots were not counted for being too late despite being postmarked on time. And, as I imagine you’ve heard, the Trump administration is working to harm the U.S. Postal Service’s ability to process mail in a timely fashion. Finally, some states prohibit the opening of mail ballots until election day or even until the polls have closed. This delays the finalization of election results and gives Republicans the opportunity to assert that the late counting of ballots is indicative of fraud, as they did in Florida in the 2000 presidential election.
  • Intimidating voters: In Pennsylvania, the Republicans have sued all 67 counties to allow Republican-hired, outside “poll watchers” at the polls. Poll watchers such as these have typically been used to harass, challenge, and intimidate targeted voters, namely those who are likely to be voting for Democrats. They do this by, for example, demanding proof of eligibility to vote. They are typically deployed in low-income, non-white neighborhoods and sometimes wear uniforms and carry badges, cameras, and guns. This kind of intimidation was so bad back in 1982 that a federal judge imposed restrictions on activities that might intimidate voters. However, in 2018, with the Trump campaign’s support, these restrictions were lifted. [4]
  • Refusing to give workers time to vote: In most states, election day is not a holiday and most employers do not give workers time off (let alone paid time off) to vote, although this may be starting to change.
  • Negative campaigning: Negative messages and nasty campaigning create disillusionment with candidates (whether the information is true or not) and with voting in general. The result is lower voting participation both in general and for the targeted candidate.

Republicans have amassed a $20 million fund to bring lawsuits aimed at reducing voting and blocking the counting of ballots, such as provisional ballots cast by people whose voter registration was purged or blocked by voter suppression techniques. In Florida, for example, Republicans have sued to prevent postage-paid return envelopes from being sent with mail-in ballots, hoping to reduce the rate at which they are returned. In Nevada, they have sued to prevent the state from sending mail-in ballots to all registered voters.

President Lyndon Johnson called voting “the first duty of democracy”. However, President Trump and Republicans in Congress and in the states have been doing everything they can to denigrate that duty and to make it as hard as possible for those likely to vote for Democrats to fulfill their duty to vote. [5] This is stunningly unpatriotic and in violation of our Constitution and the founding principles of this country. Democracy’s foundational principle is that all citizens have a right and duty to vote. Undermining the ability to vote and the importance of voting are antithetical to democracy.

There are steps we can take to increase voter participation and, thereby, improve the health of our democracy. Steps to make it easy to vote and to block strategies inhibiting voting are occurring in the courts and in some states. The battle over allowing voting by those convicted of felonies in Florida has gone through three levels of courts already and is on-going, although it appears likely that 775,000 of them will not be able to vote this fall. In Virginia, where Democrats gained control of the state government in the 2019 election, they have repealed the state’s voter ID law, made election day a state holiday, expanded the early voting period to 45 days, and implemented automatic voter registration for people using services from the Department of Motor Vehicles. Mail-in ballots will have pre-paid postage and drop boxes for returning them will be installed throughout the state. Voters will be able to fix technical errors on mail-in ballots, while absentee ballots will no longer require a witness’s signature. [6] In North Carolina, a Democratic Governor, a state Board of Elections with a non-partisan leader, and court orders have reversed the tide in a state that was one of the leaders in voter suppression in 2016. [7]

The ultimate solution is a national one, namely reinstituting the protections that were in place under the Voting Rights Act before the Supreme Court disingenuously eviscerated it in 2013. To this end, I encourage you to contact your U.S. Representative and Senators and let them know you support the Voting Rights Advancement Act, which passed the House in December 2019 but has not been acted on by the Senate. In addition, our election systems need extra financial support to operate safely, effectively, and accurately during the current pandemic. To this end, I also urge you to let your Members of Congress know you support the VoteSafe Act and the funding for election systems in the House-passed HEROES Act. [8] Given that the Republicans in control of the Senate are not likely to act on these bills this year, in the meantime, encourage your state and local election officials to make it as easy as possible for all eligible voters to register and vote.

To live up to our principles, every citizen needs to be readily able to fulfill that first duty of democracy – to vote.

You can find contact information for your US Representative at  http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/ and for your US Senators at http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm.

[1]      Hightower, J., 9/1/20, “Six ways the Right is shredding the right to vote,” Common Dreams from The Hightower Lowdown (https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/01/six-ways-right-shredding-vote)

[2]      Durkin, E., 10/19/18, “GOP candidate improperly purged 340,000 from Georgia voter rolls, investigation claims,” The Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/oct/19/georgia-governor-race-voter-suppression-brian-kemp)

[3]      Bidgood, J., 9/20/20, “Alabama: ‘They’re doing everything to stop us from voting’,” The Boston Globe

[4]      Hightower, J., 9/1/20, see above

[5]      Graham, R., 9/14/20, “Vote!” The Boston Globe

[6]      Gibson, B., 9/14/20, “How Virginia made voting easier and fairer,” The American Prospect (https://prospect.org/politics/how-virginia-made-voting-easier-and-fairer/)

[7]      Kuttner, R., 9/16/20, “Election night could be smoother for Senate races,” The American Prospect (https://prospect.org/blogs/tap/election-night-could-be-smoother-for-senate-races/)

[8]      Fudge, M., 9/21/20, “The struggle to vote continues,” The Boston Globe

OUR ELECTIONS ARE RIGGED

Our elections are indeed rigged, but not in the direction or way President Trump claims. For decades now, Republicans and the country’s wealthy capitalists have been working to skew election results to their benefit by reducing voter participation. As Republican campaign strategist Paul Weyrich said in 1980, “I don’t want everybody to vote. … Our leverage in the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populace goes down.” [1]

Low participation in elections works to the advantage of corporations, wealthy individuals, and Republicans. They know that their constituency – white, well-off voters – will continue to vote but that others can be prevented or discouraged from voting by barriers to voting and by spreading doubts about candidates and our elections.

Since the 1980s, Republicans and their wealthy donors have engaged in an escalating, coordinated, well-funded, multi-pronged effort to prevent targeted people from voting and to suppress voting in general. It now seems that no holds are barred; serious distortions of candidates’ positions, beliefs, and experiences and blatant lies are commonplace. One prong of their effort was getting “conservative” judges appointed to courts at all levels including the U.S. Supreme Court. This culminated in the Supreme Court’s ruling in 2013 that key portions of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) were unconstitutional because discriminatory voting practices were (supposedly) no longer a significant issue. This was essential to the escalation of Republicans’ targeted voter suppression efforts.

The states have proved the Supreme Court wrong; every one of the nine states that had been subject to Voting Rights Act oversight (which occurs because of past discriminatory practices) has implemented new discriminatory barriers to voting. All told, over half of the 50 states have enacted hundreds of barriers to voting in the seven years since the Supreme Court’s decision, some literally within days of the decision.

The four main barriers to voting that states have imposed are:

  • Implementing voter identification laws: Eleven states had strict voter ID laws in 2016, where without the required ID a vote will not be counted unless the voter quickly takes the steps required to validate the provisional ballot they are allowed to cast. These strict voter ID laws first appeared in 2006. In 2000, only 14 states had any ID requirement and all of them allowed a voter to cast a ballot that would be counted through a relatively simple, on-the-spot process. By 2016, 33 states had an ID requirement. [2] For example, in Alabama, a state that had been subject to VRA oversight, a strict voter ID requirement was enacted the year after the Supreme Court’s decision. Motor vehicle offices were where most people would go to get the required photo ID. However, soon after enactment of the voter ID requirement many of these offices in predominantly Black communities were closed, although some of them were later reopened. [3] In Iowa, a very strict voter ID law was enacted in 2017, which it is estimated will keep 260,000 people from voting this fall. Studies have shown that voter ID laws disproportionately disenfranchise non-white, low-income, and elderly voters. There is no evidence of voter fraud, however, it is, nonetheless, given as the rationale for voter ID laws. Moreover, voter ID requirements would NOT prevent the kind of voter fraud Republicans claim is happening. [4]
  • Reducing places and times for voting: A number of states have reduced the number of polling places. The nine states subject to the Voting Rights Act before its evisceration by the Supreme Court in 2013 have closed 1,688 polling places, typically in areas with high proportions of Black voters. Some states have reduced the number of days of early voting and Alabama, for example, does not allow early voting.
  • Purging eligible voters: While election officials do need to clean up voting registration lists (e.g., to remove people who’ve died or moved out of the jurisdiction), Republicans have turned the updating of voting lists into a technique for purging likely Democratic voters. Nationally, an unusually high number of voters (17 million) have been removed from voting lists since the 2016 election. The purges often target people who move frequently (e.g., young people, students, low-income workers, and non-white voters). These groups also happen to tend to vote Democratic. Often a postcard is mailed to the targeted voters (but not forwarded) and if it isn’t returned, they are removed from the voting rolls. Sometimes voters who haven’t voted in a couple of elections are summarily removed from voting lists. Georgia, for example, purged more than 534,000 voters from its voting rolls in 2016 and 2017. However, a study found that 340,000 of them were valid voters, predominantly non-white, and still living at the addresses on their voter registration information. [5]
  • Denying people with a felony conviction the right to vote: Forty-eight states deny those convicted of a felony the right to vote while they are incarcerated. Eleven states deny them the right to vote even after they have completed their sentences (including any probation or parole), although there typically is, in theory, a process for regaining their voting rights. [6] These laws denying voting rights reflect the racism of Jim Crow laws, where whites were looking for ways they could legally keep Blacks from voting (among other things). Laws were written and selectively enforced so that Black males were convicted of felonies at a high rate and therefore prevented from voting. (Women couldn’t vote at that time.) In 2016, there were over 4.7 million citizens out of prison but disenfranchised by their criminal record. One-third of them are Black. [7] In recent years, there has been a trend toward reinstating their right to vote often with some conditions. For example, in Florida in 2018, voters overwhelmingly approved a ballot question to repeal the law preventing those who had been convicted of a felony from voting after completing their sentences (except for those convicted of murder or a sex crime). However, the Republican Governor and legislature have gone out of their way to thwart the will of the people. As it currently stands, those who have completed their sentences, now also have to pay all restitution, fines, fees, and court costs before they are allowed to vote. This is effectively a new kind of poll tax and will keep an estimated 775,000 people, who are predominantly Black men, from voting this fall.

