January 21st, 2010: The day Democracy stood before the death panel. The day she was sentenced to die a slow but certain death.
Most Americans sense that our form of government has been in gradual but continuous decline ever since big money special interests invaded and permanently occupied Washington, DC. The lure of easy campaign cash and six figure lobbying jobs entice lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. And as a direct result, legislation has become increasingly corrupted, with provisions written by and for corporate special interests.
This mafia-like stranglehold on all levels of government yields corporations billions in subsidies, no-bid contracts, tax credits, privatizations, and favorable regulations - all funded by working Americans. This broad daylight fleecing of ordinary and increasingly voiceless citizens makes the rich richer, the poor poorer and angrier, and ensures that the American Dream is more dream than reality.
Bad
enough. But capitalism instinctively demands growth. Enough is never enough - which brings us back
to January 21st. Corporate special interests, fronted by an organization
ironically calling itself "Citizens United", quietly orchestrated a virtual
corporate coup. The decision against the Federal Election Commission pronounced
that corporations and unions have a constitutionally guaranteed free speech right
to spend unlimited amounts of money to support or attack political candidates, effectively handing corporations the keys to every political
office in the nation.
The voice of the people has been muted. Citizenship has been degraded to irrelevant corporate serfdom. US Democracy has joined the Geneva Convention as a quaint artifact of history. And the corporate news media has and will continue to downplay this case, since media outlets stand to reap billions from unrestricted corporate ad buys.
So what we previously noticed as a gradual decline, thanks to the Robert's Court, has taken a sudden and steep downturn. Our democracy is failing and will fade from existence if the American people do not take a strong, united stand. We need to demand a constitutional amendment which returns the electoral process to "We, the people." Watch this video. Then send the link to everyone you know who thinks America should be a democracy.
