Why the Poor Stay Poor in America - Weekend Reads
Welcome to Crime and Punishment: Why the Poor Stay Poor in America. I’m thrilled that you signed up to read my newsletter, and I hope that together, we can make a difference. “U.S. banks are giving far less to federal candidates this election cycle and increasing the proportion they are handing to Democrats as they rethink their political giving…” There’s always been a conflict for donors to political campaigns between fiscal issues and social issues. What matters more to corporate and individual donors, money concerns, like today’s runaway inflation and perhaps a looming recession, or important social issues like access to the full range of health care, including abortion, voting rights and LBGTQ freedoms? I’ve always thought the two are inextricably linked, but the idea of “put your money where your mouth is” seems to have been drowned out by overly partisan politics: Republicans historically have been more likely to vote their pocketbooks” and Democrats to vote for candidates backing their preferred social issues. And in this upcoming election cycle, each party is pounding home its respective messages on inflation and abortion rights, as two vivid examples, and hope voters follow their previous voting patterns. But the corporate donor winds seem to be shifting a bit for the midterm elections, as financial institutions are donating less money overall to federal campaigns and PACS, but allocating a slightly higher percentage of their donations to democrats. I’ve compiled a few recent articles and statistics that match real numbers to this trend and attempt to explain why it’s happening. — First up for today are a few spending totals from Open Secret.org for this election cycle. Money spent on the midterm elections is projected to top $9.3 billion, several billion above monies spent on the 2018 midterms, adjusted for inflation.
https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2022/09/2022-midterm-election-spending-on-track-to-top-9-3-billion/ — The Reuter’s article from the opening quote describes the current political donation trend for big banks, but mostly avoids directly stating why it is happening now.
— These definitions from Investopedia help us understand the different types of political donations and how and where these monies are directed.
https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/08/hard-money-soft-money.asp — From OpenSecrets.org. is a detailed breakdown by amount and political party of donations to federal candidates and PACS. Republican candidates and PACS still receive the majority of the overall donations from the largest banks, but are receiving less during this election cycle.
https://www.opensecrets.org/industries/contrib.php?ind=f03&Bkdn=DemRep&cycle=2022 And finally for this evening, another Reuters’ article that showcases how certain members of Congress pressure the banks and how the banks respond. Republican Senators, for example, warned certain bank CEO’s testifying before Congress to quit asserting a “liberal agenda” by taking positions on gun control and abortion rights seen as leaning toward the democrats.
Isn’t it possible that the banks’ commercial interests benefit from taking positions on certain social issues because those positions align with the majority of Americans, particularly on gun control and abortion rights?¹ What do you think about the trend in political donations? Does it matter to you who is donating to whom and will it affect your vote? Share your thoughts in the Comment Section below. As always, there is no better time to subscribe to Crime and Punishment than right now. Either a free or paid subscription will help support my work—thanks! You’re on the free list for Crime and Punishment: Why the Poor Stay Poor In America. All posts are free for now, but if you’d like to get ahead of the crowd, feel free to support my work by becoming a paid subscriber. |
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