There’s a difference between “the money’s agenda” and “The MONEY Agenda.” One is centered on the interests of oligarchs and concentrating their influence and power, while the other is a policy plan that will save democratic capitalism and ensure economic prosperity in America for years to come.
It’s obvious to us which is the better plan for the country. However, thanks to decades of policy changes on the part of lawmakers beholden to their donors, “the money’s agenda” has firmly rooted itself in our political system. Consider this: In 2014, UCLA Professor Martin Gilens and Northwestern Professor Benjamin Page conducted a groundbreaking study that examined nearly 2,000 policy proposals from 1981-2002. Specifically, they tracked who among the American population favored a given policy proposal and then whether that policy was ultimately adopted.
Their findings? Average Americans exhibit little to no influence whatsoever on public policy outcomes. Instead, it’s affluent Americans and their business groups calling the shots. When they either oppose or favor a policy change, they are far more likely than average citizens to get their way.
That’s how we end up with “the money’s agenda” instead of The MONEY Agenda. But the good news is that we’re trying to change this reality at Patriotic Millionaires. Elected officials should represent all of their constituents, not just a small handful of wealthy donors. But until we get there, it’s worth knowing what the ultra-rich’s agenda really is and how it differs from what working people want.
For this week’s Closer Look, we’d like to do just that. We’ll outline the differences between “the money’s agenda”—or what the ultra-rich and their corporations want and value—and what polls show that working people want. We’ll keep the focus on things that relate to economic justice and political equality, but also highlight a few, shall we say, more outlandish differences for kicks. We’ll then explain how our very own four-part legislative platform, The MONEY Agenda, has the potential to give working people the political economy they want and deserve.
One final point before we dive in: We fully recognize that not all of the ultra-rich have views that align with “the money’s agenda.” Our intent here is to highlight the views of those who are the most politically active and public, and those who are ostensibly wielding the most power and influence in our current political moment.
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Short on time? Here’s what you need to know
- There’s a difference between what we’ll call “the money’s agenda” and “The MONEY Agenda.” “The money’s agenda” are policies that the ultra-rich want which work to increase their wealth and influence. Meanwhile, The MONEY Agenda is the Patriotic Millionaires’ four-part legislative platform which will permanently stabilize the economic lives of working people, stimulate widespread economic growth, and ensure prosperity and stability for years to come in America.
- Lawmakers’ adoption of “the money’s agenda” has created a situation in America where average Americans exhibit little to no influence whatsoever on public policy outcomes.
- Among other things, the ultra-rich proponents of “the money’s agenda” support tax cuts for themselves; cuts to social safety net programs; union avoidance; maintaining lower minimum wages; the full advance of artificial intelligence (AI); dominating politics with their campaign contributions; and controlling traditional media and social media.
- Working people do not want these things. Polling shows that they want to raise taxes on the rich; support social safety net programs; support unions; want to increase minimum wages; are opposed to the construction of huge AI data centers; want to reform the campaign finance system; and are opposed to billionaires controlling the media.
- Adopting the four parts of The MONEY Agenda will help ensure people actually get what they want out of their officials and don’t have to live in a billionaires’ world.
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“The money’s agenda”
“The money’s agenda” is of the ultra-rich, by the ultra-rich, and for the ultra-rich.
Supporters of “the money’s agenda” want tax cuts…for themselves. They got it back in 2017 with the GOP’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, and then they got it again last year with the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). They say that these cuts will “trickle down” to workers and grow the economy, but all the numbers we have suggest otherwise.
The ultra-rich want cuts to social safety net programs like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. They got their wish with regard to Medicare and Medicaid through the OBBBA: Over the next ten years, the legislation slashes nearly $1 trillion in Medicaid funding and will trigger $536 billion in Medicare cuts. Thankfully, OBBBA did not make cuts to Social Security, but the future of the program certainly doesn’t bode well when someone as rich and politically powerful as Elon Musk calls it a “Ponzi scheme.”
The ultra-rich want unions to go away. Billionaire-led corporations like Amazon and Starbucks spend $1.7 billion a year trying to squash unions. Howard Schultz, the former CEO of Starbucks, even had to testify before Congress back in 2023 to answer for some of his company’s aggressive union-busting tactics.
