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writing for godot

The Corporate Coup of America

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Written by Roseanne Lasater   
Friday, 08 October 2010 06:14
When Obama was elected and the Democrats had control of both houses of Congress, we expected sweeping changes, including the restoration of America’s commitment to human rights, dramatic changes in environmental and energy policy, an end to the Iraq war, and a strong infusion of support for healthcare, education and human services. Not much of it happened.

The absence of significant change was staggering. What could possibly explain it? What was wrong with the Party of the People? Why wasn’t the President leading us forward? And where was our brighter future? We waited.

Bush had bailed out Wall Street. Obama bailed out the auto industry. There was a stimulus bill but few of us felt its impact. Partial health insurance reform, but much more change needed there. A poor showing in Copenhagen. And so on. Stopgap measures and, one sorry compromise after another. At best two steps forward and one step back. Not bold enough, not the real change we hoped for, not even very hopeful. As time passed more and more Obama supporters began to complain.

My Mom, as astute as ever at 82, admonished us for our impatience and our short memories, reminding us that Clinton faced an uphill battle his first two years as well, but in the end he moved the country in a positive direction. It's not my nature to be cynical. My desire to believe in my country is still very strong. So I was inclined to be hopeful and patient. And then the oil spill in the Gulf provided an eye-opener of the most discouraging kind.

Say what you will about the mainstream media, but I think they did a pretty good job of investigating the circumstances leading up to the spill. It was quickly revealed BP received exemptions from established safety measures. Huh? More probing as the oil gushed, and we learned how in reality our government regulators really work for the companies they're supposed to hold accountable for environmental and human safety. Former oil company employees occupy many positions in our governmental regulatory agencies, making the crucial decisions on permits and waivers, and all the assorted big and small favors that lead in a cumulative way, to just this sort of disaster.

The final insult was learning that when the regulations are written, when the congressional legislation gets created, it gets created by the oil companies, for the oil companies. How helpful of them. Many of their faithful representatives in government service are later rewarded with lucrative oil company jobs and other rewards. And everybody's happy because everybody wins? Oops.

In essence, we learned, there is little or no regulatory oversight. Investigations often aren’t even done. And when they are done, who does them? The oil companies themselves, of course!

So much for government by the people, for the people. What we have is government by the corporations for the corporations. The United States of America has become “The United Corporations of America.” In place of the stars, put corporate logos? Include BP? Oh wait, they’re not even an American company!

Many of us remember a time when our government had clout. When regulators sparked fear in the hearts of corporate manipulators and retired on their government pensions, not their stock options.

Today when we look to our elected representatives for bold and decisive correction, most of them look the other way, mumble some platitudes about the realities of how things work in Washington, and do little or nothing to change the status quo.

Nearly all of our elected representatives, on both sides of the aisle rely on corporate and special interest money to fund their campaigns. They tread lightly where their donor’s interests are concerned. Check into their funding histories and then look at their voting histories. Read "Who Owns Congress" on Mother Jones (http://motherjones.com/politics/2010/09/congress-corporate-sponsors).

Those few who speak out for the interests of the people are national heroes, but no amount of fury on their part is going to turn the tide sweeping American democracy away in the service of a bottom line that makes the very few richer at the expense of all the rest.

What can “we the people” do? What we must do is liberate our elected officials from their corporate campaign donors. But how? The “Clean Elections Movement,” aka “Voter-Owned Elections” or “Public Campaign Financing” offers a way out.

There are several versions of public campaign financing in effect in a dozen states and several municipalities. The programs vary widely, but the consistent theme is candidates don’t need big corporate donors to fund their campaigns. Nor do they need to be millionaires. Public financing levels the field so that anyone can run and publicly-financed officials are not beholden to special interests. Thus, they are free to represent the interests of the voters who elected them, rather than the corporations and special interest groups that paid for their advertising.

What are the chances elected representatives with established corporate-funding histories would vote for clean elections at the national level? It seems a long shot. However, if we push for voter-owned elections at the state level, we can send our “clean-election” representatives to Washington, where they would push for clean elections at the national level.

We are just weeks from a general election, funded in the usual way by big money and corporate interests. It’s too late for 2010, but we could start working right now for a cleaner election in 2012. Tougher disclosure laws would be a strong step forward, along with action at all levels of government to implement public financing options.

Go online to www.publiccampaign.org and learn more about publicly-financed campaigns. You can also find out about and connect with your local clean elections organization from that site.
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