I on the World

Whatever you might think of the recent SCOTUS ruling on campaign contributions, one thing is abysmally clear — the collapse of America is coming closer and closer.  Why, you ask?  Because, without a true functioning government — and in this country, that means a government that is of the people, by the people, and for the people — there is no bottom to corpocracy, to greed, to corruption, to disaster.

And the sad truth is, it’s so easy to fix.  And the people who shudder at the very mention of campaign finance reform are, sadly, those who thrive on corpocracy, greed and corruption.  And, tragically, many of them are your senators and congresspeople.  They like the special interests.  They like the special attention they receive.  They like the money that pours into their coffers.  They didn’t seek public office to give a hoot about their constituents — they sought public office to enrich themselves on the backs of their constituents,  to make career changes that would, one way or another, set them up for life.  The worst of the worst at it get caught out and kicked out.  The rest get away with it.  Are there some good ones in the bunch?  I’m sure there are, and I can probably name them.  But they’re too few to make any real difference.

Don’t agree?  Okay, let’s put it to the test.  A couple of years ago, I suggested a simple, winning solution to my own congressman.  I suggested that a designated sum of money be transferred from every taxpayer’s tax return to a national, interest-bearing election account, and then proportionally allotted to every legitimate candidate for national office every two years.  That’s it.  No other contributions accepted.  At any time.  For any reason.

Just think what that would do to clean up the dirt that is the American government today.  Our senators and congresspeople would be beholden to no one but their constituents.  They could admit that global warming does indeed exist.  They could hasten the planet on the path to real sustainability.  They could tell health insurance companies where they could take their business if they didn’t treat their people right.  They could suggest to pharmaceutical companies that gouging their constituents was not okay.  They could tell big banks and Wall Street that their heydays were over.  They could perhaps then honestly claim the moral integrity to lead the world.  What a novel concept!

Oh yes, and what did my congressperson do in response to my suggestion?  He ignored it.

Barney Frank, chairman of the senate banking committee, and his bank reform legislation are a joke.  Much as I appreciate a good joke, this one’s on the American taxpayer . . . again.  Let’s see, Frank not only wants to legalize Too Big to Fail, and maintain the kind of secrecy surrounding the shenanigans that got us into the economic mess we’re in, in the first place, he wants to create loopholes so big that up to 80 percent of the gambling that caused the financial collapse last year will be exempt from public view!  This means the banks can go right on taking massive risks, in secret, with taxpayer money.  If they win, they reap the benefits.  If they lose, the taxpayer picks up the tab.  If he really thinks this is in the best interests of the American people, Barney Frank ought to retire, and Massachusetts should help him do so.

CIT Group filed for Chapter 11 protection.  Cost to taxpayers?  Oh, only the 2.3 billion dollars that was handed over to them last year right out of our pockets.  But all is not lost — Goldman Sachs gets 1 billion dollars on the deal.  And what is our hen-guarding-the-fox-house treasury secretary worried about?  He’s worried that banks aren’t taking enough risks!  You know, like the kind they took for the past decade that ended up in our being mostly owned by China now.  It’s way past time for Mr. Geithner to retire, along with whoever was responsible for giving him the job to begin with.  We don’t need a Wall Street protector in charge of our money — we need a taxpayer protector.

Never in the history of this county have so many labored for so long and so hard to come up with so little for the American people, and so much for the American health care industry.  Just in case you thought you lived in a democracy, where the people you elect to public office worked on your behalf — welcome to corpocracy, where the people you elect to public office can get paid a whole hell of a lot more than the $175,000 a year you pay them by working on behalf of the corporations that really line their pockets.  And health care isn’t even the tip of the corruption iceberg.