By Jack E. Lohman

Now even the Left is confusing political corruption.

In “After the Big Crash, The GOP Wants to Deregulate … Again,” the author does an excellent job outlining the Republican’s plan to repeal the new banking regulations.

But then he says “It’s cynicism. There’s no other rational explanation.”

Wrong. There is a rational explanation, and it’s not cynicism; it’s called political corruption! Payola. Bribery. Criminal activity that must be prosecuted. Our government employees (congressmen) are bought and paid for by the bankers and should go directly to jail!!! All of them.

Though a (usual) Republican, even I cannot accept the likes of Mitch McConnell and John Boehner. If this is what we have to look forward to in a November turnover, I want nothing of it. The turnover must be in the primaries, where new Dems replace old Dems and the same for Republicans. 100% of them must go!

A little history here…

In 1999 our trusted politicians, Democrats and Republicans alike, repealed the Glass-Steagall banking regulations that were put into place following the financial crash of the 1930′s. It served us well, until campaign cash (bribes) succeeded in winning the hearts and minds of our trusted congressmen, championed by Republican Phil Gramm. The repeal was signed by Bill Clinton, though with 90 senators voting for it even a veto would not have slowed it.

Also came our Fat-Cat-backed NAFTA and CAFTA and all of our jobs went to other countries, and the Bush $680 billion tax breaks for the rich converted a surplus to a deficit, and the 2003 Medicare Drug program and its $780 billion giveaway to the pharmaceutical industry.

And then, surprise, the crash of the 2000′s upended our nation and we all wondered why.

So in 2010…

… congress passed a financial reform bill that put some (but not enough) of those regulations back in place, and the Republicans now want to repeal even those. They like that the banker bonuses fuel their campaign coffers, and under the banner of “smaller government” want the bankers and other elites protected.

And those tax breaks for the rich? Even some Dems are rallying behind their wealthy friends. The elites are paying off members of both parties, so this is what to expect.

It does not matter that the tax breaks helped crash the economy, they want them to remain. They created no jobs then, but claim they will now. In fact the reverse occurred. Go figure.

“You hear it all the time these days: The top 1% of Americans own more wealth than the bottom 45% of the rest of Americans combined.” What will happen as they acquire even more?  Will they ever own it ALL?  When will the wealth transfer stop, or will the “little people” revolt first?

Already, through this thing we call privatization, we have armed corporations Blackwater, KKR and Halliburton to protect our troops in the middle east. Forget that our troops need private protectors, what happens when the war ends and they bring those guns home? Will they turn them on our own government? Will Erik Prince (Blackwater) want to now control the American government and “save our people?”

We have a frightening world ahead, and all because our politicians want to protect their jobs with future campaign cash. And no price, not even personal integrity, is too large to pay. And no cash bribe is too small to accept. Only public funding of campaigns will reverse it.

I worry for my kids and grandkids, but I also wonder why politicians don’t as well. And I wonder about the public. Are they ready to snap? Another rebellion anyone?

By Jack E. Lohman

Same old, same old, but absolutely nothing on how they are going to get the state legislature — which is owned and operated by special interests –  to put meaningful legislation on their desk. Until that happens there will be nothing good to be signed.

Wisconsin’s big problem is spending money on special-interest giveaways rather than needed state infrastructure, like schools and special education. But school kids don’t fund the elections; the Fat Cats do, and neither candidate wanted to tackle that.

Neither of these guys really get it. Our country and state are in deep financial trouble, and 80% of the problems can be traced to bribery in the political system, and 20% to stupid attempts to satisfy voter pressure. So what do they concentrate on? The latter.

Jobs

First and foremost we must get back into Wisconsin the jobs that were lost due to NAFTA and CAFTA trade giveaways our corrupt congress created. Jobs will only be created by cutting to zero the taxes paid by corporations who employ Wisconsin workers. And we must eliminate corporate healthcare costs, which is best done by supplanting ObamaCare with a state-run single payer system.

Only then will corporations be able to compete with foreign manufacturers and only then will we be able to attract new businesses to the state and keep the ones we have. Reducing unemployment increases the tax base.

Legislative Reform

None of this will occur as long as state legislators and their re-election campaigns are funded by special interests who want in taxpayer pockets. Election reforms are absolutely mandatory — like public funding of campaigns, instant runoff voting, none-of-the-above ballot choices, pay-for-performance for politicians, and smaller districts and more representation.

Can you imagine corruption being bad in Afghanistan but okay in Wisconsin?

Government Reform

Indeed we have great waste, much because government departments are always created but never eliminated. An independent commission must be established to review the size of each department, its purpose and need in today’s world, and the salaries as they relate to private industry. Departments no longer needed must be eliminated. Salaries and retirement benefits must br brought into line with private industry.

As a disclosure I am a Neumann supporter, though I can imagine that he wished I weren’t. I do disagree with some of his positions. But if a good bill on public policy were to reach his desk, I see him signing it. Scott Walker does not have that history.

