Democrats will take no more money from the lobyists.
M. Orhan Tarhan
June 16, 2008
About a year ago I wrote an article (No. 109) , in which I explained how congressmen, senators, and even presidents need money for being elected, that they get it a little bit from us the voters, and mostly from corporations and special interests. By doing so, the corporations earn their loyalty, although WE are voting for them. Thus, in the United States, sovereignty belongs to the corporations. That represents a degeneration of our democracy.
Last week, Senator Obama announced a new rule of the Democratic Party, that "They will no longer take money from the lobbyists." I think, this is the greatest thing that happened to the American politics, because it will return the loyalty of the representatives, senators and presidents to the American voter , where it really belongs. Senator Obama has to be praised for having done this without trying to change the laws, just voluntarily.
What will that decision do to our lives? Plenty ! The change will be fundamental.
A corporation is built by citizens for the benefit of citizens. For example a petroleum company searches for oil, gets the oil to the surface of the Earth, and refines it into various products that we all use. That is of course very nice. But most corporations eventually acquire a sort of personality, that is so highly centered on profits, that with the connivance of the government, can start acting against the interests of the citizens. For example oil companies may practically run the U.S. Foreign policy, policies that may get us into wars. It was recently announced that Exxon has spent millions of dollars to make people doubt about global warming. That was not just against the interests of the American people, but against the interests of the whole world.
I will repeat another example from last year´s paper about the drug companies. They set their drug prices very high inside the United States and sell them much cheaper abroad. If what they were selling was steel in stead of drugs, they would be dumping their products, and that is forbidden by law. But nothing happened to the drug companies. Every nation protects its own kind , never tries to shaft them. Not our drug companies. When ARRP attempted to import drugs from Canada at much lower prices, they got the government to forbid it. That shows who is the boss in this country. Certainly not we, the citizens., and not the government, but the corporations who can command the government, to forbid cheap drug imports. If politicians do no longer accept corporation money, such shameful scandals could no longer happen.
The corporations are centered in high profits. To get it, they will do everything possible inside the laws of this country. When laws are dictated by corporations, it is very profitable to go to Mexico or China, to the source of cheap labor, to cause unemployment in the U.S. and to import their products to the United States, by having very low customs duties. If laws are not dictated by corporations, laws can be made to make it more profitable to keep the businesses in this country and to employ American labor. The duty of a government should be to protect its own voters. If Chinese imports become more expensive, some prices will become a little higher, but the fuller employment will make it worthwhile. What is the advantage of low prices, if you are unemployed and cannot buy them anyway.?
I am not surprised that Obama´s important decision was very shortly and very weakly reported in the press and the media. After all most of the money given by the corporations were ending up in the hands of television people. Now they stand to lose all that revenue.
If the voluntary assistance of us citizens to politicians running for election is not enough, we can do what many Western democracies do: We can institute Public Funding of elections. WE will pay for the elections and should forbid the Corporations to contribute even a cent. Then we can start making laws that will be, not in the interest of corporations alone, but in the interest of all us citizens who vote for the politicians. Finally sovereignty will belong unconditionally to the people and America will be a real democracy.
Last week, Senator Obama announced a new rule of the Democratic Party, that "They will no longer take money from the lobbyists." I think, this is the greatest thing that happened to the American politics, because it will return the loyalty of the representatives, senators and presidents to the American voter , where it really belongs. Senator Obama has to be praised for having done this without trying to change the laws, just voluntarily.
What will that decision do to our lives? Plenty ! The change will be fundamental.
A corporation is built by citizens for the benefit of citizens. For example a petroleum company searches for oil, gets the oil to the surface of the Earth, and refines it into various products that we all use. That is of course very nice. But most corporations eventually acquire a sort of personality, that is so highly centered on profits, that with the connivance of the government, can start acting against the interests of the citizens. For example oil companies may practically run the U.S. Foreign policy, policies that may get us into wars. It was recently announced that Exxon has spent millions of dollars to make people doubt about global warming. That was not just against the interests of the American people, but against the interests of the whole world.
I will repeat another example from last year´s paper about the drug companies. They set their drug prices very high inside the United States and sell them much cheaper abroad. If what they were selling was steel in stead of drugs, they would be dumping their products, and that is forbidden by law. But nothing happened to the drug companies. Every nation protects its own kind , never tries to shaft them. Not our drug companies. When ARRP attempted to import drugs from Canada at much lower prices, they got the government to forbid it. That shows who is the boss in this country. Certainly not we, the citizens., and not the government, but the corporations who can command the government, to forbid cheap drug imports. If politicians do no longer accept corporation money, such shameful scandals could no longer happen.
The corporations are centered in high profits. To get it, they will do everything possible inside the laws of this country. When laws are dictated by corporations, it is very profitable to go to Mexico or China, to the source of cheap labor, to cause unemployment in the U.S. and to import their products to the United States, by having very low customs duties. If laws are not dictated by corporations, laws can be made to make it more profitable to keep the businesses in this country and to employ American labor. The duty of a government should be to protect its own voters. If Chinese imports become more expensive, some prices will become a little higher, but the fuller employment will make it worthwhile. What is the advantage of low prices, if you are unemployed and cannot buy them anyway.?
I am not surprised that Obama´s important decision was very shortly and very weakly reported in the press and the media. After all most of the money given by the corporations were ending up in the hands of television people. Now they stand to lose all that revenue.
If the voluntary assistance of us citizens to politicians running for election is not enough, we can do what many Western democracies do: We can institute Public Funding of elections. WE will pay for the elections and should forbid the Corporations to contribute even a cent. Then we can start making laws that will be, not in the interest of corporations alone, but in the interest of all us citizens who vote for the politicians. Finally sovereignty will belong unconditionally to the people and America will be a real democracy.
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