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loss and that's a good point on your hosts my rocky more before the break we
were actually talking about the disconnect the growing divided between
uh... the washington policy double and the rest of america and so we're going
to talk more about this team in this segment with add only owes he's a lawyer
and policy advocated denounced where he focuses on policy advocacy to promote
political equality and democratic fairness through safeguarding the right
to vote anchor being the influence of big money on the political process
welcome adam
i think writing about
things are coming on some third-floor demons released this week
cure we really to report called the attack yet which of course you can live
with the most dot org on the front page of our place
and did we make a few related point in this report uh... one is that the
wealthy have very different policy priorities and preferences
the rest of it
the general public
uh... second that
government-backed
they typically only responsible here too
preferences of the wealthy
the properties of the rest of us largely
uh... make no difference whatsoever in terms of what paul t
the government does or doesn't
uh... climactic
and then we talk about the old about why this is the case in terms of the role of
well
uh... in the political system a higher participation rate among the well-being
especially the role of money in politics and we talk a bit about what we can do
about that how we can break that vicious michael so that
um... democracy can write the rules for capitalism and not the other way around
can talk about that how in a second shirt but i still want to revisit this
medicine about how washington has been captured by money incidents
uh... you know the role of citizens united you point out in the report i has
happened outside influence on this but it really actually happen even before
then right
which are absolutely denied sort of perfect money system on steroid but
uh... had been along oblong running problem where
it very very tiny pregnant
of the wealthiest folks in our population
are giving
the vast majority of the money to our candidate canal course these are two per
pack an outside company group
on and that really determines who get in the game in the first place to play the
filtering also is it went folks are thinking about
you can write
make a run for congress to really get in the game
source for the first question that the other salted
well how much money can i raise and we're going to get that money into an
applicant that network of what we donors
so that has been going on for a long time to simulate has made it worse what
one of the things that uh... that we pointed out there
original report called billion dollar democracy
was that
um... you know
alter hold combined bob rock obama and mit romney irate about three hundred and
thirty million dollars from small donors books getting less in two hundred
dollars
but the top
thirty-two super packed odors
um... were able to match
all of that
getting slammed excretory that statement about the political voice in this
country now concentrated
that way to the top of how the wealthy really have a megaphone
uh... to screen unflappable wages of the rest of us in the public son actually
seeing this play out in real time uh... are so has focused on allot on what's
happening to the social safety net particularly social insurance programs
***
and uh... you know conservative wealthy conservative dollars particularly people
like pete peterson
deny the business roundtable and others another coalition of of high level c
those multi millionaires and billionaires i'll call fix for that
coalition all of these folks have had an agenda it actually
cut social security medicare and medicaid benefits for americans who by
the way attorneys benefits uh... and they have had so much influence that
they seem to have co-opted mainstream media commentary dictators they seem to
have co-opted policy makers on both sides of the partisan heil
and and despite the historic or election our the american people rejected by the
policies of ronnie ryan and that included that austerity kind of approach
uh... to social insurance cuts and we're still seeing the politics and that did
uh... where you know both the white house
and the democrats and republicans in congress some democrats not all uh... is
important to point out
i have embraced this politics of austerity on that would hurt
middle-class and working-class americans so this is our real time example of what
you're talking about can you tell us about what other policy priorities
there's a disconnect in
sure absolutely and uh... it is a great example and a lot of b
he disconnect happened on kitchen table economic issues so
vetoed etc you again on the thirty uh... deficit is a great example let's compare
that to you
the prairie that most average folks
out in the communities place on getting their friends and neighbors back to work
right there at the wealthy are about three times why queen
give more likely to lead debt and deficit as a top priority
uh... purses unemployment and with the general public its people
exactly wept so why did that we've been trapped in our washington bubble here
in a cover station about debt for last year and there's been really
very little informative
action on getting folks back into uh... gap at back into jobs here dent in the
last nine years mia and then also let me let all the talk about that
distinction between the minimum wage which president obama you know put back
on the agenda and to the union
and capital-gains tax-rate lulu
uh... you know the vast majority of public nearly eighty percent
gave her a minimum wage that the high enough such that no family with a
full-time worker
