The Gilded Age of Billion-Dollar Political Bribery

The Gilded Age of Billion-Dollar Political Bribery

Remember long, long ago in the old-timey days of politics, way back… maybe 10 years or so? In those olden times, if someone or some corporations gave a million dollars to a political candidate, the donation was scandalous news – a bribe! Ahhh, I miss those innocent days when ethical outrage could erupt over a mere million. These days, a high-dollar campaign would indignantly return such a paltry check to the donor, demanding that a couple of zeroes be added. Welcome to our glorious age of billion-dollar bribery. But a lot of people get lost in the illions, thinking that the “B” number is just an inflated “M.” So perhaps they assume the level of corruption hasn’t gotten that much worse. Uh… wrong! To clarify, think of those Ms and Bs not as dollars, but time – specifically seconds on the clock. A million seconds, is 11 days. But a billion seconds? That’s 32 years! And that’s a whopping difference in political punch. Aside from letting the insanely-rich buy particular government favors, billionaire bribery also allows that exclusive class to prevent policies that people actually want from getting on the public agenda. One glaring example is the overwhelming grassroots demand by bipartisan majorities to STOP! the ever-rising deluge of corrupt political cash that’s drowning American democracy. Congress can do this with two basic reforms. But both political parties have their heads stuck in money bags, so there is zero action by our “representatives” to do what America desperately needs. We the People have to be the cattle prod to move the system. To help, go to Campaign Legal Center: campaignlegal.org [http://campaignlegal.org]. Jim Hightower's Lowdown is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jimhightower.substack.com/subscribe [https://jimhightower.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

VIDEO: Democrats Can Win the Heartland

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit jimhightower.substack.com [https://jimhightower.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_7] Last week, Hightower and I sat down for a couple beers with author Cory Haala, who’s just released When Democrats Won the Heartland [https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/?id=p089176] and who is a professor at the University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point. Cory has brilliantly documented how, as the national Democratic Party moved towards corporate cash in the 1980s, maverick politicians throughout the Midwest and Plains states practiced good ol’ fashioned populism—and won. Not only did they win, but they also executed on the policies that they had championed while campaigning. Imagine that! With Hightower being part of the coalition of Texas populists who took the 1980s by storm, and who traveled to the northern states Cory covers to campaign, speechify and rally the grassroots, he’s featured prominently throughout the book. My favorite Hightower highlight comes right in the introduction: Rather than give a handout, they believed the role of government was to give a hand up. Put more bluntly by Texas Agriculture Commissioner Jim Hightower: “If we’d have been liberals,” discussing struggling watermelon growers in Texas, “we’d have retrained them to do something else. As populists, we changed the market structure that was f***ing them over. That’s the difference.” Paid subscribers can watch the whole video above, and also read an excerpt of Cory’s book below. Enjoy!

Good News: Small Groups Can Defeat Corporate Giants

From corporate polluters to political bosses, power elites try to create a myth of inevitability, trying to make workaday people feel helpless, too small to change the injustices of the system. Don’t bother is their message. But the feisty residents of Boxtown, Tennessee, definitely did bother when they learned that a couple of profiteering fossil fuel giants were targeting them. Boxtown, a historic Black neighborhood of Memphis settled by former slaves 160 years ago, was considered by Valero Energy and Plains All-American Pipeline to be politically powerless, so when these multibillion-dollar petro powers decided to ram a dirty and dangerous pipeline through the Memphis area, Boxtown was their chosen route. The rich Texas oil barons even sneeringly called the lower-income community, “The point of least resistance.” Boy did they get that wrong! Those “small” people of Boxtown resisted fiercely and smartly. Most flat-out refused to sell their family land at the thieving price offered by the oil slicks. They forged a unified grassroots coalition (Memphis Community Against the Pipeline), reached out to other neighborhoods, and educated locals about the terrible safety records of the two corporate plunderers. They also enlisted environmental groups to help beat back the strong-arm attempt by Valero and Plains All-American to seize the people’s property through eminent-domain. It’s a long story, with many ups and downs, but the inspiring essence of it is that local “nobodies” defeated the big money and raw racist arrogance of a powerhouse duo of absentee corporate elites that disrespected – and misjudged – them. It gets little national media attention, but regular grassroots communities and coalitions are mounting – and winning – such gutsy fights against corporate exploiters all across America. We’re not helpless or too small – remember this: Even the smallest dog can lift its leg on the tallest building! To learn more, contact MemphisCAP.org [http://MemphisCAP.org]. Jim Hightower's Lowdown is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jimhightower.substack.com/subscribe [https://jimhightower.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

Shouldn’t Public Protection Be for, You Know, the Public?

