Thread: Corrupt Government Is The Problem

02/16/2011

Corrupt Government Is The Problem

For many, many years now, there has been a propaganda campaign to convince Americans that Big Government is the cause of all our problems. This campaign has succeeded beyond the wildest dreams of those who instigated it at Fox News, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and elsewhere. The same techniques have been used to discredit climate science. In recent times, political propaganda has given rise to the "Tea Party" movement, which has no coherent goal other than reducing the size of government. Today I would like to correct some common misconceptions about Big Government.

Why is the Empire in decline? There are many reasons, but perhaps the most important one is the takeover of the government by special interests. Thus the problem is Corrupt Government, not Big Government. This epidemic of corruption is entirely a bipartisan affair. The heavy hitters passing out the campaign contributions and helping legislators to "craft" our new laws bribe both the Democrats and the Republicans alike. The most powerful lobbies in Washington are the Finance, Health Care, and Defense industries.

When special interests manage the law-making process, the government loses the ability to manage itself. In particular, fiscal responsibility, which is incompatible with the special needs of these interests, goes out the window. This can be seen most clearly in health care (Medicare) spending and defense spending, both of which are totally out of control.

In line with the misconception that Big Government is the problem, you've probably heard about proposals to get rid of the Department of Energy or the Department of Education. All such proposals are irrelevant nonsense. Even if we consider how incompetent and politicized these departments have become, they probably do more good than harm on balance, and represent only a discretionary drop in the Federal spending bucket. But if we're going to get rid of them, let's make sure we throw in the Department of Homeland Security—I for one would sleep better knowing they're not around to "protect" me.

Unfortunately, Homeland Security is with us forever—so much for the evils of Big Government. Who would issue those terrorism alerts the government and media use to keep us terrorized? Both political parties support Imperial agendas to fight phony wars on terrorism (or drugs or whatever). In so far as the Empire is in the business of terrorizing or killing innocent civilians in Afghanistan and elsewhere, it is imperative to maintain the myth that Americans are the Good Guys, and thus keep the nation's psychological Shadow out of sight.

The Role Of Political Parties

If we consider the two political parties, we can easily discern their roles in the ongoing fiasco. The Republicans instigated and use the Big Government propaganda lie to further their own ends, or rather, the ends of their paymasters, who simply want to redirect more of the nation's wealth their way. Any money the government is taking in and spending to support ordinary Americans is not going into their pockets, which in their view is entirely unacceptable. Their view is rationalized by a bizarre belief in Trickle-Down economics, a stance which nobody in their right mind (or without a vested interest) could possibly swallow.

Thus Republicans consistently represent the interests of America's wealthy elites. Karl Marx wasn't kidding when he spoke of predatory capitalism and the natural concentration of the wealth that occurs in all such systems. Nor was Eisenhower kidding when he warned us about the "military-industrial" complex. All of the income & wealth inequality data show just how successful the owners of this country have been over the last 30 years in directing the country's great wealth their way. In the United States, it was necessary to co-opt the government to achieve their ends. This they did, and to good effect for them.

The Democrats present a different case. They must play the special interests corruption game or risk extinction. But in doing so, they undermine their own case that Big Goverment tempers predatory capitalism. Consequently, we get expensive health care reform that doesn't reform health care or bend the cost curve. We get financial reform that doesn't reform the banking system.

Thus the Democrats are ineffectual. The Republicans, acting as a block, slap them around and they take it. Their core beliefs no longer work in a dying Empire because the good government they believe in has been co-opted, and they are in on the deal. You can think of the Democrats as victims of Gresham's Law—bad money drives out good money—because bad government policy & spending drives out good government policy & spending.

Moreover, the Democrats don't own a propaganda machine that issues talking points about the virtues of government. It's too late to adopt such a strategy anyway. The Democrats take bribes just like the Republicans do. The Democrats don't speak with one voice. They are lost and confused in 2011. The Democrats are whipped.