My next post will cover some of the secondary techniques for suppressing voting and steps we can take to increase voter participation and, thereby, the health of our democracy.

[1]      Hightower, J., 9/1/20, “Six ways the Right is shredding the right to vote,” Common Dreams from The Hightower Lowdown (https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/01/six-ways-right-shredding-vote)

[2]      National Conference of State Legislatures, retrieved 9/20/20, “History of voter ID,” (https://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/voter-id-history.aspx)

[3]      Bidgood, J., 9/20/20, “Alabama: ‘They’re doing everything to stop us from voting’,” The Boston Globe

[4]      Gibson, B., 9/14/20, “How Virginia made voting easier and fairer,” The American Prospect (https://prospect.org/politics/how-virginia-made-voting-easier-and-fairer/)

[5]      Durkin, E., 10/19/18, “GOP candidate improperly purged 340,000 from Georgia voter rolls, investigation claims,” The Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/oct/19/georgia-governor-race-voter-suppression-brian-kemp)

[6]      National Conference of State Legislatures, retrieved 9/21/20, “Felon voting rights,” (https://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/felon-voting-rights.aspx)

[7]      Wood, E., 2016, “Florida: An outlier in denying voting rights,” Brennan Center for Justice (https://www.brennancenter.org/sites/default/files/publications/Florida_Voting_Rights_Outlier.pdf)

WE CAN’T AFFORD OUR RIGGED TAX SYSTEM

Our unfair tax system is one piece of our rigged economic system. To put our tax system in some perspective, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) collects nearly 95% of all the federal government’s revenue; it collected $3.5 trillion in taxes in 2018.

My previous post on how our overall economic system is rigged, noted that the CARES Act, the $2.2 trillion coronavirus pandemic response, tilted our tax system further in favor of the wealthy by providing $135 billion in tax cuts for the richest 1% of Americans. This is money that could have been used to provide aid to workers who lost their jobs or to buy personal protective equipment for front-line workers or other needs related to the effects of the pandemic. Ironically, Republicans are now complaining about the cost of the pandemic relief efforts!

Another example of the rigging of our tax system in favor of wealthy individuals and corporations is the substantial tax cuts for corporations and wealthy individuals that were at the center of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). The Act failed to deliver any significant benefits to workers and the middle class, despite politicians’ promises. (See this post for more detail.)

However, the tax cuts of the TCJA weren’t enough for the big multi-national corporations, so they lobbied, quite successfully, to rig the tax system even further to their benefit by getting additional tax reductions in the rules and regulations that were written to implement the TCJA. (See this post for more detail.)

A year after the TCJA passed, a study of the largest corporations in the U.S. found that of 379 large, profitable corporations:

  • 91 (almost a quarter of them) paid no federal income tax including Amazon, Chevron, Halliburton, and IBM.
  • Another 56 of them (15%) paid less than 5% of profits in taxes.
  • The average effective federal income tax rate for these 379 large, profitable corporations was 11.3%, barely half of the reduced tax rate of 21% in the TCJA (down from 35%), and the lowest rate in the history of this analysis, which was first done in 1984. [1]

So, not only are wealthy individuals and corporations successful in getting politicians to cut the taxes they owe, but many of them then do everything they can to avoid paying even the reduced (I’m tempted to say, minimal) taxes they owe under our rigged tax system.

Some of them simply don’t pay the taxes they owe. According to a recent report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) [2] unpaid taxes averaged $381 billion per year (roughly 14% of federal taxes owed) from 2011 to 2013. The richest 1% of taxpayers are responsible for 70% ($267 billion) of this total. [3]

The amount of unpaid taxes is growing because the IRS’s budget has been cut by 20% since 2010 (after adjusting for inflation), reducing its capacity to crack down on tax avoidance. Audits of the tax returns of the highest income taxpayers have declined by 63% from 2010 to 2018 and now occur at the same rate as for the poorest taxpayers. This has happened because the IRS no longer has the capacity to engage in audits of the complex tax returns of the rich. The number of IRS personnel who handle these complex cases fell by about 40% between 2010 and 2018. [4] Enforcement action against high-income individuals who do not file a tax return has been reduced to simply mailing a notice to them.

The CBO report estimated that for every dollar added to the IRS budget for tax law enforcement, about three dollars in unpaid taxes would be collected. In addition to reduced auditing of wealthy individuals, the frequency of audits of the largest corporations (those with over $20 billion in assets) also dropped from 2010 to 2018; it dropped by roughly 50%.

In his reaction to the CBO report, Senator Sanders stated that “the primary beneficiaries of IRS funding cuts are wealthy tax cheats and large corporations.” [5] In response to an earlier study of audit rates, Senator Wyden stated that “We have two tax systems in this country, and nothing illustrates that better than the IRS ignoring wealthy tax cheats while penalizing low-income workers over small mistakes.” [6]

Our tax system is rigged from top to bottom – from reduced tax rates for wealthy individuals and corporations, to tax loopholes and subsidies for them, to tax dodging by them, to weak enforcement of tax laws to stop their tax avoidance. Hundreds of billions of dollars (actually probably well over a trillion dollars) of tax revenue from wealthy individuals and businesses are lost every year because of unfairly low tax rates, special interest tax breaks, and tax dodging.

When politicians say we can’t afford to support education or unemployment benefits or food assistance or whatever, don’t believe them. What we can’t afford is rich individuals and corporations who don’t pay their fair share in taxes due to our rigged tax system.

[1]      Gardner, M., Roque, L., & Wamhoff, S., Dec. 2019, “Corporate tax avoidance in the first year under the Trump tax law,” Institute on Taxation & Economic Policy (https://itep.org/corporate-tax-avoidance-in-the-first-year-of-the-trump-tax-law/)

[2]      Congressional Budget Office, July 2020, “Trends in the Internal Revenue Service’s funding and enforcement,” (https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/2020-07/56422-CBO-IRS-enforcement.pdf)

[3]      Johnson, J., 7/9/20, “‘An absolute outrage’: Sanders rips ‘wealthy tax cheats’ as CBO estimates $381 billion in annual unpaid taxes,” Common Dreams (https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/07/09/absolute-outrage-sanders-rips-wealthy-tax-cheats-cbo-estimates-381-billion-annual)

[4]      Congressional Budget Office, July 2020, see above

[5]      Johnson, J., 7/9/20, see above

[6]      Kiel, P., 5/30/19, “It’s getting worse: The IRS now audits poor Americans at about the same rate as the top 1%,” ProPublica (https://www.propublica.org/article/irs-now-audits-poor-americans-at-about-the-same-rate-as-the-top-1-percent)

RECENT EXAMPLES OF A RIGGED ECONOMIC SYSTEM

Here are some recent examples of how our rigged economic system favors wealthy individuals and big corporations.

In the CARES Act, the $2.2 trillion coronavirus pandemic response, Republican Senators slipped in a tax break that will give each of 43,000 wealthy business owners a $1.6 million tax cut, on average. Hedge fund investors and owners of real estate businesses (including President Trump and his family) will receive the great majority of this tax cut windfall. [1]

Overall, the CARES Act provides $135 billion in tax cuts for the richest 1% of Americans. This is money that could have been used to provide aid to workers who lost their jobs or to buy personal protective equipment for front-line workers.

Moreover, the Trump Administration and Republicans in Congress are considering a variety of additional tax cuts for investors and businesses for the next pandemic relief bill. [2] Supposedly, these tax cuts will stimulate the economy and help it return to normal, but what they really do is make the rich richer. And while Trump and the Republicans claim that there should be no more spending on unemployment and payments to individuals because we’ve spent enough, tax cuts are simply spending before the fact of revenue collection rather than after the fact. Conceptually, there is no difference, other than who gets the money.

Perhaps the ultimate indication of how rigged our economic system is, is that the wealth of billionaires in the U.S. increased almost $600 billion or 20% between March 18 and June 17 as the pandemic crushed the lives and livelihoods of mainstream Americans. The 643 U.S. billionaires, who are overwhelmingly white males, saw their aggregate wealth increase from $2.9 trillion to $3.5 trillion, an increase of about $1 billion a piece, on average. [3] [4]

Meanwhile, working and middle-class households lost $6.5 trillion in wealth and over 45 million Americans applied for unemployment insurance. The 643 billionaires’ increase in wealth was twice as much as what the federal government spent on the one-time stimulus checks that went to 150 million Americans.

The billionaires and other wealthy individuals have used their incredible wealth to gain extraordinary influence over our politics and policy making. This led to the tax cuts in the CARES Act, in the 2017 Tax Act, and on numerous other occasions. As a result, the taxes paid by these billionaires decreased by 79% as a percentage of their wealth from 1980 to 2018. [5]

As another indicator of a rigged economic system, as the pandemic hit in early 2020 only the richest 20% of U.S. households had regained the same level of wealth that they had had prior to the Great Recession of 2008. The other 80% of households were still struggling with the economic hangover of the 2008 financial industry crash. The 400 wealthiest billionaires, on the other hand, recovered their wealth in three years and in ten years had increased their wealth by over 80%.

