By the Numbers
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“There are two things that are important in politics. The first is money and I can’t remember what the second one is,” – Mark Hanna, a political fundraiser in the late 1800s
97
Percent of groups paying for election ads that disclosed the names of their donors in 2008
32
Percent who did so in 2010
97
Percent of founding contributions to Karl Rove’s “grassroots” campaign organization, American Crossroads, that came from four billionaires
$30,941
Average American income for the bottom 90 percent of Americans in 1980
$31,244
Average annual income for the bottom 90 percent of Americans in 2008, an increase of just $303 in 28 years
10
Percent of national income that went to the top 1 percent of Americans in 1980
23.5
Percent of national income that went to the top 1 percent of Americans in 2007
$4 trillion
Growth in the federal debt through 2020 that would come from the extension of the Bush tax cuts
Sources: Truthout.org; Federal Election Commission; Harper’s