John Oliver Misses the Role of Money in Politics

In his HBO show last night, John Oliver had an astute segment on the growth of inequality in our democracy. His segment echoes our Stacked Deck analysis, hitting on American attitudes toward class and echoing our argument about the striking political saliency of repealing the estate tax. He even hits, albeit briefly, on the stark racial breakdown of economic elites.

While worth watching, Oliver's segment still misses the significant role of the dominance of affluence over our politics. American attitudes toward inequality surely play a part, but the Supreme Court's disastrous decisions in McCutcheon and Citizens United should consistently be given a central role.

It's no coincidence that the same billionaires benefiting from a repeal of the estate tax increasingly write bigger and bigger checks to political campaigns.