By Jack E. Lohman

Great idea, this makes all the sense in the world, even for Wisconsin’s state legislators. Pay-for-performance for politicians.

But I get nervous — extremely nervous — when politicians are set to balance the budget and must decide between (a) their fiduciary responsibility to the voters and taxpayers and (b) the moneyed special interests that funded their campaign. Something tells me that the beast they starve will be the citizens of the state and US; not their campaign contributors.

Can you imagine how the bankers would fare under this scenario? Or am I just being cynical?

Here’s the bill:

H.R. 4336: Fiscal Responsibility Act — To provide that pay for Members of Congress be reduced following any fiscal year in which there is a Federal deficit.

Provides that, if there is a deficit in a fiscal year, then:

(1) any pay adjustment (including a cost of living adjustment) for Members of Congress scheduled to take effect in the succeeding calendar year shall be null and void; and

(2) rates of pay for Members shall be reduced by a specified percentage, but not below zero.

Specifies the mandatory pay rate reduction at:

(1) 5%, for the first year; or

(2) 10%, for any consecutive subsequent year that expenditures exceed revenues.Specifies conditions for restoration of the original pay rate, together with otherwise scheduled adjustments. Vests authority in the Director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to make determinations of whether or not a deficit exists in any fiscal year. States that, in making any such determination, the Director shall exclude any budget outlays which directly relate to a military conflict that lasts over 30 days or that is in direct response to a terrorist attack on the United States.

Better that they pass public funding of campaigns first.

Nothing is going to change until we have public funding of campaigns. We have high taxes because we have high spending, and we have high spending because the corporate funders have paid the politicians to spend. That’s what political bribes are all about. Corporate leaders buy politicians because it works.

There is a partial solution… The Fair Elections Now Act … not perfect but progress. It’s a 4-to-1 public match on donations of $100 or less. Sans four sensible Republicans it is primarily a Democrat bill, which irritates the hell out of Mitch McConnell and John Boehner. They get really really mad when the Dems do something smart.

Our economy has been trashed because our politicians are owned by corporate America — the bankers, oil and coal, defense, you name it — all because they need campaign contributions to get re-elected. And our current system virtually demands that the money comes from private interests, unless you are a multimillionaire and can fund your own race (which our Senator Kohl did, and you can see what we got).

But if the money came instead from public funds — incidentally at a cost of less than $5 per taxpayer — our politicians would only have to do what’s right for the public. And they’d get re-elected without having to become a member of the world’s oldest profession.

What’s not to like about that?

By Jack E. Lohman

Let’s call this what it is. Congressman Paul Ryan (“Critics detour on ‘Roadmap’ to solvency“) wants to privatize Social Security and Medicare, not because it saves money for the taxpayers, but because “private” companies can give campaign contributions and “public” entities can’t. Add in their corporate profits, executive salaries and bonuses and “private” will be more costly and less useful every time.

Taking people off of Social Security and putting them onto food stamps, which is what will occur, is foolish. As is moving people from Medicare to Medicaid and keeping seniors in the workforce taking up jobs.

But I will agree with Ryan that ObamaCare is atrocious; the most cost-effective system would have been to extend Medicare to all. Its 95% ownership by private doctors and hospitals is a winner, and though far from perfect it is better than private insurance and would save our nation over $400 billion in unneeded administrative costs.

And incidentally, would have allowed American companies to better compete with foreign product whose manufacturers do not fund their health care systems. More American jobs would be created and saved.

But I digress. Can you imagine the crash of Social Security two years ago with the rest of the market, had President Bush won SSI privatization in his first term? The taxpayers would again have had to bail out the SSI losses, though by now we have become pushovers.

And understand this: private Medicare already exists as an option, as 20% of seniors have chosen. It’s called Medicare Advantage and costs the taxpayers 17% more than traditional Medicare. I thought private was supposed to be less costly than public, but the Pols defend it because the private companies are very, shall we say, “politically active” with their cash.

But before we touch SSI and Medicare, I want to see congress swap their Cadillac health care and retirement plans to those they propose for us!

Save the Bush tax cuts???

As a former small business owner I can assure you that ZERO of my colleagues were in the top 3% of wage earners that would be affected by letting the Bush tax cuts expire. And if we wanted to expand business and create jobs we’d simply use pre-tax company checks rather than writing a personal after-tax check. Too simple?

Besides, those making over $1M a year are not investing in America. They invest where workers get paid $1 per hour and profits are high and their economies are growing!

The bottom line is that the poor people are not going to pull us out of our recession; only the rich people can. And that will take a repeal of the tax cuts, at least until we get our feet on the ground.

But our core problem is far more serious than all of the above. Taxpayers (and Ryan) have yet to understand that politicians spend money because the special interests WANT them to spend money on pork and other no-bid contracts and giveaways. And these special interests fund the elections so they get what they want. And corporate executives give money because money works. Go figure.