will fall below the poverty line to write but the wealthy don't favor that
actually only forty percent of the wealthy
that favor that
and we seen again
that he will hardly any action to boost the minimum wage and get folks above
that poverty line
contract that
with capital gains taxes
we know that travelgate attack that much lower rate than ordinary income american
broadly disagree with that they would like to be attacked at least as regular
income bug bite of that opposition from
the general public
convert have lowered
capital gains taxes in nineteen ninety seven again in two thousand one again in
two thousand three so completely congressional action that track the
policy preferences
and the priorities of the wealthy
in opposition to what the general public is pushing for
it really
underlines
the other the uh... political planted named martin beyond the princeton
and we'd really true in his research for this report
and he concluded that the other thing is not a appalled we had to get permanent
date back it up local five buster
who concluded that quote
under most circumstances the preferences of the vast majority of americans
appear to have a financially no impact
on what policy the government does or doesn't adopt lanham though the triple
their spat commentary conserve underlined that basic point
and that's why we feel like we the people in the bishop cycle
where when the wealthier able to capture our political system
translator economic
might directly into a political power and then of course that lead to policies
which only further concentrator welcome complete with so in the times and that
that the democratic uh... governing apparatus actually the car
runs an extended part of their business strategy
mine and has a positive that impact on their bottom line in ends up uh...
increasing the well defined
exactly we find ways to break that in reverse that michael finley cover to
recycle
where we have
increasing
power for average citizen over big money and then we have
more more fair economy where working
uh... class folks can get ahead
and where middle-class families can be secure
uh... instead of worry that their one
uh... job lost her signature paycheck away from falling back as soon as we
know that because we need to be talking not only just talking about jobs that we
need to be creating jobs we need to be getting our economy back on practice
uh... on contracts we don't need to be embracing austerity economics at this
point in time
high and so what are the recommendations that are the report makes in terms of
how americans get their power back
well you know we i think we need to really start
by acknowledging that if you care about their economy
then you need to care about the role of money in politics in the world citizens
engaging in the government so
and i think it's a start up with
limiting the role of big money into power never citizens of our political
process
um... we offer a m getting ahead of specific recommendations in the report
but i do that
but we are ready to focus on our broken voting at the new president obama
comment on the long line but
that only a symptom of much larger problems where
voting it not
um... e_t_ and available for many americans are barriers that have been
put on a program
um... you one example of reported that
uh... we should be about having focused able to register to vote on the pain
they that they vote so we've been there
any cannot have that
and the number one reason why people don't vote because they missed a voter
registration deadline took we'd make a voter registration system muslims are
clean
comment and got the red tape and get books for the freedom to do it
uh... that they deserve
we need to you uh... really get a handle on corporations or its affiliates and
united
um... your unleashed
the role of corporate wealth and power directly into our political process by
claiming that corporations are people to idiotic and by underlying that
long-standing claim uh... now in the court
and um... that
prevented a lot of problems across the board of course we created
corporations
uh... act in the public interest rate to create economic
um... child
power and wealth with live forever status in the not just for a
concentrated managers at the top so
we need to enact policies that will
allow us to once again i'll grab the reins in and get
ahold of
the very powerful economic players before and we are supposed to be charter
of the public interest so missus we see a policies inactive remember
l mccain feingold uh... you know and over right now as we speak uh... the
supreme court is trying to get the voting rights act comes out we've seen
policies inactivity seeing you know there's been a lot of activism of the
uh... is to expand the franchise in america
and yet time and again it seems to be that no matter what you put into place
etc lots nation is it becomes a serious and
in and around of the value of whatever is done arose over time
and so how do we protect against that
well i mean it's a constant battle right so i actually think you could look at
american history
and they
flow and
sticking reflow and frustrating
uh... move towards political equality right where we're at the end of the
franchise
we have
coming up to the voting rights back into the reconstruction and then i think that
our if it were an attorney in and we're not
there by any means that that you know the uh... those are big money politics
as shown at the attack on the voting rights act shows
and it took a long and hard journey but
i think if the forward-looking journey in tow
itnet i don't think wherever were likely get tripped up all three that's all
these problems
once and for all of although i hope that you and i can retire and then up he had
a very determined where a i think it's more likely that
