evidence: I have been researching this issue for the past 10 years, and the results, published in my new book, The Cash Ceiling: Why Only the Rich Run for Office – and What We Can Do About It, are clear. Contrary to the cherished ideal of a government of and by the people, Americans are almost always governed by the very privileged. The president is the billionaire head of a global business empire. His cabinet is mostly millionaires. Most members of Congress are millionaires. Most supreme court justices are millionaires. Millionaires make up less than 3% of the general public, but have unified majority control of all three branches of the federal government. Working-class Americans, on the other hand, make up about half of the country. But they have never held more than 2% of the seats in any Congress since the nation was founded. [...] So why are so few workers running? In a democracy like ours where almost any citizen can stand for elected office, why are the vast majority of candidates drawn from the ranks of white-collar professionals, and usually affluent or wealthy ones at that?