The room is red and black (black, itself, is another popular Poe symbol -- we see it in "The Raven" with the black raven and "The Black Cat" with the titular cats), and it too symbolizes death. The clock, here, also symbolizes mortality and reminds people of their own eventual deaths, which are inescapable.
Yes, it is true that the progressive income tax was aggressively sought by the Populist Party, since they thought that this would free the common man from financial instability.