On the corporate front, corporations are rewarding their investors, i.e., shareholders, while laying off their workers. For example, Caterpillar closed three facilities in late March and two weeks later made a $500 million distribution to shareholders. Levi Strauss announced on April 7th that it would stop paying workers and furloughed about 4,000 over the following month. Nonetheless, it paid $32 million to shareholders in April. Stanley Black & Decker announced furloughs and layoffs on April 2nd, but within two weeks issued a $106 million dividend to shareholders. [6]

You may recall that in August 2019 the chief executives of 181 companies from the Business Roundtable released a statement announcing that companies should deliver value to customers, workers, and suppliers, as well as shareholders. To-date, three of the executives who signed that statement – ones from Caterpillar, Stanley Black & Decker, and Steelcase – have furloughed workers while paying dividends to shareholders.

In our rigged economic system, the capitalists in government bailout capitalists (i.e., business owners and investors), not workers, home owners, parents, students, schools, states and cities, our social services, or our so-called safety net. Even small businesses get left behind as wealthy investors and corporations are taken care of first and foremost. This was evident in the 2008 bailout after the collapse of the financial and mortgage sectors and it’s evident again in the response to this pandemic.

I urge you to contact your U.S. Representative and Senators and to tell them that pandemic relief should go to workers, middle-class and low-income households, and small businesses. Not only is this what would be fair and democratic, this would support our economy because two-thirds of economic activity is consumer purchases. If consumers can buy, they will keep the economy going and create demand for the goods and services businesses produce. Bailouts to corporations and investors will make them wealthier but will do little to keep the economy going and very little to help the mainstream residents of America.

You can find contact information for your US Representative at  http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/ and for your US Senators at http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm.

[1]      Stein, J., 4/14/20, “Tax change in coronavirus package overwhelmingly benefits millionaires, congressional body finds,” The Washington Post

[2]      Tankersley, J., 5/6/20, “Trump considers tax-cut proposal for new bill,” The New York Times

[3]      McCarthy, N., 6/22/20, “U.S. billionaire wealth surged since the start of the pandemic,” Forbes

[4]      Americans for Tax Fairness, 6/18/20, “3 months into COVID-19 pandemic: Billionaires boom as middle class implodes,” (https://americansfortaxfairness.org/issue/3-months-covid-19-pandemic-billionaires-boom-middle-class-implodes/)

[5]      Collins, C., 5/11/20, “Billionaires are getting even richer from the pandemic. Enough is enough,” CNN Business (https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/28/perspectives/inequality-coronavirus-billionaires/index.html)

[6]      Whoriskey, P., 5/6/20, “Amid layoffs, investors reap dividends,” The Boston Globe from The Washington Post

EFFECTS OF RACISM Part 2

The murder of George Floyd, a black man, by a white police officer kneeling on his neck for nine minutes (while three other officers facilitated the killing) has put the racism of U.S. society in the forefront. The attention to racism is going beyond this specific episode and is including the underlying, long-term racism of the U.S. economy, our society, and the policies, funding, and practices of federal, state, and local governments. (See my previous post here for more background.)

The effects of racism – of racial prejudice and discrimination – on black people today are broad and pervasive. They are the aggregation of current policies, practices, and characteristics of the U.S. economy and society, as well as the cumulative effects of 400 years of racism. I can’t do justice to all the effects in a couple of posts (Even long ones. My apologies.), but I will start by highlighting some of them. Some, particularly the better-known ones, I will just mention and for some I will present more detail. They are presented in no particular order, in part because they are all intertwined and the relative importance or severity of them is difficult, if not impossible, to determine. (See my previous post for effects in Education and Health and health care.)

Some of the detrimental effects of racism on black people that are evident today include:

Economic inequality

  • The median income for black households is only 60% of that of white households ($37,000 vs. $60,000).
  • Median wealth (assets minus liabilities) for black households is only 8% of that of white households ($11,000 vs. $134,000).
  • Most Blacks were excluded from many of the benefits of the New Deal legislation of the 1930s, including the minimum wage, union membership, and participation in Social Security. Much of this was corrected in the 1960s and 1970s, but the loss of 30 to 40 years of these economic benefits is a big contributor to today’s economic inequality. (See more detail in this previous post.)
  • One-third of low-income black households (incomes under $30,000) do not have a bank account (versus one-ninth of low-income white households). This means they must rely on check cashing services and payday lenders for financial transactions, which involve high fees and often usurious interest rates. This made it difficult (or expensive) for them to get their coronavirus relief checks, for example. [1]

Housing (See my previous post for an overview of government policies and practices that led to housing segregation and low levels of black home ownership.)

  • The effects of federal government and bank redlining are still discernible in the segregation patterns of our cities. Black people disproportionately live in areas with high concentrations of low-income households, poor air quality, and low social capital. These neighborhood characteristics are strongly linked to a whole range of negative life outcomes, including lower educational attainment, more unemployment and lower-wage jobs, shorter life spans, higher stress, and worse health and health care. On the other hand, the (white) suburbs created wealth for their residents and provided strong social capital and healthy, low-stress environments. [2] For example, in the post-World War II period, homes in the suburbs, which typically excluded Blacks, were purchased by whites for around $15,000. Those homes are now worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, a substantial increase in wealth that was denied to Blacks.
  • The home ownership rate for black households is over 30 percentage points lower than for white households. This home ownership gap has increased from just over 20% to over 30% during the last 40 years. It had been relatively stable at just over 20% for the previous 30 years. Given that equity in a home is the primary source of wealth for middle-class and working families in the U.S., the lower rate of home ownership among black households is a significant contributor to racial economic inequality, as well as other unequal outcomes. Equity in one’s home is frequently used to pay for college for children or to cover a short-term financial setback such as the loss of a job or a medical emergency. It is also a key source of retirement savings and inheritance for children. The lack of the economic security that home equity provides also is presumably linked to the higher levels of stress that black people experience.
  • Today, in 2020, interest rates on mortgage loans for black home buyers tend to be higher than for whites because the Federal Housing Finance Agency requires that mortgage interest rates be adjusted based on the borrower’s credit score, down payment, and mortgage type. These adjustments may double the interest rate on a mortgage loan and disproportionately harm black borrowers, either by pricing them out of the market or making the cost of home ownership significantly higher. These mortgage rate adjustments are a dysfunctional and discriminatory holdover from the early 2000s and could and should be changed. [3]

Criminal justice (The pervasive racism of the U.S. criminal justice system – from policing to prosecution and sentencing – that has led to mass incarceration of black males is well known, so I won’t go into it here. I have written about it previously here and here.)

  • Lynching is not a federal crime. Although bills to make it a crime have been introduced in Congress multiple times, no bill has ever been passed and become law.
  • Black people are 23% of those shot and killed by police but are only 13% of the population. Recently released statistics show that in 2019, 69% of the people subject to stop-and-frisk by police in Boston were Black, although Blacks are only 25% of the population. [4]
  • The police (and others) tend to presume that black people, particularly black men and boys, are dangerous and criminals. Being stopped for driving while black is a frequent experience for Blacks, especially if driving a nice car or in a white neighborhood. Former Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick experienced this while he was Governor, riding in an official car. [5] This racial profiling also occurs when shopping while black, walking down the street in a white neighborhood while black, and on and on. In May 2020, a tall, (6’ 8”) black man, a home owner in Newton, MA, an upper-middle class, largely white, Boston suburb, was walking to the supermarket with his wife when four police cruisers descended them. One of the five officers drew his gun. When asked for identification, the black man knew better than to reach into his pocket – a motion police officers in other situations claimed they found threatening and a reason to shoot. He told the officers that his wallet was in his back pocket and let them retrieve it. [6]

Voting

  • Republicans have been leading efforts for decades to make it harder or impossible for black people to vote – stealing an essential democratic right they were supposedly given after the Civil War. Multiple states have enacted laws that make it harder to register to vote and harder to vote through onerous voter ID requirements. States have also imposed what are effectively poll taxes, reduced the number of polling places in black neighborhoods, and reduced the hours for voting (including early voting that many blacks took advantage of, in part because it can be difficult for them to get to the polls on a work day). All these disproportionately harm black voters. In addition, states have purged lists of registered voters in ways that, again, disproportionately remove black voters. States have banned convicted criminals from voting, sometimes for life, which again disproportionately affects black voters. Finally, the boundaries of voting districts, especially for the U.S. House of Representatives and state legislatures, have been manipulated (i.e., gerrymandered) to reduce the impact of black voters.

The documentation of the detrimental effects of racism is not new. For example, the 1968 Kerner Commission Report on the “race riots” of the 1960s, stated that “Segregation and poverty have created in the racial ghetto a destructive environment totally unknown to most of white Americans. … White institutions created it, white institutions maintain it, and white society condones it.” It noted that not only had the racism of white society created this situation, but that the (white) public and policy makers were apathetic to the issue of black poverty. The Report recommended large-scale government programs to undo segregation and build wealth for black communities. Obviously, the Report was largely ignored. [7]

As one Boston Globe columnist recently wrote of the racism in the U.S., “I’ve spent years calling the system broken, but it wasn’t. This system was designed to dehumanize and exploit Black folk and other people of color.” [8] As former Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, who is black noted, “For America, where freedom was the point from the start, only equality, opportunity and fair play make freedom possible.” [9] He probably should have clarified this by saying freedom for ALL or for black people.

It is long past time to address the racism that has persisted in the U.S. for the 140 years since the Civil War and indeed for the last 400 years since black slaves were first brought to America. We need to reform our police and criminal justice system, our housing policies and practices, and all the factors that lead to economic, environmental, and social injustice.

We need to have a serious discussion about reparations – remedies for the enduring harm that past and current policies and practices have caused to Blacks in the U.S. More on this in a future post.

I encourage each and every one of us to think long and hard about how we can contribute to the effort to end racism in our society and to erase its enduring scars. I’d appreciate your comments and questions on this post, including about:

  • Other policies and practices that need to be remedied,
  • Steps we should take to change policies and practices, and
  • How we should tackle the question of reparations for the enduring, cumulative harm that racism has done to Blacks in the U.S.

Thank you for your comments with reactions, suggestions, and questions. This is a discussion we need to have – and to turn into action.

