Corruption In Politics

September 12, 2011

It is a sad reality, but protecting those with the most money in order to secure money and influence for campaigning is the top priority of too many elected officials. These types of politicians do not care about everyday Americans. They only care about staying in power and continuing to draw their congressional salary. Sometimes folks believe that only Democrats see the political landscape this way but this is not the case. There are many reasonable Republicans who recognize these problems.

Quote from Buddy Roemer (former Republican Governor of Louisiana, former Congressman, and current Republican Presidential candidate) on the problems with money in politics

Quote starts at 4:07

“It is institutionally corrupt. They spend their time getting big checks from big special interests. It’s the special interests who write the tax code. You can’t read it. It doesn’t work for America. It hurts jobs. We give them away. They are being stolen by unfair trade. And, nobody does anything. You know why? Corporations have never made more money than they are right now. They wrote the tax code and they really don’t give a damn about the rest of America.”

Two types of politicians

There are two types of politicians – those who are dedicated to doing what is right for the people and those who are almost exclusively focused on protecting the interests of the wealthy and corporations because most of their donors are in these groups. We have far too many elected officials from this second group. Unfortunately, they try to conceal their agenda and manipulate voters by saying things that sound good to everyday Americans. Obviously, no sane working or middle class American would vote for someone who admitted that their primary goal was keeping the wealthy and corporations happy. So they try to hide their agenda with clever talking points.

Hired manipulative guns

Some political consultants are hired specifically to find particular words and phrases that influence people’s thoughts and feelings on various topics. In essence, these individuals are hired to try to manipulate you. These consultants measure the responses of groups of everyday people to phrases that have been selected to create a desired reaction. When they find words and phrases that produce the desired response in the research, they become a part of the political discussion on virtually every news program. Pay careful attention when watching political coverage. If you hear many individuals on all programs repeating the same lines, this should send alarm bells off in your head. Those who do this are not trying to inform people. They are attempting to manipulate and program you, often in a way that encourages you to vote against your own interests in the next election. As soon as you notice this pattern, you should be suspicious of whatever message you are hearing.

Spotting the politicians that aren’t working for you

In general, if politicians aren’t talking about the interests of everyday people, they aren’t really focused on working for you.

Talking points to look out for:

“Raising taxes will hurt the job creators.”

“No one can afford a tax increase right now.”

“We have the highest corporate income tax rate in the world.”

“Regulations are preventing business from creating jobs.”

“Raising tax on the wealthy is class warfare.”

“We can’t soak the rich.”

“Almost half of Americans don’t pay any taxes.”

“We are becoming Socialist country.”

Every single one of these statements is a distortion of reality. You will notice in reading them that there is nothing about the concerns or challenges that everyday people are facing. This is a giant red flag that gives away the priorities of those who use these lines.

Let the listener beware

Elected officials and political commentators who do not care about everyday Americans go to great lengths to convince you that you should be grateful to corporations and the wealthy because they are helping you while support for everyday people is too expensive and is Socialism. This rationale is supposed to convince listeners, for example, that gigantic subsidies for oil companies or corporate tax loopholes are a good thing and should be kept in place while we consider cutting medicare or other programs for working and middle class Americans. If we want leaders who are looking out for our interests, then we must refuse to buy into what these manipulative and corrupt politicians are trying to sell us.