For the people

Ever since Obama stressed help for the middle class in his State of the Union speech the GOP has been clamoring to say we're the ones who will help the middle class the most. The exchange I heard this morning started with an Obama comment about middle class tax cuts. It was followed with a GOP comment saying if Obama really cared about the middle class he wouldn't veto so many jobs programs. I'm sure that GOP comment was about the Keystone pipeline, which doesn't offer all that many full time jobs and would provide a mighty benefit for the 1%. In contrast, the Obama proposal would benefit millions of people.

Naturally, Fox News is supporting the GOP is best for the middle class charade – when it isn't decrying Obama's ideas as "class warfare." Media Matters has a long list of the latest efforts by Fox News followed by an even longer list of how GOP policies help the 1% and hurt everyone else.



The Telegraph reported on a study by Princeton and Northwest Universities. The study examined 1800 policies enacted between 1981 and 2002. Each was compared to expressed preferences of average Americans (50th percentile of income), rich Americans (90th percentile), and large special interest groups.

Conclusion: US government policies rarely align with the preferences of average Americans and usually align with the interests of the rich or special interests. When the preferences of the average and the elite are in conflict, the elite win. That is true even when large majorities of Americans favor a policy. So, yes, we live in an oligarchy in which the rich and powerful rule the country, and not a democracy.



In related news, a network created by the Koch brothers has announced plans to spend $889 million in the 2016 campaign. Not all of this comes directly from the Koch brothers and not all will be donated to candidates. Some will be used to create their own "party" – doing all the things that local, state, and national Republican party usually do, but with the purpose of doing what the network wants, not what the political party, or the American people, want.

This particular news article is by Rich Lowry of the Washington Post. He seems to think (1) the Koch want freedom from government, (2) that's a good thing, (3) all this Koch money is protected by the First Amendment, and (4) Liberals only want to regulate everything. I disagree with all four of his premises, especially because he confuses speech with bribery.