On January 21,2010 the Supreme Court decided that “Political spending is a form of protected speech under the First Amendment, and the government may not keep corporations or unions from spending money to support or denounce individual candidates in elections.” This was the infamous “Citizens United” decision. People generally don’t know that the organization called “Citizens United” was actually a front group for big corporations. It was backed by the Koch brothers.
Big corporations buy favors
The court decision opened the door to a rush of big money into politics. In the 2016 election 24,949 people, the richest 0.01% of Americans, made 40% of all campaign contributions.
The Citizens United decision allegedly applied to political spending from unions as well as from corporations, but that was a sham. In the Federal elections of 2016, corporations spent 16 times more than unions ($3.4 billion vs $213 million).
And what did the corporations get for their money? The largest windfall came from the 2017 “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.” Koch Industries, which spent more than $20 million pushing for the tax cut, will save more than a billion dollars a year. Pfizer, which donated $16 million to Republicans in 2016, will save $39 billion in taxes by 2022. General Electric, which contributed $13 million to Republicans, will benefit by some $16 billion.
Buying politicians apparently has a great return on investment!
Politicians benefit personally
The Republicans who created and supported the 2017 Tax bill also benefited personally. The tax bill included multiple significant benefits to real estate developers that directly benefited 29 of the 47 Republican members of the committees who wrote the tax bill.
The Tax cuts also boosted the stock market. This directly benefited many members of Congress. Some Democrats also benefited financially from the tax bill, but the key point is that none of them voted for the bill and therefore cannot be accused of voting to benefit themselves.
Of the 47 Republicans who sat on the three committees that oversaw the drafting of the tax bill, all but one of them own stocks and stock-based mutual funds.
When morality comes up against profit, it is seldom that profit loses.
Shirley Chisholm, the first Black Congresswoman
Orrin Hatch changed his tune
Utah’s then Senator, Orrin Hatch, was Chair of the Senate Finance Committee at the time. He and his wife owned mutual funds and a limited liability corporation worth more than half a million dollars and they had a blind trust worth between $1 an $5 million.
In February 2017, Senator Hatch, a long-time deficit hawk, said, “The national debt crisis poses a significant and growing threat to the economic and national security of the United States.” Within two months, however, he indicated his support for a tax bill that would add to the national debt.
When the bill passed, in December 2017, he said, “This is a historic night.” He was smiling and rejoicing, not lamenting. His pending retirement had just been significantly enhanced.
Voodoo Economics
As usual, the Republicans claimed that their tax bill would pay for itself with increased economic growth. That hasn’t happened. Instead, according to the Congressional Budget Office, we are probably looking at an additional $1.9 trillion in debt over the 11 years starting with 2018.
The same Republican lawmakers who won’t raise the minimum wage, don’t believe in universal health care, and want to cut Social Security and Medicare, have no problem with government debt as long as the money goes to big corporations and the wealthy. This, of course, is robbing the poor to give to the rich. How can anyone, let alone a member of the Church of Jesus Christ, vote for these people?
And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.
1 Timothy 6:8-10
But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.
For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
Sources: Robert Reich, “Trump is the natural consequence of our anti-democracy decade,” The Guardian, December 8, 2019.
“Citizens United v.Federal Election Commission,” SCOTUSblog.
Peter Cary, “How Republicans made millions on the tax cuts they pushed through Congress,” Vox, January 24, 2020.
Yep. Many years ago I read that Apostle Hugh B. Brown explain that he became a democrat because that party showed far more concern for the poor. Yes. This sort of thing strikes me as telling.