Trump is just part of the problem

Hartmann Report -   Donald Trump didn’t emerge from a vacuum. He’s the product of systems—­corrupt, corroded, and increasingly anti-democratic, yes, but systems nonetheless—­that made his rise not just possible but inevitable. If we only focus on removing Trump without addressing the deep corruption of Citizens United and other events and systems that produced him, we’re simply setting the stage for the next authoritarian, who may be smarter, more disciplined, and ultimately more dangerous.

As a result, the deep question that our media almost never mentions is this: can democracy survive when it’s for sale?

Our campaign finance system has effectively legalized bribery through the Supreme Court’s disastrous all-Republican-appointee 5–4 Citizens United decision, which unleashed unlimited corporate and billionaire spending in lobbying and across our elections. As Justice John Paul Stevens warned in his dissent, the court’s ruling “threatens to undermine the integrity of elected institutions across the Nation.”11 That prophecy came true with frightening speed as, post-2010, campaign spending exploded.

Billionaires have pumped fortunes into creating an infrastructure that supports authoritarianism, from think tanks that draft corporate-friendly policies, to well-paid media stars and outlets that spread lies and disinformation, to dark money groups that fund right-wing extremist candidates and initiatives.12 These oligarchs and their corporations aren’t investing out of patriotism (although that’s always their claim); they expect returns in the form of tax cuts, deregulation, and policies that increase their wealth and power while attacking dissent and gutting the power of government, workers, and unions.

The result is a political system that only responds to the GOP’s donor class and is openly hostile to the needs of ordinary Americans.