When it burst into widespread use as a result of the 1976 movie All the President’s Men, the phrase “Follow the money” referred to political influence or corruption and how to track it.

Fifty years later, the meaning of the phrase hasn’t changed much—but following the money is now magnitudes more complex. With the proliferation of political action committees and the blessing of the U.S. Supreme Court, corporations and wealthy individuals have more ways than ever to spread their political spending. That includes dark money, the practice of giving to nonprofits (which don’t have to disclose donors), which in turn move the money along to giant political fundraising organizations—Super PACs, as they’re known.

Those are a few of the reasons why a new project that tracks political spending in California is so fascinating. As the California Oligarch Index makes clear, a relatively tiny number of wealthy donors and corporations are exerting profound influence over who gets elected and which laws get passed in the Golden State.

That point may feel obvious this year, with the state’s billionaires making no attempt to disguise their spending in an effort to defeat a one-time tax on their wealth. In truth, though, the larger pattern of mega-money flowing through state politics has been ongoing for two decades—and it’s glaring.

9% of the state’s residents, businesses and organizations combined . 8 billion — and again, that’s not counting the hundreds of millions being spent by the rich to try to defeat Prop.

Source link