America's mercenary class
- By Zhao Jinglun
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E-mail China.org.cn, December 16, 2013
Any congressman refusing to join on the trip would be targeted by AIPAC -- which would in fact raise huge amounts of money for his opponent in the next election. Yet surely enough, the Israel lobby is not the Congress members' only master. They are also owned by interest groups such as Wall Street, the pharmaceutical industry and the military industrial complex.
As for the Supreme Court, the Roberts Court consistently prioritizes the donor class and harms the weak, the poor and the minorities. The recent Supreme Court ruling in "Shelby County v. Holder" effectively cripples the Voting Rights Act. It flies in the face of overwhelming evidence of Republican efforts to disenfranchise legitimate voters.
The House of Representatives, now controlled by the far right, is being nourished by streams of "dark money" unleashed thanks to the gift bestowed on the rich by the Supreme Court in the "Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission" case of 2010.
According to a recent NBC/Wall Street Journal poll, 96 percent of Americans think the current Congress is average or below average, with a majority of 51 percent saying it is currently the worst is has ever been.
There is clearly a question of class in the United States. Even President Barack Obama talked about class in his recent speech on December 4 at THEARC in D.C., a speech described by the Washington Post as his best yet on the topic of economy.
Obama spoke of "a dangerous and growing inequality and lack of upward mobility," and called it "the defining challenge of our time."
In regards to inequality, Obama pointed out how the top 10 percent families now take half of the national income (compared to nine months ago) and the CEO now makes 273 times (former Labor Secretary Robert Reich says 350 times) the income of the average worker. A family in the top 1 percent possesses a net worth 288 times that of the typical family.
As for the lack of upward mobility, a child born in the top 20 percent has a two-in-three chance of staying at or near the top. A child born into the bottom 20 percent has a less than one-in-five shot at making it to the top. He is 10 times more likely to stay where he is. Canada, Germany and France have greater mobility.
Obama concluded that "the opportunity gap in America is now as much about class as it is about race; and the gap is growing."
The author is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit:http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/zhaojinglun.htm
Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.
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