Money & Politics
August 7, 2008
It’s all the rage to talk about money and politics. But I think we’re focusing on the wrong end. Sure, we should keep track of the donors to political campaigns. But I think it’s just as important that we begin to ponder the wealth of those seeking our publicly-funded political offices.
Take Vermont’s campaign for governor, for example. Our sitting – and I do mean sitting – Governor, Jim Douglas, recently announced that he and his wife, a dental assistant, are worth more than $2 million and have no debt. The peculiar thing about this Republican’s amassing of wealth is that he’s spent his entire professional career as a “public servant,” working in various elected government jobs since he graduated from Middlebury College 30-some years ago. So you have to wonder how seriously we have to take Douglas when he spills forth with his “big, bad government” mantra. I guess what he really means is that government is “bad for thee, but not for me!” Two million dollars worth – and counting.
Douglas’ Democrat opponent, Gaye Symington, is also a millionaire many times over. She’s just trying to be coy by not including her husband’s wealth in the financial filings she recently handed over to the Vermont press. Her husband, Chuck Lacy, was one of the original honchos at Ben & Jerry’s back when the company’s stock was being handed out like candy and those at the top – like Lacy — walked away with more loot than they knew what to do with. So much loot, in fact, that folks like Lacy started their own charitable foundations to give gobs of it away. Nice work if you can get it.
Without her hubby’s millions, Symington declared a personal worth of close to $400,000. But you’ve got to be more than a hypocritical fool (or, for that matter, drinking way too much Dem Kool-Aid) to buy her argument against releasing their joint financial information.
“I’m running for office,” Symington declares, “not my family.”
Okay, Gaye, fan the flames of interest all you want but that kind of lameness isn’t going to make the issue – or the millions of dollars — go away. Besides, I’ll bet you won’t be distancing yourself from “the family” when the photo-ops, the door knocking, the advertisements, the advice, and the support come into play, huh? Of course not.
The simmering issue of Symington taking Vermonters for fools by refusing to release her joint financial picture should be dispensed with by two recent political examples: Hillary Clinton released joint financial statements in her run for president; and national Democrats made a huge issue of the McCains’ refusal to release joint financial statements. Checkmate, Gaye. Release them or prepare yourself for more questions.
Speaking of spousal wealth, the newly declared “Independent” in this campaign, Anthony Pollina, announced that he and his wife (emphasis on “wife”) are worth around $800,000. But if you look more closely at the filing you’ll see that there’s a pot of gold on his wife’s side that is just waiting to be handed over whenever it’s needed. Their joint income of around $90,000 last year included $30,000 in income derived from her family’s Maryland-based businesses. Hmm. Again, a nice job if you can get it. Or, in Anthony’s case, marry into it.
But the bigger issue here – for me, at least – is the wealth of these three media-appointed “leaders” in the campaign for governor. Compared to the average Vermont family, these folks are financial kings and queens. And the same is true when you take a gander at the financial pictures of our federally-elected threesome – Senators Patrick Leahy and Bernie Sanders and Congressman Peter Welch (all are millionaires).
When, exactly, will the comparatively extreme wealth of our elected officials and mainstream challengers become an issue? How long will we kid ourselves into thinking and believing that people with such wealth, and, as a result, a built-in disconnect with the economic pains that the rest of us are feeling, will do anything of substance to “change” the system? Hey, it’s worked for them.
None of the aforementioned politicians – or, in the case of Pollina, a wannabe politician – ever have to worry about that pit in their stomach when they go to the mailbox and are greeted by bills that they don’t have the money for. They don’t have to fret about health insurance or even trying to get an appointment to see a doctor (tried that lately?). They don’t sweat with the mental calculations that the rest of us sweat over as we shop for such extravagances as, say, food. They don’t stop filling their gas tank at half-full because that’s all they can afford. And they don’t worry about their retirement, unless, of course, you don’t count the worry of “which house?” or “which boat?”
But yet we continue to elect one wealthy person after another to help us deal with the issues that have made them wealthy and made the rest of us struggle. Nail, meet the hammer, and enjoy the pain.
Personally, I’ve had enough of the crocodile tears from the millionaire politicians. They can’t “feel” our pain. They’ve only been profiting from it.
Sure, let’s get money out of politics, as they say. And we can start by getting the moneyed-elite out of our political offices. Enough already.
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Wow………….Awesome. I like tottally agree. (tottallty has 3 ts, right?–or is it $?)
Anyway, good one, Michael. Send this to 7 Days.
“Don’t blame me–I voted for the other billionaire Christian veteran” Yeah, I can’t fucking stand it…WE need to start torturing THEM, methinks, dawg.
Yes. And we can start the torture by ignoring them. Oh, the pain….
did anyone notice that tony the prog\independent,whether it was sunday or monday or saturday at farmers’ market when he told me that technically he was not an independent until he filed signatures, criticized symington on the issue of trust?
Check this post out from yesterday’s Prog Blog: http://www.progressiveparty.org/blog/?p=455
Here’s the first sentence: “Of course most of our attention is focussed on the race for governor and our legislative races…”
Did Anthony forget to tell them that he ditched the party? Or do they know something that we don’t? Ah, let the games continue.
These candidates are the result of the work of Ronald Reagan (the Great Deregulator)–the belief that the Corporation (WalMart, whatever) is the MOST IMPORTANT critter in our society. It’s the same with the mainstream media now that it’s been bought out. So, you naturally will have candidates who say they represent the people (meaning–they want their votes), but who are actually heavily invested in the Corporate Reich. Now, once they figure out how to have elections work more like corporate takeovers, shake-ups, or mergers, we’ll all be off the hook–and in the cotton fields back home. This Presidential campaign will set a record in spending–money that could help fix some things for us. So, they spend our tax money on War and get enormous campaign funding by scamming the average little old lady, get elected and then turn around and give tax breaks to Corporations which will milk us all dry til the next election cycle when, all of a sudden, The People are given the honor and privelege of electing these fuckers again. Good system. Except when The People run of of resources, I guess they’ll have to have WWIII and dispose of the excess population–and start the shit all over again. And they’ll do it–because the very rich are different than you and I. Ethics, morality and justice don’t make them more money.
Beam me up, Mothership.