In Citizens United vs.FEC, the Supreme Court ruled that corporations are equivalent to people, and thus have the same first amendment rights. Any attempt to abridge those rights (for example, the McCain-Feingold bill, which limited campaign donations) is a violation of the Constitution. This disastrous decision has paved the way for companies that care more about overseas profits than America.

Thanks to the Citizens United ruling, it is painfully obvious that our elected officials have sold out to multinational companies at the expense of the American people. This has led to a steady degradation of our democracy and economy that has destroyed the middle class in this nation.

For example, despite the fact that studies by the U.S. International Trade Commission and Economic Policy Institute have shown that KORUS will not be beneficial for the economy, numerous elected officials are in favor of more job-killing “free” trade deals. Why? Because their campaign donations are dependent upon keeping their corporate benefactors happy.

The political process has been usurped from the American people by the ultra-rich, who are working to ensure they stay extraordinarily wealthy, at the expense of everyone else. According to the CIA World Factbook, only the wages of the top 20 percent of earners in America have risen since 1980. “Free” trade is the mechanism of choice to do so.

These are the conditions we are forced to live with now. In other countries, like Egypt, the evaporation of the middle class has caused revolutions. America is now facing a similar crisis with respect to income disparity and youth unemployment. We need to do something to bring back democracy and our economy before our middle class is gone!

Editor’s Note: Democracy is Phasing Out, We are Becoming a Nation Run by the Rich for the Rich Causing the Whole Middle Class to Evaporate

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