Government Problem, Not Size...but Who It's For

SeaBreeze

SeaBreeze

Endlessly Groovin'
Location
USA
Opinion on the problem with the government. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-reich/the-government-problem_b_6376972.html

Why are politicians doing so much for corporate executives and Wall Street insiders? Follow the money. It's because they're flooding Washington with money as never before, financing an increasing portion of politicians' campaigns.The Supreme Court's decision this year in McCutcheon vs. Federal Election Commission, following in the wake of Citizen's United, already eliminated the $123,200 cap on the amount an individual could contribute to federal candidates.

The new spending legislation, just enacted, makes it easier for wealthy individuals to write big checks to political parties. Before, individuals could donate up to $32,400 to the Democratic or Republican National Committees.

Starting in 2015, they can donate ten times as much. In a two-year election cycle, a couple will be able to give $1,296,000 to a party's various accounts.

But the only couples capable of giving that much are those that include corporate executives, Wall Street moguls, and other big-moneyed interests.
Which means Washington will be even more attentive to their needs in the next round of legislation.

That's been the pattern. As wealth continues to concentrate at the top, individuals and entities with lots of money have greater political power to get favors from government - like the rollback of the Dodd-Frank law and the accumulation of additional corporate welfare. These favors, in turn, further entrench and expand the wealth at the top.

The size of government isn't the problem. That's a canard used to hide the far larger problem.

The larger problem is that much of government is no longer working for the vast majority it's intended to serve. It's working instead for a small minority at the top.
If government were responding to the public's interest instead of the moneyed interests, it would be smaller and more efficient.

But unless or until we can reverse the vicious cycle of big money getting political favors that makes big money even bigger, we can't get the government we want and deserve.
Click to expand...
 

This keeps happening because the voters keep sending people to Washington that vote against their own interest.

Its called suicidal stupidity.
 
Corporate and personal welfare. At the national level corporate America gets the breaks and local politicians pay off favors with jobs for anyone from a campaign worker or someone who helped fudge, nudge and/or manipulate let alone personal friends.
 

Dame Warrigal said:
Is this apparent to everyone or is there some collective blindness happening?
Electoral power still rests with the people if they choose to exercise it.
Click to expand...



'Hmmm, electoral power......'? As all politicians seem susceptible to the lure of 'support', how does electoral power influence anything? When both or all parties (depending on the country) seem to be of the same mindset just with different pet projects, it seems like there isn't anything else to vote for if one did have a mind to change anything.

You know how they say it takes a while to turn an ocean liner? Well, it's like this ocean liner has no breaks and the rudder is busted. Change??? Seems unlikely.
 
Over here voters are turning away from the old parties towards the Greens, Independents and microparties.
It really gives the big parties something to worry about and really big headaches in government, not to mention much amusement for the rest of us watching them sweat.
 
SeaBreeze said:
Opinion on the problem with the government. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-reich/the-government-problem_b_6376972.html
Click to expand...

The information about what is happening in our government is out there....but very few people take the time to do any real research. The BEST source for tracking the flow of ridiculous amounts of money to our politicians can be found at Opensecrets.org. This site logs all the money reported to the FEC, by politician, party, etc. However, with the advent of Citizens United, many of these newly formed PAC's are able to circumvent the normal reporting procedures. However, the reported funding is a very good measure of just who is increasingly "owning" our government. Then, when you couple these campaign contributions with a given politicians voting record, at sites such as VoteSmart.org., a fairly clear picture begins to emerge as to just where our politicians allegiance really lies.

One of the most interesting charts I've seen lately is this one.....http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/top.php?indexType=i&showYear=2014. This list shows the largest contributors to the 2014 campaigns by Industry/Sector. The thing that sticks out in this list of the top 20 Lobbying Sectors is that 5 of the top 20 are Health Care/Insurance related. That offers some real insight into why the people of our nation are stuck with paying twice as much for health care as those of virtually any other developed nation. Buried deep in the 11,000 pages of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) is language that these Lobbyists inserted so as to insure the continued and rising profits of our Health Care Industry.
 
Dame Warrigal said:
Electoral power still rests with the people if they choose to exercise it.
Click to expand...

No, electoral power rests with the electoral college. The President is not chosen by popular citizen vote: he is chosen by "electors" who are in turn chosen by popular vote on a state-by-state basis.

"One man, one vote" may have worked in South Africa but not here.
 
The electoral college is an anachronism but remember that all power is not vested in the Executive. You also have Congress as well as state and local government bodies.

What's more you have the power to change the House of Reps every two years and the Senate turns over completely every six years in two yearly increments.

We don't elect our PM or Governor General at all because power rests with parliament and parliament is elected by the people - all of them, not just the 30% to 40% that can be bothered to get out of bed to vote.
 
14887F0F-0E26-41B5-9660-14A811484211_zpsh6lqlm4r.png
 
Good one Jackie!! lol!!! AND that about sums up what folks get voting against their own interests.. But the cartoon forgot the holy grail of GOP policy. Privatizing Social Security and voucherizing Medicare!!
 
It would be nice if the 'flavour' of meanness could be eliminated when it comes to folks discussing the personalities of the voter on the other side don't you think? After all, it's all a matter of perspective isn't it? Who was right, who was wrong to vote the way they did. There have been and always will be good and bad decisions on the part of both(all) parties regardless of which country you live in.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top