Much of the nation watched last night with breath held, waiting to see the recall results in Wisconsin. In the end, two WI Senate Republicans were replaced with Democrats, falling short of the three needed to take control of the Senate.
While this wasn't the outcome many hoped for, it was still a bit of a victory. No longer are politics played on an even field, and the situation in Wisconsin makes this clearer than any other state. But despite the slanted scale, working people in Wisconsin were still able to change two seats out of six. It is movement in the right direction.
What I mean about there no longer being an even playing field in politics is the vast amount of control and power money now has in our democratic system. While Scott Walker has pushed so extremely to rob working people of their basic rights and protections, he's been cushioned in support of endlessly flowing money backing his efforts.
Brave New Foundation's work on Koch Brothers Exposed has told the story of the corrupting role of big money in politics. How the Koch brothers politically spend their money, in order to get policies that will support their bottom line of billions, is a story we will continue to tell. The Koch brothers are a key example of this phenomenon, but they are far from the only wealthy individuals to control the outcomes of our political system. The represent a disease that is much larger than them alone.
This isn't a game played fair. While organizers go door to door to have conversations with voters, big money can pay for endless ads to run on TV.
While democracy has rules and has traditionally been a structure respected for its importance in our country, the Kochs treat our political system as a game to be won at all costs.
A perfect example of this? Here is a clip of Stephen Colbert telling of the Koch-funded American For Prosperity's work in Wisconsin around this recent election.
The Kochs gave enough money for Americans For Prosperity to mail Democratic voters information about how they should send their ballots in -- days after the election -- and how, instead of sending them to the appropriate office, they should send them to a fake right-wing run PO Box. Those using their money to corrupt our political system have no shame at this point.
We need some series changes made in order to save our political system from the destruction it is headed for. A citizen's ability to influence our democracy cannot continue to be defined primarily by the size of their net wealth. The only thing that can fix this is a structural policy change that redefine politics' relationship to money.
As we as a country wrestle with the need for these major changes, the game will continue to be played on an unequal field. But one positive thing that Wisconsin has shown us is that those who try to buy our democracy for their own gain are no longer able to do it in complete secret. When characters such as the Koch brothers, and their ruthless efforts to take political power away from working people, are so commonplace that Colbert can run a whole segment mocking them, things are changing.
We at Brave New Foundation will continue to work to tell these stories. We will continue to expose the unjust role of money in politics, and how the Koch brothers are a key example of how democracy can be bought to benefit one's bottom line. The more we know and understand these stories, the more we can fight back. It's an unequal battleground in politics in our country right now. The outcome of Wisconsin should be read as a reminder of that. A reminder of the fight still left to had, but also of the willingness of working people to not give up this fight. No matter how many billionaires they are up against.
Follow Robert Greenwald on Twitter: www.twitter.com/robertgreenwald
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The American system of today should be named Kochocracy
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2011/03/boycott-koch-brothers-products-where-to-start.php
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34822247/ns/politics-supreme_court/t/supreme-court-rolls-back-campaign-cash-limits/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/mitt-romney-says-corporations-are-people/2011/08/11/gIQABwZ38I_story.html
by the way,, dont pretend to know what is best for middle class working families,,i fall in that category and dont vote for dems,,they dont work for me. we do need some control over government spending as our wages are not what they were and,,paying more for benefits and retirement and we expect public union members to do the same. stop focusing on telling everyone what to do and say and how to divide the pie,,come up with ways to make the pie bigger,,that is America!
lets see, i'm guessing you're not a millionaire so that leaves, you know, that other one. so sorry.
There has been a war being conducted against the middle class in America since America's beginning. If Americans learned their history, they would know that the rights that they have always taken for granted, such things as the 8 hour day, weekends, overtime, occupational health and safety, living wages, even the right to vote, these were all hard won, by your parents and grandparents and great-grandparents who fought for those rights, often at great cost to themselves.
And those they fought in order to win those rights, have been working ever since to take those rights back, and right now, they are winning.
Wisconsin is the beginning of the fight back, but the fight isn't just against the Koch brothers or the Republicans, its also against the constant pernious disinformation campaign of the corporate media runing 24 hours a day in every media outlet available, endlessly repeating their mindless slogans
In a day and age when increasing numbers of workers are rejecting unions, it is simply amazing that those on the left continue to try and paint unions as the spokesman for, and defenders of, "working people". I hate to tell you this, but there is a reason union membership declines every year. There is a reason more and more people outright reject unionization.
Also, in the age of free trade, employees, no matter how dissatisfied or mistreated they may be by their employers, knowing that the boss could move their plant to Mexico if they formed a union, is also a huge disinsentive to unionization. Capital has much more mobility than labour. It gives capitalists a huge advantage.
Why am I responding to someone who is not even smart enough to know he is defending people who would trample him into the mud to cross the street?
That is sad.
All that money spent in WI and the dems took back two senate seats anyway! that's encouraging (a little)
I just hope the Koch bros investment in politics is not tax deductible!!!
it wouldn't matter how much the billionaires spend on elections.