In 2012, however, Lincoln’s vision of a free and equal America has nearly evaporated into oblivion. The Democratic Republic has wandered off into dangerous waters. Waters in which the dollar influences government policymaking more than the citizen’s voice. Waters in which only the wealthy and well-connected can successfully reach public office. Waters in which politicians who are supposed to represent their constituency decide to mock and berate them instead. There are numerous opinions on how things got this way. The Tea Party blames big government and entitlement, and the Occupy Wall Street movement blames corporate greed and the banking system. Those things are all real problems, but they are simply the byproducts of the real reason why our nation has gone astray: Ourselves.
That’s right, ourselves. The Democratic Republic has faltered, and the perpetrator is not a cigar puffing political boss or a billionaire in a three piece suit. It’s you and I, because we have failed in fulfilling our duties as citizens in what is supposed to be a democracy. When we continually refuse to vote for and engage our leaders in Washington, something is going to fill that vacuum of representation. And that vacuum of representation has indeed been filled in the last couple of decades, thanks to the unrelenting monetary influence of lobbyists, bankers, and corporate giants. Using Lincoln’s “of the people, by the people, for the people” vision as a guide, it becomes clear just far we have drifted away from the founding principles of our nation.
“A Government of the people…”
If we truly lived in a government of the people in 2012, one would expect to see a body of elected officials in Washington D.C. that is diverse in many ways. America is, after all, a nation that prides itself on its wide array of nationalities, religions, and financial differences. However, when you take a close look at the current collection of Congressmen and Senators in the Capitol Building, you immediately realize that our legislative bodies do not encompass the entirety of our nation. Rather, they appear to mainly represent a specific niche of our population: rich, white males. Statistics also reveal this fact. For example, minorities make up 34% of the U.S. population. However, only 17% of the House of Representatives is comprised of minority representatives, and the Senate only has a paltry 6% of minority members. Females are also heavily underrepresented in the nation’s capital city. They make up a slim majority of the U.S. population (51%) and yet they only make up a small portion of the House (18%) and the Senate (17%). Strangely enough, voter turnout for women has been higher than voter turnout for men since the mid-1980’s, and minorities have been coming out in greater numbers during each election cycle over the last decade. Yet, the physical appearance of Congress has not seen a similar shift.
Perhaps what is more alarming is the dramatic wealth discrepancy between members of Congress and their constituency, especially in the last few years. While most middle class American families have seen their salaries decrease and asset values plummet, Congress has enjoyed a steady increase in their financial gain. According to a recent report in the New York Times, the median net worth for a member of Congress in 2010 was $913,000, a 15% increase from 2004. The median net worth for all Americans in 2010, on the other hand, was $100,000, an 8% decrease from 2004. Then, when you look at a similar report in the Washington Post, which broadened the timeframe of those statistics, the results become even more staggering. Their numbers indicate that between the years of 1984 and 2009, the median net worth of a member of Congress rose from $280,000 to $725,000. Even when inflation is considered, that is still a substantial increase.
Having a legislative system that is heavily occupied by the wealthiest segment of the population also means that an even more exorbitant amount of money will inevitably be spent during the campaigning process. Because of this, a knowledgeable but cash strapped individual has a much slimmer chance of getting on an election ballot than a financially comfortable buffoon. The Washington Post cited the examples of Gary Myers and Mike Kelly, two upstart politicians who successfully ran for public office during two different periods of American History. Myers, who ran as a Republican for a Congressional seat in Pennsylvania in 1974, was only a steel mill worker during the time of his campaign. Yet he still managed to get elected and served in Congress until 1979. Mike Kelly, another Republican from Pennsylvania, also successfully ran for Congress in 2010. Before being elected, Kelly was the owner of a successful car dealership in the western part of the state. Both of them were political outsiders, and both of them won their campaigns. The key difference between them, however, is money. Kelly, who himself alone is fairly rich, is married to Victoria Phillips, heir to the Phillips oil fortune. Kelly ended up spending a whopping $1.2 million dollars on his campaign. The middle class Myers, on the other hand, only spent $33,000 on his 1974 campaign. That equals $146,000 in 2012 money, but that’s still only 10% of the average amount of money spent on a modern political campaign.
So long story short, only the highest echelon of American society can successfully campaign for, and get elected to, public office. That is hardly what should be expected in a government of the people.
“A Government by the people…”
In order to have a government by the people, a country needs to have an active an engaged citizenry. It also needs to have a citizenry that takes pride in becoming informed about and aware of the issues that are shaping public policy the most. Unfortunately, Americans are failing to fulfill these requirements, and the democratic process is being hindered greatly as a result of this startling inaction. Take, for example, the generally unimpressive number of people that actually take the time to go out and vote on Election Day. Statistics provided by the United States Election Project paint a somewhat sobering picture: Congressional elections typically generate a 40% voter turnout rate, and Presidential elections usually generate a 60% voter turnout rate. Before the Bush v. Gore fiasco of 2000, the turnout for Presidential elections was closer to 50-55%. Those numbers indicate that less than half of the voting-eligible population is regularly participating in national elections. Local elections generate even less public interest. In my hometown of Philadlephia, for example, turnout for the 2011 Mayoral election was estimated to be between 17-36%, depending on which city district you lived in.
