Anatomy of a Screw

[SoCalDem]

Ever wonder why we cannot seem to get real health care bills passed? or affordable gasoline? or reliable and affordable energy to heat/cool our homes? or affordable college for our kids? or a real living wage that goes up as costs escalate? or guaranteed pension plans for all Americans? or basic, easy and fair elections? or any number of common sense things that MOST Americans think we should have?

The answer is simple. Corporations and the upper-crusties in the top 5% don't want us to have those things, so they pay lobbyists loads of cash to bribe the people we HIRE to conduct OUR business..

Why are they so easily bribed?

They are easy to "rent" because they like their cushy jobs with all the goodies and the opportunities for cashing in even bigger after they finally retire, when they too become lobbyists and start bribing their former colleagues..

Why do they do it? Why do they need all that cash?

They need the cash because they have to buy expensive advertising to con us into voting for them instead of their opponents.

The airwaves that cost them (and us indirectly) so dearly are GIVEN for FREE to the Television corporations.

We are literally GIVING away the means to our own destruction, and in exchange we are lulled into a stupor by the inane "programs" they offer us.


All of the things that make life worth living are being withdrawn from us and the ones we never had, but always wished we had, are being pushed further away from us because we cannot get our HIRED help to really represent us.

The huge profits that the corporate giants are raking in are way more than "necessary", and are eroding what's left of our republic/democracy..whatever we want to call this monstrosity we we have become.

Public financing, with very stringent rules could begin to reverse the trend, but the inmates now have all the keys to the asylum, and we are locked outside, looking in.

With public financing, "ordinary" people might actually have a chance to run for office, and would be on an even plane with the wealthy candidates. The way it is now, only really rich or every well-connected people can even think of running for office.

The way things are now, even if we vote them OUT, they don't ever really go away.(see Lieberman) The crazy elections we have had , make it almost impossible to ever get all sides to agree that the people holding office, really won...
Somehow, we must get the keys back from the inmates, and toss the bad ones out, and get new employees who will do what WE want for a change..

Public financing of elections is step one..

Making corporate media GIVE some of our airwaves to politicians every few years so they can "get their message out" is step two..

With all the changes in TV, there is no reason that they could not have their own channel, with plenty of time to tell us what they think. The soundbyte, talking-point mantras could be a thing of the past, and who knows?..we might actually be able to find out who these people are BEFORE they take office.

I can dream :)

[ScreamingMeemie]

1. Very nice..

:applause: ...and I will dream right along side you! :hi:

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

2. I think the internet offers more possibility for change than changes in TV

Consider the following:

TV campaign advertising disallowed.

All candidates get an equal amount of storage and bandwith for their campaign webpage, which is created by the candidate's teams but all hosted by the same publicly funded infrastructure. Facilities set up where people without internet access can view these pages at leisure.

Of course, because of the cycle of greed/corruption/self interest you have described so well, it will take some kind of revolution to bring something like this about. The current crop of politicians, and their corporate sponsors, will never go for it.

And while we remain a voting public so susceptible to sound bites and swiftboating, I despair of positive change.

While we're at it, let's vote with paper ballots, on a weekend or designated holiday...

[liberal N proud]

3. You are so right, the corporation and the ultra rich are screwing us

Nice editorial

[formercia]

4. and the M$M goes along

because they're addicted to all of the political advertising revenue. It's the bottom line, Baby.M$M executives want to keep their cushy jobs, so the whore to the shareholders' demands for an 'acceptible' return. Who are the shareholders? Most of the voting shareholders are wealthy elites. Get the picture?

[Wiley50]

5. K&R I've never seen this explained so simply and succinctly

I wish we could raise the money for a TV ad with your message

But the M$M would never agree to run it

[SoCalDem]

7. Thanks...and you are right..no one would carry the ad

The whole issue is really very simple..it's about the MONEY ..

You take the money out and the greed out, and the bare bones are still there..

It would be such a good thing for the honest people out here would would love to run for office, but never get the chance.

But..it scares the hell out of lobbyists and corporate masters, to think that their influence migtht "go away"...and laws they used to have to obey, might come back..

The robber-barons were taken down once before, and they are not going to allow that to happen again..that's why they "invented" the charade that "we are all in it together".

Day after day on the "financial" channels, they drone on and on about how invested the average american is these days, and how we all benefit...but every generation, the money-grubbers manage to pull off some outrageous scam and steal all our money.

It happened with the savings & loan debacle, it happened with the dot-coms, it happened with Enron,Tyco,Worldcom,Adelpia, etc..and when there will be more trouble ahead with the pension substitute they gave us (401-ks)..just watch..

They are trying desperately to screw us out of Social Security, and someday they will succeed..

They devise "vehicles" to attract our money, and when the goose is nice and fat from all our feeding of it...they slay it and gobble it up...

Our politicians, the ones we hire to help us, let them write the rules to help them screw us..

and we are expected to give thanks all around..

[deaniac21]

6. I'm sure that political channel would be watched for hours a day

by untold millions.

[wicket]

8. Best thing I've read in a while

Thank-you! :yourock:

[SoCalDem]

9. Thank YOU

:)

[DireStrike]

10. How would you decide which candidates get public financing?

nt

[SoCalDem]

11. Other countries have figured it out..

perhaps we are smart enough to do it too :)

[trof]

12. It's not so much they DON'T WANT us to have those things.

If we could wave a wand and we all had them, I guess they would'nt stand in our way...unless, of course, it had a negative effect on "their" bottom line.

What they DON'T want to do is have to pay the taxes so that those less fortunate would have those things. Or divert government spending (that's now going to their corporations) to social programs that benefit all.

They already have the medical care/coverage, good "wages", guaranteed pensions/golden parachutes, and all forms of energy are still very affordable for them. Five-dollar gas? No problem.
$60,000 per year ivy league tuition? No problem.

What they pay their lobbyists for is to keep the profits rolling in and the taxes low or non-existant.
Nothing PERSONAL, ya unnerstan'.

I absolutely agree. Campaign financing should be public with even-Stevan limits for incumbents and challengers alike.

[lonestarnot]

13. Damn this sounds good. Sometimes I hate reality!