The Raging 2020s

by Alec Ross

  The island’s power grid and communication networks: John Bacon, “Why Puerto Rico Faces a Monumental Recovery Effort,” USA Today, September 26, 2017, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2017/09/26/why-puerto-rico-faces-monumental-recovery-effort/703515001/#; Meyer, “What’s Happening with the Relief Effort in Puerto Rico?,” https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/10/what-happened-in-puerto-rico-a-timeline-of-hurricane-maria/541956/; Brian Resnick, “Why Hurricane Maria Is Such a Nightmare for Puerto Rico,” Vox, September 22, 2017, https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/9/21/16345176/hurricane-maria-2017-puerto-rico-san-juan-meteorology-wind-rain-power.

  resulting in thousands: Vann Newkirk II, “A Year after Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico Finally Knows How Many People Died,” Atlantic, August 28, 2018, https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/08/puerto-rico-death-toll-hurricane-maria/568822/.

  It took four days: 2017 Hurricane Season FEMA After-Action Report, US Federal Emergency Management Agency, July 12, 2018, https://www.fema.gov/sites/default/files/2020-08/fema_hurricane-season-after-action-report_2017.pdf.

  Senior government officials did not: Abby Phillip, Ed O’Keefe, Nick Miroff, and Damian Paletta, “Lost Weekend: How Trump’s Time at His Golf Club Hurt the Response to Maria,” Washington Post, September 29, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/lost-weekend-how-trumps-time-at-his-golf-club-hurt-the-response-to-maria/2017/09/29/ce92ed0a-a522-11e7-8c37-e1d99ad6aa22_story.html.

  It took eight days: Alice Thomas, Keeping Faith with Our Fellow Americans: Meeting the Urgent Needs of Hurricane Maria Survivors in Puerto Rico (Washington, DC: Refugees International, 2017), https://static1.squarespace.com/static/506c8ea1e4b01d9450dd53f5/t/5a37d01bec212d3032461511/1513607203969/RI_Puerto+Rico_Advocacy+Report+R3.pdf; Meyer, “What’s Happening with the Relief Effort in Puerto Rico?,” https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/10/what-happened-in-puerto-rico-a-timeline-of-hurricane-maria/541956/.

  The ship was equipped: Frances Robles and Sheri Fink, “Amid Puerto Rico Disaster, Hospital Ship Admitted Just 6 Patients a Day,” New York Times, December 6, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/06/us/puerto-rico-hurricane-maria-hospital-ship.html.

  By the two-week mark: Meyer, “What’s Happening with the Relief Effort in Puerto Rico?,” https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/10/what-happened-in-puerto-rico-a-timeline-of-hurricane-maria/541956/; Thomas, Keeping Faith with Our Fellow Americans, https://static1.squarespace.com/static/506c8ea1e4b01d9450dd53f5/t/5a37d01bec212d3032461511/1513607203969/RI_Puerto+Rico_Advocacy+Report+R3.pdf.

  The government was slow to clear: José Andrés and Richard Wolffe, We Fed an Island: The True Story of Rebuilding Puerto Rico, One Meal at a Time (New York: HarperCollins, 2018).

  Weeks after the storm: Meyer, “What’s Happening with the Relief Effort in Puerto Rico?,” https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/10/what-happened-in-puerto-rico-a-timeline-of-hurricane-maria/541956/; Daniella Silva and Suzanne Gamboa, “Puerto Rico’s Hospitals Still in Triage Mode, 2 Weeks after Maria,” NBC News, October 4, 2017, https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/puerto-rico-crisis/puerto-rico-s-hospitals-still-triage-mode-2-weeks-after-n807406.

  One cardiovascular surgeon in San Juan: Andrés and Wolffe, We Fed an Island, 33.

