|
||
Corruption Is Dangerous to Your Health
"And the banks -- hard to believe in a time when we're facing a banking crisis that many of the banks created -- are still the most powerful lobby on Capitol Hill. And they frankly own the place"
That was Sen Richard Durbin, the powerful Senate Democratic whip, irate as the banking lobby, with foreclosures soaring across the nation, blocked a core reform for beleaguered homeowners that would give judges the right to modify mortgages in bankruptcy court.
But it isn't just the banks. Agribusiness is protecting its obscene subsidies. The insurance companies are deploying legions of lobbyists to gut the public plan in health care reform, the heart of the Obama plan. The utilities are carving out exceptions for coal plants. Multinationals are clearly on way to disemboweling Obama tax proposals. The military industrial lobby is a good bet to frustrate DOD Secretary Gates modest procurement reforms.
This isn't about America being a "center-right country," the myth that pundits still peddle about the American people. This is about Congress being bought and sold, pure and simple. Each night, Washington slurps on political fund-raisers. Each day, the deals get cut; the favors get done. Now with Republicans lining up lemming-like to obstruct anything Obama, Congress can be bought on the cheap. The lobbies have only to enlist (suborn, bribe, seduce, finance) a few of what the press insists on describing as "moderate Democrats" in the Senate to stop any reform they don't like.
What's often forgotten in this squalid exchange is that the very Americans the legislators preen to represent are the victims of their various corruptions.
For example, with the swine flu alert sweeping the country, President Obama and the Centers for Disease Control urge people with flu symptoms to stay home. This is a common sense measure to limit the spread of what might be a dangerous virus.
Only one problem, as the New York Times reminds us in an editorial this morning. About 60 million Americans don't have paid sick leave. Many can be fired if they stay home. And if not fired, many simply can't afford to lose the hours.
43% of private sector American workers have no paid sick days at all. And needless to say the most vulnerable have the least protection. A 2007 EPI study showed that workers at the bottom of the wage scale, those making less than $7.38 an hour, are five times less likely to have sick days than workers at the top of the scale, those making greater than $29.47 an hour. Only 16% of low-wage workers have access to paid sick days.
This is a barbarity that is dangerous to your health. Women -- who tend still to be disproportionately in part-time and low wage work -- are particularly at risk.
More than 160 countries, the Times tells us, have laws that ensure all their citizens receive paid sick leave and more than 110 of them guarantee paid leave from the first day of illness. The US does not. The reason goes no further than the influence of money on politics.
We once provided much of our social contract through the corporation rather than the Congress. Strong unions could negotiate a family wage, health care, overtime pay, paid sick leave, paid vacations, and pensions. Many non-union employers offered benefits similar to those provided by union companies. But over the last decades of this conservative era, as unions grew weaker under attack, more and more corporations simply shredded those agreements.
Now we'll have to enact these basic guarantees -- central to what Franklin Roosevelt called the Economic Bill of Rights -- in law. But each reform will have to overcome the resistance of entrenched lobbies, buying the protection of compromised legislators.
In 2005, Senator Ted Kennedy and Rep. Rosa DeLauro introduced a bill entitled the Health Families Act that would mandate up to seven paid sick days for employees in firms with more than 15 employees (and pro-rated leave for part-time employees). You'd think this would be a no brainer. It never came to a vote in the Senate. Obama pledged to support seven day paid sick leave in his campaign. Many Democratic lobbyists will dine well off of that pledge.
In area after area, Americans are suffering from the accumulated corruptions of our moneyed politics. In the fifth labor of Hercules, an arrogant king tries to demean the hero by hiring him to clean out the Augean stables in a day. The stables containing the largest herd of cattle in civilization, had never been cleaned. Hercules, with a little help from Athena, changes the path of two rivers and quickly washes out the accumulated filth. But no one is about to change the course of the Potomac to cleanse the backrooms and lobbies of Capitol Hill. The only current strong enough to do that is an aroused public angry enough to sweep away those who stand in the way. Despite rumblings, despite growing awareness of the damage wrought by a sordid and selfish era, we aren't there yet.
