Are government and business getting too close?

For many people the answer to the above question is patently clear. I believe the ubiquitous “99%” of us feel it both in our pocket books and the quality of our lives; to be painfully so. Be it damage to the environment, destructive manipulation of our financial markets, inappropriate health care rendition to increase the profits of the drug companies, inefficient energy policies, or alteration of our food supply through GMO’s and inclusion of carcinogenic chemicals as food additives, we see government policies or lack thereof that are clearly harmful to financial and physical health of our general populous. We may label this continuing unhealthy incestuous relationship between the influence of business on government as Oligarchy, Fascism, or the slang term “Crony Capitalism”. In any event this dangerous pattern of the lengthening of the fangs of “Corporate Personhood” is corrupting our democratic systems. Our state and federal legislators have become the prostituted whores of corporate lobbying money. So why has this widening pattern of “Corporate Incest” been increasing primarily since days of Ronald Reagan? The answer has many variables; I believe it emanates primarily from two sources outside of the basic corporations themselves, that being voter ignorance and apathy, and the appointment of corporate shills such as Rehnquist, Roberts, Scalia, Alito, and Thomas to our U.S. Supreme court. So one has to ask how did these justices become placed into these positions of power that are not in concert with the major needs of the people. I believe that the average working person was been hoodwinked into believing that they should vote against their own self interests for corporate favoring politicians who used the smoke screen of anti-abortion, homophobia, gun control, draconian immigration policies, and clinging to old time traditions as a means of attracting middle class voters to the Republican party of big corporations. Presidents who were supported primarily by the Military Industrial Complex and Fortune Five Hundred of America then appointed conservative judges to the U.S. Supreme Court. Now the real genesis of the problem is not corporations, court justices, or politicians, because we know that just like everyone else they operate in self interest. The major and continuing problem is an ignorant and apathetic voter base. The average voter given the power and insular characteristics of the above entities may also act in a way that is not in the best interests of the people they serve. I am not suggesting that most people are corrupt or immoral to a great degree, but only in shades of gray. How many people can you name who have never told a lie, were afraid to admit some erotic fantasies to their significant other, maybe hedged a few deductions on their income taxes, or kept their mouths shut when a cashier charged them for less than the amount that was stated? In an absolute sense these somewhat minor transgressions are still a breach of ethics and integrity. For the purposes of this writing, myself being a pragmatic ethical realist, I wish to focus on acts of individuals and entities that have a wide sweeping profound deleterious effect on society. Another powerful business group that has strong influence on government is the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which in fact is a private PAC group that has no interest in promoting the interests of us “99%”. Despite its name, the “U.S. C of C” is not officially affiliated with the U.S. government. It is, in fact, a coalition of businesses that pool their money for lobbying and campaign donations, it also spends more than any other single entity. Ostensibly, they represent business interests in Washington. And by business interests we mean “almost primarily Republican” interests. In my forty years of being in business I have found that most business people and the purchasing public are good law abiding fair and ethical individuals. My focus in this article will be on some of the billion dollar private, and public companies that are not what I would consider to be totally ethical and forth right dealing companies whose focus is on the interests of the general public. Three major private companies that are examples of corrupting influence on government are the Koch Bros., Bechtel Corporation, and the Carlisle Group. These private companies have a major presence in the energy, construction and defense sector which have major importance to our economy. I believe that the Occupy Wall Street movement is well intentioned and primarily about the damage that has been heaped upon our nation as I have related in the above general introduction. Unfortunately OWS has poor or little leadership, lacks a coherent message, and has let a small minority of angry hoodlums and thieves taint the energy and direction of the protests with a bad taste in the public’s purview. Jack Abramoff is textbook example of a very greedy corrupt lobbyist who brokered many sleazy back room deals and had his hand in many of Washington’s pieces of legislation. He was so corrupt that in many cases represented both sides of many deals. His ethics were akin to an arms dealer who sells to both sides of a war. Abramoff was one of the biggest lobbyists in Washington during his time, and when the authorities eventually caught up with him, President Bush’s head of the Office of Management and Budget deliberately obstructed the investigation. Halliburton is one of the public corporate bad boys who laughed all the way to the bank after the Pentagon awarded them lucrative no bid contracts for the latest Iraq war. The stocks of war profiteers increased three fold relative to the general prices on the stock exchange. Halliburton’s stock holders and top brass were probably dancing in the streets when the False Flag “9/11” took place, which was the galvanizing “Pearl Harbor” event for the pre-planned invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan. Agricultural subsidies which were intended originally to help out the small farmer have been a boon to corporate food conglomerates such as Archer Daniels Midland, ConAgra, Monsanto, and Cargill. Farmers growing nuts, fruits , and vegetables receive little or no government subsidies. Ironically the primary ingredients, such as sugar, soy, corn for syrup, and some wheat that are used for candy, soft drinks, pet food, cattle feed, high fat and salt pre-pared and fast foods receive the lion’s share of agricultural subsidies. These refined fillers and sugar additives contribute greatly to our highest rate of obesity and poor life style choice health maladies. In essence we are encouraging poor eating habits through government policy. Subsidies to very profitable oil and gas producing companies is throwing money away that could be better invested in the capitalization, research, and production of alternative energy sources that would result in less foreign energy dependency, cleaner air, and a reduction in global warming gases. Another downside of energy subsidies is that they distort the market and make new energy innovations uncompetitive. For a developed country we have one of the poorest and inefficient internet infrastructures, which is the result of corrupted influences of telecom/internet providers on our government. “Financial Bailouts”, need I say more on this subject? I am not saying that Republican interests are the only corruptive influence in Washington, not by a long shot. The Democrats, specifically under Clinton and Obama, have also sold out to the Fortune Five Hundred and the Military Industrial Complex. The only difference between the Republicans and Democrats in high levels of power is what they do with the money after they steal it. As voters we do have a strong influence on government if we do our homework, ignore mass media corporate propaganda, show up to vote, and refuse to vote for Republican and Democratic candidates who prostitute themselves to greedy corporate and banking interests.