We are less than a week away from the scariest day of the year. I do not mean Halloween. I am talking about Election Day.

To understand the reason to fear this exercise in democracy, the consequences of voting 

The grim math from Harvard and UCLA confirms what many of us have long felt in our bones: in the wake of a mass shooting, as our nation grieves, the politicians in the pockets of the gun lobby often use that very moment of tragedy to loosen firearm laws.

This isn't a theory; it's a data-driven fact from a 25-year study. While 60% of Americans cry out for sane safety measures, the machinery of our government, greased by donor cash, cranks in the opposite direction.

This is not an isolated illness; it is the central cancer in our body politic.

The stacked Supreme Court has made it even easier for corrupt politicians to cash in, ruling that a gratuity for a past political favor isn't quite the same as a bribe in the eyes of the law. It’s a distinction without a difference to the rest of us watching our democracy be auctioned off.

We are told to accept half-measures, like merely forcing government contractors to disclose their political bribes. This is a fool's errand. Why should we be satisfied with knowing the name of the corporation that bribed a politician, when we should be prosecuting the politician and banning the bribe?

The research proves that public sentiment alone is a whisper against the roar of special interest money. We must rise up, not just with outrage, but with a demand for fundamental change.

Public sentiment is no match for a well-funded special interest. While 60% of Americans favor stricter gun laws, the intensity of a minority view, backed by an industry’s economic might, consistently wins the day in our legislatures. It is a brutal lesson in how power actually operates.

One proposed response would expand disclosure requirements. Simply telling people which corporations are paying off politicians is hardly as effective as prohibiting bribery and corruption. We must outlaw the practice, not just take notes on it.

Our political system has transformed over several decades from a democracy into an oligarchy, where wealthy elites wield most power. Where money allows candidates to be drowned out, voters lose their power. That's how we got here, with governors from Goldman Sachs and a fascist reality TV character in the White House.

I have proposed a broad plan to Share Our Wealth and Power, based on ideas advanced in 1934 by Senator Huey Long and President Franklin Roosevelt's 1944 Economic Bill of Rights. 

The most important provision says we must outlaw the bribery that has been made virtually legal by a corrupt court and a complacent political class.

Until we do, the will of the people will continue to be a casualty in a war funded by those who profit from our inaction.