Let me spell it out for you, Russell. There is a conspiracy. People realized they could make more money if they took down the unions and axed government regulations, so nobody could stop them from doing whatever they want at the workplace they own.

So, they convinced half the people who claim to love Jesus to ignore the things he actually said, and to put their faith into completely unrestrained capitalism instead. Because greed is good, right?

They did wreck most of the unions, they did manage to gut a lot of regulations, and they’re just trying to finish the job. But that’s not a very good campaign strategy generally, few people are sure if they like trickle-down economics, so instead they campaign on culture war issues and appealing to the paranoid crazies.

Boom. Conspiracy solved. Not so mysterious, really, just some logical moves that make complete sense, and that can be seen plain-as-day just by looking at what your politicians actually vote for, and listening to what they actually say.