A view from the valley by Georgia Earley
In the lead-up to the American Revolution, Samuel Adams insisted that the rule of law meant there should be “one rule of Justice for the rich and the poor: for the favorite in court, and the Countryman at the Plough.” That was the goal of the framers of our constitution, so how are we doing 250 years later?
One indicator is the economic trend of the rich and the poor. According to economist historians Peter Lindert and Jeffrey Williamson, in 1774 the top 1% of free Americans had @7.6% of total wealth, the bottom 60% had @10%. Today the top 1% has more than 31% of total wealth. The bottom 50% holds @ 2.5%. So why is the wealth gap between the rich and the poor growing and what does that mean?
Many events play into this but simply put, while we’ve been distracted as pawns in left/right cultural and ideological political football games for decades, our lawmakers have been making laws for us…and for them. And when those in power live in a world of the very wealthy, they can easily become out of touch with the worlds of the middle class and lower. Laws and benefits favoring large corporations and the wealthy then become the norm. And those norms can range from perks and exemptions to cronyism.
For instance, as we’ve seen recently, whether working or not, our lawmaker’s paychecks are not suspended during a shutdown per constitutional law. But since only 1984, after serving as little as five years, members of the U.S. Congress are eligible for a federal pension. For other federal employees, it’s ten years. And this is in addition to their Social Security checks, book deals, interviews and speaking engagements which can add hundreds of thousands to their already substantial coffers.
Below are the current annual salaries of top US government officials
- President: $400,000
- Vice President: $235,100
- Chief Justice of the United States: $280,500
- Associate Justice of the Supreme Court: $268,300
- Cabinet Secretary: $221,400
- Speaker of the House of Representatives: $223,500
- Circuit Judge: $231,800
- District Judge: $218,600
- Members of Congress (Senators, Representatives): $174,000
- Senate and House Majority/Minority Leaders: $193,400
Additionally, since 2013 they and certain other federal employees can receive a 72% subsidy to cover their health insurance premiums. And if a member of our U.S. Congress dies while in office, their family receives a $174,000 death gratuity payment. Families of fallen military personnel receive $100,000.
Federal lawmakers are exempt from certain laws such as the 1966 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). And as James Madison wrote in The Federalist No. 51, “if men were angels, no government would be necessary”. So predictably exemptions have been misused to protect private interests in conflict with the public good.
And if you’re a friend, family member, or political supporter of the very powerful or their interests, you just might be eligible for a “get out of jail free card”. And if you donate substantially to their cause, you may be granted a position of power or corporate favors.
July 1, 2024, the Supreme court took a leap of faith in the moral fortitude of humanity and the strength of congressional checks and balances when granting all U.S. presidents immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts taken while in office. So heaven help us if an unscrupulous and unfettered U.S. president enacts the Insurrection Act and suspends Habeas Corpus to go after his or her critics and those who’ve supported them as is commonly done in Russia, China and other authoritarian countries.
There’s much more, but in sum, when you make the rules, you have money. When you have money, you can buy anything and influence everything.
So, “One rule of Justice for the rich and the poor, for the favorite in Court, and the Countryman at the Plough”? Not until our lawmakers stop fueling culture wars and get back to doing their job which is to create laws and control the government’s budget for the general public good.
And we citizens need to see through their smoke and mirrors and quit being seduced with ideological and cultural distractions. Those issues should be for the public to decide with direct votes on local and state levels. So we need leaders who’ll prioritize giving citizens their voice and respecting it, who have the will to negotiate, and who’ll make, enforce and obey fair laws made for everyone.
If we want equal justice, it’s up to us to make it happen.