Only two things influence politicians and move our modern political system: money and votes. The impact of these two elements has hijacked our political system from its noble purpose of promoting the general welfare and securing the blessings of liberty. The power of money and votes have generated a seemingly irresistible force of political gridlock in Washington. This gridlock is a precursor to a looming disaster for America's grand experiment in self-government.
All the rhetoric about freedom and equality notwithstanding, the founding fathers established a system of limited federal power maintained in the hands of a relative minority of the populace. With the best of intentions for democratic self-rule the system evolved over these past two-hundred-plus years: political opportunity expanded (amongst ethnic groups, socioeconomic classes, races, genders and age groups) while political power centralized. The federal government is now the single most powerful entity manipulating virtually every aspect of Americans' lives.
The federal government directly controls one quarter of the U.S. economy and is the dominant influence on the remaining three quarters. Where the field of market competition was once in cities and towns across the nation, satisfying customers wants and needs, the levers controlling wealth are all in Washington - the hallowed halls of the U.S. Capitol.
Responding to this concentration of power in the federal government a cottage industry of special interest politics sprang up. Expertly employing the currency of influence, money and votes, that cottage industry has come to dominate the Washington agenda. The players dictate who politicians pick and protect as winners and losers in a high stakes game - a competition worth literally trillions of dollars. The players providing the currency of gridlock are so consumed by the mania of the struggle they fail to consider the consequences of the competition.
The debate today revolves principally around the redistribution of national assets through two means: current consumption at future expense (accumulation of debt); and redistributing wealth to benefit select classes (entitlements and corporate privilege). Special interests with the potential to profit heavily invest vast resources to influence this debate. The people, for their part, are usually satisfied with table scraps - entitlements. The movers and shakers, however, the captains of industry and titans of finance set their sights much higher and play for control of industrial fortunes.
Under current rules federal entitlement programs (Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid) are destined for bankruptcy. A lengthening life expectancy coupled with rapidly rising healthcare costs guarantees the need for reform. However, in a country of 310 million people (225 million of voting age) roughly 100 million receive government healthcare benefits and some 60 million receive Social Security. More than two-thirds of Social Security recipients are over age 62 and represent the highest percent of active voters. The U.S. has more voters over age 45 than under and those voters are all looking forward to receiving their entitlements.
While the corporate elite are relatively few (less than one percent of the population) they bring billions of dollars to bear and millions of votes through the economic engines they control. Adding the corporate elite's wealth to the masses' numbers and you have a self-ruling majority who directly benefit from government largess - a recipe for disaster.
A closer look at the forces opposing one another on the field of political competition, reveals an intractable situation: an immovable object opposing an irresistible force - the same people are on both sides of the tax and spend debacle. Government influence is so all-pervasive, everyone has something at risk and everyone stands to gain. The key, realized by the enlightened few, is the degree of risk and reward varies depending on how one plays the game (an insight for another time).
The enduring truth expressed through the axiom, "Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely." is evident in our concentration of power in the federal government. We are consumed but the opportunity of self-interest through the benevolence of an all-powerful state. We the people, are the irresistible force of gridlock. We must change course now, or this folly will lead to an unseemly end.