It’s no secret that the elite one percent have unparalleled control of Washington D.C. and the politicians who are supposed to run it. However, there’s an even wealthier, more exclusive group of people who are gaining more control of our government each year, the 0.01 percent.
Mother Jones reported that from 1980 to 2012, political contributions from the 0.01 percent of wealthiest Americans has tripled. The following data from Crowdpac shows exactly how the top 0.01 percent’s contributions have increased over time.
As Mother Jones noted, political contributions increased by small increments in the 30-year span from 1980 to 2010. Contributions never increased by more than 5 percent every two years. However, after the Citizens United decision in 2010, political contributions doubled by 2012. This sharp increase can likely be attributed to the Citizens United ruling that eradicated limits for political contributions.
These findings are alarming. A Princeton study from last year found that those who contribute more money to political candidates stand a better chance of having laws passed in their favor.
“A proposed policy change with low support among economically elite Americans is adopted only 18 percent of the time. A proposed change with high support is adopted 45 percent of the time,” noted the study’s authors.
The American political landscape has been manipulated so that the extreme minority of wealthy Americans will get their way. The majority of average Americans are left with nothing. We have no say over what happens in America because the wealthy have bought all the influence. We need to take our country back.
