Public Intelligence Blog

Voting Rights Have Been Under Attack; But Not How You Think

Our American election system is broken in no small part thanks to the primary election system. The Republican and Democratic parties have worked hand-in-hand for over a century to make ‘their’ party primaries the centerpiece of the entire electoral process.

In an age where 43 percent of Americans consider themselves politically independent of the two major parties, the twisted state-sanctioned closed primary election process prevalent in the majority of U.S. elections frequently leads to election results that are patently warped.

Read full article.

The transformation of American democracy to an open oligarchy is really quite amazing; I wonder how the Founders would feel about this development. A handful of uber-rich White men, led by the Koch brothers basically have bought the Republican Party, anointing the candidates they want in office. I wonder if those who register as Republicans fully comprehend what has happened. Just to be clear. The Democratic Party is also complicit in the sale of democracy to the ultra-rich. My general take away from all of this is: This is what happens when most of the citizens in the country don't vote. We have no one to blame but ourselves and I, for one, have had enough.

Kochs' acquisition of the Republican Party nearly complete

The Richest 0.01 Percent of Americans Gave 42 Percent of Political Donations in 2012

It should come as no surprise that policymakers look after the ultra-wealthy instead of the rest of us.

By Stephen Wolf / DailyKos

EXTRACT

Candidates devote 80 percent of their time to begging rich people for money. Any extremist Republican can get a billionaire sugar daddy. The world's eighth richest man can summon the entire Republican primary field to kiss his ring. Millionaires are now complaining about being ignored in favor of billionaires. The average member of Congress is a millionaire.

Continue reading “Mongoose: 0.01% Own US Government — But 99% Could Easily Out-Spend, Not Just Out-Vote That Plutocratic Minority…”