Whether or not Barack Obama was well disposed to oligarchy, he was operating in a society in which rich people had more and more sway over government and politicking. He used and emulated the power of philanthropy. His education reform Race to the Top did not straightforwardly fund state education departments. It made available billions of dollars in federally budgeted prize money to reward the states that were quickest to adopt the “Common Core,” a curricular philosophy that Bill Gates had used his foundation and its $40 billion endowment to push.
