Driven Extreme Inequality

In the 1970s, besieged by the arrival of foreign competition and declining profits, the American business community transformed itself into a political juggernaut and demanded more. The tip of their spear was campaign finance. Under both Democrats and Republicans, government gave in to this demand, passing policy after policy that made the rich richer and the middle class poor.

Congress began by lifting the restrictions on corporate PACs, in 1974. Within ten short years, corporate PAC spending had increased by over 800 percent and dwarfed the spending power of labor. Today, the campaign spending advantage of business over labor is 15:1.

By the late 70s, thanks to the Buckley decision, plutocrats had discovered two more loopholes, each of them big enough to drive a Brinks truck through. “Softprotections for labor unions, whose ranks shriveled. Regressive taxes, falling most heavily on low-income workers, swelled.

While other countries scrutinized and slowed the closing of their factories, the U.S. government, with its palm greased by major manufacturers, aided and abetted the process, giving hefty tax benefits to companies that closed plants. The rich got richer; workers got minimum-wage, service-sector jobs with no benefits.

Regulations protecting Americans from corporate rapacity vanished. In their absence, Savings and Loan banks went on a gambling spree in the 80s. As their risky bets began to go bad, $2 million in hush money paid by the S&Ls to House Banking Committee members stopped re-regulation in its tracks, until the total cost to taxpayers exceeded$500 billion.

Accountants without regulators forgot how to count. While the rich got