you know we need to continues the generational fight that
uh... heroes like john lewis has been a pioneer before us
and that we can get them to make improvements
the way we can make improvements
both by protecting the protections that we have so
the voting rights act obviously did
third that given all its transpired just in the past year's election
that folks with the check that no longer necessary that the third company to
protect that what we have and then more importantly i think we need to be
looking the kind of
transformative policies
that will really shift power relations in this country and give
some of do
some of or all of the power back to you ordinary *** been taken away from the
concentrated
well that we have right now
into i think that on the money in politics print you know we need broadly
speaking to death of policies
we do need to address not just citizens united but as you point out the problems
are long containing so
we need to determine the constitution
to make perfectly clear
once and for all
but the first amendment
would never intended for you to the tool by the wealthy and powerful to dominate
our political process movement now with the founders intended to boy we had to
do is clarify that
or we can go through the courts right as we have
uh... turned over a month judges and justices
the next generation of justice is that the point mister pinkwater
absolutely have to understand that like average citizens do and not
like a very tiny minority of cooperative than answer orthodox with attorney that
we have in the conservative majority that one set of policies
that will allow us to clamp down on big money
and while we're doing that we took focused on policy that imprint however
citizens do
this inquiry
until that have introduced in congress right now that would match
the contributions of an ordinary citizen
five to one ten to one
changes the intent of the of candidates and we did talk to
now we can provide a tax credit for small
political contributions in or about hers
so that every citizen got a hundred dollars
in his or her
popular or card
distribute to the kind of candidate can cause that that motivate that fit
effeminate and get people about the problem though
the opportunity to meet you in now
to move it from the right direction
we might not have a silver bullet
but it's a fight
but i think is absolutely essential for the favor democracy and i think that we
need to have universal uh... voter registration uh... yeah that's a great
point
one of the burden beyond that it's a great why not have work that's gripping
partly
but we are interact with the most of the contract with the
state or federal government various ways
our information is already being can collected a lot of different content but
why not have that
go onto the voter registration rolls and left me for some reason choose to
affirmatively opt-out legally bats and many people don't realize how washington
works i worked on the night you were coming on the chart but no i was i i i
worked in the lobby
republican descriptive never doing lessons and so you know how this works
of the people in influence lobbyists the wealthy individual
knows they get to knock on the doors of congress they needed to get to have
personal meetings that uh... the congress people in their staff they also
get another bidyut baffled through fundraisers sob i giving money on eighty
to sit at the table a win is a member of congress and talk about their policy
issues in their preferred strategies of foreign acting policy uh... they also
have now with these people they were at the elbows with these people that
party's on the circuit and so you know you have the super empowered individuals
i having regular access to
the people in power and not just policymakers but also media figures
uh... and and what that does is it it it says to kind of reinforce the bubble
denied because like in uh... what the this decision makers and hearing on is
kinda like the one track perspectives
and not necessarily on the views of the public south
any collapse final parting thoughts i'd also like for you to share with us a
little bit about the most in your website
articulate what you've hit it is exactly the reason why perot important
that we break that bubble and get our members with congress to spend more time
focused on their constituents
uh... and to week intern
knocking on doors and talking to your constituents
into an effective fundraising activity for couple for a member of congress by
you matching that hundred dollar contribution to make into a five hundred
dollar thousand-dollar contribution
that can change that uh... the dynamic that you described into that's one of
the reasons why it's important
uh... but uh... close up and talk about you know it
we worawut public policy
organization
working for america
in which
we all have been equal saying our democracy
and he will champion our economy
into the key thing is that uh... this report lays out
we very much
political it could take over politics by the wealthy
stalled economic mobility result
intimately connected
and we really get this
break that uh... vicious cycle of a turnaround
so that ordinary citizens are getting opportunities to just make a better life
to get a fair shot in the economy
and of course
have their voices herzog thank you mandated for all of the great work to do
it the most out of her
do you have an apartment block in check out the list dot org wiki all of our
reports including stacked deck which is on the front page and really enjoyed
speaking to you this morning at him
localized adam leo slayer and policy and again and did not see you're listening
to the point with my rocking on brought to you by the national committee to
preserve social security and medicare we'll be right back after the break