Loading comments…
Want to reply to a comment? Hint: Click "Reply" at the bottom of the comment; after being approved your comment will appear directly underneath the comment you replied to
I can remember when 15% interest was illegal. I can remember when loan sharks and organized crime were prosecuted for usury for doing the exact same thing that has become common practice today. I remember when people had to save up for things they wanted, and had to learn the joy of delayed gratification. There is a criminal element in control of our government. Blog all you want. It will not change anything. Bitch all you want about congress's inability to pass anything that Wall st. does not want. Nothing will change. They own the process. They own the infrastructure. You are on the outside, looking in. If you can not see that the government of the United States is now a Criminal Empire by now, you never will. If you think you will be able to change anything with your attempts at influencing government as it is today, you are mistaken. Only one thing will topple this government. You people think yourselves to civilized to do it. Kind of sad.
I firmly believe that Obama is doing an exceptional job of managing this country. Obama has hired an outstanding team of professionals in each and every critical problem areas and is managing all these teams brilliantly. He has developed an outstanding administration. The majority of the American people, and the world community trust and respect him. Our most critical fear is congress. They appear to be politically prostituted by special interest groups. They have become addicted to special interest groups, and they just cannot give it up. As a result, many of Obama’s policies may be blocked or diluted jeopardizing our national security and our economical recovery.
The last eight presidents (and most of their opponents) campaigned on reducing or eliminating corruption in Washington.
Given this consensus, surely corruption's days are numbered, aren't they?
Expect progress on this issue tomorrow (but never today).
After reading & commenting on this post yesterday 5/6 I thought about off and on all day. Now a full day later I just feel insulted regarding the content.
I feel that vast majority of Americans are fully aware of the point that you and soooooooooo many other have stated now and in the past. The topic is always discussed but the players most always are in the shadows of the story.
Let start putting the players in the spotlight 24 hours a day and then see what happens for a change.
The American citizenry must emulate Hercules by washing away the permanent political class. A constitutional amendment for congressional term limits would be effective, but difficult to achieve. Legislators are unlikely to approve legislation that would limit their terms of office and, if such a law were to pass, the Supreme Court is likely to strike it down. Remember that this is the court that has concluded that money is speech, thus ceding political control of the country to the wealthy.
With the recognition that there are huge numbers of intelligent, talented and qualified citizens who are prepared to limit their public service. We must pledge to our consciences that we will not vote a second term for any United States Senator and no more three terms for any United States Congressman. This would be pure democratic citizen action, which would need no legal or judicial concurrence. We need only encourage our fellow citizens to get on board with the reasonable idea of citizen imposed term limits.
"But no one is about to change the course of the Potomac to cleanse the backrooms and lobbies of Capitol Hill. The only current strong enough to do that is an aroused public angry enough to sweep away those who stand in the way. Despite rumblings, despite growing awareness of the damage wrought by a sordid and selfish era, we aren't there yet."
I think we're getting a lot closer every day. When you hear the phrase "Corporate Personhood" cited in articles found outside of the purely leftwing blogosphere, you begin to see the point at which the "arc of the moral universe" will bend down and actually touch justice.
I work in healthcare.. The 3rd party payers are scared sh*tless of the idea of a Public Plan. Those that drank less than a full glass of the Koolaid know that there's only one moment in healthcare in which any value gets created, delivered and received. That moment occurs at the point of care, between a patient and a physician. And payers bring zero value to that moment.
The still peaceful, and thoroughly pissed off, "citizen army" is headed in the right direction. We have new recruits joining us every day. And we keep winning the occasional battle. That's new.
And as Gandhi put it, "First they ignore you. Then they laugh at you. Then they fight you. And then you win." They're fighting us now, and we really are going to win.
