Incredible, isn't it? Ted Cruz brags about having raised $38 million in campaign donations, second only to Jeb Bush. But nearly all of that comes from just four people!
This really is selling our country to the highest bidder. It's not just that wealth and income inequality in America have reached levels that would put a banana republic to shame. It's not just that crony capitalism means that wealthy people expect to make a profit by buying politicians.
But now, all of this is perfectly legal. It's legalized bribery, nothing less than that.
And yes, most Democrats compete for donations from the rich, too. That's the political system we've got in America. But note that all four Democrats on the Supreme Court voted against Citizens United. Like so many other terrible decisions of the court, it was passed despite the opposition of every Democratic justice.
The dissent argued that the Court's ruling "threatens to undermine the integrity of elected institutions across the Nation. The path it has taken to reach its outcome will, I fear, do damage to this institution." He wrote: "A democracy cannot function effectively when its constituent members believe laws are being bought and sold."
And that's exactly what's happening.
Only the Democrats want to change this corrupt system - not all of them, perhaps, but no Republican wants to change it. That's because Republicans benefit. Republicans give tax cuts to the rich, and in return, they get campaign donations.
Of course, $38 million is a pittance compared to the one billion dollars the Koch brothers plan to spend buying the elections in 2016. Even among billionaires, some sharks are bigger than others.
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