The Traditional Role Of Government

So Big Government is not the problem, or at least it wasn't until special interests took it over. Decades ago, when Social Security and Medicare were enacted, the government made sure "capitalism works for everybody" as Howard Dean says in the video below. In short, the government redistributed the wealth.

In the post-World War II decades, the government would tax corporate profits and the wealthiest Americans, and then turn around and give that money to the elderly or the indigent. Or the government would build roads with it, as Eisenhower did in 1950s when we created the interstate highway system. By and large, the economy worked, although many people were still disenfranchised (e.g. the Blacks before the civil rights movement). It worked because the majority of Americans shared in the nation's wealth.

But the better days of old are long gone, the ranks of the poor are swelling, and the Middle Class is disappearing. This didn't happen overnight—it took nearly 30 years for the inequality to develop to its current point. In 2011, the Empire is far too corrupt for there to be new, equitable social arrangements that serve the larger public interest. Our political discourse has become so debased that it is almost impossible for ordinary Americans to understand what the actual problems are.

No one talks about vested interests, the political corruption that caters to those interests, lack of term limits, campaign contributions and lobbyists. All these factors undermine the traditional role of government. No one mentions the extraordinary Supreme Court decision under which corporations, having been accorded the rights of individuals, can contribute unlimited amounts of money to increasingly expensive political campaigns. It is damn near impossible to win elected office in this country without raising huge amounts of money. The money must come from somewhere, and just a moment's reflection suffices to tell us how elections must be won, and are won.

These money issues have been swept under the rug, which is what we would expect in a society where information coming from the "official" media is censored, though not often explicitly. Almost everybody in the mainstream media knows (at least unconsciously) what it is permissible to discuss, and what can not be talked about. If mainstream media figures want to keep their jobs, they must internalize and accept the rules. Consequently, most Americans live in a state of terminal confusion about the real causes of America's decline, which is another way of saying that propaganda and censorship work.

As Tiny Tim said in Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, God bless us, every one!

Video: Howard Dean It Is The Government's Job To Redistribute http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... -NxDFGFhIY

It's too late, Howard, give it a rest. Game Over. That was your party's President kissing Bill O'Reilly's ass

http://peakwatch.typepad.com/decline_of_the_empire/

This article really makes no sense.

Now what exactly makes a government corrupt? Lets look at this. Yes special interest parties taking over is what corrupts the government. One party wants "green" technology and energy so we create an agency for that. Lets name it the EPA. Another group wants very specific education guidelines that fit with their agenda, so we create the Dep of Ed to set Federal agenda's on what we do and don't teach our children. Another group wants to promote "civil liberties" around the world so we create an agency to handle that. Another group wants more benefits for their minority racial group, so we create an agency for that. Another group wants to be bleeding hearts to the world with mass immigration so we create an agency for that.

I could go on and on. These special interest groups that corrupt the government all get their own piece eventually and some agency or piece of an agency to be pushing their agenda. But what does it do? It creates what we call "BIG" Government. This corruption and special interest groups are BIG Government so the problem is one and the same.

Now go back to the 1990's. We had the FBI and CIA both mixed in international affairs to keep the US's interests secure. The FBI also investigated and did most of its work within the US to protect people and keep them safe from the fringe elements. Do keep in mind it was the FBI who had information regarding 9/11 before it happened but those on top desided to ignore such things. Now we also have the NSA (National Security Agency) which also has the same initiatives basically keeping the US safe. But now we also have the Dep of HS? Doesn't it seem odd we have so many agencies trying to do the same thing? Are the others no adequete?

Its just more beauracry and nonsense, more and more federal power and federal authority. Is it really the Feds job to tell me I can't spank my kid? That my kid needs to learn Spanish or Arabic in school? That I can't own a gun? Is it the feds job to tell my kids if I don't conform to their current political way of thinking I'm a racist, bigot, nazi, anti American scumbag?

Corrupt Government IS Big Government... they are one and the same. Government is meant to only protect the people from the unlawful and to provide security both lawful and economical for its people with providing the ability for any Citizen to be able to succeed (on their own accord) by protecting their base civil liberties.