And when state and federal money goes to the Fat Cats instead of to communities in revenue sharing, local taxes must rise to compensate. Fighting taxes at the local level does not change the corruption at the top.

Nothing is going to change until we have public funding of campaigns. If politicians are going to be beholden to their funders, those funders should be the taxpayers. And at $5 per taxpayer per year it would be a bargain.

But Paul Ryan has not lifted a finger to fight the cause; he is too focused on the effect. And moving up the Republican ladder.

By Jack E. Lohman

As a former smoker, I understand the consternation of smokers. But please, blame the taverns and restaurant operators that ignored sensible and inexpensive ideas instead of the nonsmokers that fought for the law. These operators harmed mostly their employees without need, and rushed a law that might otherwise have been delayed.

Nothing, including smoke-eaters, protected the employees. Even if smokers themselves, they were consuming an extra pack of cigarettes per day just being at work. Higher cancer rates among wait staff occurred. Not even separate smoking rooms helped, so for them the law is a virtual lifesaver and long overdue.

But now it is what it is. And even if the politicians wanted to, most of those restaurants who were forced to go smoke free will have nothing to do with reversing the law. Some may try to allow smoking anyway, but the loss of nonsmoker business will overrule their decision.

The restaurants and bars that have suffered from the law (which will be few) now have to fend for themselves. They won’t have the tobacco industry to lobby and bribe politicians for them any more. They will have to spruce up or get out.

Ask some questions:

Is my food good? I can now eat at one of my favorites (George Webbs) because I can now breathe at the same time I eat. But some eateries may have to improve their food, especially if smoking was the only thing that kept people coming back. Now those smokers are looking for good food instead. Surprised?

Do I need advertising? At the very least put a sign outside: “Enjoy great food. Now Smoke Free!”

Elbow grease? Yea, scrub the place. Get rid of the rancid smell.

But also be mad — very mad — if your restaurant or tavern association took money from the tobacco industry and helped them delay this commonsense law… and so did your politicians (for a price, mind you).

These associations worked against the best interests of their members. If your food and service is decent you were losing two nonsmokers for every smoker you kept. And the smokers kept coming back and the nonsmokers didn’t.

A big mistake was not going smoke free earlier and voluntarily, but the tobacco forces convinced them to reject that idea.

The next Wisconsin issue is a single payer healthcare system that hopefully will get health care off your backs and your employees protected. If your association is taking money from the insurers or even selling their product, find a new association. This one is killing your business.

A year after New York went smoke free its Department of Labor reported 10,000 new hospitality jobs. That is not the sign of a failed policy. Today’s economy won’t replicate those results, but they won’t be dismal either.

By Jack E. Lohman

Number One… Taxes!

All businesses that manufacture their products in Wisconsin should pay ZERO Wisconsin taxes. And if that isn’t practical, they should receive a state subsidy equal to the taxes paid. Or compensate them with a rebate on wages paid. Whatever.

It is absolutely foolish that we burden businesses with a cost that is simply passed on to the consumers anyway, especially after they add their expensive accounting and legal costs to minimize them. We reimburse them at the cash register, and these business taxes nail not the corporations but the people who buy their product. And regressively, for those who care.

That is a tax on consumption and jobs, all when we need exactly the opposite. It is counterproductive.

Number Two… Healthcare Costs

Like taxes, after adding administration these costs are passed on to the consumer and jobs leave the state or country as a result.

Over $7000 per employee per year in the U.S., but $800 in Canada. Is it any surprise that GM makes more cars in Canada than in the U.S.?

ObamaCare is an atrocious deform. Not only will it burden the state with 400 new mandates and add payroll where we can’t afford it, it is also going to require massive new hires at the IRS to oversee the “mandated insurance” called for by the Feds. That is said to require 17,000 new IRS agents, though that number has been challenged.

Even if half that number, it is bad. But just think “more jobs” and you’ll get over it. (Or maybe you won’t; they are taxpayer funded.)

All of this when a Medicare-for-all single-payer system would have been less expensive and more inclusive, covering 100% of Americans and saving $400 billion per year and affecting the best bailout ever for 100% of our businesses rather than just the banks and car companies.

But $125 million in campaign bribes won the day for the insurance and pharmaceutical industries. Aren’t you glad your politicians don’t come cheap?

If our state politicians were smart…

… they would implement our own single-payer healthcare system. Call it what you want, though I like “Expanded and Improved BadgerCare Plus-Plus” that pays Medicare rates plus 10% to keep doctors and hospitals fairly compensated. Make coverage equal to the state employee’s and teacher’s plan. Allow Gap insurance if employers want to enhance the coverage, but little of that should be needed.

