The Bank and Financial Bailout. Now Health Care. Next Climate Crisis…..and oh yeah, War Crimes.
Over the last couple of days of watching Health Care get sold down the river, I have seen a couple of Senators shake their head and make the following statement…
“We just can’t pass Single Payer.”
Well……why not? What is stopping you? You are the most powerful legislative body in the world right? The People of the United States, your constituency, overwhelmingly wants Single Payer Health Care right? The Democrats have 59 votes, so all they have to do is turn ONE Republican right? So it is not that you “don’t have the votes” because of partisanship. Because it is not about partisanship, is it? All that talk by Democrats about how it was the Republicans who were stopping the Democrats from doing what the People want, what happened to that?
So……why? Why are Senators so convinced, so adamant, that it is simply impossible to give the American people, the people who voted you into office, the people who pay your salary, the people the Constitution SAYS you are there to represent, the people who are protesting….and suffering from…our current Health Care system, what they OVERWHELMINGLY want?
Why?
You have the power to do it, you have the public support to do it, you SHOULD have the votes to do it.
So what is stopping you?
Who is it that is FORCING you to go against the Will of the People, the people who voted you into office, the people who pay your salary, the people the Constitution SAYS you are there to represent?
Isn’t that the way our government is supposed to work? We The People elect you, We The People tell you what we want and you represent US by passing legislation to get what We The People told you to get us? Isn’t that….the deal? Isn’t that the very basis of our representative government? Isn’t that what our entire system of government is supposed to be based on?
You just gave the Banks BILLIONS of The People’s money…..against the Will of The People. You got the votes, somehow, to give money to Corporations.
Now it looks like we won’t even get the compromise of a Public Option, let alone the Single Payer that The People want.
Why, Senators? Why?
By Golly, it appears as if you are NOT working for The People doesn’t it?
In fact it appears that you have stopped even pretending to honor the deal. In fact it appears that you have stopped even pretending to work for The People.
.
In fact it is now blatantly obvious that you are working for the Corporations, not The People.
.
There is no longer any doubt is there, as our government prepares to sell The people out …again….for the umpteenth time, that our government has been bought.
In fact it is no longer OUR government at all. Our government now blatantly and openly is working for the Corporations, not us.
The Insurance Corporations, the Banking Corporations…and coming up the Energy and Pollution Corporations. As the officials WE elected pass legislation that favors the Corporations.
Let’s state this clearly, shall we?
The American Government is passing Legislation that is against the interests of The American People.
It has never been more obvious.
Our Government has been bought.
And is now working against us.
(And in the case of Climate Crisis legislation, against the future of the human race!)
Our Government has been bought.
What are we going to do about it?
.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06…
No.
pointed out some years ago that we are living in an oligarchy:
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03…
it is being used to control the people, while the corporations finish bleeding us, “to the very last drop.”
This is why we never get campaign finance reform.
After Compound F yesterday posted his excerpted quote from Paul Street’s article, I emailed Street and asked his permission to republish his article at Antemedius, and he agreed to let me do that. In it Street discusses much more than just Obama, and takes aim at the entire “Democratic” party.
The quote above is from that article: The Dawning Age of Obama as a Potentially Teach-able Moment for The Left. It’s quite long, but I’d recommend reading the whole thing…
they are throwing at banks and certain favored industry “We the People” will not get what we have asked for.
From the banking mouthpiece himself.
The only way “We the People” get single payer healthcare (socialized medicine) is if the seat at the table is taken away from the insurance behemoths.
I was writing pt 2 at 5 am this morning… “Healthcare on Demand”
It would amuse me were it not so very freaking DIRE!!!!!!!!
Anyone wishing to run for the U. S. House of Representatives, U. S. Senate or the Presidency, unless they are incredibly wealthy, must kiss the [list any body part – you are limited only by your imagination] of Big Money in order to receive the funding they need to wage a competitive campaign. And only then can they receive any coverage from BM’s evil Siamese twin – the corporate-dominated mainstream media.
Anyone remember the non-stop coverage about John Edwards’ $400 haircut? That’s what happens to anyone who has the audacity to speak of representing the people. If they can’t find something negative to report, they will simply refuse to mention the candidate. Most voters will not even know that certain candidates exist, at least in any positive sense.
In other words…with rare exception, mega-corporations determine the choices placed before us on the ballot — at least those candidates who have any chance of getting elected to office.
Elected officials who play ball for Big Money are assured of a lucrative future if they ever leave office, and for those who don’t…
Granted, there are a few for whom this statement does not apply, however, they are too few to make any appreciable difference.
Only if and until corporate money is removed from the political process can we anticipate a return to a government of the people rather than a government of the corporations. Of course, those who are sitting in office as a result of the present, corrupt system would have to vote in sufficient numbers to jettison the system that helped them win office in the first place.
