American Dialogue: The Founders and Us

by Joseph J. Ellis

in the 1980s the federal government stopped doing what it had been doing for the preceding half century to offset the inherently unequal distribution of wealth by the free market. More specifically, the highest tax bracket was almost halved, from an average of 75 percent to 39 percent; the minimum wage remained fixed at levels set in the early 1970s; multiple loopholes in the tax code were added to protect high incomes and inherited wealth; the voiding of the Glass-Steagall Act (1933) in 1999 eliminated most federal regulations on investment banking; and the Citizens United decision (2010) by the Supreme Court removed all restrictions on corporate giving to political candidates, thereby forging the link between an economic oligarchy and a political plutocracy. Once again the infamous words of Senator Mark Hanna, uttered during the first Gilded Age, echoed through the halls of Congress: “There are two things that are important in politics. The first is money. I can’t remember what the second is.” Incoming members of Congress were advised to allocate their priorities accordingly, devoting over half their time to fund-raising.