  The island’s power grid: Francis Robles, “Puerto Rico Spent 11 Months Turning the Power Back On. They Finally Got to Her,” New York Times, August 14, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/14/us/puerto-rico-electricity-power.html; Patricia Mazzei and Alejandra Rosa, “Hurricane Maria, 2 Years Later: ‘We Want Another Puerto Rico,’” New York Times, September 20, 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/20/us/puerto-rico-hurricane-maria.html.

  Some 3.2 million people: “State Population Totals and Components of Change: 2010–2019,” US Census Bureau, accessed June 16, 2020, https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/popest/2010s-state-total.html.

  almost half of all Americans: Kyle Dropp and Brendan Nyhan, “Nearly Half of Americans Don’t Know Puerto Ricans Are Fellow Citizens,” New York Times, September 26, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/26/upshot/nearly-half-of-americans-dont-know-people-in-puerto-ricoans-are-fellow-citizens.html.

  Had Maria hit the mainland: “Google Trends Data for the US: Which Hurricane Received the Most Attention?,” Puerto Rico Data Lab, October 27, 2017, https://prdatalab.wordpress.com/2017/10/27/google-trends-data-for-the-us-which-hurricane-received-the-most-attention/; Danny Vinik, “How Trump Favored Texas over Puerto Rico,” Politico, March 27, 2018, https://www.politico.com/story/2018/03/27/donald-trump-fema-hurricane-maria-response-480557.

  Beginning in the 1950s: John Schoen, “Here’s How an Obscure Tax Change Sank Puerto Rico’s Economy,” CNBC, September 26, 2017, https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/26/heres-how-an-obscure-tax-change-sank-puerto-ricos-economy.html.

  after the tax break was repealed: Laura Sullivan, “How Puerto Rico’s Debt Created a Perfect Storm before the Storm,” NPR, May 2, 2018, https://www.npr.org/2018/05/02/607032585/how-puerto-ricos-debt-created-a-perfect-storm-before-the-storm.

  They did not have enough personnel: Francis Robles, “FEMA Was Sorely Unprepared for Puerto Rico Hurricane, Report Says,” New York Times, July 12, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/12/us/fema-puerto-rico-maria.html.

  His plane was only the second: Andrés and Wolffe, We Fed an Island, 11–20.

  After Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico: Andrés and Wolffe, We Fed an Island, 23, 28.

  The next day, they prepared: Andrés and Wolffe, We Fed an Island, 37.

  Within a week, he and his team: Andrés and Wolffe, We Fed an Island, 91.

  The agency later admitted: Adrian Carrasquillo, “Chef José Andrés and the Trump Administration Are Fighting over Puerto Rico,” Buzzfeed News, November 6, 2017, https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/adriancarrasquillo/chef-jose-andres-and-the-trump-administration-are-fighting.

  more than 146,000 meals per day: Andrés and Wolffe, We Fed an Island, 218.

  a federal agency with a $20 billion: FEMA Human Capital Strategic Plan FY 2016–2020, US Federal Emergency Management Agency, accessed June 16, 2020, https://www.fema.gov/media-library-data/1465232797001-0884912c49ec300ced75c391a0dc81dc/HumanCap_Final_Version.pdf.

  For nearly a year after Hurricane Maria: Arelis R. Hernández and Laurie McGinley, “Harvard Study Estimates Thousands Died in Puerto Rico because of Hurricane Maria,” Washington Post, May 29, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/harvard-study-estimates-thousands-died-in-puerto-rico-due-to-hurricane-maria/2018/05/29/1a82503a-6070-11e8-a4a4-c070ef53f315_story.html.

  on par with the 9/11 terrorist attacks: Jason Silverstein, “Hurricane Maria Is Now One of the Deadliest Disasters in U.S. History,” CBS News, August 28, 2018, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/puerto-rico-hurricane-maria-is-now-one-of-the-deadliest-disasters-in-u-s-history/; “Casualties and Damage after the 1906 Earthquake,” US Geological Survey, accessed June 18, 2020, https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/events/1906calif/18april/casualties.php.

