In Real Estate, the saying is that it is all about “location, location, location”. Conversely, in American Politics it is all about “money, money, money”.
Almost every issue before us today, whether it be Global Warming, Healthcare, better government representation, student loans, Social Security & medicare, or government debts, they all have a common link They are all decided by politicians who constituency and financial backers are almost exclusively lobbyist and special interest with very deep pockets. In other words, we are represented by a select few. If We the People wish to reclaim our government, this, above all else, needs to change.
Politicians spend upwards of one third of their time raising money on election campaigns. This means dialing for dollars, reaching out to people and organizations who can help fund their campaigns. Who are these people and what do they want in return? Obviously, those that have the most money to give (big organizations) will get the most attention. Again, obviously, they want legislation introduced, passed, or opposed based on their interests.
If the playing field is equal or at least somewhat, then there would be nothing wrong with this. However, the way it is set up is nothing less than “legalized corruption”. Just as in an illegal corruption case, it is not illegal. Politicians have set it up that it is perfectly acceptable that a few rich organizations can influence them. And boy, do they ever. Of course, this influence peddling is open to anyone but you better have millions and millions of dollars to “contribute” or you will not get the time of day.
This has absolutely nothing to do with Democracy or making decisions based on what is right or wrong. Sadly, for the time being, our Supreme Court has ruled that this “legalized corruption” is considered constitutional as in their opinion not allowing this feeding frenzy by the few would be an infraction of “free speech”. We in America have been through times before where there was one reality one day but then became another reality the next. Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement showed us that the reality of prejudice and discrimination of his days need not have to endure. It was a long struggle but it did eventually change, and so, it must be with this “legal corruption”.
Currently, this influence peddling affects virtually every facet of our daily lives. For instance, the Pack family in California lost two of their children to an opioid addicted driver in 2003. Following some investigation, the learned that the addict was able to obtain 60 pills from one doctor, then a week later 60 pills from another doctor and so on. There was no database in place at the time for these doctors to know that they were helping an addict to get more pills. The Pack family fought to get a database established where doctors could check so addicts could no longer obtain these pills from multiple doctors. A simple case, very straightforward, not to mention a case of saving a lot of lives. A bill that for all intents and purposes should have been passed, but it did not. Why not? Because the special interests, in this case mainly the California Medical Association (CMA) said no. Now why would they say no, and how could one association stand in the way of doing the right thing? You guessed it..money!
The measure would after all mean fewer pills. For the CMA (which represents hospitals, doctors, pharmaceutical companies, investors, and shareholders), this would mean a reduction in profits so they opposed it, and boy, do they have the money to oppose it.
The CMA attacked the case twofold. One was to start shuffling money to relevant politicians. The other was to run a smear, fear, and distortion campaign . The legislation would cause bureaucratic excess, overburden the system, cause undue hardship on doctors, the database might be hacked causing personal information to be used, it would be very costly, legitimate patients would have to wait longer, and so on, and so forth. Subsequently, it took 15 years and countless more dead while fighting the CMA, and only after the opioid crisis became a national emergency was their sufficient pressure for the final bill finally passed.
There is nothing US citizens can do to make an organization like the CMA do the right thing but there is a lot that US citizens can do to make politicians do the right thing. To bring Democracy back and end this “legalized corruption”, we must tell our elected leaders to pass very serious campaign finance reform and/or we must insist on term-limits.
The reality of today can change. It is up to us.
Thank you,
Ronald V. Whitaker
Christiana, PA
