Nation on the Take ─ How Big Money Corrupts Our Democracy and What We Can Do About It

The link between ordinary American people and their government is broken, and special interest groups increasingly control every level of government. The necessity of raising huge sums has completely changed the character of politics, determining what elected representatives stand for and how they spend their time. The marriage of great wealth and political influence has strangled the political process, leaving us unable to address our most pressing problems as a nation, from climate change to the wealth gap. It defines the terms of our daily concerns: from the cars we drive to the air we breathe, even to the bodies we occupy.

In this powerful work of reportage, Wendell Potter and Nick Penniman, two of Washington's most vigilant watchdogs, expose legalized corruption and link it to the kitchen-sink issues citizens face every day. Inciting our outrage, the authors then introduce us to the army of reformers laying the groundwork for change, ready to be called into action. They touch on the Supreme Court's decision inCitizens United, but explain why it is not the insurmountable road block many imagine. The battle plan for reform presented is practical, realistic, and concrete in terms of dates, people, and legislation. No one except the lobbyists likes business as usual, and this book intends to lead the charge in the effort to catalyze public initiative.

An impassioned, infuriating, yet ultimately hopeful call to arms, Nation on the Takelays bare the reach of moneyed interests and charts a way forward, toward the recovery of America's original promise.

Wendell Potter is a senior analyst at the Center for Public Integrity, the senior fellow on health care at the Center for Media and Democracy, and a leading critic of the health insurance industry. His bookDeadly Spin won the 2011 Ridenhour Book Prize.

Nick Penniman is executive director of the organization Issue One. He was previously publisher of the Washington Monthlyand director of the Huffington Post Investigative Fund.

Both authors live in the D.C. area.