from Jonah Goldberg at National Review, The Bogeymen of the ‘Billionaire Class’:

And yet, to listen to countless pundits and politicians, we live in an oligarchy now. Clinton, who benefits from no fewer than five super PACs, thinks the Citizens United case, which made super PACs possible, is such a threat to democracy that the First Amendment should be rewritten to get rid of them.

Democrats don’t like Citizens United because they think it might blunt their advantages. According to OpenSecrets.org, of the top five organizations — i.e., unions and corporate PACs — that give to federal candidates, all (mostly public unions) give 97 percent to 100 percent of their donations to liberals and Democrats. Of the top ten, eight give almost exclusively to the Left. Of the top 25, 18 donate disproportionately to the Left.

By the way, Koch Industries is No. 49 on the list, and the National Rifle Association is No. 74.

One can certainly understand why average citizens find this “billionaire class” stuff plausible. Government certainly has become more and more unresponsive and aloof (and public-sector unions are a big reason why). And it is obviously true that big money — variously defined — plays a significant role in our politics.

But you know what plays a bigger role? Politics. The NRA is a good case in point. President Obama insists that the “gun lobby” owns Congress, which is why he can’t get the gun-control policies he wants passed. The truth, however, is that politicians care more about votes than money, and if they follow his advice, they’ll also follow so many Democrats who were fired for agreeing with Obama.

That’s actually how democracy is supposed to work.

Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/429789/money-politics-sanders-trump

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