Health & Fitness
What Kind of Government Do You Want?
Our government is for sale—thanks to the Supreme Court and Citizens United. Will we let a few anonymous rich guys and their Super PACs buy their way to power?
Ours is for sale.
We are not a theocracy, despite what Christians may think. Strictly speaking, we’re not a one man, one vote democracy either. Increasingly, we have become a plutocracy, a government of wealth.
Do you have as much influence as, let’s say, Gulf Oil Company, or the National Rifle Association, or the Chamber of Commerce, or billionaire Diane Hendricks— who contributed more than $500,000 to help re-elect Wisconsin Congressman Scott Walker, and, incidentally, paid absolutely no taxes in 2010? Can you and your friends get together and contribute the almost $2,200 per hour Diane Feinstein must raise in order to remain in Congress? Probably not—that would take millions, or, at least a Super PAC and a couple of anonymous rich guys from somewhere—they don’t have to say who or from where.
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It takes a fortune to get elected to City Council. It takes hundreds of millions to get elected President. But all it takes for the rich to rule is deregulation.
Thanks to the Supreme Court and Citizens United, you can say goodbye to any regulations on the financial market. In his majority opinion, Justice Anthony Kennedy opined:“This court now concludes that independent expenditures, including those made by corporations, do not give rise to corruption or the appearance of corruption.” In other words, corporations are people, money is speech, and there is no corruption. What the hell was he smoking?
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Suggestion—a plea, really: demand full disclosure—vote to know who spends how much on what! Vote for laws that promote transparency. Vote for fair, just regulations on Wall Street, banks and the so-called free market. Do not vote against collective bargaining—union workers should have a say in government, just like their bosses.
Republicans do not want workers to have a say—period! Republicans do not want any regulations on the financial or any other market. And Republicans want to pay lower taxes than they do in Abu Dhabi. My suggestion for Republicans: stop drinking the tea.
Jac Flanders is the author of “What I Learned On The Way Down,” eBook and paperback versions from Amazon.com
