Jan. 21 was the 11th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission, which opened the floodgates to Big Money in our elections. As a result, the price tag for national elections has increased from $5.75 billion in 2008 to a whopping $14 billion in 2020.
According to OpenSecrets.org, just 1.4% of our citizens contributed 76% of the total donations in 2020. It’s no surprise that our representatives in Washington pass laws to benefit their wealthy donors, from tax breaks to weakened regulations, from corporate subsidies to privatization of public lands and services.
Most of us don’t feel represented in Congress, where policies that most of us support, such as lower drug costs and an increased minimum wage, are not enacted because of the undue influence of moneyed special interests. This has resulted in the worst wealth inequality since the Roaring Twenties. According to the Federal Reserve, the bottom 50% of U.S. households owned 2% of the nation’s wealth during the third quarter of 2020, while the top 10% owned 70%. This level of inequality is unsustainable.
If citizens believe the government is working for them, if their basic needs are met and they have opportunities for advancement, they’re not likely to engage in violent insurrection. American Promise and other pro-democracy groups call on the Biden administration to promote a constitutional amendment to reverse Citizens United and restore our democracy to “we the people.”
Judith Butler
Wilmington
