Oct 1, 2010

What happens when lobbyists complete their takeover of America?

“The President meets with the Democratic Blue ...Image via Wikipedia
As recent polls suggest, America is indeed heading in the wrong direction. A confused and manipulated electorate is being brainwashed into believing that the United States of America should no longer be ruled by its people for the greater good. Instead the masses are being led to believe that every inch of our nation should be run by, and for, profit.

When votes no longer count toward serving the will of the people, we will see the end of Democracy. Some believe we have already arrived.

The conservative Republican agenda is pro-big business and pro-deregulation. On the other side of the isle, Democrats have traditionally been the party of the middle-class, but even that platform has become clouded with the rise of the Blue Dog Democrats. In reality, party affiliation matters less and less since millionaire lobbyists are influencing more decisions in Washington than constituents. The trend seems to be running away like a loose horse in the marketplace. Whatever gets in the way is trampled and crushed.

What exactly does this mean for average Americans who have to work for a living?
There is no clear-cut answer as to where our corporate-owned US government will ultimately take us, but if we consider the foreclosure epidemic and 2010 Census data showing poverty at its highest level in 100 years, the direction is down for all but the super rich in our fading Democracy.

Back in 1999, “An agreement between the Clinton administration and congressional Republicans, reached during all-night negotiations which concluded in the early hours of October 22, set the stage for passage of the most sweeping banking deregulation bill in American history, lifting virtually all restraints on the operation of the giant monopolies which dominate the financial system.”

The move was orchestrated by lobbyists in “the best-financed campaign of influence-buying ever seen in Washington.” But only until the health care reform debate began.
“In the first quarter of 2009, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America spent $7 million dollars lobbying against the President’s proposal. Pfizer came in second spending more than $6 million.”

There is a pattern here that should terrify most Americans. Things being discussed in today’s political arena that were considered political suicide a decade ago are now getting serious attention. Dismantling Social Security, repealing the 17th Amendment of the US Constitution and the Americans with Disabilities Act, and lowing or eliminating the national minimum wage. All these are targeted at giving more money to millionaires and less to the general public. America’s safety net is the enemy of big business because accommodating it cuts into corporate profits.


Sources and recommended links:

Republican Senate candidate wants to lower minimum wage?
Clinton, Republicans agree to deregulation of US financial system

2010 Census: Poverty and foreclosures rip America

GOP wants to give Social Security to Wall Street gamblers

Republican Pledge to America drafted by lobbyist in bed with AIG, Exxon Mobil, drug makers

Michelle Bachmann fueling republican drive to eliminate Social Security


No comments: