Thread by @SayethSimon

The GOP tax bill is yet another symptom of the break between voters in our democracy, and policy outcomes in our government. It is widely opposed yet the level of fear of losing one's office is negligible. Causes: 1. Gerrymandering. 2. Citizens United 1/

Gerrymandering is clear in it's impacts. Congresspeople rarely have to actually run to win their seat because the districts have been designed to keep them from having to. That leaves a few dozen seats, out of 435 seats, which are competitive every cycle. 2/

Redrawing district lines is done following the census, which is done every ten years. The last one was in 2010 and a number of wealthy donors smartly bought state legislatures in the run up to redistricting to ensure a GOP congress. 2020 is coming. 3/

That means 1. 2018 and 2020 state elections are among the most important election cycles for state legislatures in history and 2. @BarackObama is smart to be focused on this right now. But then you have the money. 4/

Citizens United continued a trend to throw off the balance of power in the US in favor of monied interests, a cycle that began sometime in the 1980s. Our founders, who were very careful about Tyranny, were wealthy guys and didn't protect us from this in the constitution. 5/

The NRA is a clear example of this system, heavily funded by the gun industry, it is an open firehose of money for expensive elections for anyone willing to overlook the mass shooting of innocent people, because it's their job. They're paid for this. 6/

When Bernie said we have to "Get the money out of politics!" he wasn't wrong, but he was being simplistic. It's NOT a simple issue. A constitutional amendment has to go through a nearly impossible process to be ratified: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article_F… 7/

We've seen the ability of congress to pass a background check for guns, supported by 90%+ of the American people, after 16 children were gunned down in Newtown. Now look at that ratification process and tell me how it happens. 8/

This is not intended to break out spirit as #TheResistance, but to focus us. The purism of the further left side of progressives in this country will not help us get there, and neither will capitulating to the point of meaningless, symbolic legislation. 9/

We have to think in decades. We need to think in districts. We need to be running for office at every level (runforsomething.net). We need to build a bench of leaders that will be the next generation spearheading the change we need. That's how you #resist. </endRant>

Let me touch a bit on the system of funneling money into the political system, because I don't think I explained that clearly. Essentially we have a maze of legal structures through which money can enter the political sphere, and the tax bill actually creates MORE. /10

The legal basis of the existence of these groups is essentially that in representing a group of individuals the rights of those individuals are given to the group. I'm not a lawyer, but that's how I read it. Creating Super PACs is incredibly simple: cov.com/-/media/files/… /11

These groups have been a critical part of our politics since well before I studied political science in college (been a while 🙃), but even then the NRA and AIPAC were among the most powerful forces in American politics. Then with Citizens United we added fuel to the fire. /12

While PACs were already incredibly important, Citizens United increased the scale to essentially limitless amounts of money. Following that decision, there was an explosion in the 501(c)(4) organizations that underpinned Super PAC system. See: washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/w… /13

PACs like the NRA have well developed systems that go back decades that ties the purity of a legislators vote on an issue or set of issues to their funding level, and other support, that they use as leverage over our elected leaders. With unlimited money, unlimited leverage. /14

That is why you see a legislative branch that, increasingly, can get literally nothing done outside of the naming of a post office. Anything controversial can not only drive away a primary source of funding, but drive that into the pockets an opposition candidate. /15

There are some good guys in the Super PAC space, Joe Biden started one recently, and great causes like the AARP represent a purer example for how this system was supposed to work. But corporate interests overpower many of these financially, and are more *consistently* funded. /16

For example, consider Newtown and the pressure on both sides. Almost every intellectually honest American wanted a law passed, but the NRA had the trump card: They paid for last years election, and they will pay for next years election, for our legislators. Voters don't. /17

To simplify, voter's concerns generally can be visualized in a bell curve, while paid interests exist on a longer, flat, reliable line. When the bell curve reaches it's end, the reliable flat line will still be there to get you elected. Unless you voted against bump stocks. /18

This has led to a democracy that is, in no small sense, breaking down in its promise to be representative of the interests of the voting public. It IS still representative, but of the interests that can afford to pay for increasingly expensive elections. /19

However, we have overcome this. On Obamacare we defeated this system. On Trump's agenda, we have defeated this system.

Because we called. Because we showed up. Because we #resist.

So call. Kill tax reform. Then get ready to fight like hell next year. #TheResistance #AllDone