  The vast majority of those deaths: “Puerto Rico Increases Hurricane Maria Death Toll to 2,975,” BBC News, August 29, 2018, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-45338080.

  FEMA officials acknowledged: Robles, “FEMA Was Sorely Unprepared for Puerto Rico Hurricane, Report Says,” https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/12/us/fema-puerto-rico-maria.html.

  Some experts think we need: Jeff Lewis, “Polarization in Congress,” Voteview, June 4, 2020, https://www.voteview.com/articles/party_polarization.

  As recently as the early 1990s: Christopher Ingraham, “A Stunning Visualization of Our Divided Congress,” Washington Post, April 23, 2015, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/04/23/a-stunning-visualization-of-our-divided-congress/.

  both parties have become more evenly matched: Ezra Klein, “The Political Scientist Donald Trump Should Read,” Vox, January 24, 2019, https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/1/24/18193523/donald-trump-wall-shutdown-congress-polarization-frances-lee.

  Repu
blicans used their control to enact: David Rogers, “Politico Analysis: At $2.3 Trillion Cost, Trump Tax Cuts Leave Big Gap,” Politico, February 28, 2018, https://www.politico.com/story/2018/02/28/tax-cuts-trump-gop-analysis-430781.

  Not one of the 237 Democrats: “Republicans Pass Historic Tax Cuts without a Single Democratic Vote,” Axios, December 20, 2017, https://www.axios.com/republicans-pass-historic-tax-cuts-without-a-single-democratic-vote-1515110718-8cdf005c-c1c9-481a-975b-72336765ebe4.html.

  obstruct the other: Ezra Klein, “Why We Can’t Build,” Vox, April 22, 2020, https://www.vox.com/2020/4/22/21228469/marc-andreessen-build-government-coronavirus.

  “The delegation of powers to different political actors”: Francis Fukuyama, “America in Decay,” Foreign Affairs, Sept./Oct. 2014, http://cf.linnbenton.edu/artcom/social_science/clarkd/upload/Fukuyama,%20America%20in%20Decay.pdf.

  “For any particular problem we have”: Steven M. Teles, Kludgeocracy: The American Way of Policy (Washington, DC: New America Foundation, 2012), https://static.newamerica.org/attachments/4209-kludgeocracy-the-american-way-of-policy/Teles_Steven_Kludgeocracy_NAF_Dec2012.d8a805aa40e34bca9e2fecb018a3dcb0.pdf.

  Between 2010 and 2020: Robert Frank, “How Congress Made It Easier to Avoid the IRS,”CNBC, January 14, 2020, https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/14/why-congress-made-it-easier-to-avoid-the-irs.html; Paul Kiel and Jesse Eisinger, “How the IRS Was Gutted,” ProPublica, December 11, 2018, https://www.propublica.org/article/how-the-irs-was-gutted; SOI Tax Stats—IRS Data Book, Internal Revenue Service, May 20, 2019, https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p55b.pdf.

  Audit rates for individuals making: Frank, “How Congress Made It Easier to Avoid the IRS,”https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/14/why-congress-made-it-easier-to-avoid-the-irs.htm; SOI Tax Stats—IRS Data Book, May 20, 2019, https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p55b.pdf.

  people making less than $20,000: Paul Kiel, “It’s Getting Worse: The IRS Now Audits Poor Americans at about the Same Rate as the Top 1%,” ProPublica, May 30, 2019, https://www.propublica.org/article/irs-now-audits-poor-americans-at-about-the-same-rate-as-the-top-1-percent.

  the IRS performed annual audits: Paul Kiel, “The IRS Decided to Get Tough against Microsoft. Microsoft Got Tougher,” ProPublica, January 22, 2020, https://www.propublica.org/article/the-irs-decided-to-get-tough-against-microsoft-microsoft-got-tougher.

  The Environmental Protection Agency employed: “EPA’s Budget and Spending,” US Environmental Protection Agency, accessed June 25, 2020, https://www.epa.gov/planandbudget/budget.

