Last night, I caught the compelling first episode of Bill Moyers new program, Moyers and Company. He featured two journalists (Paul Pierson and Jacob S. Hacker) whose book, WINNER TAKES ALL POLITICS, is about how the richer have gotten so much richer in the last 30 years due to Washington's rewriting of tax regulations and the growing power of corporations to dominate our political process. Forget issues of left and right: the real problem is the how the rich are getting so much richer than the rest of us and how it is corrupting the tenets of our democracy.
Forget the 1% that we hear so much about...these authors also talk about the even more shocking gains that the smaller percentages of the 1% have made that are literally off the charts and are a direct result of a lopsided redistribution of wealth that only keeps growing. The show is an hour of detailed discussion on a crucial topic which, to many people, has become mired in political slogans (see Occupy Wall Street). However, when the simple mathematical facts are presented, there is no denying that not only the middle class but our very democracy are at risk. It is essential TV viewing in this election year.
Moyers & Company 101: On Winner Take All Politics from BillMoyers.com on Vimeo.
