It’s no secret that in the U.S. the wealthy are given special treatment. This holds true especially when it comes to politics, as our democracy has been steadily taken over by the highest bidders.
A 2014 Princeton study demonstrated this when it examined polling data from over 30 years to determine if the wealthy actually have more influence in our political system. The study found that whenever the policy preferences of the wealthy differ from that of the rest of the public, our elected leaders will almost always favor the wealthy. Even more damning, the data collected was from years prior to two major Supreme Court cases — Citizens United v. FEC and McCutcheon v. FEC — that opened the floodgates for outside political spending.
Enter Charles and David Koch, the billionaire brothers who set out to buy our democracy (or at least the Republican Party’s share of it). The Koch brothers spent more than $400 million bankrolling their favorite conservative candidates in the 2012 election cycle and have recently pledged to double that figure in the 2016 race. Consequently, the Republican Party platform has rapidly become the Koch brothers’ platform.
The influence of the wealthy elite has contributed to a large disconnect between politicians and voters. In 2013, a bill that would have required background checks for the purchasing of firearms was unable to accumulate the 60 votes needed for passage in the senate, even though 86 percent of the public supported it. It was defeated because many senators feared that the powerful and wealthy gun lobby would have retaliated against them for supporting the measure.
Similarly, the Koch brothers have effectively eliminated conservative support of measures that would address climate change. While about half of all Republican voters said they would support a candidate who vowed to fight climate change, the Kochs are staunch opponents of environmental regulations due to the fact that it would harm their multi-billion dollar corporation, Koch Industries.
The Koch’s opposition to environmental standards has led to a culture of climate change denial among conservatives. Think about how many times you’ve heard a Republican politician respond to a question about global warming with “I am not a scientist.”
It has become imperative for any GOP presidential hopeful to secure the financial blessing of their party’s sugar daddies. It’s why we are already seeing so much political maneuvering by conservatives, with primaries still a year away. Like a bunch of horny contestants on "The Bachelorette," top Republicans are desperately vying for the Koch brothers love and affection.
This isn’t to say that Democrats are immune to lobbying. The U.S. political system forces politicians from both parties to seek funding for re-election campaigns, which will inevitably lead to interest groups and wealthy donors wielding greater influence.
However, Republicans have turned the legitimacy of our democracy into a partisan issue. In September, Senate Democrats proposed a constitutional amendment that would have limited the influence of outside political donors. Unsurprisingly, it was shot down, because there wasn’t a single Republican who voted for it.
Opponents of campaign finance reform claim that money is equal to speech and should therefore be protected under the first amendment. This notion is incompatible with our nation’s democratic ideals.
If financial contributions are to be given the same protections as speech, our public policy will be up for auction to the highest bidder. Our most cynical suspicions about politics will be confirmed and the choices we’ll have at the ballot box will be restricted to which group of billionaires we agree with the most.
Reach the columnist at hneidig@asu.edu or follow @hneidig on Twitter.
Editor’s note: The opinions presented in this column are the author’s and do not imply any endorsement from The State Press or its editors.
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