A Triad Multiplying Wealth for the Wealthiest and Leaving the Rest in the Dust

by: Bill Orr

Mon Dec 13, 2010 at 03:00:00 PM EST

America's slow, steady slide toward economic oligarchy has been neither beyond human control nor bereft of resistance.  It is about how the "Have-It-Alls" have managed to restructure the economy to shift the risks of their economic playground downward saddling Americans with greater debt, tearing new holes in the safety net, and imposing broad financial risks on workers, investors and taxpayers. We find that most Americans experienced extremely modest gains over the last 30 years in which the rewards at the top multiplied. From 1979 until the eve of the great recession the top 1% received 36% of all gains in household income. In 2009 at the 38 biggest financial companies investors and executives earned $140 billion." - WINNER TAKE ALL POLITICS: How Washington Made the Rich Richer and Turned Its Back on the Middle Class by Jacob Hacker and Paul Pierson (Simon & Schuster - Sep. 2010)

Policy research and setting, the first leg in the triad, does not easily grab the attention of the general public or the media, but its influence is everywhere. The anti-gay marriage policy and talking points were framed in part by the NJ Family Policy Council and used throughout the debate. David Evans, Advisor to Drug Free America Foundation sent out a mass email on proposed policies to make the medical marijuana law even more restrictive, and his arguments and talking points were used word-for-word by people testifying during the legislative resolution hearing. The Tax Foundation develops NJ financial data which has been used for a variety of causes benefiting the wealthy.

There's more about special interest groups, governmental institutions, how the correct path is not always clear, and the trend remains unabated.  

Governmental institutions, including the Legislature, Executive Office, Departments, and Agencies are the third leg of the triad, and specific individuals move from one group to another. For example, Gregg Edward's varied career has included being an aide to a US Republican Representative, founder of the conservative Center for Policy Research of NJ, Director of Policy for Governor Christie, and most recently Chief of Staff at the NJ Department of Education. These governmental institutions have enacted and implemented the policies which have led to such disproportionate wealth being held by so few. There are forces within working against the trend but, as we saw with the Millionaire's Tax, the governor and the wealthy won the day. The anti-abortion policy groups and organizations influenced the governor against women's health clinics, harming those who could least afford health care. Senator Loretta Weinberg is currently mounting an effort to strengthen Pay-To-Play rules which places her squarely in the bull's eye of opposing triad members, including legislators who receive large contributions from corporations and the wealthy. Unfortunately, the Citizens United court decision has just made it all the easier for business interests to gain even more prominence and wealth.

Sometimes the issues become blurred and the correct path to halting a trend is unclear. The legislature is building its Back to Work NJ package of bills, part of which is designed to incentivize industry to increase hiring through tax breaks and subsidies. Nonetheless, NJ Working Families (a coalition of labor unions) argues, "When the state can't even fully fund its public schools, property tax relief programs or pension obligations it is dead wrong for legislative leaders to give scarce state resources to corporations as tax breaks and subsidies."  This group, true to its roots, may or may not be impeding job recovery but demonstrates how the correct path is not always clear. In this blurring, the interests of the wealthy and of corporations often seem to find their way.  

What is clear is that in large measure this triad over the past the 30 years has been successful in multiplying wealth dramatically for the top one per cent of Americans and leaving the rest in the dust, and its efforts remain unabated. President Dwight Eisenhower's concerns 50 years ago about the Military-Industrial Complex were well founded. Today there is good reason to be equally concerned about and take action against the Policy-Organizations-Institutions Complex which is hell-bent on benefitting the extremely wealthy and disenfranchising everyone else. Increasingly we all need  to read and argue over what policy groups are promoting, support and fund organizations that share our beliefs, and become more civically involved with our governmental institutions and leaders.