Corruption in politics is the oldest story there is. The question is what can we do about it? The worst offenders have been the Rrepublicans who are visible becaused they have ruled for 30 years. So the masses finally voted them out. What we find now is that just because the Democrats were the minority party all those years does not mean that they are not corrupt as well. Corruption itself must be addressed in politics, not just the ideological schism between the parties. It will take a concerted grasroots anti-corruption effort along the lines of the popular enthusiasm that Obama generated during the election cycle. Without the people behind him on this specific issue Obama will have to cave in to get the rest of his agenda enacted. He seems to have decided that he can go only so far with the mandate that he now has and has met corruption half way. What can we do:
1. Vote straight democratic in every election for the rest of your life
2. Write to your elected representatives early and often on the issues that you care about
3. Run for office yourself as a progressive anti-corruption maverick
4. Pray
Good ideas. The corporate OWNED news media and our ' bribed' politicians ' in gov't have failed us miserably. as you said- The GOP has been in power /. control since REagan. Clinton was the only Dem during that period and he had a GOP congress ( and Monica ) to deal with.
Its also true that CLinton caved to the GOP congress in many cases. Now with this meltdown I say - Lets get the whole truth OUT once and for all. SO we know what got us here and can prevent more of the same. I do know that GOP policy of deregulating banks & WAll st had a HUGE part in this crisis. Wallst was allowed to go wild with greed / unethical practices-
THat could NOT have occurred without DEREGULATION. Keep on them - Keep them honest. Only power we have is the VOTE. We just proved that. I will not vote for any politician who has made a career of GOV't- unless they have a PROVEN TRACK RECORD of doing good by the average AMerican.
Corruption most certainly kills.
In 2005, over 1000 Louisianians---yes, fellow Americans---lost their lives in Hurricane Katrina as a direct result of multi-level government ineptitude, lack of accountability, cronyism, and corruption. Most drowned in their homes.
The unforgettable sight of bodies floating in flooded city streets --- which we all saw on TV---could be the iconic single image illustrating Borosage's blog piece.
Katrina was horrible. Bush was clueless. Bush and Cheney were clueless -
lived in their own BUBBLE.
As were the mayor and governor. It isn't just the federal government, the states are perhaps even worse....look at Illinois. This is a truly bi-partisan issue.
I am pleased to see that the censorship of this subject has weakened. I tried to comment on Republican obstructionism when Pres. Obama first took office but my comment was not posted. As I see it, the only way to rid society of deep rooted corporatist government is to get rid of the monetary system altogether. That would take an event of biblical proportions. The system that saw Mr. Mun pay his workers muney that could only be spent in Mun's stores where credit was extended to Mun workers and resulted in Mr. Mun owning the homes and the lives of his workers was corrupt from the start and hasn't changed to this day. I am convinced that art imitates life and life imitates art. I remember a very popular science fiction television show in which a star fleet captain boasts that earth repaired all of it's social woes by getting rid on money altogether. Today, some very prominent authors are repeating that very concept. With 30 million Americans living in abject poverty and the top two percent of Americans holding all the power, the current system clearly is not working.
Dear Sir,
This article on corruption is dangerous to your health is interesting.
I have been reading,hearing of corruption from everywhere.
Why are they getting corrupted.
Only by hard work,determination,sincere work schedule, correct implementation of policies with human touch are permanent land mark to everyone.
If we are not corrupted, nothing bad economic meltdown,social inequalities, greed,ego will engulf us in near furture.
Corruption can bring down any Democratic country. Stupid decison making can destry a economy.
I an America both of the abpve occured and now we are dealing with a new LIE and those are the false numbers about our economy and the shape the banks and others companies that have needed bailout money.
We need a Elliot Spitzer badly to work with the Obama adminatration because he is brillant and NO nonesense approach. If we want to get through this mess and NOT want it to happen agani i would make Ellliot Spitzer a full time adviser to represent and to protect the future of Americans.
I am a businessman and will tell you this will happen again and again and America may fall because NO one will be prosecuted for the massive trillion dollar frauds that occured. What do you think will happen when all the board memembers and others know that nothing but yelling and screaming will occur when the cheat lie and have false accounting practices? Yes it will happen again and even worse this is the DEVIL that will be released by a bunch of lowlifes that will bring down America in the future for sure
We must worry about more than the Republicans fighting against reform but the "moderate" Dems joining Republicans and the lobbyists.
