If You Think Corporations Run The Government Now…

[RedEarth]

Then just wait and see what happens after, as expected, the Supreme Court allows corporations to spend unlimited amounts of money on behalf of their favored candidates:

The Supreme Court signaled Wednesday it may let businesses and unions spend freely to help their favored candidates in time for next year's elections. Such a step could roll back a century of attempts to restrain the power of corporate treasuries in American politics.
The justices cut short their summer recess for a lively special argument that indicated the court's conservative skeptics of campaign finance laws have the upper hand over its liberals, including new Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

Justice Anthony Kennedy, often the high court's swing vote, but a firm opponent of many campaign restrictions, at one point told the government's lawyer, "Corporations have lots of knowledge about environment, transportation issues, and you are silencing them during the election."

To a certain extent, it is hard to even conceptualize why this matters. To paraphrase Dick Durbin, powerful moneyed interests already run the government. From the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, check out the gains made by of wealthy interests over the past 30-35 years:





http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/09/10-12

[scentopine]

1. This is one of the most transformational times in US history

we are changing our system of government and acknowledging a new corporate citizen with special rights, exceptions to justice, special privileges and policy making prerogatives.

Through the centuries, other nations have hit this juncture with wage disparity as a primary indication under a variety of similar circumstances. We are caught in what is known as a ratchet effect, any movement to address inequality ends up making more inequality because the power center lies only with the rich who use the public trust to their own personal advantage.

If you really paid attention to world history (past or present), you'll understand that this never turns out well and is accompanied by tragic human consequences. And when its over, things just might be even worse. I expect history will repeat itself one day here in America. Cold hard statistics support this and the fact that things will get much. much worse over time before any effort is made at changing the trend.

And our democratic leadership is contributing to the degradation of income equality as equally as the republican leadership. They both stand to profit by lowering our quality of life.