Reply #11: He's kind of right, but misses the big picture for me.

[Johonny]

certainly special interests that have the ear of politicians over the vast majority of Americans is a major problem in this country. I mean take the issue of raising tax rates back to before the Bush tax cut particularly on the wealthy. A plan with support to most Americans and popular with economic experts. Yet totally ignored by congress. Why? A small handful of special interests have vastly more input on this subject.

Is this fueled by the internet? No. More importantly without huge amounts of money (say like wealthy corporations use to keep tax benefits) there are few ways for the general public to cheaply get their views out.

Also not all focused views are bad. There are a lot of small special interests that started as focused groups that pressured politicians that grew and became popular in time, say the anti-slavery movement or more closer in time gay marriage. Gay marriage wasn't on the radar of most Americans at all and only slowly gained in popularity. Now it is the majority view in many states where 10 years ago it wasn't.

The odd thing is how the media play into it. Minority views that have not gained much popularity in time, say the many anti-women movements get huge amount of press time. Why? The tea party never represent the majority of Republican voters yet alone American voters, or candidates for office and has become vastly less popular with time, and yet still occupies huge amounts of air time in the media. Why?

Focused special interests thus can be both beneficial and destructive to society, but how they are is largely due to how the media portrays them. Vastly continuously unpopular special interests get completely blank slates and over reporting while largely popular movements are ignored or critically examined to death. The media thus plays a key role in how these interest groups work. Hey the 99 % can put a whole lot of pressure on politicians, but they lack the $ to hold politicians feet to the fire. Meanwhile the Koch brothers can threaten to withhold major $$ that puts the house in jeopardy in the next election unless Republicans vote the way they want. Who's voice gets heard? Who's view points get aired by the media more, the small rich minority or the 99 %. Who drives polarization? The poor or the rich generating distraction? The answer seems obvious to me.