Captured: The Corporate Infiltration of American Democracy

This book is a must read for every American who loves his/her country. It is a frightening lesson in the Civics classes that are no longer taught in our schools, because it speaks in very direct and understandable terms about the powerful and hidden forces that are undermining our core democratic values. If you have wondered why formerly reasonable men and women in politics now embrace untenable positions such as climate change denial, reducing the already shrinking share of federal tax income coming from corporate taxes, and the baseless and untrammeled attack on voting rights, then this book will clearly and concisely explain it. And it will cast it in an historical perspective, as well.The book, "Dark Money," by Jane Mayer, is very well researched and well written, and it provides the foundation from which Senator Whitehouse builds his exposition of the ongoing and well-disguised attack on our most cherished democratic values. "Captured" adds to that excellent book in many important ways, two of which jump out to this reader. The first is that he has a ringside seat to the ways in which corporate dark money is at work to take away the voice that all us have had, and expect to have, in our government. His examples are harrowing and very real, a true insider's story of what we are losing, and rapidly.What also struck me, and which is news even to my well informed attentions, is the ongoing corporate attack on our civil jury system. I was raised by a father who was what we then called an Eisenhower Republican, in Pennsylvania. He was a local public official, and more importantly, he was a trial attorney. I grew up hearing him say that the American judicial system and the jury trial were he most cost effective social programs we have. One case in front of one jury can provide enough economic incentive to make a corporation stop manufacturing cars that burst into flames on impact, or stop making products that are harmful to our health, or stop putting dangerous materials into our buildings. This book lays out in frightening clarity how this great institution is being forcibly eliminated.And this is just the tip of the iceberg. And that is the point of this essential book. We are looking at the tip of the iceberg. What is unseen are the think tanks, the tax exempt organizations, the paid media, the super Political Action Committees, and the corporations and billionaires who are actively at work in not letting us see how they are setting up their own version of a political party, and one that will brook no heterodoxy. And it is one that serves only them, and at our expense. Eisenhower Republicans are a vanishing breed. And Teddy Roosevelt Republicans are extinct. And lest you think this is a partisan issue, this book will show you how both major parties are at risk.It was difficult for me to read it, because the story is so frightening. And I found that the personal forward was something I almost could not read past. We tend to question our public officials, but we miss the fact that people like Senator Whitehouse are devoted public servants, and that the bulk of that great burden falls on their families. The sacrifices are deeply felt. We need more public servants like Senator Whitehouse. And most importantly we have to listen to him and those like him. Read this book, now.

After reading this book, I have come to a sobering realization of who is exactly in control of our Democracy, and that control continues to tighten. The interference in the elections from corporations and billionaires is unprecedented. The “campaign finance world has become virtually lawless.” It is a world of super PACs and 501(c)(4)s; and of “politically active corporate entities, the billionaire funders, the right-wing ‘philanthropies,’ the front groups, and lobbying organizations,” according to the author. Their influence appears to be everywhere, and they are like an “unseen ruling class.” Contrary to popular opinion the government is working just fine, it just appears to be working for entities other then you and me.The Constitution is silent on corporate power, the word not even being found in the document, but men such as James Madison later came to see the dangers of “indefinite accumulation of property” and the “capacity of holding it in perpetuity by ecclesiastical corporations.” In the early 20th century, various laws were enacted to target problems in the campaign finance system, such as the Federal Corrupt Practices Act, the Hatch Act, the Taft-Hartley Act and others. But by 1978 we see loopholes form that allowed something called “soft money” to fund “issue ads.” More recently, we see Citizens United, which allowed corporations to spend unlimited money and funnel it to 501(c)(4)s (think dark money) and super PACs. Here’s an interesting statistic: of the 100 organizations spending money on lobbying, about 95 percent represent business. What effect do you think this has on members of congress? You just can’t believe the explosion in lobbying enterprises and the money spent over the years. Another statistic: there are around 120 million families in America, but only 150 gave nearly half of the money contributed in the 2016 election. What we are seeing is that economic elites and organized groups representing business have much more impact on the government than the polity of average citizens. The result of this is a situation where legislation is out of step with the realities and wishes of the American people.The author sees an influential beginning to all of this in a corporate lawyer named Lewis Powell and a memo he wrote in 1971. He later became a Supreme Court Justice. In the 60’s and 70’s, we saw the establishment of several new agencies, such as the EPA. This resulted in an “organizational counterattack of business.” Corporate public affairs offices, lobbyists, and corporate PACs increased dramatically in response. In the next several chapters (chapters six through nine), Whitehouse goes into detail how various institutions and agencies have been “captured” by the corporations, the rich, and the powerful. We see the capture of the Supreme Court, the capture of elections via Citizen’s United (which promulgates that corporations are people and money is speech), the capture of regulatory agencies also known as regulatory capture (think BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill and the 2008 Wall Street financial meltdown), and finally the capture of the civil jury.The author then segues to an interesting topic he calls “the denial machine.” This machine, which has been carefully built up over the decades, is intended to deny scientific facts if they are inconvenient to the parties affected. This machine is awesome. According to the author we have “organizations designed to look and sound like they’re real, messages honed by public relations experts to sound like they’re reasonable, compromised scientists whom industry can trot out when they’re needed, and the whole organism so vast and multifaceted that when you see its parts you could be fooled into thinking it’s not all the same beast.” The information in this chapter is incredible. For example, on climate change, one report showed that from 2003 to 2010, 140 foundations made grants of $558 million to 91 organizations that oppose climate action – wow! We also have organizations that take “dark money,” such as Donors Trust and Donors Capital Fund.So the author notes that we are in a crisis where corporate money controls Congress (Congress often acts as their agent), and we are subjected to a massive propaganda campaign, which denies the facts that are contrary to corporate policy interests. In Federalist No. 63, James Madison (or perhaps Alexander Hamilton) warned us of “moments in public affairs when the people … mislead by artful misrepresentations of interested men, may call for measures which they themselves will afterwards be the most ready to lament and condemn.”

Unfortunately this copy of the book is not giftable. Whilst the book is new and delivery packaging was robust, where the inside cover of the book is glued to the hard back, there is some bubbling. This copy is acceptable for me to keep, but would return if was destined as a gift.

Excellent book on the corporate capture of the democratic process. Very accessible, well written it shows what we' ve lost in the past few years (ex: citizen united...)

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse delivers the information in an understandable and deeply researched way, I'm Australian, yet still feel deeply for the cause Senator Whitehouse promotes. Americans should be seriously concerned for their country, as the wealth gap widens, and the fake news explodes, it will only get worse unless a way is found to undo some of the frankly outrageous laws and statutes in the USA

Good to get a sense of how someone in government experiences the impact of the Koch donor network identified by Jane Mayer in Dark Money. It also demonstrates the power of American propaganda that an American Democrat Senator seems to not know the level of US military and economic interference in the affairs of other nation states. It demonstrates how "captured" the so many American mind seems to be ... as well as outlining the notion of aspects of a captured state.

This is a great book, extremely informative, and which analyzes brilliantly the political climate of the United States today. Thank God for Senator Whitehouse!