Filthy Rich Politicians: The Swamp Creatures, Latte Liberals, and Ruling-Class Elites Cashing in on America

From one of America's sharpest political journalists is this searing, thought-provoking and hilarious takedown of the ruling class running amok in Washington.

These are your elected officials. Some are slyly taking advantage of the system. They are hoping no one is savvy enough to notice. But Matt Lewis has. And this is what he’s learned.

Today’s politicians are an unsavory lot—a hybrid of plutocrats and hypocrites. And it’s worse (and more laughable) than you can imagine. Lewis will introduce you to a crop of latte liberals, ivy league populists, insider traders, trust-fund babies, and swamp creatures as he exposes how truly ludicrous money in politics has gotten.

In Filthy Rich Politicians, Lewis embarks on an investigative deep dive into the ridiculous state of modern American democracy—a system where the rich get elected and the elected get rich. One of the brightest conservative writers of his generation, Lewis doesn’t just complain: he articulates how Americans can achieve accountability from their elected leaders through radically commonsense reforms. But many of these ruling-class elites have a vested financial interest in rejecting the reforms so desperately needed to rebuild Americans’ trust in the institutions that once made our nation great.

This is not an “eat the rich” kind of book, and it is not for those who want to stoke class warfare, topple the whole regime, and burn it all to the ground. This is a must-read book for thoughtful readers who yearn for transparency and will commit to holding their elected leaders accountable to those they are supposed to represent—we the people.

The reforms spelled out in this book would incentivize good behavior in our leaders, stymie corruption, and prevent politicians from using the system (and our taxpayer dollars) to feather their filthy rich nests.

It is only by taking these steps to reform the system that we can rebuild trust in our institutions and preserve American democracy for future generations. There really is no richer inheritance we could leave them.

Matt K. Lewis is a senior columnist at The Daily Beast and the author of Too Dumb to Fail: How the GOP Betrayed the Reagan Revolution to Win Elections (And How It Can Reclaim Its Conservative Roots). A frequent guest on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” and a former CNN political contributor (from 2016-2020), Matt has provided political commentary on HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher,” CBS News’ “Face the Nation,” C-SPAN, PBS NewsHour, and ABC’s “Nightline,” to name a few. Matt’s writing has appeared in outlets such as The Wall Street Journal,GQ,The Washington Post, The Week, Roll Call, Politico, The Telegraph, The Independent, and The Guardian—and he has been quoted or cited by major media outlets including New York Magazine, The Washington Post, The New York Times, the New York Post, and the Associated Press.

Matt previously served as senior contributor for The Daily Caller and, before that, as a columnist for AOL’s Politics Daily. Matt currently hosts his own podcast and YouTube show, “Matt Lewis & The News,” which features interviews with some of America’s top thinkers, authors, and newsmakers. He also co-hosts The DMZ show on Bloggingheads.TV. Matt grew up in Frederick County, Maryland, and graduated from Shepherd College (now Shepherd University) in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. He lives with his family in Charles Town, West Virginia.