Nearly 20% of all federal campaign contributions in 2024 came from just 100 billionaire households — up from 1.5% in 2008.
Per the Roosevelt Institute (2025), 100 billionaire donors poured a record $2.6 billion into the 2024 federal elections — nearly 20% of total spending. The pre–Citizens United baseline comes from OpenSecrets (2025): in 2008 the top 100 individual donors accounted for just 1.5% of federal election spending. Underlying totals trace to Federal Election Commission filings.
2008 baseline: top 100 donors = 1.5% of $5.3B spent (OpenSecrets)
→ rooseveltinstitute.org — 15 Years After Citizens United
→ opensecrets.org — By the Numbers: 15 Years of Citizens United
→ fec.gov/data
Home hero · Receipts · Donors · Letter · Bill
~$4 per taxpayer per year — the cost of all elected-federal salaries under the new schedule.
Every input is public: the salary schedule is in the bill text itself (435 House members × $1M + 100 Senators × $2M + President $5M), and the filer count comes from IRS filing-season statistics (~165 million individual returns).
$640M ÷ 165M tax filers = $3.88/year (≈ 32¢/month)
→ irs.gov — Filing season statistics
→ cbo.gov — The Budget and Economic Outlook: 2026 to 2036
Home hero · Letter · Plan card
46 days — total federal government shutdown duration in fiscal year 2026.
Cumulative count of calendar days in lapse-of-appropriations status during FY 2026, per the Congressional Research Service historical tracker. Every member of Congress was paid in full for these days. Back pay automatic.
→ congress.gov — CRS R41759: Past Government Shutdowns, Key Resources
Home hero · Receipts · Letter
12,000% increase in top-donor political spending, 2008 → 2024 ($16.6M → $3B).
Brennan Center for Justice, 2024 — analysis of post-Citizens United giving by the top 0.0001% of donor households. The center attributes the shift directly to the 2010 Citizens United v. FEC decision.
→ brennancenter.org — Fifteen Years Later: Citizens United Defined the 2024 Election
Receipts · Bill (Constitutional Findings)
U.S. Senator annual salary: $174,000 — frozen since 2009.
Congressional Research Service, Report RL30064 — "Salaries of Members of Congress." Last legislative adjustment was in 2009; no COLA increases have taken effect since.
→ crsreports.congress.gov — Report RL30064
Receipts · Letter
59 million small-business employees + 6.3 million small-business owners (~65M total).
U.S. Small Business Administration · Office of Advocacy, 2024 "Small Business Profile." Small businesses (≤500 employees) account for ~46% of the private-sector workforce.
→ advocacy.sba.gov — Frequently Asked Questions About Small Business, 2024
Bento (Who This Is For) · Letter (§ II)
$53,010 — median individual income, United States, 2024.
U.S. Census Bureau, 2024 Current Population Survey · Annual Social and Economic Supplement. Median earnings figure for all U.S. workers age 15 and older.
→ census.gov · P60-282
Bento (Who This Is For) · Letter (§ II)
~33–35 million workers at large employers (500+) earning under $60K — derived.
Both inputs are directly sourced: large-employer headcount from the SBA figures in source 06 (the ~54% of the private workforce not at a small business), and the under-$60K share from the Census income tables in source 07 (≥55% of all U.S. workers).
+ 65M small-business owners & employees (source 06) ≈ the ~100M aggregate
→ source 06 — SBA small-business workforce
→ source 07 — Census median income (P60-282)
Bento (Who This Is For) · Letter (§ II)
Singapore: Prime Minister salary ~US$1.7M; Cabinet Minister ~US$750K.
Singapore Public Service Division, salary schedule. USD figures per Henry Powers' open letter (5/19/2026), reflecting the Lee Hsien Loong ministerial framework.
→ psd.gov.sg — Ministerial salaries
Objections (§ 03 · The Unproven Experiment)
Anti-corruption ranking — Singapore #3, Denmark #1, New Zealand #2, Canada #12, United States #24.
Transparency International · Corruption Perceptions Index 2024. The CPI ranks 180 countries on perceived public-sector corruption; the United States has slipped progressively over the last decade.
→ transparency.org — Corruption Perceptions Index 2024
Objections (§ 03)
Fortune 500 CEO compensation range: $15M – $50M annually.
Equilar 100 CEO Pay Study and AP / Equilar Annual CEO Survey, 2024 reporting cycle. Median CEO pay at the largest U.S. public companies sits in the $15–20M range; top-quartile CEOs earn $40–50M+.
→ equilar.com — Equilar 100: The 100 Highest-Paid CEOs in 2023 (2024 study)
Objections (§ 04 · Lightning Rod)
Federal budget — $7.4 trillion (FY 2026, current outlay basis).
Congressional Budget Office, FY 2026 outlay projection. Total federal salaries under this bill (~$640M) represent under 0.01% of the budget.
→ cbo.gov — The Budget and Economic Outlook: 2026 to 2036
Plan · Letter · Bill
Primary election turnout typically 15–20% of eligible voters.
Bipartisan Policy Center · 2022 Primary Turnout Report and United States Elections Project (Prof. Michael McDonald, University of Florida). Federal primary turnout has hovered in the 15–22% band for the last decade.
