The US Congress is dominated by a majority of Senators and Representatives who are millionaires with personal fortunes, on average, 14 times higher than the US common citizen. This means that the representatives of the U.S. people to the top legislature are totally out of touch with the everyday problems of most Americans who live –like the vast majority of human beings across the planet– stuck in the exhausting struggle for day-to-day survival.

On this phenomenon, the renowned economist Joseph Stiglitz wrote for U.S. American magazine Vanity Fair:

“Virtually all U.S. senators, and most of the representatives in the House, are members of the top 1 percent when they arrive, are kept in office by money from the top 1 percent, and know that if they serve the top 1 percent well they will be rewarded by the top 1 percent when they leave office. By and large, the key executive-branch policymakers on trade and economic policy also come from the top 1 percent. Given the power of the top 1 percent, this is the way you would expect the system to work.”

It is widely held that electoral politics in the United States has been so deeply corrupted by corporate money that there is little chance that even a well-intentioned leader could promote a real change in Congress.

To reach a top position, either in the Oval Office or a seat in Congress, the road to election is expensive and only the wealthiest, or those who have the support of the very wealthy, are in a position to even reach the starting line in the race for elective office.

In the presidential election cycle of 2012, both contending sides spent billions of dollars each on the campaign to get their candidates chosen on the way to the contest for the presidency. Obviously, this money came from wealthy donors and corporate sponsors determined to bring their candidate to the Oval Office.

The winners, no matter whether they are Democrats or Republicans, are rewarded with "a mountain of advantages" offered to victors.

Lobbyists are a source of much corruption, and with an estimated 26 lobbyists per member, it is easy to imagine the temptations that these "lobbyists" convey.

This corrupting pressure is encouraged by a lifestyle in Congress that demands that members devote most of their time raising money for their campaigns. In November 2012, the Democratic leadership in the House released a model work schedule for elected Democrats setting a 10-hour working day, 5 hours of which would be devoted to "activities of strategic outreach” which are basically relations with potential donors.

As half of their time is spent asking for money from wealthy individuals, there is no way that legislators can respond to the problems that are present in the country. Even well-intentioned members face a vicious cycle that pushes them to raise funds to ensure their seats; and once the goal is achieved, it is almost impossible for them to do their job.

They end up developing a style of work which moves them to be nice to those with whom they should need to be more demanding. No difficult questions in legislative hearings that might displease potential donors, or support for amendments that could bother them.

They tend to vote the way that best suits those donors and less the voters.

What the US people are facing is an oligarchic system –a government of the rich, by the rich and for the rich– as much as the preamble to the Constitution speaks of "we the people" and the current regime is described as a "representative democracy".

What the United States as a nation is suffering from is an oligarchy inherently similar to those which have held power solely and exclusively in the reviled dictatorships of Latin America; but with an incomparably greater level of violence, aggression and opulence which has allowed it to spread its nefarious attributes all over the world.

January 2, 2016.

- Manuel Yepe http://manuelyepe.wordpress.com/

A CubaNews translation. Edited by Walter Lippmann.