How to fund it? Well, the taxpayers are currently paying for all of our health care needs today, even if only at the cash register. But an added surcharge on criminal fines and added fees on lobbyist licenses is a start, and there’s clearly other “less harmless” pockets that can be found. Let the lobbyists pass the cost on to the corporations that are trying to manipulate the politicians (and ultimately the people).

But let’s get moving on this before we start losing jobs to states that beat us to the punch. Minnesota is far ahead of us on this. We need employers coming and staying in Wisconsin. Not leaving.

Will we ever learn?

“America will always do the right thing, but only after everything else fails.” Winston Churchill

.

And a note from my friend Jim Wrich (Madison, WI):

“A tax burden on business is just a round-about way of taxing people — and it is usually regressively. A tax on gasoline, for example, affects middle and lower income people far more than it does the wealthy. Any tax on food or clothing, especially sales taxes, are regressive.”

“A graduated tax on all personal income — not just earned income — with no exemptions or deductions, would be the fairest and most efficient system. If a property tax is deemed necessary, the first $500,000 for a personal homestead should be exempt, and the property tax should not be used to fund education, only local services.”

I couldn’t agree more. We need help from the wealthy… the poor are not going to get us out of this mess.

By Jack E. Lohman

It used to be that motes around the castles would protect the rich from club-wielding peons, but now with shoulder-fired missiles that’s out. And with our new breed of pirates, not even small islands in foreign countries will protect them. Where will the rich go (the poor babies…)?

Why don’t they just say enough is enough and do the right thing?  They will not like where their cash is leading our country. Without a middle class to buy their product it will be dry sailing.

It’s not that they have gotten rich that is so bad, it’s that many have acquired it from ordinary folk and trashed the economy in the process. The top 1% of the public now owns 22% of the nation’s wealth — the same as in 1929 — not so much by expanding the GDP but by dishonest and clever manipulation of the stock market.

Where, incidentally, many of our 401(k)’s and retirement plans once resided but has recently transferred to the wealthy.

Source: Inequality.org

“While the world economy collapsed, the Fortune 400 richest Americans increased their wealth by $30 billion. From where did that new wealth transfer from? From the poor and middle classes. It could come from nowhere else. But for better or worse, the perps stole from all countries that had assets, and not just ours. That also makes prosecution more complicated.” Source

Yea, I get tired of talking about it, but it isn’t changing for the better. It’s getting worse. Estimates are that it will be ten years before our economy rebuilds itself, and even then the jobs of old will be gone for good. It is best that today’s unemployed train in new fields that can’t be outsourced.

It’s a hard subject because even the conservatives have room to complain. Like against public sector unions demanding and getting $150,000 per year jobs with Cadillac health care and retirement at 50 with 90% of your last years’ salary. And in Bell, CA, the city manager earns $787,637 — with annual 12 percent raises and 80% of salary for retirement — and it pays its police chief $457,000. See this video.

Wow, even as a CEO I didn’t take home that kind of dough.

Cities and states will simply have to declare bankruptcy and rebuild from scratch, but can the U.S. do that?

The fact is, the top 10% are getting richer and the bottom 80% poorer. No country can sustain itself with imbalances of that kind, and history shows that when the bottom tier gets trampled enough they fight back. Physically. A bloody rebellion is unavoidable with our current trend.

We really lose the battle when we allow the corporate interests and elites to divide the community into sectors fighting each other when the real culprit is the campaign cash that corrupts the political system. They like that a lot!

Can it be stopped?

Not with corrupt politicians who are willing to take bribes and a piece of the action for services rendered. Only a 100% turnover in November will suffice.

By Jack E. Lohman

Like when I ran my business, politicians should adhere to three, very basic, business principles:

1) Do their best and get paid accordingly. If taxes go up and tax money is spent on useful public needs and a balanced budget results, their incomes go up. If the opposite occurs, their incomes go down. Pay for performance. Accountability. That’s what they expect of teachers, isn’t it?

2) Do not take bribes from outside sources and give away company assets in return. If you do this in private industry you go to jail; not get re-elected. Work for the voters, not the bribers.

3) If I pay you to work full time, work full time! Don’t take off six months to prepare for the next vacation (or election).

Too simple? Is there something about normal business ethics that politicians don’t understand?

Not taking bribes should be a no-brainer, but the politicians call them “free speech.” That they buy legislation beneficial to the contributor and detrimental to the taxpayer should say enough.

If I give a bit of free speech to a cop to avoid a ticket, why is that illegal?

Can you imagine the results of a clean political system? Lower taxes, more jobs, fewer wars. What’s not to like about that?

Welfare Payments, Unemployment Benefits?

I have a real problem with welfare and unemployment payments when given to people who are able-bodied and can work.

Can’t find a job? Then the state should pay them $10 an hour to sweep sidewalks, shovel snow, work in humane societies, non-profit nursing homes, charity work, or whatever, for 20 hours each week. Whatever. Spend the other 20 looking for a real job. But do SOMETHING useful! Even a volunteer job.