[1]      Guzman, L., & Ryberg, R., 6/11/20, “The majority of low-income Hispanic and Black households have little-to-no bank access, complicating access to COVID relief funds,” National Research Center on Hispanic Children and Families (https://www.hispanicresearchcenter.org/research-resources/the-majority-of-low-income-hispanic-and-black-households-have-little-to-no-bank-access-complicating-access-to-covid-relief-funds/)

[2]      Baradaran, M., 6/17/20, “No justice. No peace. Underlying the nationwide protests for black lives is the racial wealth gap,” The American Prospect (https://prospect.org/civil-rights/no-justice-no-peace-fix-the-racial-wealth-gap/)

[3]      Levitin, A.J., 6/17/20, “How to start closing the racial wealth gap,” The American Prospect (https://prospect.org/economy/how-to-start-closing-the-racial-wealth-gap/)

[4]      Osterheldt, J., 6/17/20, “An oppression that should have been so clear,” The Boston Globe

[5]      Patrick, D., 6/16/20, “America is awakening to what it means to be Black. Will we also awaken to what it means to be American?” (https://medium.com/@DevalPatrick/america-is-awakening-to-what-it-means-to-be-black-3eb938969f7f)

[6]      Krueger, H., 6/6/20, “A walk to the grocery store, interrupted,” The Boston Globe

[7]      Baradaran, M, 6/17/20, see above

[8]      Osterheldt, J., 6/17/20, see above

[9]      Patrick, D., 6/16/20, see above

RACISM IN HOUSING HAS BEEN EXPLICIT GOVERNMENT POLICY

The murder of George Floyd, a black man, by a white police officer kneeling on his neck for nine minutes (while three other officers facilitated the killing) has brought the racism of U.S. society to the forefront. The attention to racism has gone beyond this specific episode and has included the underlying, long-term racism of policies, practices, and funding of federal, state, and local governments. (See my previous post for more background.)

Throughout U.S. society, a powerful element of racism is discrimination in housing and the segregation that it has produced. The conventional wisdom in the U.S., including in legal circles and the courts, is that racial housing segregation is de facto, i.e., the result of private practices and personal preferences and not the result of government policies and laws. This belief has led courts to declare that governments have no responsibility to address segregation and its negative effects, other than perhaps in our public schools.

The truth is that housing segregation is clearly the result of government policies and practices throughout the last 140 years, including ones that persist to this day. The legal term for effects that are direct or intentional results of actions is de jure. Therefore, racial housing desegregation in the U.S. is de jure. If legally acknowledged as such, it is a violation of our Constitution, specifically the Fifth, Thirteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments, and of the Bill of Rights. Acknowledgement of this would mean that our governments have an obligation to respond to housing segregation and the harm that it has caused. The definitive case for this is made by Richard Rothstein in his book The Color of Law: A forgotten history of how our government segregated America. [1]

The Color of Law describes in detail the government policies and practices at the local, state, and federal levels that promoted and enforced racial segregation in housing, and even forced the segregation of communities that had been integrated. Some of this dates from the late 1800s and some still exists today. Furthermore, many discriminatory private policies and practices have been supported by the action (or inaction) of government entities, such as the police, the courts, and various government agencies and regulators.

I apologize for the length of this post, but I felt it was important to give a good sense of the breadth and depth of the government policies and practices behind the racism in housing. Skim by reading the bolded portions if your time is limited. Policies and practices that contributed to housing segregation include:

  • In the late 1800s, Jim Crow laws and explicit, enforced segregation became the way of life in the South after the 1878 removal of federal troops that had been protecting blacks and implementing Reconstruction. The discrimination and segregation of the South proceeded to spread throughout the country. For example, in the early 1900s, blacks were systematically expelled from Montana, where they had previously thrived. In 1890, there were blacks in all 56 counties in Montana. By 1930, there were none in eleven counties and few left in the others. In the state capital of Helena, there were 420 blacks in 1910, but only 131 in 1930 and 45 in 1970.
  • Beginning in 1910 and continuing to today, zoning restrictions have been widely and intentionally used to segregate housing, sometimes explicitly and sometimes by banning multiple family housing or requiring large lot sizes (which make property very expensive). These latter types of zoning laws exist quite widely today. In 1910, Baltimore was the first city to adopt an explicitly segregationist zoning law. It prohibited blacks from buying homes on blocks where whites were the majority and vice versa. Implementing the zoning ordinance proved difficult because many areas of the city were quite integrated at the time. West Palm Beach adopted a racial zoning ordinance in 1929 and maintained it until 1960. Kansas City and Norfolk, VA, maintained racist zoning practices until at least 1987. Racist zoning ordinances effectively prevented blacks from moving to the suburbs and, in many cases, effectively prevented them from buying homes, forcing them to rent their homes.
  • In the 1920s, restrictions written into in home ownership deeds prohibiting the selling of a home to a black person spread throughout the country and in some cases persisted into the 1970s. Governments at the local, state, and federal levels promoted and enforced these restrictive covenants. State courts upheld them. In 1948, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that these covenants were private agreements and therefore not unconstitutional. However, it ruled that they represented discrimination that was illegal for the government to be a party to. Therefore, the power and resources of the government, including law enforcement and the courts, should not be used to enforce them. Shockingly, the FHA and other federal agencies, in complicity with state and local governments, effectively ignored this Supreme Court ruling for at least another decade. It wasn’t until 1972 that a federal court ruled that these covenants were illegal as a violation of the Fair Housing Act of 1968.
  • In the 1930s, the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) was created to promote home ownership, including by insuring home mortgage loans. Mortgage loans were newly available to middle class borrowers and insurance against default by the borrower made banks much more willing to make these loans. This insurance was, for all practical purposes, required by banks for mortgage loans. However, the FHA generally refused to insure mortgage loans for blacks, and definitely would not do so if the home being purchased was in a white neighborhood. Furthermore, the FHA would not insure a mortgage for a white person if the home was in a neighborhood where blacks were present. The FHA explicitly stated in its Underwriting Manual that segregated neighborhoods were preferable because segregated schools made neighborhoods more stable and desirable. (See pages 65 – 66 in The Color of Law.)
  • Up until 1962, the FHA also supported financing for developers building whites-only subdivisions in suburbia. It wasn’t until 1962, when President Kennedy issued an executive order banning the use of federal funds to support racial discrimination in housing, that the FHA stopped supporting subdivisions by developers who refused to sell homes to blacks.
  • As mortgage loans proliferated in the 1930s, federal bank regulators allowed banks to deny mortgages to blacks, as well as to whites buying in an integrated neighborhood. State regulated insurance companies that issued mortgages had similar policies. Federal bank regulators also allowed banks to “redline” areas and refuse to make mortgage loans for the purchase of any home within those areas, which were typically neighborhoods where blacks lived. This practice continued at least into the 1980s.
  • Starting in the 1940s, public housing was built. Initially, it was primarily for working- and lower-middle-class white families and was not heavily subsidized. In the late 1940s, as whites increasingly purchased homes in the suburbs and public housing became more available to blacks, most public housing was explicitly segregated until the 1970s and developments for whites were typically better built and built in nicer areas. By the 1960s, urban public housing had mostly poor, black residents and, by government policy, was built almost exclusively in black neighborhoods.
  • In the late 1940s, black World War II veterans were denied the government-guaranteed mortgages for purchasing homes that white veterans used in great numbers to buy suburban homes.
  • Beginning in the late 1940s, violence against blacks trying to move into white neighborhoods was not uncommon. However, law enforcement at the local, state, and federal levels rarely responded to these incidents until the 1980s. The proportion of these incidents where charges were filed against perpetrators grew from only 25% in 1985-6 to 75% in 1990, when roughly 100 such incidents occurred.
  • Numerous studies in the 1960s and 1970s found that blacks paid higher effective property tax rates on their homes than whites. This was typically accomplished by assessing black-owned properties at a high value compared to market value, while white-owned properties were assessed at a low comparative value. A 1973 study of ten cities by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development found systematic under-assessment in white middle-class neighborhoods and over-assessment in black neighborhoods. In Baltimore, it found an effective property tax rate 9 times higher for blacks than for whites; in Philadelphia it was 6 times higher and in Chicago it was twice as high. A 1979 analysis of Chicago property taxes found the effective rate for blacks to be 6 times that for whites.
  • In the early 2000s, federal bank regulators failed to stop banks from providing subprime mortgages disproportionately to black customers – at two to three times the rate of white customers. Subprime mortgages were mortgage loans with onerous provisions or deceptive presentation that made it likely that the borrower would be unable to meet the terms the loan. Defaults on these subprime mortgages were a key factor in the 2008 financial collapse and the resultant foreclosures represented a huge loss of wealth for blacks in the U.S. Moreover, many of the blacks who received these predatory, subprime mortgages qualified for regular mortgages but were steered to these subprime mortgages typically because the mortgage broker made more money on them.

These policies, and others, both reinforced racially segregated housing where it existed and imposed segregation in places where it hadn’t previously existed. “In 1973, the U.S. Civil Rights Commission concluded that the ‘housing industry, aided and abetted by the Government, must bear the primary responsibility for the legacy of segregated housing. … Government and private industry came together to create a system of residential segregation.’” (page 75)

My next post will summarize effects on black people of housing and other discrimination that are evident today. I’ll also ask you to share your thoughts on how we should address racism in the U.S.

[1]      Rothstein, R., 2017, The Color of Law: A forgotten history of how our government segregated America, W. W. Norton & Co., Inc., NY, NY.

RACISM IS AND HAS BEEN EXPLICIT GOVERNMENT POLICY

The murder of George Floyd, a black man, by a white police officer kneeling on his neck for nine minutes (while three other officers aided and abetted the act) has brought the racism of U.S. society to the forefront. The discussion it has spurred is going beyond this specific episode and has embraced the broader themes of racism in police personnel, training, and practices. In addition, the overall racism of U.S. society is being confronted, including the underlying, long-term racism of policies, funding, and practices of federal, state, and local governments.

