Tell Carly Fiorina how easy it is to purchase a Senate seat.
About how things have changed in recent years, in Bill Clinton's book My Life one thing that he comments on is how much cleaner politics is today than it was when he was young and just getting involved, and yet how much dirtier the public thinks it is. Based on his insider account I believe that the reality is very different than your perception.
Yeah, Clinton was talking about the personal level, like "has a secret black baby" stories and things like that, particularly in the desegregated south where he was coming up.
Look at the income disparity in the country and look at the way the tax code, consumer protection laws, environmental protection laws and laws regarding corporate lobbying have gone in the last 20 years or so. It's all going the same direction. That's the kind of stuff I'm talking about when I say "institutionalized corruption", not small-scale backroom deals or dirty politics.
Yes, income disparity has gotten a lot worse since 1980. We're now back to about the levels of disparity that we saw a century ago during the gilded age. Just like then, I expect to see a long term backlash. (At the height of the backlash in the 1950s the top personal income tax rate ranged from 92% to 93%. On income over $1 million/year. That was a lot more then than it would be now.)
Currently the US government takes in about 15% of GDP in taxes. That's the lowest that it has been in a century. I would expect to see that change as well at some point in the future.
About how things have changed in recent years, in Bill Clinton's book My Life one thing that he comments on is how much cleaner politics is today than it was when he was young and just getting involved, and yet how much dirtier the public thinks it is. Based on his insider account I believe that the reality is very different than your perception.