That’s $200 per week getting paid for what could turn out to be a new profession. Certainly not in sweeping sidewalks, but working at non-profits would be useful. Even the state paying them to re-educate in a usable profession like health care would be more productive than paying them to watch television.

In the process we could reduce the number of excessively-paid government workers! Do it through attrition.

We must also help the disabled, but I know that many of them are able to and want to work. Especially the Vets. If nothing else, doing telemarketing or mailings from home. We are not doing them a favor by paying them to do nothing. In fact, letting them remain isolated is the cruelest thing we can do.

But we have serious problems…

They’re called Liberals and Conservatives. Too bad they aren’t called pragmatists.

By Jack E. Lohman

We painted ourselves into a corner, and now we want out of it.

Nobody is denying that the rich got richer in the last decade. The highest paid are the hedge fund managers with the top 25 bringing home $25 Billion total, the highest at $4 Billion per year. That’s billion with a “B.” For the moment we won’t even discuss whether it was justified or even legal money, but will ask “when is enough enough?” How much more must one siphon off before they are happy?

No, we shouldn’t be in this mess in the first place. The cost of maintaining a civilized and capitalistic country is high enough, but our politicians have made it worse. And some of our elites have helped dig the hole deeper, and they’ve made it look bad for even the justifiably rich.

So where do we go from here?

Fact: High taxes are caused by high spending. But reducing that is going to require campaign finance reform because spending results when campaign contributors give cash bribes to politicians to achieve government spending on their project.

Fact: The poor people cannot pull us out of this, only the rich people can. And those who got all of the breaks of the last decade should be the people who are tapped first. Now, whether they can buy themselves out of this is yet to be seen.

Fact: The banking deregulations of 1999 are the main cause of the crash, but the Bush tax cuts turned a budget surplus into a deficit and dug the hole deeper. The high end elites are now taxed too little and we must tax all income the same as wages.

Fact: The cleverly-named “fair” tax is not fair at all. We must have zero taxes for those under $25K, highly progressive taxes over $250K, and a flat percentage tax in between.

Fact: Business taxes should be zero if companies meet certain requirements! Like manufacture their goods in the US and don’t outsource to lower-wage countries. And allow their shareholders greater autonomy on setting CEO salaries and spending profits on political bribes.

Fact: Current business taxes are regressive because they are passed to the consumers disproportionate to their incomes. So are national sales taxes and Value-added-taxes (VAT). And for the same reason so are health care costs. Only a progressive tax on wages can be fair, and only taxing all income at the highest rate can be fair. Eliminate the different tax rates, and pass a Medicare-for-all system that will bail out ALL employers, not just the banks and car companies.

But whatever you believe…

Even if you disagree with the above, you cannot believe that a corrupt political system is in the best interest of our nation. When our politicians take cash bribes from special interests, they are no better than the bank robber that steals your retirement account or steals from your family. They have to go.

Taxes are too low, spending is too high and wrongly directed, and all are caused by political bribery. The guys you are paying to represent you are giving away your assets. Only public funding of campaigns will fix it.

By Jack E. Lohman

Not all CEOs are bad guys. Easily 80% of them invested their own blood, sweat and tears starting their own company from scratch, risking everything they had and providing good jobs to the vast number of Americans. They should be admired, and deserve every bit of salary they can afford to give themselves.

But 20% of CEOs are bottom feeders — interlopers — and the 80% suffer because of it.  Some never started anything, yet gained their position because they became members of the good-old-boy network of CEOs that sit on each others’ Boards. They vote $10 million compensation packages for their buddies because the shareholders and taxpayers pay the bill, and they usually hire an outside “independent compensation consultant” to provide legal cover.

Nor are all politicians bad guys, but the ratio is reversed. Power and fame attracts them, though they claim otherwise. Easily 80% are bottom feeders seeking to expand their personal wealth over the best interests of the constituents they are supposed to serve.

The 20% of CEOs seek to own the 80% of politicians so they can implement and control, and they find that acquisition one of the easiest they’ve ever made. The Pols are glad to hop aboard because they share the booty they’ve made possible through their writing and voting for and against laws and deregulations… like the 1999 repeal of the Glass-Steagall act that trashed the financial world and the nation’s economy, all to benefit the bankers.

Sorry, but this comparison is apt: Even 80% of our nation’s convicts look down upon the 20% who are child molesters and murderers — the bottom-feeders of that community.

It bears repeating:

“There is only so much growth that we can squeeze out of GDP to satisfy the Fat Cat appetites for further wealth. The rest must come from other people’s wealth; their houses, their jobs, their 401(k)’s and retirement plans, and their kids’ schooling.” (Source)

_____________________________________

Disclosure: Until retirement 6 years ago I was a CEO (I like to think in the 80% bracket). I started my 25-year-old business in my basement and grew it to $6M and 70 employees in four states, and I had only one shareholder to rip off. Me. I had my family house on the line and sometimes went without a paycheck to make payroll.

