U.S. dollar banknotes and an image of White House are arranged for a photograph in Washington D.C., the United States, Aug. 20, 2019. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)
The China Society for Human Rights Studies on Thursday issued an article titled "Money Politics Exposes the Hypocrisy of 'U.S.-Style Democracy.'"
The article pointed out that money politics is the main reason for the severe divisions in U.S. politics and society.
"In recent years in the United States, the wealthy class has exerted an increasingly important influence on politics while the common people's influence on politics has declined," said the article, adding that money politics exposes the hypocrisy of U.S. democracy.
It noted that money has infused the entire U.S. political system and has become a persistent disease in U.S. society.
The article said that money politics of the United States has distorted public opinion and turned elections into a "one-man show" of the wealthy class.
"Since the beginning of the 21st century, the election costs of the Republican and Democratic presidential candidates have increased rapidly from 700 million dollars in 2004 to 1 billion dollars in 2008 and 2 billion dollars in 2012," said the article. "In 2016, U.S. elections, including presidential and congressional elections, cost a total of 6.6 billion dollars, making it the most expensive political election in U.S. history."
Meanwhile, a large amount of secret funds and "dark money" have also been injected into the U.S. election activities, it noted.
The article cited a 2018 report by the U.S. National Broadcasting Company News as saying that as the United States Department of the Treasury announced that it would no longer require most non-profit organizations to report their source of donations, the transparency of election funding would be significantly reduced.
Over 40 percent of TV commercials broadcast by these outside groups to influence congressional elections are funded by secret donors, said the article.
Money politics brings serious consequences, the article said. Ordinary people are deprived of their political rights. Government posts have become exclusive for rich people and the upper class. Money politics is blatantly delivering benefits to the rich, and makes it more difficult for the United States to solve its pressing political and social problems including gun violence.
"Money politics is an inevitable result of the U.S. capitalist system," said the article.
U.S. democracy is a political form through which the bourgeois rules. Given this, U.S. democracy naturally reflects the will of the capitalists and serves their interests, it said, adding that candidates of the two major political parties in the United States are merely representatives of different factions within the bourgeoisie.
Money politics exposes the nature of U.S. society and the lies of the United States when it is praising itself as the best example of exercising democracy and safeguarding human rights for the world.
"In the United States, where money governs politics, political participation and discussions can never be actualized without the help of money," said the article.
