"FULL-ON PLUTOCRACY"

"It seems to me that the rulers of the 

Cherokees have sufficient intelligence

to see the utter imbecility of placing

any further reliance upon the

Supreme Court..."

Governor Wilson Lumpkin

Georgia, 1831

The above statement made in 1831 can also be said of today's reliance upon the rulings of the United States Supreme Court. "Utter imbecility..." I like that phrase. After its 2010 Citizens United vs FEC decision, it was hard to believe the Supreme Court could do more damage to the American people's right to decide by vote, the representatives to Congress that they personally wished to represent them. Now with the McCutcheon vs FEC they have effectively guaranteed that Corporations and the extremely wealthy of our country will rule our nation. A PLUTOCRACY.

"plutocracy" as defined by the World English Dictionary:

1. the rule or control of a society by the wealthy
2. a state or government characterized by the rule of the wealthy
3. a class that exercises power by virtue of its wealth

Of course, one might say that this has been true for many years. However, for the first time in history, more than half of the members of Congress are millionaires. And eight of the nine Supreme Court justices were reportedly millionaires as of 2012.

Now, add the corporations and wealthy (read Koch brothers) who are funding Super PACs and their lobbyists who work the Congress behind the scenes to ensure that their particular interests are met. Who can honestly say that the American people are in charge of governing our country?

The straw that will "break the camel's back" will be the decision in favor of Hobby Lobby in the case now pending before the Court: i.e., the religious views of the owner of a corporation being a First Amendment right to deny portions of the new Affordable Healthcare Act (ACA) to its employees. In effect this would give the corporation "people status"! Give me a break! One can only imagine the nightmare of discrimination this would reinstate in our country. Not to mention, what about the religions whose followers do not believe in blood transfusions - or any medical care at all? Any corporation could use the religious beliefs of its owner(s) as reason to refuse compliance with the ACA or any of our anti-discriminatory, civil rights statutes as well. 

*****************************

It's all about the money. Since the majority of those in Washington who are making the rules, passing the laws, and deciding which should be changed or repealed are now in the ranks of the 1% of Americans - the wealthiest, it comes as no surprise when we see the likes of the proposed budget recently presented by Paul Ryan - who is one of the millionaire Congressmen - and worth over $4 million. It's hard to picture him sympathetic in regards to any of the proposed cuts in his budget. He certainly won't need his Social Security or Medicare benefits in his old age. Nor will he suffer as the cost of living continues to rise. He probably never had to live on a $10 an hour salary, much less a lower minimum wage. If his budget passes, the results to Americans would resemble the "Menu" below. Many of the items on this menu are already in place. Republicans are dead set against any Tax Reform that might raise the taxes of the very wealthy 1% (but the Dems aren't completely free of blame on this - they, too, number among the Millionaire Club in Congress), the GOP is still set on repealing the Affordable Health Care Act; they vote for big business - particularly the oil and gas industry, when it comes to regulating or cleaning up the environment of the toxicities these businesses impose upon it; they are against raising the minimum wage; and if Ryan gets his way, this budget proposes to cut $732 million to Medicaid and other health care programs, as well as $1 trillion in cuts to Food Stamps, Pell grants, and farm subsidies. (All of these cuts, while adding $500 billion to the defense budget.) The proposed changes to Medicare and cuts to refundable income and child care tax credits for the working poor, as well as cuts to Supplemental Security Income for the elderly, disabled, and very poor, would leave millions of Americans at the mercy of the individual states.

In a state like Texas, many items on this "menu" are already in place, as like most Red States, we are ruled by a Republican majority, and women, immigrants, and the poor are low priority here. As of September 2013, Texas continued to have the highest rate in the country of people without any health insurance (I hope most of these were able to sign up for the ACA), and ranked among the Top 10 highest in poverty. Last year the Texas Legislature, despite having the 3rd highest teen age pregnancy rate in the nation, passed one of the most restrictive anti-abortion laws in the country, thus denying many of the state's poor women, men, and teenagers access to Planned Parenthood which provides much more in the way of health care and pregnancy prevention for the poor than they do abortions. Texas Governor Rick Perry also refused the additional Medicaid funding that the Affordable Care Act would have provided to aid many of these disenfranchised folks.

The wealthy in Texas tend to rule Texas politics as well. Recently, the Democratic U.S. Senate candidate, David Alameel beat my favorite to win the nomination in the primary, Maxey Scherr. Alameel is a millionaire dentist from the Dallas/Ft Worth area, who will be in a run-off election with Keesha Rogers on May 27th. Alameel has run for office four times in the past as a Republican! Another case of big money winning at least a nomination? Of course, the Republican candidate up for reelection, John Cornyn, is pretty entrenched, and no pauper himself. He was nearly a millionaire in 2012, so he may very well be one now.

********************************************

I like the sign I saw online being held in front of the Supreme Court that said:
"DEMOCRACY CANNOT BE BOUGHT". A "Plutocracy" arises on its own.

Peace and love,
Marilyn