  The Federal Trade Commission, the US: Fiscal Year 2021 Congressional Budget Justification, US Federal Trade Commission, accessed June 25, 2020, https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/reports/fy-2021-congressional-budget-justification/fy_2021_cbj_final.pdf; Fiscal Year 2011 Congressional Budget Justification Summary, US Federal Trade Commission, accessed June 25, 2020, https://www.ftc.gov/sites/default/files/documents/reports_annual/fy-2011-congressional-budget-justification-summary/budgetsummary11_1.pdf; “CPI Inflation Calculator,” US Bureau of Labor Statistics, accessed June 25, 2020, https://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm.

  The Erie Canal linked: Tom Huntington, “America’s Top 10 Public Works Projects,” Invention & Technology, Winter 2009, https://www.inventionandtech.com/content/america%E2%80%99s-top-10-public-works-projects-2; “About This Place—History,” I&M Canal National Heritage Area, accessed June 29, 2020, https://iandmcanal.org/about-this-place-history/; “Transcontinental Railroad,” History.com, September 11, 2019, https://www.history.com/topics/inventions/transcontinental-railroad.

  The presentation was led by Aaron Maniam: “Aaron Maniam,” University of Oxford, Blavatnik School of Government, accessed June 3, 2020, https://www.bsg.ox.ac.uk/people/aaron-maniam; “Aaron Maniam (b. 1979),” Poetry.sg, accessed June 3, 2020, http://www.poetry.sg/aaron-maniam-bio.

  The formula includes pay: John Pennington, “Are Singapore’s Civil Servants Overpaid and Overprotected,” ASEAN Today, October 31, 2017, https://www.aseantoday.com/2017/10/are-singapores-civil-servants-overpaid-and-overprotected/; Joanne Poh, “Singapore Civil Service—The Ins and Outs of the Iron Rice Bowl,” MoneySmart (blog), December 4, 2018, https://blog.moneysmart.sg/career/singapore-civil-service-iron-rice-bowl/.

  a compensated formula ensures: Salaries for a Capable and Committed Government, Government of Singapore, December 30, 2011, https://www.psd.gov.sg/docs/default-source/default-document-library/white-paper---salaries-for-a-capable-and-committed-govt.pdf; Martino Tan and Sulaiman Daud, “Breakdown of Entry-Level S’pore Ministerial Salaries: 13 (fixed) + 3 + 3 + 1 Month Bonus = S$1.1m,” Mothership.sg, October 1, 2018, https://mothership.sg/2018/10/minister-salary-parliament/.

  This dynamic is especially pronounced: The Hill Staffer’s Reality, Congressional Management Foundation, 2015, accessed June 3, 2020, https://www.apaservices.org/practice/advocacy/state/leadership/hill-staffers-reality.pdf; House of Representatives Compensation and Diversity Study Report: Member, Committee, and Leadership Offices, US House of Representatives, 2019, accessed June 3, 2020, https://www.house.gov/sites/default/files/uploads/documents/2019_house_compdiversitystudy_finalreport_membcommlead.pdf.

  The term—and practice of: “A Lobbyist by Any Other Name?,” NPR, January 22, 2016, https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5167187.

  the industry grew more prominent and professionalized: “Lobbyists” (US Senate, in print in Robert C. Byrd, The Senate, 1789–1989, vol. 2, pp. 491–508), accessed June 26, 2020, https://www.senate.gov/legislative/common/briefing/Byrd_History_Lobbying.htm.

  During the mid-20th century: Phillip Wallach, “America’s Lobbying Addiction,” Brookings Institution, April 13, 2015, https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2015/04/13/americas-lobbying-addiction/.

  future Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell Jr. noted: Lee Drutman, “How Corporate Lobbyists Conquered American Democracy,” Atlantic, April 20, 2015, https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/04/how-corporate-lobbyists-conquered-american-democracy/390822/.