→ electproject.org — Voter Turnout Data
Letter (§ Primaries) · Objections (§ 13)
The average top-100 billionaire household gave ~$30 million in 2024 — roughly 7,900 times the average itemized donor, or the combined giving of ~300,000 typical donors.
All inputs from FEC 2024-cycle filings as aggregated by OpenSecrets: ~$3 billion given by the top 100 billionaire households, vs. ~$3,800 average across the ~3.46 million donors who gave over $200.
$30M ÷ $3,800 avg donor = ~7,900× — the 7,900-to-1
(equivalently: one $30M gift ≈ 300,000 typical donations)
→ fec.gov/data
→ opensecrets.org — Biggest Donors
Home accordion headline
2008 baseline (pre–Citizens United): the top 100 individual donors accounted for just 1.5% of the $5.3 billion spent on federal elections.
OpenSecrets — "By the Numbers: 15 Years of Citizens United" (January 2025). The correct pre–Citizens United baseline; replaces the earlier 0.3% figure. A .org source accepted universally by journalists and fact-checkers.
→ opensecrets.org — By the Numbers: 15 Years of Citizens United
Home hero · Letter (2008 baseline)
In 2024, just 100 billionaire donors poured a record $2.6 billion into federal elections — nearly 20% of total spending.
Roosevelt Institute — "15 Years After Citizens United: Big Money's Grip on Our Democracy" (2025). A nonpartisan .org policy-research organization. Replaces the earlier "300 families / 19%" framing.
→ rooseveltinstitute.org — 15 Years After Citizens United
Home hero · Receipts · Donors · Letter
In 2024, a single billionaire contributed over $290 million to outside-spending groups — roughly the combined donations of 3 million small donors.
Roosevelt Institute — "15 Years After Citizens United: Big Money's Grip on Our Democracy" (2025).
→ rooseveltinstitute.org — 15 Years After Citizens United
Donors leaderboard (top donor)
92% of Americans polled agree that Congress prioritizes the interests of big outside spenders over ordinary Americans.
Roosevelt Institute — "15 Years After Citizens United: Big Money's Grip on Our Democracy" (2025). A supporting stat for the donor-concentration argument.
→ rooseveltinstitute.org — 15 Years After Citizens United
Supporting — donor concentration
Member pay was last adjusted in January 2009. Adjusted for inflation, Member salaries have fallen approximately 33% from 2009 through 2025.
Congressional Research Service — "Salaries of Members of Congress: Recent Actions and Historical Tables" (Congress.gov). A .gov source — the strongest possible citation for the salary-freeze claim.
→ congress.gov — CRS 97-1011
Home hero · Receipts · Letter (salary)
Congressional salary votes and adjustments, 1990–2025 — confirms January 2009 as the last pay adjustment received.
Congressional Research Service — "Salaries of Members of Congress: Congressional Votes, 1990–2025" (Congress.gov). A secondary .gov source confirming the 2009 freeze; use alongside CRS 97-1011.
→ congress.gov — CRS 97-615
Salary freeze (secondary .gov)
Outside spending totaled $574 million in 2008; by 2024 it reached $4.5 billion — nearly an 8× increase since Citizens United.
OpenSecrets — "By the Numbers: 15 Years of Citizens United" (January 2025). Supports the 12,000% top-donor-spending increase shown on the site.
→ opensecrets.org — By the Numbers: 15 Years of Citizens United
Receipts (12,000% increase)
The share of campaign contributions from the top 1% of donors rose from 7.4% before Citizens United to 22.7% by 2018 — a threefold increase, with plausibly causal effects on legislative behavior.
American Economic Association — "Mega-Donors and Representation of the Wealthy in the Wake of Citizens United" (2025, peer-reviewed). The strongest available citation for anyone who challenges the donor-concentration stats on academic grounds.
→ aeaweb.org — Mega-Donors and Representation of the Wealthy
Supporting — peer-reviewed
New York City's 6-to-1 small-dollar matching program has run since 1988; across the 2013 and 2017 cycles it distributed over $54 million in public funds to 253 candidates, with more than 90% of primary candidates participating voluntarily.
New York City Campaign Finance Board — "Benefits of the Matching Funds Program." Primary source — the Board's own results page; lead citation for all NYC matching-fund claims.
→ nyccfb.info — Benefits of the Matching Funds Program
Objections — public financing (NYC proof)
New York State launched the first statewide public campaign-financing program since Citizens United in 2024; the number of small donors more than doubled (26,014 in 2020 to 50,800 in 2024) and small-dollar gifts rose from 11% of candidate funding in 2022 to nearly 50% in 2024.
Brennan Center for Justice — "New York State's Public Campaign Financing Program Empowers Constituent Small Donors" (February 2025). Strongest single citation for the statewide proof point — a .org accepted universally by journalists and fact-checkers.
→ brennancenter.org — New York State's Public Campaign Financing Program
Objections — public financing (NY State)
The Brennan Center concluded that New York State's public-financing program "is the strongest legislative response yet to Citizens United and subsequent misguided decisions."
Brennan Center for Justice — "New York State's Public Campaign Financing Program Empowers Constituent Small Donors" (February 2025). Use the quote directly — sourced and punchy; frames small-dollar matching as the direct antidote to Citizens United.
→ brennancenter.org — New York State's Public Campaign Financing Program
Objections — public financing (Brennan quote)