The Republicans in both houses of Congress are determined to keep that body in a state of gridlock, making absolutely certain that every form of job creation or help for the unemployed will be stifled. At the very top of their agenda is their goal to enhance corporate profits and to see to it that taxes on corporations and the richest of Americans can never be increased for any reason no matter how dire the situation may be.
Meanwhile the five controlling justices in the Supreme Court dealt a mortal blow to our democracy when they bent and twisted the 1st Amendment of the Constitution in the Citizens United case, by ruling that corporations had the same rights as people, a ridiculous, incomprehensible conclusion. With that decision they opened the door to unrestricted campaign contributions that will further contaminate our already poisoned election system.
Besides that horrific decision Americans have, in recent years, witnessed that court's badly faulted interpretations of the 2d Amendment that have put restrictions on state and local governments'' ability to control firearms and give U.S. citizens a much wider latitude in obtaining and owning a wide variety of guns including assault weapons and large capacity magazines. They have, again, opened another door, this one which will allow for the continued slaughter of innocent people by this nation's gun crazies. This is certainly a setback for the safety of the people but a great boon for the accumulation of greater profits for the gun industry.
Want to see an example of how these closely aligned entities in this consortium coordinate some of their objectives? As we know the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United opened the floodgates for massive corporate campaign contributions. The court also, in June of this year, upended the Voting Rights Act that then allowed nine Republican-controlled states, mostly in the South, to dilute these voting rights laws without advance federal approval.
This was one more nail in the coffin of America's democracy and it fitted in perfectly with previous Republican-initiated legislation in any number of states that put all sorts of restrictions on the voting rights of this country's minority populations. Talk about a group acting in concert, this was dirty politics at its best and will prove to be extremely effective in suppressing future voter turnout.
Picture this powerful consortium's official organization chart. At the top is, of course, Corporate America; then in the 3 boxes immediately beneath its three chief subsidiaries are; on the left the Republican Party, in the center the Supreme Court and on the right the K Street Lobbyists.
When you have Corporate America in control of this country, the Republican Party entrenched as permanent obstructionists in the Congress, lobbyists intimidating our pathetic representatives, and the Supreme Court bending and twisting the Constitution to meet corporate objectives, there is no question as to why this country is in such a deep quagmire. This is a cleverly designed plan which is working beautifully.
The foul odor of which I speak is spreading across America, contaminating this nation's election process in state and local governments, and making politics the least respected profession in America; this odor is symptomatic of a virulent disease for which there is no current cure; where money, power and influence have become the unofficial law of the land and those who refuse to adhere to it are severely punished.
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