  In 1972, two anti-labor groups: Jerome L. Himmelstein, To the Right: The Transformation of American Conservatism (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990), 140, https://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft5h4nb372&chunk.id=d0e2257&toc.depth=100&toc.id=d0e2246&brand=ucpress.

  The group worked alongside a growing army: Drutman, “How Corporate Lobbyists Conquered American Democracy,” https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/04/how-corporate-lobbyists-conquered-american-democracy/390822/.

  After logging a few early victories: Wallach, “America’s Lobbying Addiction,” https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2015/04/13/americas-lobbying-addiction/.

  In 1975, federal lobbyists collectively: “Lobbying Data Summary,” Center for Responsive Politics, accessed May 31, 2020, https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/summary?inflate=Y; Robert Kaiser, “Citizen K Street,” Washington Post, accessed May 31, 2020, https://web.archive.org/web/20120524031659/http://blog.washingtonpost.com/citizen-k-street/chapters/introduction/.

  Approximately a quarter of the lawmakers: “Revolving Door,” Center for Responsive Politics, accessed June 26, 2020, https://www.opensecrets.org/revolving/.

  For every dollar that public interest groups: “Business, Labor & Ideological Split in Lobbying Data,” Center for Responsive Politics, accessed June 28, 2020, https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/business-labor-ideological.

  Reporters found that seventy of the eighty-five lines: Erika Eichelberger, “House Passes Bill Written by Citigroup Lobbyists,” Mother Jones, October 31, 2013, https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/10/citigroup-bill-passes-house/.

  more than 2,100 state laws: Rob O’Dell and Nick Penzenstadler, “You Elected Them to Write New Laws. They’re Letting Corporations Do It Instead,” Center for Public Integrity, April 4, 2019, https://publicintegrity.org/politics/state-politics/copy-paste-legislate/you-elected-them-to-write-new-laws-theyre-letting-corporations-do-it-instead/.

  With more than
eighty clients: “Top Lobbyists,” Center for Responsive Politics, accessed June 28, 2020, https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/top-lobbyists.

  the number of registered lobbyists in Washington: “Lobbying Data Summary,” https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/summary?inflate=Y.

  Outside groups spent a total of $680 million: “Total Outside Spending by Election Cycle, Excluding Party Committees,” Center for Responsive Politics, accessed May 31, 2020, https://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/cycle_tots.php?cycle=2020&view=A&chart=N#summ.

  Dark money groups spent nearly $1 billion: Anna Massoglia, “‘Dark Money’ Groups Steering Millions to Super PACs in 2020 Elections,” Center for Responsive Politics, February 7, 2020, https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2020/02/dark-money-steers-millions-to-super-pacs-2020/.

  83 percent of Senate races and 89 percent of House races: “Did Money Win?,” Center for Responsive Politics, accessed June 28, 2020, https://www.opensecrets.org/elections-overview/winning-vs-spending?chamber=S&cycle=2018.

  In 2018, just 225,000: “Donor Demographics,” Center for Responsive Politics, accessed June 28, 2020, https://www.opensecrets.org/elections-overview/donor-demographics?cycle=2018&display=A; “Cost of Election,” Center for Responsive Politics, accessed June 28, 2020, https://www.opensecrets.org/elections-overview/cost-of-election.

  After comparing public opinion and public policy: Martin Gilens and Benjamin I. Page, “Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens,” Perspectives on Politics 12, no. 3 (2014): 564–81, https://doi.org/10.1017/S1537592714001595.

  The Roman Empire ran a pension program: Encyclopaedia Britannica Online, s.v. “Aerarium,” by E. Badian, accessed July 14, 2020, https://www.britannica.com/topic/aerarium.

  During the Tang dynasty: Sheng Hui-lian, Pension Schemes during Tang and Five Dynasties in Ancient China (Beijing: Beijing Institute of Cultural Relics, January 2012), http://en.cnki.com.cn/Article_en/CJFDTotal-ZSDB201201006.htm.