How ‘McCutcheon’ Will Make Raising the Minimum Wage Even Harder
The last two weeks have further intensified the pernicious effect of the dominance of the donor class on the interests of most Americans.
In McCutcheon v. FEC, the Roberts Court continued the trajectory of Citizens United and struck down aggregate contribution limits of $123,200 (already more than double the median household income). Wealthy donors, who already hold unbelievable sway in Washington, can now give up to $3.5 million to federal parties, candidates and committees. This will bring a flood of cash; Demos projects that elite donors (those at over, or within 10 percent of the contribution limit) will give over a billion more in campaign contributions through the 2020 cycle as a result.
The inability of Washington to raise the minimum wage is a prime example of how that elite donor dominance impacts real-world policymaking. Last week, House Republicans unanimously voted down the president’s proposal to increase the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour over three years. This flies in the face of popular will. A March Bloomberg poll showed nearly three-quarters of respondents backing the president’s proposal to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour.
Yet only 40 percent of wealthy Americans agree. Those Americans, who our lawmakers hear from the most, largely don’t support a minimum wage increase and their preferences hold undue sway in Washington because of a broken campaign finance system.
The implication of the divergence between the public and elites, which Demos explored in Stacked Deck, is why McCutcheon matters so much. A flood of money from a donor class that doesn’t see eye-to-eye with the public makes a minimum wage increase even less likely.
Political and economic inequality will continue to mutually reinforce.
Some facts:
Of those who contribute more than $200 to a campaign, 85% have annual incomes of over $100,000. This is the same class that gets 95% of all capital gains.
A head of a two-person house hold, who works full time at a minimum wage job is still living below the poverty line.
The value of a minimum wage is 30% lower to day than it was in 1968. So in equal dollars, if you made the equivalent of $10 per hour in 1968, you would make $7 per hour today.
In McCutcheon v. FEC, the Roberts Court continued the trajectory of Citizens United and struck down aggregate contribution limits of $123,200 (already more than double the median household income). Wealthy donors, who already hold unbelievable sway in Washington, can now give up to $3.5 million to federal parties, candidates and committees. This will bring a flood of cash; Demos projects that elite donors (those at over, or within 10 percent of the contribution limit) will give over a billion more in campaign contributions through the 2020 cycle as a result.
The inability of Washington to raise the minimum wage is a prime example of how that elite donor dominance impacts real-world policymaking. Last week, House Republicans unanimously voted down the president’s proposal to increase the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour over three years. This flies in the face of popular will. A March Bloomberg poll showed nearly three-quarters of respondents backing the president’s proposal to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour.
Yet only 40 percent of wealthy Americans agree. Those Americans, who our lawmakers hear from the most, largely don’t support a minimum wage increase and their preferences hold undue sway in Washington because of a broken campaign finance system.
The implication of the divergence between the public and elites, which Demos explored in Stacked Deck, is why McCutcheon matters so much. A flood of money from a donor class that doesn’t see eye-to-eye with the public makes a minimum wage increase even less likely.
Political and economic inequality will continue to mutually reinforce.
Some facts:
Of those who contribute more than $200 to a campaign, 85% have annual incomes of over $100,000. This is the same class that gets 95% of all capital gains.
A head of a two-person house hold, who works full time at a minimum wage job is still living below the poverty line.
The value of a minimum wage is 30% lower to day than it was in 1968. So in equal dollars, if you made the equivalent of $10 per hour in 1968, you would make $7 per hour today.
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