So why do people claim to be so disinterested in voting? The reason that many people give is that they “don’t have enough time” to go out and vote on Election Day. A study cited on About.com states that 28% of off-and-on voters and 23% of unregistered voters say that they simply cannot put aside 20 minutes on Election Day to go their local polling station and cast a ballot for the candidate or candidates of their choosing. Personally, I think that’s a lazy excuse. Voting is an extremely important thing, and it needs to be prioritized. If that means waking up a little earlier or cutting a lunch break short, so be it. Additionally, 51% of non-voters said that politics and voting were not talked about or considered important amongst their friends and families growing up. That only furthers the emphasis on the unwillingness of American citizens to fulfill their civic duties. However, some people do have a legitimate and logical aversion to voting, which is the grotesque amount of power that special interest groups wield in this country. That topic will be discussed shortly.
Furthermore, this pandemic of voter apathy also drains public awareness about current event issues. Facts that should be everyday knowledge are instead misconstrued or just outright not known by many people in American society. Take, for example, that 66% of Americans cannot name a single Supreme Court justice currently sitting on the bench. Or that only 69% could identify Joe Biden as the current U.S. Vice President. Another study, conducted in 2007, indicated that only less than or about 50% of Americans could identify key details about President Bush’s troop surge plan in Iraq. This was a major political issue at the time, and yet at least half of the general public had only a hazy understanding of it. If we are to be a government by the people, we need a citizenry that is informed about and engaged in the political process, if only from the outside. Right now, we have neither, and until we do, “we the people” will undoubtedly be ignored in the discourse process.
“A government for the people…”
So, if less than half of the American populace is participating in the voting process, and if those who do vote continually insist on electing elitist representatives in both parties, should we really expect to have a government that serves the people? The answer to that question, in my mind, is “absolutely not”. Washington in 2012 is less “for the people” and more “for the corporate power brokers”. If the absent citizenry doesn’t want to assert their democratic rights, then the lobbyists, corporatists, and bankers will happily fill that role, and become all the mightier because of it. And if you don’t think that corporations have more clout than the voters in American politics, just take a look at the disgusting amount of money that is being pumped into our nation’s capital city (and our esteemed legislators’ pockets). According to OpenSecrets.org, the top 100 corporate donors in 2011 gave anywhere between $500,000 and $3,000,000 to political causes. When you add those numbers up, that’s millions upon millions of dollars flooding through Congress in only 12 months’ time. The top 5 corporate donors of 2011 were Perry Homes ($3,087,600), Dreamworks Animation ($2,262,600) Chartwell Partners ($2,181,900), Goldman Sachs ($2,027,942) and Bain Capital ($1,801,200).
Two of those establishments, Goldman Sachs and Bain Capital, are closely aligned with some of America’s most powerful political figures, and both sides have benefitted as a result of their relationships. Goldman Sachs, which received a whopping $10 billion in bailout cash in 2008, also happened to be Obama’s s biggest source of campaign contributions that same year. The ties between Obama and Goldman Sachs didn’t end on the campaign trail either. While in office, President Obama and members of his administration have met with Goldman executives on a fairly regular basis. In 2009 and 2010, the White House’s visitor logs indicated quite a few meetings between Obama and Lloyd Blankfein, Goldman’s chief executive. It’s no coincidence that one of the biggest beneficiaries from federal bailout funds is also one of the most active participants in political king making.
Bain Capital, an investment management company based in Boston, has come under scrutiny in recent weeks for their supposedly shady business practices, practices that may have ruined the financial stability of thousands of people while allowing for Bain’s top executives to profit from their failed business investments. This becomes all the more interesting when you realize who one of Bain Capital’s co-founders is: Mitt Romney, the current frontrunner for the GOP Presidential nomination. Romney has denied the charges of corruption and profiteering. But even if these accusations fade away, the fact still remains that Romney’s Bain invested in a company (GS Technologies), saw the company fail under their leadership, denied unemployed workers healthcare and severance pay, and then had the audacity to ask the taxpayers for $44 million in bailout money. Romney, who is estimated to be worth over $250 million, refused to take personal responsibility for his failed business venture, and instead threw the financial costs onto the backs of taxpayers and unemployed GS Technologies workers. And now he claims to be a champion of middle class values? Please.
The other anti-democratic pariah in D.C. is the unchecked influence of lobbying groups on our lawmakers. The influence of lobbyists grew exponentially from the 1990’s to the late 2000’s. In 1998, for example, it was estimated that about 10,400 lobbyist were present in Washington D.C. at any given time. In 2007, that number had risen closer to 15,000. The past couple of years have seen a slow and steady decrease in the number of D.C. lobbyists, but the number is still much too high. And of course, the lobbyists’ main source of influence is the almighty dollar. In 2011, $2.5 billion dollars was spent by lobbyists in their attempts to sell their ideas and concerns to elected officials in Congress.
A government that has been bought and paid off by corporate forces is hardly what one would call a government for the people.
All of these facts and figures can be mind numbing and hard to digest, but once they are pieced together, a clear picture is presented to all of us. The United States has become a corporate oligarchy. It is a government of the corporation, by the corporation, and for the corporation. That is not what the founding fathers, or Lincoln, or even our grandparents envisioned for our country. And it came to this because of our petty divisions and inaction. The hard times that most of us are going through shouldn’t be blamed solely on Democrats or Republicans, Liberals or Conservatives. It should be blamed on decades of civic irresponsibility from all of us.
Later this year, there will be a Presidential election. Whoever the two candidates are is inconsequential, because both of them will inevitably use catchphrases to tear us apart while they benefit from the tidings of the same financial overlords. Instead of mindlessly taking one candidate’s side while villainizing the other, all of us need to unite together and send a loud and unwavering message to the lobbyists, bankers, and corporatists who have sold us all out: Your time is up, we are taking our country back, and “we the people” will be properly represented once again.
Then, and only then, can we assure that Lincoln’s patriotic vision of America never perishes from the Earth.
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