Today I want to suggest why so many working-class Americans are attracted to a sociopathic liar who advocates neofascism.
IN 2010, A MAJORITY OF THE SUPREME COURT decided in Citizens United vs. the Federal Election Commission that corporations are people under the First Amendment, entitled to freedom of speech. Therefore, said the court, the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (commonly referred to as the McCain-Feingold Act), which had limited spending by corporations on political advertisements, violated the Constitution and was no longer the law of the land.
Yet as a practical matter, freedom of speech is the freedom to be heard, and most citizens’ freedom to be heard has been reduced as big corporations with deep pockets get the loudest political voice.
Nowhere did the five members in the majority acknowledge the imbalance of power between ordinary citizens and big corporations able to bribe politicians with campaign donations. In practice, the […]
Many of the issues which Reich decries: Deregulation of finance, Weakened unions,
Weakened laws against monopolies, and Weakened laws against insider trading have had bipartisan support over the past 40 years as corporations have taken control over both major parties.
In addition, the article states “Even when such actions are illegal, some corporations have chosen to defy the law when the risks and costs of getting caught are less than the profits to be made. The list of enterprises that in recent years have made such a calculation, wittingly or unwittingly — including BP, Halliburton, Citigroup, and General Motors — makes clear that corporate power will infringe on individual liberties if the potential financial returns are sufficiently high.” This is because the judicial system has been rigged against the common person with enforcement against corporate monopolies and crime almost nonexistent. Witness the 2008 crash which was caused by large banks and fraudulent lending practices, but where Wall Street was bailed out but not main street. How many bankers went to jail? Note that this occurred under Obama. Don’t expect Corporate Democrats who voted for NAFTA or the so call “Patriot Act” to bail you out. To hold that hope is a delusion.
Reich is correct when he states: “Is it really so surprising that some who feel they no longer have a voice — that the economic and political system is rigged against them — prefer a demagogic strongman who will at least shake up the system over a president who appears to personify that system?” But note the typical liberal discounting of the working class experience. It’s a “feeling”, not a fact. But it’s not just a feeling and it is a fact based on the hard realities of everyday life. So the real question is: What kind of structural changes will the Democrats make to relieve the burdens of the workers? Note as well, that none of these structural changes are spelled out. Promises, just promises.