Special Interests Threaten Future of Public Education as Money Drives Politics
In Winner-Take-All Politics, political scientists Jacob Hacker and Paul Pierson describe the impact of organized money on our national politics: “The foremost obstacle to sustainable reform is the enormous imbalance in organizational resources between the chief economic beneficiaries of the status quo and those who seek to strengthen middle-class democracy. Powerful groups defending the winner-take-all economy—business coalitions, Wall Street lobbyists, medical industry players—are fully cognizant of the massive stakes involved, and they are battle-ready after years of training.” (p. 291)
Last weekend the NY Times launched a series of articles that demonstrate the power of organized money in state politics as well. Powerful organizations, able to designate themselves as not-for-profit, are wielding enormous political influence as money is bundled and distributed to skirt even the political funding regulations of the most careful states. Such funding has permitted political groups to “flip states,” contributing to the reality that 36 states are now run by one-party—one political party holding majorities in both houses of the legislature and the governor’s mansion. Today 13 state governments are controlled solely by Democrats and 23 by Republicans.
The NY Times reports, “Both sides rely on interlocking networks of political action committees, party organizations and nonprofit groups, often based in states with forgiving campaign finance rules, that work in concert to raise contributions and shuffle money to thousands of local races around the country. In some states, liberal or conservative donors have established political nonprofits that function like shadow parties, often exempt from the contribution limits or disclosure requirements that apply to candidates and traditional
