≫ Download WinnerTakeAll Politics How Washington Made the Rich Richerand Turned Its Back on the Middle Class Paul Pierson Jacob S Hacker 9781416588696 Books

WinnerTakeAll Politics How Washington Made the Rich Richerand Turned Its Back on the Middle Class Paul Pierson Jacob S Hacker 9781416588696 Books

Download As PDF : WinnerTakeAll Politics How Washington Made the Rich Richerand Turned Its Back on the Middle Class Paul Pierson Jacob S Hacker 9781416588696 Books

WinnerTakeAll Politics How Washington Made the Rich Richerand Turned Its Back on the Middle Class Paul Pierson Jacob S Hacker 9781416588696 Books

"Winner-Take-All-Politics" is one of those rare books that can give the reader an approach-avoidance conflict. You want to read as much of it as fast as you can because it is so interesting, and you want to stop every 10 pages or so to process and absorb what you have read.

Authors Hacker and Pierson describe it as a thirty years war that slowly, almost imperceptibly eroded the economic and political power of the middle class. It wasn't coincidence or evolutionary change, but a deliberate, daily, stealthy grab for political and economic power that continued until one day the nation of middle class woke up to a recession that cost them their homes and livelihood while they couldn't help but notice that those who caused it, the bankers on Wall Street, strutted away keeping their own homes, jobs, bonuses, and even liberty.

"From 1979 to 2006, the top 1 percent received 35 percent of all the income growth generated in the American economy, while the highest 1/10th of 1%...received nearly 20 percent, even after taking into account all federal taxes and all government and employer-provided benefits." The middle class and the poor have been barely able to keep pace with income adjusted for inflation, as healthcare costs, homes and education skyrocketed.

So, how did such a disparity come about?

They call the change from the 1970's to the present, drift. Nixon was the last president to pass sweeping liberal legislation. With Jimmy Carter as president and a Democratic majority in Congress, one liberal proposal after another went down to defeat and the drift continued to the right as conservatives and right wing interests began to organize. The Business Roundtable, the Chamber of Commerce began to make massive fund-raising drives. Firms with high political stakes moved from New York City to Washington D.C. setting up offices on "K" Street. Lobbyists grew in number until they exceeded the members of Congress five fold. Perhaps the most important part of their success was the apathy of the American people toward politics, or the naiveté of Americans who believed that the election meant the fight was over. Lobbyists worked 365 days a year, and began to chip away at unfavorable legislation the moment after it was introduced on the floor or signed by the president.

Those who blame both parties have a point. Long the darlings of the middle class, the Democrats had to pay attention to an electorate that could raise money against them. Their labor base had long been destroyed to the point that unions had most of their membership now in the public rather than the private sector. Democrat stalwarts became "Republicans for a Day" as the authors referred to Barbara Boxer, Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, and Diane Feinstein knew that voting for the middle class and against powerful interests could mean overwhelming political challenge.

Liberal and progressive Americans were perplexed that the President's political engine seemed to be on idle after he had a majority in both houses of Congress. No one counted on the Senate's ability to throw a wrench in the works where many states reel an inordinate amount of power for their interests and small populations. Increasingly arrogant and intransigent, a 60 member majority made it ideal for them to stymie anyone's agenda. Republicans voted solidly down to the last senator, and Democrats had to scramble to get every Democrat. Add uncooperative Tea Partiers, moneyed interests pushing everyday, and "Republicans for a Day," and you have a middle class whose power and political muscle have dwindled to virtually nothing.

Hacker and Pierson present intelligent argument and discussion of how the shift of power took place. They see our recent political history as a "who-done-it" detective story, and they are in search of the causes, the motives and the outcomes. They counter the argument that it was just coincidence or social Darwinism as the vehicles that just happened to make the rich much richer than the rest of the socio-economic classes. As the argument goes, everyone benefits from the rich becoming richer--the water level rises for everyone, but the authors prove that big money and corporate power have insured through legislation that they will keep getting a bigger share of the pie than everyone else--as their yachts go through the locks, they shut out the smaller boats and dinghies. While this is not in-depth, it is never boring and will reach a wider range of readers.

The authors take an apt quote from Charles Montesquieu who wrote: "An imbalance between rich and poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics."