We must stand strong for healthcare reform.
Please sign Dr. Howard Dean's petition for a PUBLIC UNIVERSAL health care option:
http://www.standwithdrdean.com/credo
The congress is still run by Bribes, some one should make a list of all the people that voted
against the PEOPLE and the ENCONOMY because of BRIBES, BRIBES & more BRIBES? and to
help the banks only!!!
Mr. Borosage,
You speak for me. My outrage at the erosion of decent working and living conditions that were the given corporate-labor compact with the "middle class". I see young workers putting in extreme hours just to keep up with the bosses' wishes, and great hardship on their families because of it. There is so much rot in this Nixon-Reagan-instigated quagmire. If THEY had known what their ideologies would spawn, they would recoil in horror. Thank goodness other countries kept their social safety nets in place, and are now an example for us to rejoin. Thank you for your lucid analysis.
Mr. Borsage,
You hit the nails on their heads with your article, I have to give you mondo credit. However these "nails" could very well be the ones in the coffins of middle and lower classes America. I hope that they realize that they owe their confortable lifestyle to us, and we in turn DESERVE to have our sick days and certainly a better and more affordabel healthcare system than the one we have now. Its high time the politicians in Washington gave consideration to our plight, rather than continuing to bail out the banks.
The only solution is for middle-class people to run for office and for people to vote for the middle-class candidate that doesn't have a glitzy campaign. This a democracy. Change must come from the people.
As a former locally-elected official, I can tell you that having middle-class people run for office does not change the situation. Once in office, the powers of influence will win anyone over. Between the money, the pride, the attention of powerful people, the wheeling and dealing, the press pressure, the lobbying pressure, and the desire to make your mark -- it all gets to you. I can also tell you that the candidate with the glitzy campaign will most likely win. Democracy has nothing to do with it in a Republic form of government other than give you the right to vote for candidates groomed and supported by the politically influencial and wealthy merchant class that replaced the aristocracy. Look at both Obama and Bush, presidents on opposite sides of the political spectrum who share big supporters like Warren Buffett.
As long as we have two-year terms for Congress, they are going to be constantly running for re-election and running for re-election takes money, connections, influence with unions, associations, corporations and other politicians. It also means that our government's corporate sponsors own government no matter how you vote because they control all the candidates. As a result, their solutions to our national problems will be those that benefit business rather than the people.
The only way we can make a difference is for each state to pass a Constitutional Amendment, under the states rights retained by our founding fathers.
It's criminal and it's absurd.
If ever it is to change, the solution must be easy enough for the masses to grasp. In other words it has to be able to be reduced to a series of bumper stickers. Seriously.
A good beginning strategy would be to promote the idea that the people, without exception, vote against every incumbent in every election. Without the continued, elongated relationships that have developed between lobbyists and Congress, lobbyists would have to approach new members of Congress in cold calls.
Presumably, it would be dangerous to bribe new members of Congress that have just arrived in Washington. And it's not like we couldn't find qualified replacements for these sell-outs.
I agree with you totally. Your proposal is great on paper but in real life, it's tough to convince Dems to get rid of Barney Frank and Chris Dodd and the repubs to oust their underachievers. Anybody over two terms needs to be put out to pasture.
Thank You, You said the wright word, about time we should always call them BRIBES because
thats what they are. BRIIBES BRIBES BRIBES BRIBES is'nt there a law against takeing BRIBES BRIBES ? its sad to think this country is only ran BY BRIBES and thats it !!!
Some one needs to make a list of all the TRADERS that voted against the people & the economy
and for the bamks!!?
Maybe vote smart? I will look into it!!!
Please see my posting above. I think we have a similar idea for ending Washington corruption, but how to get exposure for the idea is the a major problem.
You must be logged in to comment. Log in or connect with
