Money and Corruption Win

If you take a step back and think about it, money has been winning for a long time and didn't really need Citizen's United to continue its winning streak.  But it certainly helps.

One of the crazy things about American politics is how white lower middle class people support supply side economics (which I admit has validity at tax rates greater than x%) when it has done nothing for them in this technological revolution and they need support to maintain their community.

I think that is why rural America has supported Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders overwhelmingly.  They are the only candidates discussing programs to help those communities.  The fact that the people believe this unrealistic plans only illustrates their desperation to preserve their community.

Now we have the specter of Brazil.  A group of politicians who are under investigation for personal enrichment from politics impeach the President for moving money around from one bucket to another  bucket.  I have no idea on the constitutionality of that in Brazil, but I do know the President in Brazil wields a lot of power and the new President could bury all those investigations.  Meanwhile, the new President has been found guilty of violating campaign finance laws and may not even be able to run for reelection.  And who does he appoint to his cabinet:  well, the new science minister is a creationist who does not believe in evolution; and the new agriculture minister is a soy bean tycoon who has burned down thousands of acres of rain forest and stewardship of the rain forest is within agriculture. Money and corruption are winning in Brazil in a far bigger manner than the U.S.

And let us not forget Russia and China, where people with connections to the leadership have become wealthy beyond the imagination of we mere soles who worked and saved our way into retirement.  And who is a big admirer of the Russian and Chinese economic systems, why none other than Donald Trump.  How will be deal with them over Crimea/The Ukraine and the man made Chinese Islands when he is in awe of their political power systems?

So while Donald Trump did not take money from the Republican power brokers, he certainly understands the power of money and is a leading believers that money installs the right to be able to buy what you need; including eminent domain and anything else that helps the wealthy earn more wealth, avoid taxation on wealth, and buy the political policies that they believe in.

So if you are a relatively economically modest person, all you can hope for is your preferred party be able to get more money than the other side and hopefully, you get policies that you can live with.  And in the case of Donald Trump, you hope his access to Nuclear Codes doesn't result in him waking up one morning and deciding the only way to solve some problem is to use a nuclear weapon.