Also recommended:

Free Lunch: How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense (and StickYou with the Bill)

Deadly Spin: An Insurance Company Insider Speaks Out on How Corporate PR Is Killing Health Care and Deceiving Americans


Tags : Winner-Take-All Politics: How Washington Made the Rich Richer--and Turned Its Back on the Middle Class [Paul Pierson, Jacob S. Hacker] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. A groundbreaking work that identifies the real culprit behind one of the great economic crimes of our time— the growing inequality of incomes between the vast majority of Americans and the richest of the rich. <BR><BR>We all know that the very rich have gotten a lot richer these past few decades while most Americans haven’t. In fact,Paul Pierson, Jacob S. Hacker,Winner-Take-All Politics: How Washington Made the Rich Richer--and Turned Its Back on the Middle Class,Simon & Schuster,1416588698,Public Policy - General,Capitalism - United States,Capitalism;United States.,Equality - United States,Equality;United States.,United States - Economic policy,United States - Politics and government - 1945-1989,United States - Politics and government - 1989-,United States;Economic policy.,1989-,CONTEMPORARY ECONOMIC SITUATIONS AND CONDITIONS,Capitalism,Equality,GENERAL,General Adult,Non-Fiction,POLITICAL SCIENCE Political Economy,POLITICAL SCIENCE Political Process General,POLITICAL SCIENCE Public Policy General,Political Economy,Political Process - General,Political Science,Political ScienceAmerican Government - General,Political SciencePolitical Process - General,Political SciencePublic Policy - Economic Policy,Political structure & processes,Politics Current Events,Politics and government,PoliticsInternational Relations,PoliticsIntl Relations,Public Policy - Economic Policy,Public Policy - General,U.S. - CONTEMPORARY POLITICS,United States,United States - Economic policy,United States - Politics and government - 1945-1989,United States - Politics and government - 1989-,United States;Economic policy.,POLITICAL SCIENCE Political Economy,POLITICAL SCIENCE Political Process General,POLITICAL SCIENCE Public Policy General,Political Economy,Political Process - General,Political ScienceAmerican Government - General,Political SciencePolitical Process - General,Political SciencePublic Policy - Economic Policy,Public Policy - Economic Policy,Politics Current Events,1989-,Capitalism,Equality,Politics and government,United States,Contemporary Economic Situations And Conditions,U.S. - Contemporary Politics,Political Science,PoliticsInternational Relations,Political structure & processes

WinnerTakeAll Politics How Washington Made the Rich Richerand Turned Its Back on the Middle Class Paul Pierson Jacob S Hacker 9781416588696 Books Reviews

This is a well documented explanation how the politicians have conspired, either knowingly or unknowingly, to predispose the direction of 99% of the wealth generated in this country's economy to the top .01% of the population. It makes you sick when you see how the special interests have subverted the will of the people to do the bidding of their financial benefactors. An eye-opening treatise.
I usually like to write lengthy, in depth reviews, particularly when I really like a book (and I really liked this book). Unfortunately I listened to this book in the car and was unable to take my usual detailed notes so I am going to have to settle for a more succinct review.

This book is one of the best political books I have ever read (or, in this case, listened to). The book attempts to figure out why inequality has been steadily rising in the United States since at least the mid-1970s, and why wealth has been redistributed steadily upward, especially to the top 1% or even top .01% of the income bracket. The answer is complex and has to do with greater organization on the part of business interests since the mid-1970s and a failure of organization on the part of the interests of labor and the working classes. The book makes its case with a great deal of data and there are many very interesting facts presented along the way as well as a very interesting analysis of the nature of our political system in the United States.

The authors argue, correctly in my opinion, that the economy cannot be separated from politics. The question about growing inequality cannot be answered if one limits one's view to the economy. The rules of the economy are determined in the political sphere. The authors also argue that the standard focus on elections in analyses of our political system is misleading. Elections are, in some ways, merely a sideshow. When it comes to actual policy-making organization is what matters, and since the mid-1970s business interests have been far more successful in organizing lobbying efforts than the interests of labor and the middle classes. This means that the policies that are able to make it through the political process and actually become law have overwhelmingly been policies that favor the interests of the wealthy.

The authors diagnose a number of problems in our current political system. One of the most important has been the growing importance of obstruction. The growing use of the filibuster, for example, has made it possible for small minorities, representing very limited interests, to obstruct progressive change. This is a serious problem when one takes into consideration the notion of "drift", which is a major principle of the book. Drift occurs when the political process fails to keep up with changing economic conditions. It turns out that one of the most effective ways to block progressive change is to simply do nothing. The proponents of progressive change, therefore, often wind up needing a super majority in order to overcome obstruction, while the enemies of progressive change have a distinct advantage since it only requires a small minority to obstruct change leading to inherent drift.

