Why is the U.S. ‘government by the rich and for the rich’?

Bill Knight column for Dec. 3, 4 or 5, 2018

When the country’s president and the state’s governor are billionaires and most of Congress and the Supreme Court are millionaires, it’s not unreasonable to wonder why.

Why aren’t everyday Americans represented by our peers?

After all, almost any U.S. citizen is eligible to run for office, so what’s limited representation to the rich?

Money and time are to blame, plus political parties that focus on fund raising and almost constant campaigning so that choosing candidates, endorsing them and – significantly – providing resources become an exercise of the elite picking the elite.

That’s according to Nicholas Carnes, author of “The Cash Ceiling: Why Only the Rich Run for Office – and What We Can Do About It.”

However, changes in public opinion and successes of some union members who have run for office could mean hope for a more representative government – people who look (and think) like most Americans and help enact policies in the public interest instead of the interests of the wealthy.

“Even in the information age, working-class jobs still make up a little more than half of our economy,” says Carnes, a political science professor at Duke University. “Congress has never been run by large numbers of working-class people, but if we extrapolate from the behavior of the few workers who manage to get in, it’s probably safe to say that the federal government would enact far fewer pro-business policies and far more pro-worker policies if its members mirrored the social class makeup of the public.”

In contrast to government’s few working people, professionals relying on wealthy campaign donors and other patrons are disposed to oppose most progressive reforms.

Those who think a working American wouldn’t be a viable representative are unfairly stereotyping regular people – who appreciate a representative’s work ethic as well as honesty and empathy. Plus, in Congress, representatives have staff that specialize in much of the protocols, details and machinations of legislation

“When working-class people hold office, they tend to perform about as well as other leaders on objective measures,” Carnes says. “In an analysis of cities governed by majority working-class city councils in 1996, those cities were indistinguishable from others in terms of how their debt, population and education spending had changed.”

Instead, that built-in bias prevents parties’ political bosses from considering candidates from the working class, who already face two major obstacles: lacking financial resources and sacrificing free time.

“The thought of losing income or taking time off work uniquely screens out working-class Americans long before Election Day,” Carnes says.

Still, the American public has an increasing approval of and appetite for organized labor and, therefore, workers.

 “A Gallup poll taken this summer found union approval at 62 percent – the highest it’s been in 15 years,” said Karen Nussbaum, founder and president of Working America (the AFL-CIO-backed group for workers not yet in unions).

Plus, current or former unionists are starting to make some inroads. Congress’ Labor Caucus includes Reps. Donald Norcross of New Jersey and Linda Sanchez of California (both Electrical Workers), Mark Pocan of Wisconsin (Painters) and Stephen Lynch of Boston (Ironworkers).

Also, last month’s midterm elections showed unionists winning a few national, state and local races: One-time teacher and AFT member Julie Blaha will be the next Auditor in Minnesota, where teacher and member of the AFT-NEA association Tim Walz will be Governor. Wisconsin’s next governor is Tony Evers, an NEA member. Former UNITE-HERE worker Jacky Rosen was elected to the U.S. Senate from Nevada, where long-time Teamster steward Susan Martinez won a state House seat. Ex-AFL-CIO staffer Andy Levin will represent a Detroit-area House District; Teamster Jeff Kurtz was elected to a House seat in Iowa; UNITE-HERE official Maria Elena Durazo won a race for a State Senate seat in California; and a few other unionists prevailed in races in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C.

Such successes could translate to even more workers running for office and representing others who look and think like they do.

As the old saying goes, “When you don’t have a seat at the table, you’re on the menu.