The Mother of All Issues

With our soldier's dying in Iraq, it's difficult to wrap one's head around the idea that public funding for elections must be a priority.
Ending our system of legal bribery will do more to change the way our government works and who it works for than anything else we could do.

Point to an intractable problem in American life and you will find special interest or several, damning the flow of legislation that would solve the problem and promote the common good.Whether it’s a corporate bad actor that is putting its short-term financial goals ahead of public health or a well-funded, vocal minority promoting a religious or ethnic agenda, the result is the same; money speaks louder than the constitution or common sense.



The McCain-Feingold Bill, the most recent attempt to mitigate the deleterious effect big money, has created a monster.It has put political parties in the cat bird seat by removing limits on soft money while restricting contributions to individual candidates. Because political parties now are in control of huge amounts of cash, they can call the tune and members of congress must dance.

GOP members of Congress are the poster men and women for the corrosive power of big money. For the past six years, they have voted in lockstep for a portfolio of shameful and damaging legislation. Even the Democrats, traditionally the people’s party, have been infected. A small, rotating cadre of Democrats voted with the GOP to pass some of the most damaging and unpopular of the White House’s legislation.

We have all seen well-funded candidates, in hock to corporate power, win over honest populists who lack the means to counter the slick advertising and dishonest smears of their opponents. Big business's investments have paid off handsomely. For every million invested in campaign contributions and lobbying, corporations and the ultra wealthy have netted billions.

The effects of big money on government may not even be as banal as buying elections or the rash of or votes. Filling campaign war chests takes time and resources away from the people's business. Instead of listening to constituents or reading a bill, our representatives are on the phone asking for handouts. Those that can write the big checks just naturally get more attention.

The result of our present election system is a government of, by and for oligarchs and a huge
transfer of wealth from the middle and lower classes to the undeserving ultra rich. much of it facilitated by bad legislation. Working Americans are not only being fleeced at every turn, they are the ones paying for the war in Iraq and doing the fighting and dying.

Serious problems that demand immediate action are being swept under the rug because of the disproportionate influence of of big money.A well informed third grader can figure out that allowing highly profitable corporations to use our air, water and earth as a refuse dump is a rotten idea. Yet Congress passed an energy bill that was written by the worst polluters. Congress won't even even debate global warming because the oil cartel frowns on it.

America’s health care system is not only tiered, it’s broken. Consumer satisfaction is around 20%, we pay more than anyone else in the industrialized world and have poorer outcomes. 46 million Americans have no access and the number one cause of bankruptcy in America is catastrophic illness. America’s insurers, HMO’s and drug manufacturers, some of the most profitable businesses in America, like it fine.The result is that the US is only industrialized nation in the world that doesn’t provide healthcare for all its citizens.

Just got laid off because your job got shipped to India, Chile or China? You think the companies you helped make successful with your and taxes owes you more than a pink slip? Your company doesn't think so and what's more they got congress to subsidize the exportation of your job with tax cuts and other tax-payer funded benefits. All the thanks you'll get is a job at a carwash.

The religious zealots, who back corporate power in exchange for lip service and an occasional handout (illegal) wield a great deal of power. They have formed a bewildering array of PACs and special interest groups, all able to make unlimited contributions. Their leaders have been only too willing to trade away the economic interests of their congregations for personal power, along with a chance to link civil rights to sexual orientation and restrict access to family planning
for everyone.

One of the areas where you might think lobbying and big donations don’t count is foreign policy. You’d be wrong.America stood idly by while a country with no air force and no way to protect its citizens was bombarded by some of the most sophisticated weaponry on the planet. The rest of the world agreed that the attack by Israel on Lebanon was unjustified and disproportionate. We could have stopped it in a heartbeat. US foreign aid to Israel is 7% of their economy and we provide 40% of their weapons. More assistance is provided by loans (always forgiven) and other items buried in the budget.

AIPAC, the powerful Israeli lobbying group, is linked to over 50 other groups who all back support an extreme version of Zionism. They command so much wealth and influence that, according to President Carter, they can destroy the career of any politician. The result was that our politicians squeaked out the tired phrase “our special relationship with Israel” and did nothing while war crimes were committed.

As we slog through our forth year of an unpopular and illegal war we may well ask why hasn’t congress stepped in to curb the “crazies in the basement”. The answer is because of the distorted and unseemly influence of big oil and a massive defense contracting industry.
Big oil is happy to externalize the military and human costs of developing oil fields in a nation hostile to American capitalism.
War profiteers are having a field day pocketing a military budget greater than the combined military budgets of the rest of the world.Corporate owned legislators have been unwilling to provide any oversight that might embarrass or curb their benefactors. Obscene profiteering and a disturbing amount of non compliance continues to this day.

Don’t believe the White House trash talk about the US helping the Iraqis or fighting terrorism . It’s a lie. The best way to help the Iraqis is to get out of their hair ASAP. The best way to thwart terrorism is to stop making more terrorists with a brutal military occupation. An independent congress would have pulled the plug years ago.

You can play follow the money too. Pick an issue that rankles and see who is benefiting. If you interested in knowing who feathers the nest of your senator or congressman, go here.You’ll begin to see that public funding of elections has the potential to move mountains. It could pull the rug out from every selfish, greedy, damaging and myopic special interest. With publicly funded elections, we can be the deciders we were meant to be.
Carol DW