Political candidates representing genuine change get marginalized, while those who further corporate interests get pushed to the forefront. Thus, the illusion is perpetuated that Americans are freely choosing from a pool of the best candidates. The idea of having alternative parties that more truly represent the will of the people is bantered about occasionally, but never gains any real traction. The current two-party system has come to represent only one special interest group: big business.
Last fall, progressives lambasted the Democrats in Congress who voted for a 700 billion dollar bailout of Wall Street, despite the fact that eighty percent of Americans opposed it. Nearly a year later, Congress admits they don't know where the money went, and there is no apparent concern for accountability. There are the usual citizen grumblings about "voting them out," yet, historically, more than ninety percent of Congressional representatives will get re-elected in the next cycle.
Congress will continue to vote against the best interests of their constituents, including the issue of health care reform, because they are beholden to corporate interests rather than the welfare of our nation. Until the money is removed from politics by mandating public campaign financing and banning the current system of corporate lobbying, our government will continue to be nothing more than a thinly veiled corporatocracy. This, more than any other issue, is at the heart of why the United States continues to veer down the wrong path.
The battle over health care reform represents a crossroad. Not only do citizens' lives literally hang in the balance, it embodies the struggle to put the welfare of human beings ahead of corporate profits. It's a battle we can ill afford to lose. Corporations have been allowed to run roughshod over every aspect of our lives, and our nation has suffered greatly as a result. If Democrats, who seem to forget they have a majority in both houses, can't get real health care reform done now, any hope for progress on the remaining issues is lost. Our government will continue to be mired in a sea of endless politicization, and our country will continue on its deep descent.
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