If one were to apply the premise that we are no longer a government of the people, but, rather, the corporations, just about everything that has occurred since January 20, 2009 makes perfect sense.
Please pass the Prozac.
… from David Swanson:
There’s also a letter to the Kennedy and Baucus from Obama backing the public option and a letter from Conyers, Grijalva, and Edwards to Steny Hoyer that are posted in full in Swanson’s diary and are worth reading.
when you vote representatives (mainly incumbents) in over and over, and they still don’t represent your interests. To tide you over they give you other stuff to think about like abortion, partisan arguments, celebrity news and such, as if the TARP and Healthcare issues and foreclosure issues are not as important. I watched a piece of Max Baucus late night on C span talking about his commitment to healthcare and its dire importance, and the way the words came out of his mouth, so unbelievably, like he was being forced under duress to commit to the people. I couldn’t believe it.
when you vote representatives (mainly incumbents) in over and over, and they still don’t represent your interests. To tide you over they give you other stuff to think about like abortion, partisan arguments, celebrity news and such, as if the TARP and Healthcare issues and foreclosure issues are not as important. I watched a piece of Max Baucus late night on C span talking about his commitment to healthcare and its dire importance, and the way the words came out of his mouth, so unbelievably, like he was being forced under duress to commit to the people. I couldn’t believe it.
is the ratio of citizens to representatives is too high for any “regular” citizens to get attention from reps. The constitution mandates 30,000:1 or more. Trouble is, since the early 1900’s its been way more (today it’s almost 700,000:1). With that, I’ll leave it to Jack Tripper:
Call it family faith, but there are too many of my clan that work in and around politics and I just don’t have the evidence that the government is bought and paid for in this way. We are not corrupt, and I don’t personally know any corrupt legislators (not that this means anything, it is just I have not run into them myself, they are out there).
I still think we are going to get the public option. I just think this is the sausage making that is politics. There is a reason why people are advised on to look too closely at how law is made.
the “people” get the government we deserve. This is what we get for refusing to pay attention.
Any group is as strong as it’s weakest link. The “group” of average Americans is really large and mostly weak.
Forgive me, or not, but I have no sympathy for the American people (me included). Our civic spirit has been on the wane since probably when we won independence.
We have the government we deserve. It won’t change until a critical mass engages. I’ve no hope that it will happen.
Cheers!
I’m glad to see some action on this. It needs to happen NOW.
Probably since before I went into the service during the Vietnam war.
In the Corporate State it is the job of the government to represent the interests of and enact the laws desired by the true power in society, corporate ownership and top management. Congress, the White House and the Supreme Court are essentially their gofers, and elections? You’ll excuse me as I put on my kimono and white facepaint and grab a fan or two. I’ve been told, I don’t know if it is true, that the word kabuki literally translates as “the old song and dance.”
government really want us to know it’s been bought, ’cause his flip-flops have to be the most outrageous in a cynical national political history. Why did I have the impression listening to Obama v Clinton that we were gonna have national healthcare? Did I misunderstand him or is this the biggest serving of Kool Aid since Jonestown? I can’t believe the 1.8 million people on the Washington Mall just over four months ago aren’t getting this but are still entranced with that winning smile?
I had been asking this question roughly every six months at this place or that place since Dubya stole Florida in 2000. Didn’t get more than a couple of affirmative responses in almost a decade of tossing this feeler out.
So… are you fed up enough to discuss general strikes YET?
NOTHING is going to change until you start planning real direct action that can take money out of the pocket of the investor class.
were a real third party power then.
It’s been rotten for a long time, but Bush’s enablement of the corporations, in a myriad of ways, worsened the situation ten-fold. Anti-trust laws are a sham and have not been enacted, or these mega-conglomerates would not be the size they are — that’s one thing. Lax or no regulations, banks, Wall Street, labor, etc.
Yes, our representatives listen to the lobbyists, as they have their palms “greased” at the same time, lucrative deal for both. And should a representative decide to go against one or any of them, the corporation(s) can launch a massive campaign to get that individual out of office. Witness what happened to Kucinich and Wexler, for example. How can Obama be effective, if members of Congress and the Senate are not supportive?
It’s a despicable, disgusting situation we have, not all that different from other countries that we criticize. Investigations and prosecutions would go a long way to setting everyone in our government and the lobbyists, too, back on their heels for a while. That’s number one. Otherwise, we need to find a way to “sweep” house. Get rid of all of them. Doing away with the two-party system might be a good idea, too. Let each person run on his own merit and have run off voting. Means getting rid of the electoral vote.
There are a number of avenues to pursue, but will it be done?