Plutocracy

Plutocracy is defined as a government controlled by the rich.

The people of this country are being viewed more and more like a commodity to be exploited rather than free citizens. As with any commodity the more you can control the market the easier it is to guarantee profits, you do not want massive swings in corporate cash flow.

So as Americans go broke from government supported outsourcing of the labor market, the criminal lending practices of the banking industry and the crushing medical cost associated with health care and insurance; the corporate/government complex must stabilize cash flow and guarantee their income levels regardless of cost to the citizens.

It is an unfortunate truth that our duly “elected” representatives are nothing more than figureheads for the corporate elite who own them. Through direct contributions, soft money, employment of family members and outright bribes corporations are able to influence politicians to pass laws that guarantee profits and create new revenue sources, supported by mandatory participation, at the people’s expense.

Let’s take a look at a few examples of plutocracy in action.

Bankruptcy Reform Act of 2005

With the housing collapse on the horizon and fearing the next great depression the loan industry has been lobbying since the late nineties to reduce the publics ability to declare bankruptcy and gain debt relief. Finally in April 2005 the credit and finance companies got their wish as Congress and President Bush passed the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 2005.

Finance and credit companies contributed more than $8.2 million in individual and PAC contributions during the 2004 election cycle, 64 percent to Republicans. Credit card giant MBNA's employees and PAC contributed more than $1.5 million, including $354,000 to President Bush's reelection campaign. The company spent $5.2 million on federal lobbying in 2003.

This industry designed piece of legislation basically stripped American’s of the ability to declare bankruptcy. The vast majority of bankruptcies are from medically incurred debt. It instead forces people into industry manipulated repayment plans meant to protect corporate profit over family stability.

Not only did the Act decrease protection for the American family it spawned an entire industry based around consumer credit counseling, now mandatory under the new law, and raised attorney and filing fees. It also greatly limited the publics ability to exempt their homes from the foreclosure process.

The Bankruptcy Reform Act of 2005 was written by the banking industry to maximize their profits at the expense of the American people. The credit and financial institutions next big push will be for tax refund seizure of people who owe them money, turning the IRS into a collection agency for corporate elite.

Mandatory Auto Insurance

The last period of runaway inflation we experienced was in the 1970’s. As the cost of day to day items skyrocketed people cut what they considered unnecessary expenses from their monthly budget. One of the sacrificed items was car insurance, it did not feed you or warm you or keep a roof over your head, and it was expendable.

The insurance industry did not like this drop in revenue and started a campaign on the state level to force every American motorist to purchase insurance. Participation is mandatory and enforced with fines, automobile confiscation and imprisonment. The auto insurance industry told us it was our personal responsibility to have their product and with mandatory participation it would lower rates (unrealized) but the reality was a windfall for the insurance companies and an undue burden for the American citizen.

You will hear these exact same arguments next year when the health insurance industry starts its national push for mandatory participation. Strangely enough also occurring at the onset of a large recessionary period when people are having to decided between health insurance and food..

In Colorado the law states that if you are stopped twice without auto insurance it is a mandatory two year jail sentence. Your economic situation does not matter, you will be jailed unless you pay the insurance corporations. These are guaranteed profits for the insurance industry with no social benefits for the public at large.

There was a couple that lived above me for a while. He would get drunk and beat his wife, the first two times he only got ticketed the third time he punched her while she was holding their newborn infant, the judge really let him have it with that one. He was sentenced to monitored house arrest for two weeks. She had to move out. But at least he had his auto insurance.

Homeland Security Legislation

Pick any piece of security related legislation passed since the attacks of September 11, 2001 and you will find a bloated love gift for the newly founded security industrial complex. Billions and billions of dollars have flowed into this highly profitable industry without any value being added to the American society or our economy. As a matter of fact the freedoms this country was founded on are being sold off for the sake of corporate profits.

These laws are sold to the citizens as reform, as safety but in reality it is plutocratic government at its zenith. Laws of this nature are designed by corporations to maximize and guarantee profits for the elite at the expense of American citizens…this is not a free market economy. If participation in the market is mandatory it is not a free market.

Laws should be constructed around two simple questions:

What does this law take from the American Citizen and society as a whole?

What does this law give the American Citizen and society as a whole?

To reclaim this government the citizens must come first. You would be hard pressed to point to any piece of legislation passed in the last twenty years that was not a corporate handout. This must stop.