from Robert Reich [View all]

[elleng]

The vast wealth that has accumulated at the top of the economy is not itself the problem. The problem is that political power tends to rise to where the money is. America isn’t yet an oligarchy, but that’s where the Koch’s and a few other billionaires are taking us. When billionaires supplant political parties, candidates are beholden directly to the billionaires. And if and when those candidates win election, the billionaires will be completely in charge.

At this very moment, casino magnate Sheldon Adelson (worth an estimated $37.9 billion) is privately interviewing potential Republican candidates, in what’s being called the Sheldon Primary. “The ‘Sheldon Primary’ is an important primary for any Republican running for president,” says Ari Fleischer, George W. Bush’s former press secretary. “Anybody running for the Republican nomination would want to have Sheldon at his side.” Adelson spent $100 million on the 2012 election but denies he’s doing it for personal gain. He just wants the federal government to ban online gambling (and judging from legislation now being pushed on Capitol Hill, his investment seems to be paying off).

It's more urgent than ever that we reverse "Citizen's United" (if by Constitutional amendment if necessary), establish strict campaign finance and disclosure laws, and stop the wholesale takeover of America by the new billionaire political bosses. I chair the citizen's group Common Cause, that's trying to do all this (website: http://www.commoncause.org/site/pp.asp?c=dkLNK1MQIwG&b=8281551