For several years, the U.S. has been experiencing a simmering discussion about the racist practices and results of our criminal justice system. They typically start with police, or sometimes school disciplinary practices, and extend through prosecutors, courts, and prisons. (I’ve posted about the need for criminal justice reform, in large part because of embedded racism, here and here.)

Some of the racism in criminal justice is the result of public policies – laws defining crimes and penalties for them. Drug laws with much stiffer penalties for crack cocaine (typically used by blacks) than powdered cocaine (typically used by whites) are one clear example. Mandatory sentencing laws and three strikes laws are others. The racism of laws is exacerbated by their implementation, i.e., the practices of police, prosecutors, and courts. For example, blacks have been much more likely to be arrested and prosecuted for marijuana possession than whites, although good research has found no significant difference in use of marijuana (or other illegal drugs) between blacks and whites. Criminal justice system outcomes are different by race in part because whites can afford and have access to better legal representation.

I’ve previously posted on other topics related to racism that are embedded in laws, policies, and practices of governments at all levels, including:

  • The need for a political revolution to restore democracy and overcome economic inequality and other effects of hardcore capitalism as described in Ben Fountain’s book, Beautiful Country Burn Again: Democracy, rebellion, and revolution. [1] The book is based on his reporting on the 2016 presidential campaign. It now looks prescient in its analysis and title. Although this argument didn’t focus on racism, race was certainly an underlying theme. (link)
  • The racism of the Supreme Court in overturning the Voting Rights Act in 2013 (as analyzed in Fountain’s book). (link)
  • The largely racially motivated voter suppression and gerrymandering that has exploded since the Supreme Court decision overturning the Voting Rights Act in 2013.
  • The disparate impact of the coronavirus pandemic on people of color. (here and here)

Underlying all of this, and a powerful element of racism throughout U.S. society, is racism in housing and the segregation that it has produced. Housing segregation has been widely acknowledged for decades as the driver of racially unequal access to education in K-12 schools, which are largely funded by local property taxes. It is also a major driver of economic inequality, the unequal impact of the coronavirus, and many disparities in health and mental health conditions and in access to health care services. Housing segregation is, of course, also linked to the racial biases in law enforcement.

The conventional wisdom in the U.S., including in legal circles and the courts, is that housing segregation is de facto, i.e., the result of private practices and personal preferences, but not the result of government policies and laws. This belief has led courts to declare that because racial housing segregation is de facto, governments have no responsibility to address it and its negative effects, other than perhaps in our public K-12 schools.

The truth is that housing segregation is clearly the result of government actions of the whole 20th century, including policies and practices that persist to this day. The legal term for effects that are intentional results of explicit policies and laws is de jure. Therefore, racial housing desegregation in the U.S. is de jure segregation. If housing segregation is legally acknowledged to be de jure, it is a violation of our Constitution, specifically the Fifth, Thirteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments, and of the Bill of Rights. This acknowledgement would mean that our governments have an obligation to respond to the harms caused by housing segregation. The definitive case for this is made by Richard Rothstein in his book The Color of Law: A forgotten history of how our government segregated America. [2] I will summarize the book in my next post.

An important but less direct way that housing segregation has been created and maintained is by keeping the incomes and wealth of black households low so that they cannot afford to buy homes in white areas. Long after the end of the sharecropping system, which was indentured servitude that was barely distinguishable from slavery, many public policies have kept blacks poor.

In the 1930s, President Franklin Roosevelt needed the votes of southern Democrats to pass New Deal legislation. To get their votes, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938 and other legislation that benefited workers excluded industries in which blacks were the predominant workers, such as agriculture and domestic services. Therefore, these occupations and many blacks didn’t receive the benefits of the minimum wage, participation in labor unions, or coverage from Social Security. Furthermore, many of the New Deal’s employment programs rarely employed blacks or restricted them to lower paying jobs. The minimum wage and some, but not all, of the other protections and benefits of the FLSA were finally given to most farm and domestic workers in the 1960s and 1970s.

From the 1930s to the 1960s, blacks who worked in unionized jobs were often in segregated unions, which typically had lower pay and represented less skilled jobs. Federal agencies continued to recognize segregated unions until President Kennedy ended the practice in 1962. In 1964, the National Labor Relations Board finally refused to certify whites-only unions and it was another decade before blacks were admitted to construction trade unions. Even then, their lack of seniority in the union meant that it would be many years before their incomes were comparable to white union members’ earnings.

Although many of the racist policies and practices that were once allowed and facilitated by governments are no longer in place, their effects have never been remedied and their discriminatory results endure. Economic inequality is one of their enduring legacies. In 2017, the median income for white households was about $60,000, while it was roughly $37,000 for black households – only 60% as much. Median white household wealth (assets minus liabilities) was about $134,000 versus $11,000 for black households – only 8% as much. Given that equity in a home is the primary source of wealth for middle-class households in the U.S., housing discrimination and segregation have been big contributors to racial economic inequality.

It is long past time to address the racial discrimination that has persisted in the U.S. over the last 140 years since Reconstruction of the South was abandoned and indeed over the last 400 years since black slaves were first brought to America. We need to reform our police and criminal justice system, our housing policies and practices, and so much more.

We need to have a serious discussion about reparations – remedies for the enduring harm that past and current policies and practices have caused to blacks in the U.S. I encourage each and every one of us to think long and hard about how we can contribute to the effort to end racism in our society and to erase its enduring scars.

[1]      Fountain, B., 2018, Beautiful Country Burn Again: Democracy, rebellion, and revolution, HarperCollins Publishers, NY, NY.

[2]      Rothstein, R., 2017, The Color of Law: A forgotten history of how our government segregated America, W. W. Norton & Co., Inc., NY, NY.

THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S SWAMP OF CORRUPTION Part 2

President Trump campaigned on a promise to drain the Washington, D.C., swamp of special interests and insider dealing. This is one promise he clearly hasn’t kept – and probably never meant. I provided some background on this and an overview of the personal corruption of Trump and his family in my previous post.

The level of corruption – of special interests running our government for their own benefit and of outright self-enrichment by individuals in the Trump administration – is stunning. The American Prospect magazine has begun mapping the Trump Swamp of conflicts of interest and unethical behavior agency by agency. [1] They have created an interactive map of Washington where you can click on an agency’s headquarters building and get highlights of the swamp of corruption at each agency.

Here are some examples of Trump appointees who have on-going conflicts of interest, have oversight of industries they used to work in (and may well work in again), and/or have committed serious ethical violations: [2]

  • Steve Mnuchin, Secretary of the Treasury, a former Goldman Sachs (GS) partner. His specialty at GS was mortgage securities, which were at the heart of the 2008 economic collapse. He capitalized on the collapse by buying a failing bank and foreclosing on 36,000 homeowners, many of whom were elderly and who had been targeted with high-risk reverse mortgages, supposedly intended to keep them in their homes. Furthermore, he simultaneously collected federal subsidies that were meant to keep people in their homes. At the Treasury, he has weakened regulation of banks and reduced scrutiny of financial activities, which benefits his colleagues still in the financial industry (and to which he will likely return). Under Mnuchin, the Treasury has provided favorable tax rulings for wealthy individuals and businesses, again rewarding his former colleagues. It also put forth tax regulations that were almost identical to those proposed by a group of large corporations. It tweaked the rules for Opportunity Zone tax credits so they would be more available to real estate magnates including Jared Kushner (Trump’s son-in-law), Chris Christie (former Governor of New Jersey), Richard LeFrak (longtime Trump associate in NYC), Anthony Scaramucci (former White House aide), and Michael Milken (longtime Mnuchin friend and convicted junk bond dealer).
  • Elaine Chao, Secretary of the Department of Transportation (DOT), heiress to a shipping company fortune. While her DOT regulates international shipping, her family runs a huge international shipping business that has ship building done by Chinese government-linked entities, while also getting hundreds of million dollars of loans from them. Numerous actions by Chao and DOT have benefited the family business, including cutting subsidies for competing shippers, public appearances with her father, and a joint trip with him to China to meet with government officials. Until June 2019, she also owned an investment in a manufacturer of road construction materials, an industry very much affected by DOT policies. She sold this investment only when the holding was publicly reported. Kentucky (which her husband, Sen. Mitch McConnell, represents) has seen its transportation projects receive favorable treatment. Kentucky has received at least $78 million in DOT grants, including for a project rejected twice before. A former aide to Sen. McConnell, now a top aide to Chao, provides special attention for Kentucky projects.
  • Wilbur Ross, Secretary of Commerce, a former private equity manager. His firm paid a $2.3 million fine in 2016 for unethically siphoning $120 million from former associates. Companies his firm controlled found ways to escape obligations to provide workers pensions and health benefits. After he became Secretary, and with his department regulating shipping, he retained ownership in a shipping company with ties to Russian oligarchs and members of Russian President Putin’s family. As Secretary, he personally negotiated a deal to ship liquified natural gas (LNG) to China while his shipping company owned the world’s largest fleet of LNG tankers. Ross has conferred on official business with leaders of government-controlled funds in Qatar, Japan, and Singapore who had invested in his private equity firm. He had official meetings with the CEOs of Chevron and Boeing, while his wife held investments in those corporations of $400,000 and $2 million, respectively.
  • Betsy DeVos, Secretary of the Department of Education (DOE), rich, major campaign contributor with no expertise in education other than advocacy for charter schools. For numerous top jobs at DOE, she has hired former employees of private, for-profit college companies that had paid fines or signed legal settlements for deceptive advertising. The DOE has maintained the flow of federal funds (via student loans) to for-profit schools with questionable track records, while insisting that students defrauded by private colleges continue to make loan payments. The DOE also effectively stopped the public-service loan forgiveness program, requiring tens of thousands of teachers, nurses, police officers, and others to continue to pay off their student loans. She has done nothing to help ease the $1.5 trillion student debt crisis, despite promises by President Trump to do so.
  • David Bernhardt, Secretary of the Department of the Interior, former partner in a Denver law and lobbying firm that represented mining, oil, and gas companies. He disclosed 20 separate conflicts of interest, but nonetheless acted at least 25 times to benefit former clients of his law firm. His former law firm has quadrupled its revenue since he became Secretary.
  • Andrew Wheeler, head of the Environmental Protection Agency, a former lawyer and lobbyist for the coal industry.
  • Alex Azar, Secretary of Health and Human Services, a former executive of the giant drug corporation, Eli Lilly, where dramatic increases in drug prices were a common practice.

