Government shutdowns – America’s favorite spectator sport.
While millions of workers sit at home unpaid, the ultra-wealthy quietly rake in profits, laughing all the way to the bank. Recent reports reveal that Republicans have repeatedly used budget crises to portray the government as “broken” and, conveniently, to enrich their billionaire backers.
Take the IRS for example. Cuts to enforcement funding mean that tax cheats with nine-figure accounts get a free pass, while the rest of the country still has to fill out forms correctly or face penalties. Shutdowns freeze regulatory action, delay antitrust cases against Amazon and Apple, and let the rich play Monopoly with real lives.
Billionaires like Jeffrey Yass and Robert Mercer have financed politicians and organizations that thrive on chaos. Every government failure becomes their payday. Meanwhile, ordinary Americans bear the brunt: furloughs, delayed services, and a system that works perfectly for the rich, but collapses spectacularly for everyone else.
It’s a simple equation: political dysfunction + billionaire influence = extreme wealth accumulation. While Congress debates cuts and concessions, the ultra-wealthy quietly expand their empires. In this game of shutdown chicken, the losers are obvious – and it’s not the billionaires.
