Our American Culture of Corruption

Various books (see below) describe our Culture of Corruption. They describe the increasing power of Corporations since the Civil War and our present domination of government by corporations and the very rich. These powerful interests have successfully supported laws which enable them to unfairly harm our small investors, workers, consumers, and environment; and escape or reduce taxes, and receive subsidies to the detriment of our government and other taxpayers. They have successfully opposed efforts to regulate or enforce regulations which would limit their corruption.

Corrupt Corporations

A major factor has been the increasing legal support for corporations being regarded as persons with the rights that people have, such that with their huge power, they can overwhelm the expression of our people’s democratic will. Through advertising, lobbying, campaign donations and support for right wing corrupting think tanks and other political infrastructure organizations, they increase their economic wealth and political power at the expense of the rest of us.

Our petroleum, pharmaceuticals, health insurance, agro-business, telecommunications, media software and other companies spend hundreds of millions for lobbying and campaign contributions and obtain several hundred billions in tax cuts, subsidies, required government purchases and legal protections at the expense of our government and our consuming public. While most apparent at the federal level, it also occurs a state and even local levels.

Corrupt Republicans

Beginning especially with Reagan who said, “Government is the problem, not the solution.”, Republicans have reframed our government’s protection of us from abuse by businesses as government’s abuse of businesses. Our huge corporations and wealthy individuals have mainly used Republicans to do their dirty work. Even though Conservative Republican values are less compatible with public opinion than Liberal Democratic ones, Republicans have been able to use corporate money to win elections. This collusion has markedly increased during the present Republican domination of our executive and legislative branches, with Tom Delay and other house leaders leading the way.

Acquiescent Democrats

Some Democratic legislators have resisted this corruption, but also needing to raise campaign funds, many have often acquiesced. We seldom hear our two Washington Democratic Senators and six Democratic congressmen decry the various aspects of this corruption? Some voted for such special interest legislation as the recently passed bankruptcy legislation which greatly limits the protection of debtors who through no fault of their own (such as uninsured medical costs) are unable to pay their debts? All have inserted earmarks into bills which reward their campaign contributors and bypass competent competitive selection of projects to be funded.

Corruption by our Parties and Incumbents

Democrats and Republicans cooperate to redistrict to produce safe seats for incumbents. Democratic and Republican Parties control of presidential debates to exclude other parties. Incumbents with plentiful campaign donations resist public campaign financing, resulting in fewer voter choices, fewer issues discussed and lower voting rates. Our congress votes luxurious health care and pension benefits for themselves, but not for everyone else. They exempt themselves from laws which apply to everyone else. They declare that their offices can’t be searched.

Corruption is Widespread

Academics, teachers, police, attorneys, medical providers and other professional groups frequently refuse to discipline their members who act incompetently or illegally, but then protest disciplinary regulation. Seniors want social security to be untaxed, no matter how large their other income. Numerous other examples can be cited of special interests, including generally liberal ones, who seek freedoms and opportunities at the expense of the general public.

Corruption among Otherwise Liberal Groups

American workers want to restrict foreign competition and immigration of foreign workers. Union workers resist universal medical coverage at the expense of their luxury coverage. Auto workers oppose mileage standards to reduce our gasoline consumption. Teachers often oppose measures to eliminate incompetent teachers.

Our Corrupt Institutions

Our institutions are such that often only the corrupt can obtain power. The corporate executive who refuses to cheat to enhance profits is soon replaced. The politician who avoids corruption is beaten by another who benefits from it. In our corrupt institutional environment, even the good are forced to be at least somewhat bad or become banished from power.

Our Own Corruption

But one of the reasons that our supposedly liberal legislators may acquiesce to oppressive legislation may be that we voters don’t understand the extent or care enough about the corruption. We may mostly be concerned with obtaining our own special interest legislation, which gives us special privileges and counters the common benefit. While we oppose programs that help others as special interest legislation, we defend those which help us. How many of us seek and defend tax breaks for ourselves and cheat on our taxes? How many of us can say that we obey all laws, even those which we agree are sensible and fair? Americans have always included many who hustle to the extent of cutting legal corners.

Hustling has been an admired American behavior since colonial times, with a fuzzy border between legitimate and illegitimate hustling. Read Walter McDougall, Freedom Just Around the Corner, A New American History 1585-1828 and Daniel Boorstin, The Americans, The National Experience. We have found the enemy and often it is us.

Corruption Can be Greatly Reduced

Canada and Europe demonstrate that corruption can be greatly reduced. Through publicly funding shorter campaigns, requiring free or inexpensive media provision of campaign advertisements, empowering elected and staff officials to resist lobbying, refusing to grant personal civil rights to corporations, much less corruption occurs. American corporations are shocked to find their limit access to European officials. (See particularly Ted Nace, Gangs of America.

The major reason that our United States doesn’t have universal health coverage and other safety net measures that occur in all other modern nations is blockage by interest groups which are able to unduly influence our legislators and general public. Eliminating this corruption is the key to passing much of our liberal legislation.

Public Campaign Financing

Numerous examples can be cited in which special interests spend less than 100 million dollars for lobbying and campaign contributions to reap tens of billions in subsidies, tax cuts and legal protections of their monopolistic market power, at enormous expense to our taxpayers, consumers and employees.

By forcing our radio and television media who pay nothing for use of public airwaves to provide free or cheap advertising to political candidates and by publicly funding these candidate’s campaign expenditures, we can save the money that now goes to those who now make private campaign contributions, an enormous return on our investment.

Arizona, Maine and Vermont now provide some public funding for political campaigns. The result is:

· More candidates can afford to compete.

· They raise more issues and present more issues.

· They have more time to spend discussing issues and proposals with voters instead of phoning for contributions.

· Discussion of a greater variety of issues and proposals produces higher voter turnout.

· Elected officials are free from the temptation to reward contributors to their campaigns.

Some of our incumbent state legislators object that they don’t want taxpayer’s money given to the campaigns of extremists. But some of our taxpayers are extremists. More important, we can simply require that to receive public funding, candidates must first raise small amounts from a large enough number of voters to preclude extremists from qualifying.

More than any other strategy, funding political campaigns publicly will reduce our corrupt relationships between politicians and special interests. We need to seek public financing at national, state and local levels. Washington Public Campaigns (www.washclean.org) is leading the campaign for public campaign financing within Washington State. Contact them to obtain more information, arrange a presentation to your group, volunteer or donate. Dave Thomas

Relevant Books

· George Farah, No Debate, How the Republican and Democratic Parties Secretly Control the Presidential Debates*

· William H. Gates Sr. and Chuck Collins, Wealth and Our Commonwealth, Why America Should Tax Accumulated Fortunes

· Mark Green, Selling Out, How Big Corporate Money Buys Elections, Rams Through Legislation, and Betrays Our Democracy

· Amy Goodman, The Exception to the Rulers

· Jacob S. Hacker and Paul Pierson, Off Center, The Republican Revolution and the Erosion of American Democracy

· Thom Hartmann, Unequal Protection, The Rise of Corporate Dominance and the Theft of Human Rights*

· David Cay Johnston, Perfectly Legal, The Covert Campaign to Rig Our Tax System to Benefit the Super Rich – and Cheat Everybody Else

· Robert Kuttner, Everything for Sale

· Ted Nace, Gangs of America, the Rise of Corporate Power and the Disabling of Democracy

· Kevin Phillips, Arrogant Capital, Washington, Wall Street and the Frustration of American Politics