The list goes on and on and includes many staffers in these and other agencies. Overall, as-of October 2019, less than three years into Trump’s term, there are 281 former lobbyists working in the Trump administration, four times as many as the Obama administration hired in six years.

This is not how a democracy is supposed to operate, let alone our democracy, which is supposed to be the exceptional shining light on the hill. This is how a plutocracy operates – where government is of, by, and for the wealthy.

I urge you to contact your U.S. Representative and Senators to ask them to investigate the conflicts of interest, the self-enrichment, and the ethics of the many members of the Trump administration identified in The American Prospect’s expose. Please ask your Senators to refuse to confirm any Trump appointee with conflicts of interest or histories of unethical behavior. Because of current vacancies and the high level of turnover, additional appointments of senior officials will continue to come before the Senate.

You can find contact information for your US Representative at  http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/ and for your US Senators at http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm.

[1]      Lardner, J., 4/9/20, “Mapping corruption: Donald Trump’s executive branch,” The American Prospect (https://prospect.org/power/mapping-corruption-donald-trump-executive-branch/)

[2]      Lardner, J., 4/9/20, see above

THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S SWAMP OF CORRUPTION

President Trump campaigned on a promise to drain the Washington, D.C., swamp of special interests and insider dealing. This is one promise he clearly hasn’t kept – and probably never meant – although it was good rhetoric for the campaign because many of his potential supporters wanted to hear this. They were working and middle-class people who wanted to see the federal government turned upside down because they had lost their economic security to:

  • Trade deals that sent their jobs overseas,
  • Anti-union policies that made it impossible for them to strike or to organize, so their wages stagnated and their overall compensation (including benefits) declined,
  • Financial policies that let already wealthy executives and stockholders capture the benefits of increased productivity of workers,
  • A health care system that increased their costs while decreasing coverage,
  • A retirement system that either abandoned them or shifted investment risk onto their shoulders, and
  • A government that repeatedly bailed out the financial industry, reduced taxes on huge corporations, and allowed leveraged buyouts and bankruptcies that cut jobs and eliminated retirement benefits.

While these policies were benefiting wealthy corporations and individuals, blue collar and middle-class workers lost their jobs, had mortgages foreclosed on, and saw their credit card balances and their children’s student debt skyrocket. (See this previous post for more detail.)

The American Prospect magazine has begun mapping the Trump Swamp of conflicts of interest and unethical behavior agency by agency. [1] They have created an interactive map of Washington where you can click on an agency’s headquarters building and get highlights of the swamp of corruption at each agency.

The level of corruption – of special interests running our government for their own benefit and the outright self-enrichment by individuals in the Trump administration – is stunning. Much of this flies beneath the radar of all the bluster, lies, and shocking policy proposals the Trump administration throws out daily. It relies on misdirection delivered through words to distract attention from corrupt actions. Our mainstream media is just too focused on the theater of Trump and his minions, and too overwhelmed to report everything that’s being done. And the American public is too distracted – having had its attention diverted from the real action just as a magician does – and too overwhelmed to take it all in.

The personal self-dealing of President Trump is appalling even before one considers what’s going on in executive branch agencies. For example, foreign diplomats and domestic lobbyists are paying untold sums of money to stay in Trump hotels and at Trump resorts. This money is functionally a bribe, buying access, attention, often face-time, and sometimes outright rewards. The President has spent one out of every three days at one of his resorts, giving the resorts free advertising and revenue from the lodging and other expenses of his Secret Service detail and his retinue. The Secret Service, for example, in protecting the President as he golfs, has spent over $500,000 on golf carts alone.

Family members have benefited, too. Perhaps most notably, Ivanka Trump got rare and valuable trademarks from China the same day she dined with China’s leader. Trump’s spokesperson also touted Ivanka’s products in official TV interviews.

In another example of what’s functionally bribery, two large private prison corporations, GEO Group and CoreCivic, after hundreds of thousands of dollars of political spending, have received over $3 billion in payments for their services from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a unit of the federal Department of Homeland Security. Together, they run 41 detention centers that house more than half of ICE detainees. They’re providing these services because the Trump administration has reversed the phaseout of the use of private prisons that was occurring under the Obama administration. The phaseout was happening because of a series of scandals at private prisons including deaths, high suicide rates, substandard medical care, and other malfeasance. (See previous posts here and here for more detail.)

This dramatic reversal of policy by the Trump administration didn’t happen by accident; it happened because of a concerted effort by the private prison corporations through campaign contributions and use of the revolving door. GEO-associated executives and entities gave at least $675,000 to Trump’s campaign and inauguration and other Republican campaigns. GEO hired two former aides to Sen. Sessions, the new Attorney General, as lobbyists. When AG Sessions formally reversed the Obama administration’s phaseout of the use of private prisons, GEO stock had already doubled in value and CoreCivic’s stock was up 140%. As a thank you, the private prison industry gave another $1 million to the Trump campaign. [2]

Payday lenders also functionally bribed the Trump administration to get a reprieve from Obama administration policies, which were working to protect borrowers from usurious fees and interest rates (sometimes over 100% a year when annualized). The payday lending industry donated over $2.2 million to Trump’s campaign and inauguration. The CEO of one large payday lending chain told his peers that the money would buy access to top administration officials and the chair of the Republican National Committee, who could get them an audience with the President.

The change in payday lending oversight policy was facilitated by Trump’s appointment of his top budget official, Mick Mulvaney, to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). The appointment process was probably illegal, but the White House Office of Legal Counsel said it was okay in a memo written by a lawyer who had been the lead attorney for a payday lender fighting CFPB regulations. The CFPB dropped that enforcement action after Mulvaney took over.

Trump’s personal corruption is mind boggling, but it is only the tip of the iceberg. The overarching economic philosophy and purpose of the Trump administration has been to handover government regulation and policy making to large corporations, while sending as much as possible of government spending and program operation to them as well in an unprecedented spurt of privatization. As a result, there are numerous issue areas where policies that are widely supported by the public and are clearly in the public interest go nowhere as the corrupt influence of wealthy corporations and individuals blocks them. Instead, policies are often enacted that benefit the self-interests of wealthy corporations and individuals.

Beyond bad policies – ones that are uninformed and dangerous to public health, safety, and well-being – the Trump administration has made no effort to stop its bureaucrats, from Cabinet members on down, from enriching themselves from their work as government employees.

I urge you to visit The American Prospect’s interactive map of Washington and to click on one or more agency’s headquarters building to review highlights of the swamp of corruption at that agency.

In my next post, I will highlight some of the corrupt individuals in the Trump administration and their corrupt actions. I’ll also ask you to contact your elected officials to ask them to crack down on this corruption.

[1]      Lardner, J., 4/9/20, “Mapping corruption: Donald Trump’s executive branch,” The American Prospect (https://prospect.org/power/mapping-corruption-donald-trump-executive-branch/)

[2]      Lardner, J., 4/9/20, see above

REMEDIES FOR THREATS TO OUR ELECTIONS

My previous post highlighted threats to our election and voting systems. There are remedies for these threats, including the new and exacerbated ones due to the corona virus pandemic.

Surprisingly, there are lessons about cybersecurity that we should learn from Estonia. As a former state within the Soviet Union, it has decades of experience with Russian propaganda. It also has over a decade of experience dealing with Russian cyberattacks. In 2007, Russian hackers executed the first politically motivated cyberattack against a nation, bringing down much of Estonia’s Internet. They disabled government, newspaper, and bank websites. In response, Estonia built a Cyber Defense League based on a small staff and budget ($300,000) and a network of hundreds of volunteers. The volunteers do public education and plan simulated cyberattacks to test the government’s response. Estonia also has an ambassador at-large for cyber diplomacy and a federal Information System Authority that includes a cyber emergency response team. [1]

Estonia’s national government offers free cybersecurity trainings and screenings to candidates and political parties. In the lead-up to each election, it holds a hackathon where security experts try to break into the country’s election systems. Any vulnerabilities and the steps taken to fix them are publicly reported. The State Electoral Office has a working group that meets daily during elections to monitor the media and identify disinformation campaigns.

When Estonia joined NATO in 2004, it proposed hosting a center for cyber defense. Initially, NATO members were cool to the idea, but after Russia’s attack on Estonia in 2007, NATO agreed to create the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defense Center of Excellence housed in Tallinn, Estonia. It now hosts the largest cyber defense exercise in the world with over 1,200 participants from nearly 30 countries. In April 2019, the exercise’s scenario involved a coordinated cyberattack during a national election that affected vital services and also sought to manipulate public perception of the election results.

Estonia has become the model for countries working to counter Russian (and other) electronic meddling. It has developed cybersecurity expertise and a secure on-line voting system (over 40% of Estonians vote on-line). It requires high school students to take a 35-hour course on media and manipulation.

A key underlying element of Estonia’s preparedness for election meddling is broad public understanding that cybersecurity requires eternal vigilance, a sense of urgency, and a unity of purpose that leads to coordination among public agencies and private entities. These elements have, unfortunately, been lacking in the U.S. due to the lack of urgency from the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress about meddling in our elections.

