It is broken, thanks to our elected officials in congress, especially the republican party who practice an anti American ideology, Corporate America and their lobby whose wealth allows them to influence congressional decision making that favor their own greedy self.
Never before has Corporate America, their lobby and elected officials been so blatenly outspoken against the middle class. The BP oil spill brought out the worse in the oil industry and many elected officials who did their bidding by blaming the President for the moratorium and wanting to put the industry back to work in the Gulf before all the facts were known on the explosion and spill that killed 11 rig workers.
The State of the Union has a republican party that rubber stamped President George W. Bush's failed policies that brought the nation record federal deficits for 8 years, a doubling of the national debt, record job losses, an economy that collapsed and turned out to be the worse since the great depression and a failed financial system built on greed and a lack of oversight. And that same republican party is now doing what ever it can to see Obama and the State of the Union fail.
The birth of the republican tea party pushed their party to the extreme right and has made the conservative's ideology more anti American than ever. Their behavior at the last republican Presidential debate that they sponsored showed their true lack of character, class, and their hatred for government. They also displayed an ignorance of what America and its democratic society is all about.
Corporate America and their lobby has bought America with its wealth. Their monopoly and business practices, especially their foreign operations have reduced the working middle class. They demand special tax breaks and receive them from members of congress who gladly do their bidding. As former republican Louisiana Governor Roemer said, Corporate America needs to decide whether they want to be a American company or a foreign company.
The democratic party also shares the blame for their being in bed with Corporate America and their lobby and going along with special treatment for them. But the fact of the matter they have worked with past republican Presidents and voted the President's agenda. They have never brought impeachment charges against a republican President just because they did not like him or want to see him fail. That distinction belongs to the republican party for their treatment of President Clinton.
This writer has written several commentaries how understanding the past is the key to the future. That is still the case today, but unfortunately wealth and greed has high jacked the future and the status quo of the past is well and alive. The future can be bright again if we as a nation are willing and committed to reverse the past, learn those lessons and bring the middle class back where it belongs in a democratic society.
