Last presidential deabte, was there a winner?

[TaraJo]

TJ, good point, and we don't have (or want) unrestrained free market capitalism. For example, we break up large companies when they exhibit monopolistic powers eg AT&T, etc.

In recent history I think we lacked some regulation in banking/finance. We should get the right regulation in place, not throw out the whole system.

I think that's part of it, but I also think we need laws and regulations in place to limit the amount of influence industries have over politics. There are industries where they're flat out buying legislation when they know it will get them more money. Private prisons are a perfect example: industrialists build a prison and they get paid x amount per prisoner in that prison. Suddenly, they're pouring more and more money into legislation that will put more people in prison and keep them there longer.

But that's not the only way industry has perverted politics for their gain. The military industrial complex has shaped our foreign policy and played a big role in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Oil companies have shaped our energy policy, not to mention they've also had a role in the Iraq war.