At one point I thought I’d lost it; I had to lay off a nurse, the only layoff in 25 years. But I was able to hire her back two weeks later and we kept growing.

Wow, what a difference from today’s dilemma.

So I’m critical of today’s 20% of CEO interlopers and the bankers who have ripped off the public, but more because they are stealing from my kids and grandkids than anything else. I *DO* understand personal motivation and I also understand unfettered greed. One of them I like.

But I wonder why the 80% of good CEOs tolerate the other 20% not only leaving the profession with a bad name, but also allowing them to help trash the economy as they have.

By Jack E. Lohman

We know the Fat Cats want to own everything they can’t acquire legitimately, but where are the heads of our voters?

The liberals want only democrats to be elected and conservatives want only republicans… even when both political sides are corrupt as hell and trading our country for campaign bribes!

We must throw them all out; at least those that do not vote for the Fair Elections Now Act. Even if a change in leadership were to occur, national stability is more important than a corrupt government.

Neither the voters on the Left nor the Right fully understand the long term effects of our corrupt political system, and how every issue is affected. The Fat Cats have gotten stronger with each new congress and now totally own our politicians, who in turn will trash our jobs and economy as long as the campaign cash keeps rolling in. They now only pass or defeat laws to satisfy their campaign contributors rather than the voters.

That’s called an oligarchy, not a democracy, and a civilian rebellion is likely next. Take the food from their tables and Americans will rise up. They’ll get shot at by our own government troops and some will be killed, but that’s what happens when the political system fails.

If you haven’t seen this chart on inequality, you must. We are at the exact same point we were at in 1929, just before the crash. This time too, our politicians are very complicit. If you favor privatization, you ought to be tickled pink. We now have a privatized congress; how are you liking it so far?

There is only so much growth that we can squeeze out of GDP to satisfy the Fat Cat appetites for further wealth. The rest must come from other people’s wealth; their houses, their jobs, their 401(k)’s and retirement plans, and their kids’ schooling.

The top hedge fund managers are pulling in salaries of several billion dollars per year, and this is not coming from GDP growth. It’s coming from low and middle-income nest eggs when government bailouts occur.

Jobs that will never come back…

Companies outsource our jobs for $1 per hour so they can pocket the rest, thanks much to NAFTA and CAFTA and the politicians they bribed to pass the laws. These jobs are not coming back, so our staying a first-world country is at stake.

Our politicians are co-conspirators, enabling the wealth transfer because they share in the booty. Their salaries are paid by taxpayers but their campaigns are funded by the Fat Cats, and that virtually guarantees their job and increases their own source of wealth.

They are taking bribes to do the wrong thing at the right time. They should go to jail but they’ve twisted the laws to make the taking of political bribes legal.  If the political campaigns were instead paid by the taxpayers, the politicians would do what is in the best interest of the country.

They could pass meaningful reforms and the country would flourish. But all of our wealth would rise proportionately and the wealth divide would narrow. That’s what the Fat Cats dislike, so they bribe our politicians to keep the status quo.

This duo is stealing from my kids and grandkids. But so are they stealing from the families of my conservative friends, and I don’t understand their tolerance of this corrupt system.

I agree with the Right that government is too big, that unions are part of the problem, and that bureaucrats are over-paid. But they must agree that politicians are corrupt and we must — together — put a stop to the political bribery that is trashing our nation’s economy.

By Jack E. Lohman

Can you imagine what would have happened had George Bush gotten his way in 2002, and we privatized social security? And then when the bankers went belly up, the taxpayer-funded bailout was enlarged to compensate?

The bankers would have had even more cash with which to generate even bigger bonuses and to create an even bigger bubble. THAT is the kind of stimulus they’d like! Unfettered capitalism that creates “opportunity,” if you know what I mean.

Follow me on this: We can cut social security payments and make it up with taxpayer-funded public aide, like food stamps, and we can force seniors to keep working for two more years when they can’t even find a job today. Or we can pay them (or the worker they displaced) unemployment insurance, all to satisfy the adequately employed executive who likes his current tax breaks left as is.

That makes a hell of a lot of sense. More money spent to satisfy a problem that shouldn’t even exist.

Yes, the SSI government bureaucracy must be trimmed, but adding profits for CEOs is not the way to do it. Nor is cutting benefits. But the politicians prefer this because they’d get a piece of the action through campaign contributions, which they are not getting today.

And privatize Medicare?

We already have privatized Medicare Advantage, thanks again to George Bush. It’s the Medicare Advantage arm that costs taxpayers 17% more than traditional Medicare (maybe that’s the piece that goes to the politicians!). And though they’ve attracted 20% of the patients, here’s why few Medicare patients like these plans.

