'Money, Not Wealth, Drives the Power Game'

The richest people in the world have more than a trillion dollars each, but that money is not just for them.
They can give $100,000 a year to every home in Colorado for four years and still have plenty left.

The One Percent Owns 31 % of U.S. Wealth

• Top one percent hold more than 31 % of all U.S. wealth.
• The gap is continuously widening, fueling a growing political split.

Four Channels of Power

1. Media Ownership

   • Musk owns Twitter, Bezos owns The Washington Post.
   • The Ellisons own CBS News and are buying CNN.
   • These owners can dictate editorial stance or firing decisions.

2. Think Tanks

   • Koch brothers and the Heritage Foundation back influential groups.
   • Project 2025 appears to be a blueprint for a second Trump term.

3. Supreme Court Influence

   • Donors can sway justices; Neil Gorsuch has ties to a major businessman who helped his career.

4. Election Financing

   • Citizens United allows billions of dollars to flow as “dark money.”
   • Spending rose from $144 million in 2010 to nearly $2 billion in 2024.

Outcomes

• Riches win tax cuts.
• Rules protecting workers, the environment, and safety weaken.

Lobbyist Claim: A dollar can bring back $100 in favorable laws.

Case Study: Trump & Oil

• 2024: Trump met oil executives, asked for a $1 billion contribution for relaxed rules.
• Result: $40 billion in tax breaks over ten years for oil companies.
• Policy actions: halted offshore wind farms, signed bill favoring oil industry.

Open Question: Did these moves benefit the oil industry amid rising prices and Trump’s conflict with Iran?