The ultra-rich want to leave the deplorably low minimum wages across the country alone. At a conference with McDonald’s executives in November 2025, President Trump warned that they would “have to fight [minimum wage increases].” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who Forbes estimates is worth a cool $600 million, said that he opposed raising the $7.25 federal minimum wage.
Click here or the image above to watch Patriotic Millionaire John Driscoll challenge Treasury Secretary Bessent’s remarks against raising the minimum wage
The ultra-rich want to go full steam ahead on all things artificial intelligence (AI), particularly with regard to data center production. Nevermind the way that data centers will harm communities through excessive air and noise pollution and by depleting energy and water supplies. And nevermind the fact that AI is poised to kill upwards of 100 million US jobs over the next ten years.
“The money’s agenda” supports the ultra-rich taking over our politics. The top 20 donors have thus far contributed $1.2 billion this election cycle, most of it in favor of Republicans. Some of them are also throwing around a massive amount of cash to kill California’s Proposition 40, which would institute a 5%, one-time tax on Golden State billionaires.
They also want to control traditional media and social media platforms. Billionaires own everything from The Washington Post, Meta, X, Los Angeles Times, Fox News, The Boston Globe, TIME magazine, and more.
The ultra-rich naturally have other priorities that do not strictly touch on economics or politics. But the ones we’re hearing the most about these days are just plain weird. There’s one DC-based billionaire that is either busy renaming (or trying to rename) lakes, military bases, states, train stations, oceans, airports, and more—particularly after himself—or spending $1 billion building or remaking ballrooms, giant arches, helipads, and (no longer) reflecting pools.
What the people really want
Polls show that the people want the opposite of just about everything that the ultra-rich want.
They want to raise taxes on the rich—not cut them.
They support social safety net programs like Social Security and Medicaid.
Their support for unions is at a record high, and they want them to have more influence.
They want a higher minimum wage.
They are very worried about what AI will do to their jobs, and given what we know about AI, these worries are unfortunately well-founded. They are also understandably opposed to the construction of huge data centers in their communities.
They want to get money out of politics and reform the campaign finance system.
They don’t want a handful of billionaires controlling the media and free press.
They’re not even on board with the non-economic or political stuff, as they don’t support the excessive renaming of things or excessive spending on federal construction projects.
Whether it’s political, economical, or societal, working people do not support “the money’s agenda.” They understand money to be a real and concrete thing that could help them better afford a decent living and make a meaningful difference in their and their families’ lives. For 99.99% of this country, money is the difference between surviving and thriving. Meanwhile, “the money’s agenda” offers the ultra-rich a playground with no consequences for their behavior and actions.
The MONEY Agenda
There’s a lot of work that we have to do to move our country away from a system where average citizens exercise little to no influence on public policy outcomes to one that ensures people actually get what they want out of their officials and don’t have to live in a billionaires’ world.
That’s why we developed our very own legislative platform, The MONEY Agenda. Together, its four parts will permanently stabilize the economic lives of working people, stimulate widespread economic growth, and ensure prosperity and stability for years to come in America.
The first two parts, the Equal Tax Act and the Working Americans’ Tax Cut Act, have already been introduced in Congress. The Equal Tax Act asserts a basic level of equality and fairness in our tax code by taxing investment income over $1 million at the same rate as labor income and closing other common loopholes used by the wealthy to avoid paying their fair share. The Working Americans’ Tax Cut Act creates an exemption for federal income taxes up to the cost of living for low- and middle-income Americans and shifts the responsibility for the lost revenues onto millionaires.
The last two parts of The MONEY Agenda, the Low Wage Excise Tax Penalty and the Anti-Oligarch Act, have not been introduced in Congress yet, but we’re doing all we can to make that happen. The Low Wage Excise Tax Penalty would require companies with revenues over $32 million that fail to pay their workers a living wage to pay an excise tax; this would meaningfully connect the prosperity of American families to that of American businesses and incentivize companies to properly pay their workers. Finally, the Anti-Oligarch Act would implement a number of taxes on fortunes to prevent further concentration of wealth and to dismantle the existing American oligarchy.
We’re under no illusion that The MONEY Agenda will fix all of our problems. But enacting it is a necessary first step to getting our economy and country back on track. It will reduce inequality, reclaim our democracy, and give power back to the people.
We’ll take that kind of agenda any day over “the money’s agenda.”