One thing is for sure…

… if political campaigns were publicly funded, neither of these discussions would be going on. They’d simply quit spending SSI and Medicare money on industry subsidies that pad the pockets of the rich. And incidentally, their own in the process.

Yes Social Security and Medicare should be means tested, and seniors with over $200K income should pay their own way. The income caps should be eliminated, for which deductions apply, and the Bush tax cuts should be allowed to expire.

And yes, we have a deficit that was caused by exorbitant tax breaks and excessive spending, and this hole should be closed with increased taxes for those over the $200K income level. At least temporarily until we can get rid of the political corruption.

But the wealthy folks won’t stand for any of this, and are willing to bribe the politicians to block meaningful reform.

So the bottom line is…

… we have a corrupt political system, no better than those in Somalia or Afghanistan. Our politicians should be in jail, not in Washington running our country.

All because their campaign coffers have been more important to them than a solid America, politicians trashed our economy by eliminating regulations that stemmed the greed inherent in some executives. And all because those executives padded the political pockets with legal campaign contributions, we must live with a trashed economy.

Only public funding of campaigns will free politicians from the conflict of interest they now face. That system is even optional for those who want to continue under the current system, but in Arizona and Maine over half of their politicians chose clean, public funds.

Allow politicians to make laws without the corruptive influence of campaign contributions and they’ll run the country in the best interest of the public rather than Corporate America.

After all of the bribes are taken out of the system, I may still dislike some decisions. But I’ll know they were made honestly.

What you can do to help:

Ask your Senators and House representatives to co-sign the Fair Elections Now Act (S. 752 and H.R. 1826)

And vote 100% against incumbents, during the primaries so you can keep your favored party. There are few (if any) of today’s politicians that deserve another term. Even if an opposite party were elected it would send a vitally important message.

By Jack E. Lohman

Many things are wrong with today’s wealth inequality (see chart) and many on the Right like to excuse it as “free enterprise.” But when that free enterprise compromises the sustainability and safety of a nation it ceases to be free and it must be regulated. But it must be regulated by politicians not regulated themselves by the campaign contributions from those who benefit from the laws they write.

Where to start?

Corporate Reform: We must give control of corporations back to their owners; the shareholders. They must have authority to approve CEO salaries and pay packages, to (dis)approve of political expenditures, to call for an independent audit, and to appoint board members. We must eliminate proxy votes that automatically transfer to the Board, and the conflict of interest that results when CEOs of one company sit on the board of their buddy-CEO’s other company.

As one who lost over $100,000 because of investments in four corporations with arrogant CEOs, I feel the pain of those who lost their home or life savings. This legalized robbery must be stopped, but first we must stop the legalized political bribery that allows it.

CEO Pay: As it stands, $100 million CEO packages are simply written off as a company expense and the taxpayers end up subsidizing the CEO’s wealth. This write-off should be limited to $1 million, because there’s not a CEO in this country worth any more than that. But if the shareholders disagree they can divert some of their dividends to satisfy the CEO needs. Or they can fire him, whichever they prefer. But they can’t use any more taxpayer dollars.

Individual Tax Reform: The Bush tax cuts must be allowed to expire, and we must increase taxes on the rich. They helped us into this mess and they are the only ones that can afford to get us out of it. The poor people cannot.

Yea, I’ve heard it before: “The rich invest their wealth and create jobs!” That’s (usually) baloney… though IF that were true we should make their taxes zero and they could pull our country out of recession tomorrow. But instead they’d send their tax savings offshore and create jobs in China and India. They’re not dummies. You’d do the same thing now that our politicians have given foreign investments a tax break.

VAT and consumption tax: These must be taken totally off the table. The rich love them, because they are equivalent to a national sales tax and are “regressive” and disproportionately paid by lower-wage families who buy product. Aside from that, “consumption” is the last thing in the world we should penalize.

Corporate tax reform: Taxes on corporations that employ US citizens should be zero. And if they can’t find a way to do that, an increase of all corporate taxes but a heavy per-employee subsidy will help make US manufacturing attractive. Corporate taxes, in the end, are simply passed on to the consumer at the cash register and are regressive. Under this proposal only foreign product will be taxed.

Single-payer healthcare: Why we give away to the health insurance industry $700 billion per year, when this middle-man should go the way of first-class mail and other obsoleted technologies, is beyond me. It is, at least, until I look at the $125 million the health industry made in campaign contributions to our esteemed politicians.

Health costs are an unneeded corporate burden that is passed on to our nation’s consumers and should be paid by the taxpayers directly. They’ll save $400 billion in the process. That bureaucracy adds 20% to our costs and is killing American competitiveness and jobs (though admittedly it makes our politicians very rich, and they like that a lot).

How nice to be rich…

Indeed some wealthy folks, after pillaging the American people, will relocate to quieter countries to spend their wealth and last years. If they are lucky they’ll pick one that stays democratic and is not overthrown. If they are not lucky they’ll need to spend their wealth on their own army to protect them and their families from kidnapping by goon squads demanding ransoms. Or hoping the local politicians don’t confiscate it. It could be a very miserable life of isolation.