To address cybersecurity and the other threats to our elections, and to ensure that everyone can vote safely and securely the U.S. needs to do the following: [2]

  • Establish an overarching national strategy on election security that coordinates efforts by governments, the private sector, academia, and the public,
  • Replace paperless voting machines with ones that have a paper backup and audit trail,
  • Expand alternative voting opportunities such as early voting and mail-in voting,
  • Enhance the ease of voter registration (e.g., on-line and same day registration) and the security of voter registration databases,
  • Provide federal funding to states to enhance voting systems and election-related security,
  • Increase oversight of and security requirements for vendors of voting systems,
  • Establish national standards for voting machines, registration databases, and voting procedures (e.g., post-election audits to verify the accuracy of results) to ensure that every eligible voter can vote safely and securely, and
  • Enhance the monitoring and response to misinformation and foreign attempts to influence our elections.

I urge you to contact your state election agency, often the Secretary of State, as well as your local, state, and national elected officials to encourage them to enhance the security and user-friendliness of our voting and election systems and procedures.

We need to make it as easy and as secure as possible for every citizen to vote!

[1]      Bryant, C. C., 2/4/20, “Cybersecurity 2020: What Estonia knows about thwarting Russians,” The Christian Science Monitor (https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2020/0204/Cybersecurity-2020-What-Estonia-knows-about-thwarting-Russians)

[2]      Brennan Center for Justice, retrieved 3/20/20, “Defend our elections,” (https://www.brennancenter.org/issues/defend-our-elections)

HEIGHTENED THREATS TO OUR ELECTIONS

Our election and voting systems were facing serious challenges before the corona virus pandemic hit; it has added new challenges and exacerbated old ones. Although the final federal election isn’t until November, state and local elections are occurring (or getting postponed) now, including primaries for the federal election.

The need to postpone elections or adjust procedures for them due to the pandemic highlight the need for effective voter communication and the threat of misinformation. Voters need to know about changes in the date of an election or the location of a polling place, e.g. to move it out of a senior living facility. Voters also need to know about changes in voting procedures such as expansions of early voting and absentee / mail-in voting.

Changes in election dates and procedures provide fertile ground for misinformation that could suppress voting or manipulate it for partisan or other purposes. The pandemic also provides opportunities for divisive misinformation aimed at stirring up social unrest and manipulating election outcomes. Such misinformation can also be used to undermine trust in government and our elections. [1]

One election strategy for addressing the challenge of keeping a safe social distance from others to limit the spread of the virus would be to conduct as much voting as possible by mail. For state or localities that have the capacity, mail-in ballots could be sent to every registered voter. In other places, absentee voting could be expanded to include anyone who would prefer to vote by mail. The options for requesting an absentee ballot should be expanded to include mail, on-line or email, phone, and in-person requests.

Before the corona virus hit, our voting systems and elections were vulnerable to operational glitches and ill-intentioned manipulation. Most states use electronic voting systems that are at least a decade old and prone to malfunction. Their software is old and doesn’t have up-to-date protections from hacking. Many states have voter registration databases that are similarly antiquated and vulnerable to hacking. Finally, poor design of ballots in some states leads to voter confusion and errors in voting. [2]

Issues with our voting and election systems are of particular concern given Russian cyber attacks on the 2016 U.S. election. Russian hackers probed election networks in all 50 states, breached at least one state voter registration database, attacked local election boards, got into at least two Florida counties’ computer networks, and infected the computers at a voting technology company. Russians hacked into the Clinton campaign’s email system and two units of the Democratic National Committee, stealing hundreds of thousands of documents and emails. These purloined documents then were leaked at multiple times, frequently when the timing had particular benefit for the Trump campaign. [3]

In addition, Russian entities engaged in extensive election-related misinformation campaigns in 2016. Probably most notably, the Internet Research Agency (IRA), a Russian government-linked organization, reached over 100 million Americans via social media using a budget of over $1 million a month. Through 470 Facebook accounts and 3,814 Twitter accounts, the IRA reached over 127 million people.

The goal of the Russian social media campaign was to sow political discord in the U.S. and to build doubts about American democracy by undermining trust in our political institutions, including the validity of our elections. It used hot-button topics such as race, immigration, and religion to inflame political polarization and heighten fear and confusion. Russia seeks to undermine and delegitimize Western democracies in general, both to boost its own international prestige and to discourage democratic aspirations at home. It hopes to exacerbate divisions within the U.S. and also to fracture NATO and other international alliances.

The U.S. Justice Department’s Mueller investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election led to the indictment of 25 Russian individuals and three Russian organizations. They had infiltrated individual, public, and private computers and networks, including voting lists and banking systems.

Although a federal information clearinghouse for election infrastructure has been created and $380 million was provided to states for election security, most cyber experts believe our election infrastructure is quite vulnerable. In January 2019, the U.S. Director of National Security warned that Russia was looking at opportunities to advance its interests in our 2020 elections and that it would use social media to weaken our democratic institutions, influence U.S. policies, and undermine U.S. alliances and partnerships.

My next post will outline steps we should take to ensure the accessibility and security of voting for all citizens.

[1]      Weiser, W. R., & Feldman, M., 3/16/20, “How to protect the 2020 vote from the coronavirus,” Brennan Center for Justice (https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/policy-solutions/how-protect-2020-vote-coronavirus)

[2]      Brennan Center for Justice, retrieved 3/20/20, “Election security,” (https://www.brennancenter.org/issues/defend-our-elections/election-security)

[3]      Bryant, C. C., 5/14/19, “Amid growing concerns about 2020, a primer on Russian election interference,” The Christian Science Monitor (https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2019/0514/Amid-growing-concerns-about-2020-a-primer-on-Russian-election-interference)

THE LEGACY OF WARREN’S RUN FOR PRESIDENT

As a policy wonk and someone who believes governments have an important role to play in addressing issues in our economy and society, I’m disappointed to see Sen. Elizabeth Warren drop out of the Democratic presidential race. Her highlighting of the work we need to do on social and economic justice will have a lasting legacy.

Warren has more clearly and specifically laid out a progressive vision for this country than anyone since President Franklin D. Roosevelt. She spelled out not only what that vision looked like but how to achieve it. She focused attention on the role of government, who it is supposed to work for in a democracy, and how those with wealth and power have undermined the basic principles and promise of our democracy. [1]

The detailed roadmap Warren put forth of how to solve problems in our society and economy, and to return to government of, by, and for the people will, fortunately, long outlive her presidential campaign. In February 2019, she put forth the first of her numerous plans to address our problems with a proposal to make affordable, high quality child care available for all children under school age. And she put forth her proposal for a wealth tax on ultra-millionaires as the way to pay for it and a number of her other plans.

Warren next presented a plan to break up and regulate the Big Tech corporations that are engaging in monopolistic practices and abusing the personal information they gather from all of us. She followed this up with a proposal to reverse decades of racist housing policies implemented by governments at all levels along with private sector lenders and the real estate industry. She followed up with plans to tackle the cost of higher education and student debt, a detailed plan to pay for health care for all, and policies to lessen the influence of big corporations and wealthy individuals in our policy making process.

Warren’s meticulous policy proposals set the agenda for the Democratic race for the presidential nomination. Hopefully, they will set the agenda for the final presidential race and future policy debates in Congress and governments at all levels.

Her proposals and arguments on the campaign trail hammered home the message that America’s problems are not inevitable but are the results of choices reflected in government policies. Warren highlighted how these decisions have been driven by the power of wealthy individuals and corporations, and how they have put their profits, power, and personal gain ahead of the common good.

Warren’s abilities as a storyteller made our problems and her solutions resonate with many Americans, as she wove her personal life story and America’s history into a clear, understandable, and persuasive narrative.

In keeping with her message that government needs to better serve the broad public, she raised the majority of her campaign’s $92 million (which, sadly, is necessary to run a competitive campaign these days) from small donors giving $200 or less. She refused to hold big ticket fundraisers where attendees make contributions in the thousands of dollars. She received more than half of her fundraising total from women, which is highly unusual if not unprecedented. This all demonstrated, as Sen. Sanders has as well, that a viable presidential campaign can be run without relying on large sums of money from wealthy individuals (who have vested, special interests). [2]

Warren has changed the way many Americans view our society and economy. Many people have learned about a wealth tax and the racial wealth gap for the first time, for example.

I believe she has changed the course of our country. Only time will tell how quickly and extensively her vision will affect the policies of our governments and the characteristics of our economy and society.

[1]      Voght, K., 3/5/20, “What Elizabeth Warren taught us,” Mother Jones (https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/03/what-elizabeth-warren-taught-us/)

[2]      Hasan, I., & Monnay, T., 3/5/20, “Low on cash and delegates, Warren ends her White House bid,” OpenSecrets.org, Center for Responsive Politics (https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2020/03/warren-ends-her-bid/)

BIG MONEY IS ALREADY PLAYING A BIG ROLE IN THE 2020 CAMPAIGN

Big money is already pouring into the 2020 election campaigns. The spending by wealthy individuals and corporations continues to grow. Federal candidates have already raised $2.2 billion (yes, Billion) with $1.6 billion of that belonging to the presidential candidates.

Here’s a quick summary of what the major presidential candidates and (supposedly) independent outside groups have spent so far (with 264 days to go!): [1]

  • Bloomberg: $464 million (self-funded, not accepting any contributions)
  • Steyer: $271 million
  • Trump: $218 million plus $35 million of outside money
  • Sanders: $133 million plus $  4 million of outside money
  • Warren: $  92 million plus $33 million of outside money
  • Buttigieg: $  81 million
  • Biden: $  68 million plus $  8 million of outside money
  • Klobuchar: $  34 million
  • Gabbard: $  14 million
  • Weld: $    2 million

Bloomberg is spending roughly $6 million a day of his own money on his presidential campaign. The bulk of his spending, roughly $400 million so far, has gone to advertising on TV, radio, and digital media. He is paying higher compensation to campaign staff than other campaigns in order, in numerous cases, to steal them away from other campaigns. [2] He is literally trying to buy the presidency with his personal fortune.

