Molly Ivins: Reform The System Or Lose The Democracy

[kpete]

Molly Ivins: Reform The System Or Lose The Democracy
Posted on May 30, 2006
By Molly Ivins

......Enron’s PAC gave Bush $113,800 for his ‘94 and ‘98 political races and another $312,500 from its executives. Bush got 14 free rides on Enron’s corporate jets during the 2000 campaign, including at least two during the recount. Until January 2004, Enron was Bush’s top contributor.

And what did it get for its money? Ken Lay was on Bush’s short list to be energy secretary. He not only almost certainly served on Cheney’s energy task force, there is every indication that the task force’s energy plan, the one we have been on for five years, is in fact the Enron plan. Lay used Bush as an errand boy, calling the governor of Texas and having him phone Tom Ridge of Pennsylvania to vouch for what swell energy deregulation bills Enron was sponsoring in states all over the country.

It seems to me we all understand this is a systemic problem.

We need to reform the political system, or we’ll lose the democracy. I don’t think it’s that hard. It doesn’t take rocket science. We’ve done it before successfully at the presidential level and tried it several places at the state level. Public campaign financing isn’t perfect and can doubtlessly be improved upon as we go. Let us begin.

more at:
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20060530_molly_ivins_reform_the_system_or_lose_the_democracy/

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

1. Unfortunately, the ones required to do the reforming are the same ones

taking the payoffs.

This is already an oligarchy with a very thin veneer of false democratic institutions.

Getting the money out of politics has an enduring place on the "Fat Chance" shelf.

[Armstead]

2. "It doesn't take a rocket scientist"

I'm certainly no rocket scientist, and I smelled a rat regarding many aspects of energy "deregulation" and privitization over the years.

It seemed to me that our nation was systematically replacing public utilities operated as monopolies that were flawed BUT ACCOUNTABLE AND RESPONSIBLE TO THE PUBLIC and instead turing our infrastructure over to totally private defacto monopolies WITH NO PUBLIC ACCO0UNTABILITY OR RESPONSIBILITY.

It was fixing a problem by replacing it with something worse.

It defied commo0n sense then, and what has happened only confirms that common sense was correct.