I found amusing the Billionaire Sea Castles, which of course faces only sea storms, pirates and torpedoes. But well-deserved anyway.

Even if you like some of these ideas, our corrupt political system will block them. Only passage of the Fair Elections Now Act will give them (and the nation) an opportunity to survive. Pressure your congressman to co-sign the bill. Our government is controlled by corporations rather than voters, and with political complicity they trashed our economy.

By Jack E. Lohman

So here we have it. Some really smart politicians twisted the rules to make cross-party voting illegal. In the primary we must vote for candidates in one party or the other, but not a selection from both.

It’s a terrible idea. I prefer an open primary.

I’d like to vote for the least-worst candidate in both the Senate and House races. But if one is a Republican and the other a Democrat, the rules say I can’t do that. That essentially robs me of my right to vote in one of the races. This is a lawsuit waiting to happen.

Yes, I can see that someone might cross-vote to elevate only the worst candidates in the opposing party, but that will be offset by the evil-doers on the opposing side. That is even possible with the current rules, but it is not justification for restrictions on voting or warping the system. It looks to be just more incumbent protection.

In 2008 I least-wanted to see Hillary Clinton as president, so I voted for Obama in the primary (now regrettably). But I also wanted to vote for Jim Burkee over Jim Sensenbrenner, knowing he was the better candidate. But Obama was a Democrat and he was a Republican and I couldn’t do that.

Burkee got only 20% of the Republican votes as a result of a lot of Republicans voting for Obama, and I’m sure F. Jim liked that just fine. Burkee could have won otherwise.

One thing that would satisfy both sides of the argument is Instant Runoff Voting for all offices. That would allow every voter to vote for three or more candidates, ranked by order of choice. If their first choice fails to win, their vote is transferred to their second choice, and so forth until one candidate gets 50%+1 vote. And it’s all computerized and automated, so it happens instantaneously.

Too simple for politicians to understand? No, it’s too fair because it would level the playing field for even third-parties, and fair is the last thing politicians want. But this year it may indeed be critical with all of the anti-incumbent rhetoric.

This is a clear “party control” thingy, all when the parties themselves are corrupt as hell and should be eliminated rather than coddled. I can only hope for another lawsuit or prosecution for the conspiracy it is.

So, now I’m inclined to vote for the most-worst party candidate in the primary and an independent in the November election. These are the games we have to play to outsmart the incumbents.

By Jack E. Lohman

If I had a product that was that necessary to win wars, I would expect the politicians to be sending me money instead!

Well, actually, they do, as Peace North in northwest Wisconsin so ably demonstrates:

“Perennial top-ranking defense contractor Lockheed Martin took in $32.1 billion from the federal government in 2006, most of it from the Pentagon. These taxpayer dollars made up more than 80 percent of the aerospace giant’s total revenues. In 2007, Lockheed Martin CEO Robert Stevens (right) took home more than $24 million 787 times the annual pay of a typical U.S. worker ($30,617). That placed the company far over the 100-to-1 standard for good corporate citizenship the pending Patriot Corporations Act proposes. To make matters worse, at the same time CEO Stevens and his fellow executives were lining his pockets with taxpayer dollars, government auditors were accusing the aerospace firm of more than $8 billion in cost overruns on weapons development projects.”

If the trend of defense industry bribes is an indication of what’s in store for us, we Americans are in deep trouble. And in this case the Dems pocketed 59% of the cash and the R’s 41%, which is clear proof that it is illegal payola and they ought to go to jail for it.

To be honest, I don’t know if these wars are necessary or not. But if my politician is going to vote on whether or not we send our troops to their potential death, I’d sure like that he not take campaign bribes from the industry that profits so dearly on his vote. I’d like him not on anybody’s payroll but the taxpayers.

And I worry that our congressmen are arming a private militia (Blackwater) in Iraq, rather than funding more US troops (at 1/4th the cost, of course). Why are we doing this? Because Blackwater can give campaign contributions and our army can’t, and that alone would be bad enough.

But what will happen to this company when the wars dry up? What if they have a crackpot, power-hungry CEO? What if he moves to support one of the fringe wacko groups? Will they close down and simply go away? Or move their taxpayer-paid arms to the US and try to overthrow our own government? Is this the legal, private militia the constitution spoke about, and the gun manufacturers love so much?

Speculation, I know, but this will not have a pretty ending.

And now we have BP…

… who not only paid heavy cash to keep the politicians from enforcing regulations, they even paid off government employees in the agencies tasked with oversight. BP (and others) must be forced to invest in the security cap that would not have stopped the explosion but would have contained the damage, but they bought their way out of that requirement. They found the right regulators to buy off.

Will this corruption ever stop? Only if the voters wise up.

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