Follow the Money

In the post Citizen's United political reality, the presence of unprecedented amounts of money in our political system has sought to remake our government. With this decision, Harry "Lighthorse" Lee's pronouncement of the Constitution of 1787 as being a gateway to oligarchy comes to fruition.

Take for example the struggle the President and others have had in establishing the Consumer Financial Protection Agency. In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, many called for a reexamination of the financial regulations and the agencies charged with enforcement. The resulting legislation, while lacking the teeth of Glass-Stegall it at least sought to establish an agency charged with ensuring that consumers would not fall victim to predatory lending and other unsavory practices. Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader, believes this is a bad idea. And the head of the House Banking Committee believes that government and its regulators exist to serve the banks. These positions are not unexpected if you see who their major campaign contributors are. The financial services industry has given over $5 billion dollars in campaign contributions directly to federal legislatures, an investment they certainly expect to pay dividends in the form of favorable legislation and regulations. On today's Cenk Uygur show a journalist from Wall Street Journal said financial regulation would harm job creation, and parroted the views of the financial sector.

Protecting consumers in the marketplace is one function that our federal government is uniquely positioned to perform effectively. Consumers should know, in plain language, what the contract for credit they are entering into entails of them. An agency charged with ensuring this practice should find at its head someone who is not on the financial services industry payroll. Elizabeth Warren is someone who understands this, and that is why the Republicans in the Senate have been against her appointment as well as anyone to head an agency that would protect the consumer from the financial services industry.

In Oliver Stone's film JFK, X told Jim Garrison to follow the money if you wanted to know who killed Kennedy. If you want to know why your elected representatives are taking the positions they are, you should follow their money. Look at who are their largest campaign contributors, and how their voting record supports those donors. When in doubt, follow the money.