The disease killing American democracy

A few months ago my friend and debate partner talked a bit about the Democratic candidates for president. I probably said my favorite is Elizabeth Warren – that is to say she was and remains my favorite; I don’t remember if that’s what led the discussion. My friend replied that he was concerned that Warren wasn’t “electable.” As with many progressives the primary goal is to remove the nasty guy from office and my friend didn’t think Warren was best to do that. I probably pointed out that Hillary Clinton got nearly 3 million votes more than the nasty guy while she wasn’t considered “electable” before our discussions turned to other topics.

I mention this because …

Financial Times has an article about Warren discussing corruption in general and money laundering in particular that is being used to fund campaigns. David Rothkopf linked to the article and tweeted:

America's oligarchs are actively trying to shut down the Warren campaign. This is why. She is on to the corruption that is the disease killing American democracy.

I’ve read the tweet, not the Financial Times article.

And because …

Mark Fiore of the Daily Kos community comments on an effect of the Democratic National Committee and its ever higher thresholds to qualify for each successive debate. To stay in the debates and in front of the public one needs to be a billionaire, as is Michael Bloomberg. Fiore includes an images of Bloombers with signs saying, “Dems for Billionaire Rights!” and “Plutocrats for the People!” I agree with the comical aspect of those signs – if one becomes a billionaire one does it by exploiting the people and working against progressive causes.

Fiore doesn’t take the next step: A candidate need not be a billionaire if he or she attracts money from billionaires. Attracting that money usually then means the candidate is compromised.

I agree the nasty guy is an immediate threat to democracy. So is the entire GOP. But it was billionaires who made that threat possible. It was millionaires chewing away at tax and other laws that made billionaires and our high inequality possible. So a compromised Democrat may get rid of the immediate threat, but they would still protect billionaires. And our huge problem of inequality would continue.

I remain a fan of Elizabeth Warren because she is campaigning against the nasty guy and the GOP and she is also campaigning against billionaires. She may not be “electable” (though I disagree on that point), but electing many of the other candidates leaves one of the biggest problems in place.