The authors manage, somehow, to remain relatively optimistic about our situation despite all these obstacles to progressive change. If growing inequality is, in fact, largely a political problem then it is possible for us to do something about it. The problem, of course, is that we have to use a political system that is already heavily weighted towards business interests and the interests of the wealthy to reform the political system itself, which is analogous to lifting oneself up by one's own bootstraps. The challenges are real, but the more we know about the obstacles in our way, the better our chances for overcoming them, and this book sheds a great deal of light on the current obstacles to progressive change in our current political system.

There is far more in this book than I have been able to summarize. It is one of the few books on political science that I fully intend to read again at some point. I highly recommend this work to anyone interested in our current political and economic situation.
"Winner-Take-All-Politics" is one of those rare books that can give the reader an approach-avoidance conflict. You want to read as much of it as fast as you can because it is so interesting, and you want to stop every 10 pages or so to process and absorb what you have read.

Authors Hacker and Pierson describe it as a thirty years war that slowly, almost imperceptibly eroded the economic and political power of the middle class. It wasn't coincidence or evolutionary change, but a deliberate, daily, stealthy grab for political and economic power that continued until one day the nation of middle class woke up to a recession that cost them their homes and livelihood while they couldn't help but notice that those who caused it, the bankers on Wall Street, strutted away keeping their own homes, jobs, bonuses, and even liberty.

"From 1979 to 2006, the top 1 percent received 35 percent of all the income growth generated in the American economy, while the highest 1/10th of 1%...received nearly 20 percent, even after taking into account all federal taxes and all government and employer-provided benefits." The middle class and the poor have been barely able to keep pace with income adjusted for inflation, as healthcare costs, homes and education skyrocketed.

So, how did such a disparity come about?

They call the change from the 1970's to the present, drift. Nixon was the last president to pass sweeping liberal legislation. With Jimmy Carter as president and a Democratic majority in Congress, one liberal proposal after another went down to defeat and the drift continued to the right as conservatives and right wing interests began to organize. The Business Roundtable, the Chamber of Commerce began to make massive fund-raising drives. Firms with high political stakes moved from New York City to Washington D.C. setting up offices on "K" Street. Lobbyists grew in number until they exceeded the members of Congress five fold. Perhaps the most important part of their success was the apathy of the American people toward politics, or the naiveté of Americans who believed that the election meant the fight was over. Lobbyists worked 365 days a year, and began to chip away at unfavorable legislation the moment after it was introduced on the floor or signed by the president.

Those who blame both parties have a point. Long the darlings of the middle class, the Democrats had to pay attention to an electorate that could raise money against them. Their labor base had long been destroyed to the point that unions had most of their membership now in the public rather than the private sector. Democrat stalwarts became "Republicans for a Day" as the authors referred to Barbara Boxer, Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, and Diane Feinstein knew that voting for the middle class and against powerful interests could mean overwhelming political challenge.

Liberal and progressive Americans were perplexed that the President's political engine seemed to be on idle after he had a majority in both houses of Congress. No one counted on the Senate's ability to throw a wrench in the works where many states reel an inordinate amount of power for their interests and small populations. Increasingly arrogant and intransigent, a 60 member majority made it ideal for them to stymie anyone's agenda. Republicans voted solidly down to the last senator, and Democrats had to scramble to get every Democrat. Add uncooperative Tea Partiers, moneyed interests pushing everyday, and "Republicans for a Day," and you have a middle class whose power and political muscle have dwindled to virtually nothing.

Hacker and Pierson present intelligent argument and discussion of how the shift of power took place. They see our recent political history as a "who-done-it" detective story, and they are in search of the causes, the motives and the outcomes. They counter the argument that it was just coincidence or social Darwinism as the vehicles that just happened to make the rich much richer than the rest of the socio-economic classes. As the argument goes, everyone benefits from the rich becoming richer--the water level rises for everyone, but the authors prove that big money and corporate power have insured through legislation that they will keep getting a bigger share of the pie than everyone else--as their yachts go through the locks, they shut out the smaller boats and dinghies. While this is not in-depth, it is never boring and will reach a wider range of readers.

The authors take an apt quote from Charles Montesquieu who wrote "An imbalance between rich and poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics."

Also recommended

Free Lunch How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense (and StickYou with the Bill)

Deadly Spin An Insurance Company Insider Speaks Out on How Corporate PR Is Killing Health Care and Deceiving Americans