Yea, sometimes I think that at 73 I ought to hang it up. But then I see the politicians and their billionaire buddies ripping off my kids and grandkids and become even more intent on putting them in prison.
Indeed it’s distressing to see so many Americans fighting tiny battles they’ll never win, as long as the corporations own our politicians. Like the time it took us 3 years to get smoking out of daycare centers because Philip Morris owned our governor and state legislature, Governor-elect Scott Walker included.
Public funding of campaigns would have seen passage in 3 days.
The rich guys at our nation’s top usually didn’t get richer because they grew the country or its GDP. They got richer by manipulating and looting and crashing the economy, and sharing their wealth with the politicians that helped make it all happen. They got rich by pocketing the losses of mainstream America’s 401(k)’s, retirement accounts and housing values. It’s called a “transfer of wealth.”
They got Obama to appoint their buddies — Larry Summers and Tim Geithner — to guard the chicken coop and bail out the banks, and paid off the politicians to look the other way. We may see total anarchy or rebellion before we turn the country around, if it is even reversible.
I think of my friends, Julie and Dan, who worked like hell to buy their third house and put their two kids into school. Dan started his own company to insulate houses, then the housing market crashed. All because the politicians were paid handsomely to pass NAFTA and other laws that seemed to be “free trade,” but only for the countries with wages one-tenth ours. People without jobs don’t buy houses.
And now the other countries have our jobs and my friends are $300K in debt and filing bankruptcy and their house is in foreclosure. And millions of Americans find themselves in the same trouble… all while our politicians bounce around with their hands still out promising not to raise taxes on the wealthy (if they just kick in a bit, mind you).
And no, the rich guys don’t care because they’ve already bought or planned their island in some other country, where all they have to worry about are pirates and military coups. My heart bleeds for them.
So to the Lefties, the Righties and those in between, is this where you want your country to go? Isn’t it now time to install rules that keep our government honest? Being 22nd best on the corruption index is nothing to brag about.
It does not matter what your issue — taxes, health care, or the war — it will not be resolved as long as our politicians are taking bribes. Vote them out and the new ones will gladly take the campaign dollars. Only public funding of campaigns will fix it. It’s the big fire from which little fires grow.