A core role of the US Department of Justice is to protect people from abusees by giant corporations. But DOJ’s present inhabitants have twisted that mission bassackwards – using the agency to protect corporate abusers from people seeking justice. For example: Big Oil. This massive polluter is insisting that government authorities must save it from its own transgressions. For decades, multibillion-dollar behemoths like Exxon have known that their fossil fuel emissions are increasing climate change, causing catastrophic destruction and deaths from intensified fires, floods, etc. Numerous lawsuits have now been filed demanding that the profiteers behind these horrific losses pay a fair share of the damage they’ve done. “Noooo,” whined the petro-perpetrators, scampering to Washington and to Republican statehouses to lobby for retroactive blanket immunity from all responsibility. Sure enough, top GOP officials are racing to bail out this murderous industry, which – by the way – finances the political campaigns of those oily officials. But wait… there’s much more: * Our so-called “Justice Department” has sued Hawaii and Michigan to deny a “state’s right” to sue energy corporations [https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/01/justice-department-lawsuit-climate-hawaii-michigan] that cause climate change. * A GOP group of state attorneys general are proposing a nationwide “liability shield” [https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/13/republicans-climate-liability-shield-fossil-fuel-industry] that would preemptively excuse oil, gas, and coal polluters from any responsibility for climate damages. * The same group wants the federal government to cut funding to any state or city that sues energy corporations. * And King Donald has decreed that the justice department stop all laws, policies, and suits that “threaten” fossil fuel production. This is blantantly corrupt plutocracy… not to mention stupid! To help stop it, go to Center for Climate Integrity. ClimateIntegrity.org [http://ClimateIntegrity.org] Jim Hightower's Lowdown is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jimhightower.substack.com/subscribe [https://jimhightower.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

Would You Buy a Lump of Coal from Trump?

Has your family consumed its lump of coal today? One of the most perverse presidential moves ever is Trump’s Big Government decree to force feed “King Coal” to Americans. Proclaiming an “energy emergency,” he unilaterally ordered five electric utilities to re-open their old, coal-burning power plants [https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/11/climate/as-coal-rebounds-more-mercury-a-potent-toxin-is-in-the-air.html]. These are toxic bombs, that continuously spew mercury, carbon dioxide, and a mix of other killer pollutants into our air, water, and bodies. Mercury emissions are especially vicious, causing early death in adults and permanent IQ damages to fetuses and children. Even the president’s own health secretary has excoriated mercury pollution from coal-fired utilities as “the most powerful neurotoxin we know of in the universe.” [https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/11/climate/as-coal-rebounds-more-mercury-a-potent-toxin-is-in-the-air.html] That’s why We the People have rebelled against the greed of coal barons in past years, finally replacing their deadly fuel with wind power, solar, and other renewable energy sources – which also lowers consumers’ electric bills. So why push to re-impose a horrific corporate poison that the people have already rejected – and that progressive utilities have moved beyond? Crass corruption. By hailing dirty coal as “beautiful,” while demonizing and defunding clean energy, Trump has been showered with millions of dollars from old-line coal profiteers [https://publicintegrity.org/politics/oil-gas-and-coal-interests-filling-donald-trumps-swamp-with-cash/]. And never underestimate vanity – he even got a custom bronze trophy from the polluters, hailing him as the “Undisputed Champion of Beautiful Clean Coal. [https://climatepower.us/news/let-them-eat-coal-trump-accepts-coal-king-award-while-families-struggle-to-pay-their-energy-bills/]” After America began replacing coal with clean energy, mercury pollution plummeted. But by restarting coal-fired utilities last year, Trump has already increased mercury emissions by 9 percent. Since he tries to merchandize everything, though, you might be able to buy an autographed lump of coal from him. Do something! * The Sierra Club’s “Beyond Coal” [https://www.sierraclub.org/coal] campaign is a great place to find all kinds of resources for taking action, making local change, and more. * Money in politics remains the thorn in our collective sides, so you can also check out End Citizens United [https://www.endcitizensunited.org/] to get involved on that front. Jim Hightower's Lowdown is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jimhightower.substack.com/subscribe [https://jimhightower.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]