The Invisible Hand of the Market....Again

[TaraJo]

Because corporations finance re-election campaigns. It's a pernicious effect of elections being popularity contests. Given the Citizens United decision, we have something of a dilemma when it comes to fixing that. How do we constrain the political power of corporations without un-Constitutionally constraining the political power of the people who form the coporation? A Constitutional amendment? Who is going to pass that finely-crafted legislation in a country where re-election campaigns are largely financed by corporations?

It might be easier to erode corporate power indirectly by increasing constraints on what our congress critters can do for their benefactors. Our government has to treat all religions the same, not favoring one nor oppressing another, and most people recognize that this is in the best interest of all concerned. Much of our economic policy is based on incentivizing this enterprise and hamstringing this other one. From the point of view of business-owners, influencing government is a self-defense measure: if they don't do it, the other guy will. MS was hardly involved in lobbying at all before its competitors influenced the government to break it up. Now they won't be outspent.

I'm just spitballing, I don't pretend to have a definitive answer. I just recognize that we have a complex problem without simple solutions that needs to be addressed...but it may only be possible to do it in small bites.

Oh, I fully agree. And something is going to be done about it, one way or the other. I mean, a couple of years ago, Occupy Wall Street came along and tried to protest the alliance between government and big money, but big money used their control of the media to destroy Occupy and hide or distort their message. Unless things change, there are going to be more and more protests and they aren't going to stay non-violent.

I mean, as much as you hear the right talk about how much they hate communism and the USSR, you'd think they'd pay attention to the conditions that made the Russian revolution happen. The people with money and power were abusing said power so much that the people refused to tolerate it. How much more will they be able to abuse their power here in the US?