The 2010 Citizens United Supreme Court decision allowing unlimited spending in election campaigns by (supposedly) independent, outside groups and wealthy individuals continues to exacerbate the role of money in our elections. The securities and investment industry, for example, continues to increase its campaign spending and was the top industry donor to outside groups in each of the last four election cycles. Since 2012, the industry has spent more than $80 million in each two-year federal election cycle, over $320 million in total. Before the Citizens United decision, it never spent more than $18 million in an election cycle. [3]

Much of the campaign spending by corporations and their industry associations is done through Political Action Committees (PACs). Business PACs have already contributed $179 million to federal candidates and parties in the 2020 election cycle. Business PACs account for 73% of PAC contributions, dwarfing the spending by unions and issue-focused groups. Although the contributions themselves must be made by employees, shareholders, and their family members, the business can pay for all the PAC’s expenses and provide incentives to donors for giving to the PAC. The corporation’s direct spending on PAC expenses does not have to be disclosed. Business interests couple their dominant PAC spending with dominant spending on lobbying to give them great influence in policy making. They target specific candidates, often incumbents, who will be in influential policy making positions (e.g., on committees) relevant to their interests. [4]

PACs are supposedly independent of candidates’ campaigns, but they often share office space, staff, and other resources with candidates, House or Senate leaders, or the political parties. [5]

The amount of “dark money” in campaigns is growing, which means voters know less about who’s spending money to influence their votes. (“Dark money” is money that is laundered through non-profit entities that supposedly don’t have political spending as their main purpose and therefore do not have to disclose who their donors are.) In 2019, $65 million in “dark money” has flowed into PAC spending on 2020 election campaigns. In the 2018 election cycle, $176 million in “dark money” was given to PACs. The total for the 2020 election cycle is all but certain to be higher.

A recent report from the federal Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that campaign finance laws and enforcement capabilities have not kept up with the issues presented by “dark money,” unlimited spending, and on-line political spending. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) doesn’t have clear standards on what constitutes political activity in non-profit entities or the extent to which non-profit entities can engage in political activity. Furthermore, it is not reviewing donor lists or sharing them with other federal law enforcement agencies for review. The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is non-functional due to partisan deadlock, the President’s failure to appoint Commissioners, and under-funding. As a result, for example, the flow of illegal foreign money into our elections through “dark money” channels is not being monitored and no enforcement is occurring. [6]

One often overlooked effect of our money-driven elections is that people of color and their interests are severely underrepresented by elected officials. Ninety percent of elected officials are white, while only 63% of the population is white. The great majority of campaign money at the federal and state levels comes from less than 1% of the population who make donations of over $1,000. The bulk of these donors come from the richest 1% of the population, which is over 90% white. Money is, of course, crucial to election campaigns, with the candidate with more money winning about 90% of the time. The record spending on campaigns, especially by wealthy individuals and corporations unleashed by the Citizens United decision, has exacerbated the political marginalization of people of color. Wealth and political power have been increasingly consolidated in the hands of a very small, very white portion of the population. The bottom line is that people of color are underrepresented among elected officials, among candidates for office, among donors to campaigns, and as having their interests reflected in policies that are enacted. [7]

Given the obscene amounts of money being spent on election campaigns, voters who wish to make good decisions on candidates must now spend more time and effort to wade through the barrage of self-serving ads, misinformation, and noise to ferret out good and truthful information about candidates. If our democracy is to work, this requires all of us to pay more attention and spend more time researching candidates before we make our voting decisions. Voters will need to be consciously skeptical, so they are less swayed by paid media and slick messaging.

Ultimately, we need to change our campaign finance laws to reduce the influence of money and make it easier for voters to discern candidates’ positions on issues. But until that happens, to be informed voters, we will have to wade through the barrage of political advertising and messaging to discern between quality from quantity and differentiate truth from half-truth or outright fiction.

[1]      OpenSecrets.org, retrieved 2/23/20, “2020 presidential race,” Center for Responsive Politics (https://www.opensecrets.org/2020-presidential-race)

[2]      Evers-Hillstrom, K., 2/20/20, “Michael Bloomberg is spending nearly $6 million per day on campaign,” OpenSecrets.org, Center for Responsive Politics (https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2020/02/bloomberg-spent-6-million-per-day/)

[3]      Monnay, T., 1/23/20, “Wall Street donor influence shows unprecedented growth 10 years after Citizens United,” OpenSecrets.org, Center for Responsive Politics (https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2020/01/wall-street-donor-influence-growth-10-years-citizens-united/

[4]      Evers-Hillstrom, K., 2/14/20, “Why corporate PACs have an advantage,” OpenSecrets.org, Center for Responsive Politics (https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2020/02/why-corporate-pacs-have-an-advantage/)

[5]      Massoglia, A., 2/7/20, “ ‘Dark money’ groups steering millions to super PACs in 2020 elections,” OpenSecrets.org, Center for Responsive Politics (https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2020/02/dark-money-steers-millions-to-super-pacs-2020/)

[6]      Massoglia, A., 2/7/20, see above

[7]      Lioz, A., 12/14/19, “Stacked deck: How racial bias in our big money political system undermines our democracy and our economy,” Demos (https://www.demos.org/sites/default/files/publications/StackedDeck2_1.pdf)

UNDER-TAXED CORPORATIONS AND WAYS TO MAKE THEIR TAXES FAIRER

A year’s worth of data on what corporations are actually paying in taxes under the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) is now available. The TCJA cut the stated federal corporate income tax rate to 21% from 35%, a 40% reduction. It created many new tax breaks and loopholes, while (supposedly) closing some existing ones. However, as a previous post highlighted, corporations have been lobbying vigorously, and in many cases successfully, to have the rules and regulations implementing the TCJA weaken or eliminate its closing of tax breaks and loopholes.

An in-depth review of the financial filings of the Fortune 500 largest corporations revealed that 379 of them were profitable in 2018 and found enough information to calculate an effective federal income tax rate for them. (Their effective tax rate is the portion of their profits they paid in federal income taxes.)

The average effective federal income tax rate for these 379 large, profitable corporations was 11.3%, which is barely half of the stated rate. Ninety-one (91) paid no federal income tax including Amazon, Chevron, Halliburton, and IBM. Another fifty-six (56) of them paid less than 5% of profits in taxes.

The 11.3% average rate is the lowest rate since this analysis was begun in 1984. [1]  The industries with the lowest effective federal income tax rates, all of which paid less than half of the stated rate, were:

  • Industrial machinery (which paid an average effective tax of a negative 0.6%, meaning that on average they got back money from the government)
  • Gas and electric utilities (-0.5%)
  • Motor vehicles and parts (1.5%)
  • Oil, gas, and pipelines (3.6%)
  • Chemicals (4.4%)
  • Transportation and also Engineering & construction (8.0%)
  • Miscellaneous services (8.3%)
  • Publishing and printing (9.8%)
  • Financial (10.2%)

Twenty-five very large corporations received the bulk of the tax breaks that led to these low effective tax rates. They received $37 billion in tax breaks, half of the $74 billion in tax breaks that all 379 corporations received. This is the result of their capacity to influence public policy through lobbying, campaign spending, and use of the revolving door. (Two previous posts here and here provide more details on corporate manipulation of public policies.)

Five of those very large corporations received more than $16 billion in tax breaks (22% of the total for all 379 corporations): Amazon, Bank of America, J.P. Morgan Chase, Verizon, and Wells Fargo.

Large corporations have succeeded in manipulating tax laws, including through the TCJA and its implementing rules and regulations, to unfairly reduce their taxes. This results in small businesses and individuals having to pay more taxes and to bear an unfair portion of the taxes needed to support government at the federal, state, and local levels. Furthermore, it means governments don’t have the resources they need to perform important functions that are in the public interest and desired by taxpayers.

Here are some examples of changes in tax laws that would lead to large corporations paying a fairer share of taxes: [2]

  • Remove tax incentives and loopholes that reward the shifting of profits and jobs to offshore entities. This includes effective implementation of provisions of the TCJA that were meant to address this problem but have been undermined by successful lobbying by multi-national corporations during the writing of implementation rules and regulations. (See this previous post for more details.)
  • Reinstate a corporate Alternative Minimum Tax to ensure that all profitable corporations pay a reasonable amount of income tax each year.
  • Repeal TCJA and previous tax law provisions that allow corporations to deduct expenses for equipment and other capital expenditures much more quickly than the equipment actually depreciates in value. This is an accounting “trick” that reduces profits and, therefore, income taxes.
  • Stop the fictitious creation of large expenses for granting stock options to executives. This is another accounting “trick” that reduces profits and, therefore, income taxes.
  • Require public disclosure of key corporate financial data, including profits and taxes paid, on a country-by-country basis as a routine part of corporate financial reporting. This transparency will allow policy makers and the public to understand whether corporations are paying a fair share of their income in taxes and to adjust policies accordingly.

I urge you to contact your U.S. Representative and Senators to ask them to fix corporate tax laws so that corporations, particularly large, multi-national corporations, are paying their fair share in taxes. Otherwise, you and I and the small businesses we patronize in our communities will continue to bear an unfair burden in funding the public services we need from our governments at all levels.

You can find contact information for your US Representative at  http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/ and for your US Senators at http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm.

[1]      Gardner, M., Roque, L., & Wamhoff, S., Dec. 2019, “Corporate tax avoidance in the first year under the Trump tax law,” Institute on Taxation & Economic Policy (https://itep.org/corporate-tax-avoidance-in-the-first-year-of-the-trump-tax-law/)

[2]      Gardner, M., Roque, L., & Wamhoff, S., Dec. 2019, see above